City on a Hill Melbourne

The gospel transforms breaking bodies and ruptured relationships, so we make the goal of our lives around pleasing God and serving as his ambassadors on earth, making a difference in the lives of the people around us. Don't let sin corrupt you and lead to death, seek reconciliation with God and embrace the treasure of eternal life.

Paul describes to the church in Corinth that they are like jars of clay, to show that the glory comes not from their own strength, but from Christ's power in them. As with us, our fragility and brokenness are beautiful because God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Are you willing to take courage on your journey of faith and entrust that God will use you - in all your brokenness, doubt and shortcomings - for something beautiful?

The mirror of the law and the letter show us how we fall short of the glory of God. Yet, the gospel is good news because it gives us righteousness in the face of guilt, boldness in the face of fear, and transformation in the face of death. Unlike the law which disappoints, the gospel transforms. Our highest aim in live is to become like Jesus, which we do by faith as ministers of the new covenant. We are justified, but we are also being sanctified.

Is it going to be the crocs or the cross? Paul critiques the celebrity pastor culture of the Corinthians, urging them that not even he ought to be considered as anything, but rather that the focus be on the gospel.

Christianity is not about the easy and comfortable life. Affliction is at the heart of our faith, but amidst it he comforts us so we can comfort others in theirs. God is the God of all comfort, and while he can deliver us from affliction, his power is best displayed in our weakness.

God can use suffering to strip away our pride. To be built up, we have to be torn down. Don't give in, and don't give up. God loves you. He's got you.

Seeing is not always believing, so Jesus invited the disciples to touch his wounds, to see the evidence of his claim. He then went through the scriptures, and showed how they point to him.

There's life in your lungs for a reason, and you are no accident. Jesus rose physically and spiritually to redeem creation physically and spiritually. Jesus rose so you could repent of your sin and return home to God. Dutch artist, Rembrandt, felt the weight of this in his life, when he painted "The return of the prodigal son" after a tumultuous time of self-indulgence to intense grief.

No one's death has led to more music, literature, statues, art, and memorials than the death of Jesus Christ — on a day we call Good Friday. This day is good because Jesus' death means our forgiveness, reconciliation, and eternal life.

When we forget God, we are prone to forsake him. It is God's faithfulness in the past that fuels our courage for the future. Yet, we live in the tension of the now and the not yet, the promise given and the promise received. The road ahead will get difficult, but it is to be marked by obedience to God. Instead of dwelling in the land of fear and shame, we embrace God's grace and our identity as children of God. If we are to live as God's children, we must be courageous. We cannot stand with apathy and indifference when we witness evil in this world, but instead of fighting evil with evil, we fight with love, and we herald the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus, trusting that if God can break down the walls of Jericho he can break down the walls of any human heart.

God gave Israel land, a command, and an inheritance. He had kept his promises to his people, and now it was time for the people to settle into the promise. If God was in control of the details then, he is in control of the details now. We obey God now because we are undeservedly loved and given an eternal inheritance far greater than anything in earth, the inheritance of Christ, and of heaven.

God cares for his people, rules over creation, and responds to bold prayer. Whatever the immediate cause, miracles happens when God intervenes in supernatural ways, as the one whom made all things and holds all things together. Our faith is founded upon an unbelievable miracle, the idea that a man died Friday and came to life on Sunday. If, then, the bible says God paused the sun in reaponse to Joshua's prayer for victory in the battle, could he not do it? May we also have faith like Joshua to trust God can intervene in miraculous ways in our lives.