Gracepoint Church of Oroville - Gracepoint Church

The breath of life is the story of creation. God has always intended for humanity to be more than just dust. This scriptural passage reminds us that participating in God’s story always requires participation in God’s life.

Have you ever wondered what was so spiritual about Jesus’ first miracle? John says that turning water into wine was Jesus’ first sign and that it manifested his glory. This short story challenges us to broaden our view of God’s ongoing work of redemption in our world. Jesus might be far more interesting than you previously thought…

To be human is to be in trouble. Job’s anguish is our epigraph: “Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” Psalm 130 grapples mightily with suffering, it sings its way through it, and provides usable experience for those who are committed to traveling the way of faith to God through Jesus Christ.

Do you think of Christian faith as a fragile style of life that can flourish only when weather conditions are just right or do you see it as a tough perennial that can stick it out through storm and drought, survive the trampling of careless feet and the attacks of vandals? Psalm 129 reminds us that the central reality for the pilgrim is the personal, unalterable, persevering commitment God makes to us. Perseverance is not the result of our determination, it is the result of God’s faithfulness.

Jesus is the perfect revelation of God’s true nature. Jesus doesn’t merely reveal part of what God is like. Rather, the fullness of God was in and revealed through Jesus (Colossians 1:19; 2:9). As Jesus himself tells us, when we see him, we see the very character of the Father (John 14:7-9). From his incarnation, to his ministry, death and ascension, Jesus reveals the truth that God’s nature is other-oriented, non-violent, self-sacrificial love. All of our thinking about God, our reading and teaching of Scripture, and our life as a community of disciples making disciples must be done through the lens of Jesus’ own life and teaching.

Psalm 128 revels in the physical existence of the pilgrim. This song reminds the pilgrim that the destination of our journey is not an escape from our body but an embodied life of abundance lived in fellowship with the one who created us. Enjoying the journey is not a hinderance successfully finishing the course but should be a vivid reality that encourages us onward!

Psalm 127 is a song about work, a reminder that we are partners with God!

Our scriptural passage today reminds us that the Christian hope is not a wistful nostalgia or a distant dream, but an expectation that Jesus has come to breath fresh possibility into our present reality. Jesus is the one who brings God's future into our now!

Psalm 126 reminds us that joy is part of the pilgrim journey. We are one happy people!

Don’t fall prey to the temptation to become a sin sniffer. Sin sniffers are so obsessed with sin that they fail to see the light shining all around them. Let us rejoice and be glad that the light of life has come into our lives!