If we re-center our faith around the arrival of a King rather than a ticket to heaven, we will discover why his arrival and his kingdom is good news for all people.

Just as the apostle Paul wrote to the Jesus followers in Ephesus, you were made for something more than yourself. You are God’s workmanship, and you’ve got something to offer God’s Kingdom.

We can disagree culturally and politically, and still love unconditionally.

The lineage of Jesus is full of people with stories that would make anyone blush, including the likes of King David and Lot’s daughters. But in spite of jaw-dropping choices people made, God’s purposes marched forward.

Rahab is one of a few people in the lineage of Jesus that wasn’t Jewish — she was a Canaanite. Not to mention, she was a prostitute. But neither of those things kept her from being used by God in an incredible way.

The story of Judah and Tamar is probably not one we would have mentioned if we were the ones telling the back story of Jesus’s ancestors. However, many times God’s story highlights the unlikely and the undeserving.

Andy Stanley introduces Billy Phenix as the new Lead Pastor of Decatur City Church.