In one moment, a snake was the instrument used by God to deal with Israel’s wretchedness. In the next, it becomes the instrument of their blessing and restoration. How could this be? And why would Jesus liken Himself to this brazen serpent? Pastor Joe shares that we’ve all been bitten by the serpent, but if we look up to the One who was lifted up, we can live.   

Out of nothingness, death, beauty, and devastation, God can create incomparable life. Through the gift of His crucified and risen Son we intentionally enter God’s ever-present word that calls forth countless worlds and souls.

Pastor Joe unfastens the wing nuts holding down the top of Abraham’s head to get an intimate look at the inner workings of this great faith that was counted as righteousness and brought so much glory to God.

Sustaining the life of repentance that we've been called to can be so challenging. But there is a way to order our spirituality so that it can become a reality. The gospel of Jesus Christ sets the blueprint for a Lenten spirituality and it begins in the wilderness.

The whole story of Naaman shows us, as in a glass, what human nature would like the Gospel to be. But it can’t be and it won’t be. Hear why. 

Because of the entrusted message, grateful believers can become just about every sort of service in the attempt to lead those they meet into a God-saved-life. It is this "God so loved" power that propels us into tensions of world-sized differences we would otherwise avoid.

Jesus’ authority transcends all understanding and traditional thinking. He came to establish a Kingdom like no other. This Kingdom’s  aim is not only to "proclaim freedom for the captives” but to transform us and help us grow in love, forgiveness, and service as modeled by Jesus Christ. May His Kingdom reign in us as we seek to genuinely serve Him and others!

In America, repent means "feel really bad about the mess you made." But in the Middle East, it means so much less, thus so much more. Enough with Westernizing these Middle Eastern terms. Let's find out what it really meant and start experiencing the victory that's always been ours. 

God honored us with a body and desires us to honor him with it. The Corinthians have completely missed the nature and inner logic of sexual intercourse and more importantly, Christian conversion. Paul does not attack their illicit behavior and neither will we. Instead, we’ll confront the theology on which our behavior is predicated on.

“Jesus The Baptized One accepted his mission as the innocent slain lamb. The Father giving us his best pleasure. The Son rehearsing the baptism that was to set us free and The Holy Spirit rehearsing/prophesying the peace between us and Father”