In this weekend's sermon we looked at a story from the Old Testament that is probably familiar to many. In Exodus 32 we find the Israelite people quickly becoming impatient with God and deciding to take matters into their own hands, even after they have seen Him do great things for them. When they decide that God isn't accommodating their desires the people of Israel decide to fashion an idol out of gold so that it can be the object of their worship. We can easily read this story and say "What were they thinking? That is ridiculous!" But the reality is we are much like the people of Israel. How quickly we become impatient or frustrated with God when He doesn't act when or how we think He should. We fashion counterfeit gods for ourselves when we want a god we are more comfortable with, a god who fits better into our circumstances, our thinking, or our way of living. This is idolatry, and it is Kryptonite to the Body of Christ because it turns our hearts from God and His good plans for us.

Part 2 of the Killing Kryptonite series is all about the power of unity among the Body of Christ. Jesus' prayer for all his disciples in John 17:21-22 was that they would be unified as one, just as he, the Father and the Spirit are one, so that the world might believe. There is great power in unity among believers, but it can be weakened, if not destroyed by our sin and disobedience. Self-centeredness and unrepentant sin will always act as Kryptonite against the power of the Church.

n part 1 of his new sermon series, Killing Kryptonite, Pastor Branson shared three powerful promises from John 14:12-14, as well as three spiritual principles for accessing and applying the power of these principles in our lives. As followers of Jesus Christ, we can stand on the truth from Romans 8:11 that tells us the same "Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you." As we begin to understand and live out of the power of this truth, we will see God do amazing things through us, to impact the world around us!

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." Micah 5:2In part 3 of the Dilly! series we stopped to answer the question "Why Bethlehem?". It was no remarkable place for the Son of God to be born. It was small and certainly not the center of attention in the ancient world. Yet, God chose Bethlehem to bring about His most remarkable plan of redemption for the world. That plan reveals to all of us the true humility and grace of God, that He chooses to use the small and ordinary to bring about His extraordinary grace and love!

We often begin the story of Jesus with an angel visiting Mary, but his story goes back much farther than that. In Part 2 of the Dilly! series Pastor Branson walked us though a part of Jesus' story in Matthew 1:1-17 that we often breeze past. This passage lists the genealogy of Jesus, and it is a most remarkable list indeed! Among other things, this list highlights three very remarkable things related to Jesus' story: He really did come in the flesh (Emmanuel-God with us); He really is the focal point of history (the fulfillment of God's promises and plan); and He really did come to save all people (God loved us and chose us).