Have you ever had a problem finishing things? It's a great google search if you get bored. Helping me combat this problem has turned into an entire industry of coaching, strategic plans, books, online courses and much more. On the downside, it serves as both a symptom and effect of a host of medical conditions.

As we chase through life, especially since our culture has transitioned from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy, our own vocation or job doesn't provide the satisfaction of finishing things. It's a base human emotion that we struggle with and now live in a world where being "done" seems like an impossible task. The satisfaction of stepping back to send an end result is something we have a natural desire for.

So what if I told you this is an emotion we are predisposed to by a loving God?

Jesus' first words around his ministry in the Gospel of Mark proclaim this;

"The time promised by God has come at last!" he announced. "The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!" Mark 1:15 NLT

There is an end-result to what had been going on, and something radically different was happening within space and time.

But the story starts before Jesus uttered these words. Matthew wrote his entire gospel to help Jewish people understand that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, and the promised Messiah. And he told this story filled with the message of fulfillment, the message of a thing that has been finished.

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. "Get up!" the angel said. "Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead."

So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: "He will be called a Nazarene." Matthew 2:19-23 NLT

Matthew is letting us know, with the simple statement of prophetic fulfillment that God has kept His promise, and he has done it in the way He has communicated to His people. Fulfillment is a big deal, and prophecy is a big deal. Because the essence of prophecy is hope, not optimism. In our own lives we can confuse these two things easily.

So let's have a conversation this Sunday about what fulfillment is actually like…and what happens when we open ourselves up to it.

Gift giving can be hard. It is one of the things most seen has part of the holiday season, but it can be hard.

And we have to thank these wise men for it. They started off the whole thing.

In this weeks story about dreams and the birth of Jesus we are looking at two different characters and how they understand divine revelation.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?"

"In Bethlehem in Judea," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote:

'And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.'" Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"

After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. Matthew 2:1-12 NLT

These wise men and Herod both want the same thing. To find the new messiah. But they have this desire for very different reasons and ultimately we find God using a dream to warn the wise men. Both are chasing greatness, but only one group really understands who is the greatest.

So let's talk about why this subtle interaction in the story of Jesus helps us understand the way our world works.

Dreams are a funny thing. We have them as kids and they can excite or terrify us. As we get older, they stay with us. Sometimes, they make us feel just like we are kids again…and sometimes they can scare us. Again, just like we are kids. But the older we get the more we tend to look at our dreams as these psychological realizations about our life. Let's be honest…we have all had those dreams that make us sit back and pause.

In scripture, dreams are seen as vehicles of divine revelation. They are all throughout the story of God's people and they play a pretty major part of the story of Jesus' birth. This month, we will be looking at the dreams that lead up to the birth of the messiah. Our first one is at the beginning of the story of Jesus. We find it in Matthew 1.

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet:

"Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"

When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus. Matthew 1:18-25

This story is just the beginning of the story of Jesus. And inside of it we learn details about the people involved in the larger story of Jesus and we find the space to ask ourselves questions. As we begin to situate ourselves in the story of Jesus in our own communities and neighborhoods, we can find clarity in our own life by how we follow the example of Joseph.

For the last few weeks we have been talking about Anxiety as "empty space", and this week we will begin talking about filling that space. In many ways, this emptiness is at the beginning of the story of God and His interaction with creation.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.Genesis 1:1-2

In these three sentences we learn much about what the absence of the presence of God looks like. Formless and empty. Covered in darkness, with a great chasm filled with a substance humans can't live in. Without purpose and shape. For anyone who deals with anxiety, that description gets pretty appropriate. And as Balthasar, one of our conversation partners in these teachings says "the world was created as a supernatural experience of grace, and not for pointless living." To speak of the freedom from anxiety brought about by Jesus is to make a statement about who has really built our world. The space between, us turned from empty to full because of grace.

So this week we find ourselves in an early story of Jesus with His disciples in the gospel of Mark.

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake." So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?"

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Silence! Be still!" Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

The disciples were absolutely terrified. "Who is this man?" they asked each other. "Even the wind and waves obey him!" Mark 4:35-41 NLT

Inside of this story we find many truths, but nearly all of them point back to two things. The first is that Jesus did not believe in worry, even at the most stressful and anxious moments. The second, is that he has a power that is out of grasp for the rest of humanity, but He exercises and offers it to us. And it isn't blindly used, but it is used to fill all the spaces and gaps we may find in life.

See you this Sunday

I remember the first sermon I ever heard my Dad preach. In it, he referenced the 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". It is a fun song, and we all can think of the places where we typically hear it.

It is easy to talk about worries when you don't have a care in the world.

Jesus talks about worries. And in the conversation he lets us know that our worries are actually us worshiping our problems.

"That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

"And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

"So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:25-34

In these section of Jesus greatest teaching, He puts worries into their place. He dips his toe into how we might live our everyday life. He then tells us why we shouldn't worry and goes into the community and life changing command to follow his example of life by being a non-anxious presence.

But how do we do this? Our anxieties become blurred when we disappear into the person and work of Christ. Our worries turn into the action of prayer. We become fearful because we think we have to be on our own, and instead what Christ invites us to is clinging to our position in God and the truth of the Father's provision offered to us.

Space is an interesting thing. It can mean many different things to many different people. Space is all about possibilities...or space is all about chance. It can either be full of good things, or it can simply be space for bad things to happen.

In the beginning of time, we find God looking upon our world as formless and void, and then filling it with creation (Genesis 1). But as sin entered into this world, possibilities become 'what-if's", and what was once beautiful can become terrifying. The empty space in our life turns into anxiety. But this space and it's anxiety can be approached in multiple ways. That's what we find in the gospels. So over the next few weeks, we are going to look at the way Jesus speaks about empty space, how he handles His empty space, and how that helps us as Christians learn how to navigate our empty space.

To start off, we are looking at possibly the most intimate picture of Jesus we have in the gospels.

Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, "Pray that you will not give in to temptation."

He walked away, about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation."

Jesus met with several empty spaces in His life on this earth, but this was the largest. And in it we find a picture not only of how He dealt with it, but how we are called to deal with them as well.

Anything that might give you a significant better situation requires some risks. To not take risks means to live a dull life. When I think of the things I have done that have provided the most enjoyment, they never come without cost. It might be time, hardship, or something else...but it always takes something.

For many of these risks, there are inevitabilities that come with the rewards. I remember when I bought my first motorcycle I was told that I WILL go down, not if. It will happen sooner or later. And it did. And it almost happened several times again after that.

Many times when we think of the phrase "it's not if, but when" we think about negative things. Negative things that happen for a positive pay-off.

But what if we flip it around and realize that we sometimes have to hit some positive way-points on the way to a much more beneficial thing?

Jesus talks about two of these in Matthew 6.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This, then, is how you should pray:

"'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:5-18

These words assume two things; disciples will be praying and fasting. (if this seems tough enough, Jesus also applies that prescription to giving in 6:1-4, but I'm giving you a break on that). And here is where I am coming to on this. If we want genuine spiritual breakthrough in our lives and in our communities, can we get to it without prayer and fasting? What if the things standing in our way could be conquered by prayer and fasting?

So let's jump into this conversation together. See you on Sunday

On this episode of FOUNDRYcast, Jack Lockeby, our director of discipleship, shares a message about the power of testimonies.

I think every kid goes through the "tell the truth" phase. It seems like understanding the difference between truth and lies is part of that early childhood learning phase. Sadly, we don't grow out of it all the way. It seems to be something that many of us feel the temptation for or either live in our entire lives. Jesus takes a moment to get into the gnarly bits of it during His teaching we call "The Sermon on the Mount". What he digs into is this Jewish fascination with oaths and vows, something we don't really live in, but it helps us have a conversation about what we do live in.

"You have also heard that our ancestors were told, 'You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.' But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, 'By heaven!' because heaven is God's throne. And do not say, 'By the earth!' because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, 'By Jerusalem!' for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Do not even say, 'By my head!' for you can't turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, 'Yes, I will,' or 'No, I won't.' Anything beyond this is from the evil one. Matthew 5:33-37

The issue Jesus has with this practice of oaths and vows (and they are different, but we won't go into that here) is that is presupposes a world where the truth is NOT told. How can we call ourselves followers of the Living God if we aren't telling the truth?

If this is such a big deal to Jesus, making it into the Sermon on the Mount, it must be something big. So what if we begin to realize how Jesus wants to heal all of the reasons we feel the need to not be truthful? Think about how many times you've been tempted to disguise the truth, or just reflect on how our world now is focused on what is fake or true?

So let's jump into a conversation about the truth, and how the truth has the ability to change things in our lives.