Our character is naturally flawed. Because of this we tend to take shortcuts in relationships and use them to satisfy our own desires. The gospel teaches us to relate to others to bless them and not to harm them. This is only possible when Jesus transforms our character to reflect his character. His character allows us to live a blessed life.

We think if we follow the letter of the law without the heart of the law, God will be pleased. We forget the heart matters as much as the letter (if not more). Jesus both taught us and showed us what it really means to fulfill the law. It means to love God from the deepest part of the heart, and to allow true and costly obedience to flow from that.

We are hardwired to think that blessing comes from self advancement. The more power, money, and success we can make for ourselves, the more satisfied we will be. Blessing comes from building our own kingdom. Jesus calls us to “change our minds” about what blessing is and where it comes from. The greatest satisfaction and blessing in life comes from turning away from self advancement and building your kingdom, so you can live for the advancement of of his kingdom. A kingdom that he has given us a role in advancing. True satisfaction and blessing comes from Jesus as King.

If the life of Christ is not poured into us by others or we are not pouring the life of Christ into others, the power of Christ will be absent in us and around us. The power of Christ is available to all of us, but we can’t attain it alone. We need the Spirit’s transformation that comes through people who lead us into the light (power) of Christ.

The devil knows our weak spots and with his age-old tricks, he’ll exploit those weak spots to take us down. When we don’t recognize his schemes, we are easy prey. Jesus both shows us how to defeat the devil and he passes the test for us. Now we can lean on his A+ grade as a replacement for our F, and that’s how we get victory over the devil. If he cannot accuse us when we fail, he’s schemes no longer work.

When we try to make ourselves right with God or please God in our own effort or by our own behavior, we end up offending God instead of pleasing God. He sees through our mask. Christ is the only one who can please the Father. If we want to be right with God, it can only happen when we join ourselves with Christ in baptism. Then we’ll see his power released in us through it.

When we let pride, legalism, distraction, confusion, and hard-heartedness keep us from welcoming and inviting in Jesus, we miss all the abundant life he offers. Christ came to earth not just to die for our sins but also to bring abundant life and Spirit- power to us. But we must get our hearts ready for that work and prepare the way. This begins a multi- year journey through the gospels to prepare our hearts and our church for more of Jesus!

We don’t like interruptions because they always lead to sacrifice. Sacrifice, by definition, is difficult and difficulty is something we naturally avoid, especially when it comes to our families. Jesus shows us that the cost of sacrifice (Luke 14:25-33) for his sake is always worth it. When we do this his promise is to turn our mourning into dancing. (Psalm 30:11)

We seek God in the wrong places because we have the wrong system of values. And because we don’t know what has worth, we miss God’s greatest gifts. God’s greatest gift was not kingly rule or earthly power, but the simple God-in-flesh baby who was born to save humanity from their sins. God must interrupt our rule and flip our idea of what has value on its head for us to see it. But when we do, and when we find Christ, how else can we respond except with worship and sacrifice?

We tend to get frustrated with God when life interrupts us. We fail to realize that every interruption of our plan is God using life’s interruptions to move us into his plan. Every encounter with God is an interruption of our plans. God interrupts our plan to bring us into his plans. God is sovereign over every single one of life’s interruptions, and he uses them as opportunities to bring us into his redemptive story. There is no greater interruption than the cross. But it was this interruption that made a way for us to be brought into God’s redemptive story.