When we feel empty, Satan tempts us to fill ourselves with good things, but we are called to worship God alone. Worship is orienting ourselves outside ourselves, orienting ourselves to the presence of God.

The story of the sinful woman and Simon the Pharisee reminds us that Jesus' forgiveness is for those who need it, see it, and accept it. "The Gospel is for both the morally-bankrupt and the morally-upright and everyone in between."

What is the kingdom of God like? Not a sequoia. Not a Cedar of Lebanon. A mustard seed. In Luke 13:18-21, Jesus teaches us that the power of the small, the reality of the invisible, and the unstoppable advance of the kingdom of God. So pursue smallness, set your eyes on the invisible, and sow seeds of the Gospel.

It is impossible to separate life in God from life in God's Word. The Holy Spirit teaches us to know God by knowing God’s Word. The Holy Spirit teaches us to love God by obeying God’s Word. The Holy Spirit teaches us to live in God by living in God’s Word.

In Joshua 4, the Lord tells Joshua to make a memorial, a physical reminder of what God has done for them. Today we look back at what God has done in our first year and who he is calling us to be as a City of Light.

The gift that the Lord gives on Pentecost is the gift of himself—his presence in the Holy Spirit. We are to drink in the Holy Spirit, be watered by the Holy Spirit, and be baptized into the Holy Spirit. The life and love of God is a river rushing through us as we pray "Come, Holy Spirit."

Icon from the Rabula Gospels, an illuminated Syriac Gospel Book completed in 586 at the Monastery of St. John of Zagba outside of Antioch.

Jesus goes for our own good. He leaves so that he can be with us as our Redeemer, Pioneer, King, and Head. He is in heaven for us so that we are on earth for him, sharing in his Resurrection life and sharing Resurrection life with others.

Icon from the Rabula Gospels, an illuminated Syriac Gospel Book completed in 586 at the Monastery of St. John of Zagba outside of Antioch.

Jesus is always inviting and including others so that we can practice resurrection friendship with him and with others. "In Jesus, we have more in common to unite us than we have in contrast to divide us."

Because of the Fall, our work is cursed, but God can transform our work from an idol to an icon. Jesus wants to show up in your work and give you a new job description—joining with him in cultivating new resurrection life in your work.

When we practice keeping the Sabbath, we reorient our lives to be able to receive the resurrection. The Sabbath is a chance to stop what we are doing and respond to what God is doing.