We were made for the person of God. We exist for his presence, to know him, love him, and enjoy him forever.

We live in an age of deception and confusion. For believers, the Spirit is the one who guides us into all truth. He draws us into deep relationship with the Father and the Son and declares the truth, beauty, and glory of God to us.

This is the gospel: not that we loved God, but that he loved us first. This week Joey teaches two truths (and two lies) about God's love. God loves us more than we know, and his love wants to transform us more than we know.

We are called to a lifestyle of beloved discipleship, where we are brought into the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the American church salvation has often been reduced to heaven and hell. But we aren't saved for a place, we are saved for the person of Jesus, who is our Life.

Preaching from the Parable of the Talents, Daniel shows us the heart of Christ regarding the gifts he has given us. Jesus is the Master who will return to judge and reward his servants.

The great need of the church today is the need for the Spirit to be in our midst. Joey preaches about how the Spirit makes us God's temple, gives us power God's mission, and is God's down payment on a renewed world.

Jacob returns home with a family of his own after 20 years in exile. The night before seeing Esau again, Jacob is left anxious and alone when a mysterious man wrestles him until daybreak.

On the run from Esau, Jacob comes to his uncle Laban. It was here that Jacob the deceiver gets deceived himself. When everything seemed to fall apart for Jacob, it turned out that God was actively working to fulfill his promises.

Jacob goes on the run, fearing Esau's wrath for getting his birthright and blessing. On the journey to his uncle Laban's, Jacob has a dream of a stairway reaching to heaven, and Yahweh himself appears to him.

This week Jacob once again trips up his older brother, as he deceives his father Isaac into giving him the firstborn's blessing. This is a story about the power of our words and the grace of God in our weakness. And most of all, it's a profound portrait of the gospel.