Grace City Denver

What is the premise of church -- that is, what is the ground, the basis, of our coming together in the first place? And what is our purpose -- what is the objective, the goal of our gathering together? How you answer these questions will set your expectations for what church should be like, what church should be doing and talking about. The Bible is clear that the church exists by the grace of God for the glory of God and the pursuit of Christlikeness.

The root of sin is a heart that doesn't fear the Lord. If God doesn't matter, then the mind thinks selfish and self-deceived thoughts, producing harmful, untruthful, sinful behaviors. In stark contrast, the person who fears the Lord experiences his steadfast love and faithfulness, his righteousness and justice, his costly rescue, and an abundance of blessings.

In this imprecatory Psalm, David asks God to defend him from his enemies and to vindicate him in the end. Instead of taking vengeance into his own hands, he entrusts himself to the future, perfect justice of God.

This fascinating Psalm is grounded in the historic story of David acting like a madman in order to escape from Abimelech (found in 1 Samuel 21). But it's written as an acrostic, designed to teach future generations about the fear of the LORD as the solution to fear.

Waiting is one of the most common -- and often one of the most difficult -- things we do. Waiting can lead to feelings of frustration, stress, discouragement, and resignation. But what if we could recognize who is in the waiting with us and what resources he's given us to utilize while we wait?

Sin is overstepping God's boundaries, missing the mark, and incurring guilt by deceiving ourselves. But our instinct is to cover our sin, leading to more misery, anxiety, and exhaustion. God invites us to confess our sin instead -- to acknowledge to God what he already knows -- and to receive his forgiveness.

Distress can be totalizing -- affecting your body, emotions, mind, relationships, and spiritual life. Often, our instincts are to blame God and look for our own solutions or rescue. This Psalm models a different approach: trusting God to be who he is. Believing that he will be, for you, who he unchangeably is.

This Psalm is about God's loving discipline, particularly for the sin of complacency. While prosperity is a blessing, it can also be a curse in that it distracts us from being desperately dependent on God. It is God's kindness, then, that disciplines us to draw us back to himself so that we might live passionately and dependently on him.

Psalm 29 is a poem of David describing a thunderstorm that brings judgment on the false gods of the Canaanites, as well as all who serve them. But the same glory and strength that bring destruction on idols bring salvation and peace to those who love and fear the true God, Yahweh.

It's hard to pray when God is silent -- perhaps even more so when he seem unjust. How can you turn petition into praise in situations like that? How can you see, through eyes of faith, that God is faithfully doing justice and mercy whether it seems like it or not?