CTK Anacortes

Three things to help with discouragement:
Pray to God
Seek Godly counsel
Cast your cares upon Christ

Her leaders judge for a bribe her priests teach for a price and her prophets tell fortunes of money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, ‘is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.’

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 2When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”


When we place our faith in Jesus and his cross, we experience 4 distinct effects; We die. We live. We see. We are made new.

To experience true repentance that leads to salvation, we must first experience a collision with God’s love. When we collide with God’s grace, his love, his goodness and his holiness, we become aware of our lack of all those attributes. We become aware of our need for him. That awareness causes us to repent/confess so that God can fully enter in and do his salvation work.

Jesus defines for his disciples what love within the context of friendship looks like. He reminds his disciples/all who obey of their rank in the kingdom. This rank is "friend of God." Along with this definition and reminder we will encounter Jesus deploying us to put this love and friendship into practice.

When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
(II Samuel)

Then he put a question to them: “How is it that they say that the Messiah is David’s son? In the Book of Psalms, David clearly says, God said to my Master, “Sit here at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” David here designates the Messiah as ‘my Master’—so how can the Messiah also be his ‘son’?”
(Luke 20:41-45 MSG)


● He sits at God’s right hand (verse 1)
● He will triumph over all His enemies and rule over them (verses 1–2)
● He will lead a glorious procession of troops (verse 3)
● He will be “a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (verse 4)
● He will have divine power to crush kings, judge nations, and slay the wicked (verses 5–6)
He will find refreshment and be exalted (verse 7)


“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ‘What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ ‘The son of David,’ they replied. He said to them, ‘How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him “Lord”? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’” If then David calls him “Lord,” how can he be his son?’”
(Matthew)

“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
(Luke 20:46,47)

“Watch out for the religion scholars. They love to walk around in academic gowns, preen in the radiance of public flattery, bask in prominent positions, sit at the head table at every church function. And all the time they are exploiting the weak and helpless. The longer their prayers, the worse they get. But they’ll pay for it in the end.”
(Luke 20:46,47 MSG)

Every life, if it’s to be fruitful, must begin with Jesus at its foundation. Rejection of Jesus will break you from His purposes in this life, and through death, separate you from Him for eternity.

Jesus is the Cornerstone
The first stone laid
Guide for the remaining
Perfectly placed
Provides stable footing
All future alignment is based on it

"Jesus lifts our eyes from the temporal and offers us a glimpse into the eternal. This glimpse is like a splash of cold water onto the collective face of a weary, sleepy flock, reminding us that this life is an age, an age that will end and give way to eternity. This glimpse is perspective, comfort and energy to keep going".