When God formally presented Israel with her long-awaited King, He did so in the most unlikely ways.- Israel's Messiah entered Jerusalem in profound humility, not the pomp and circumstance expected of arriving majesty. - The scenery of Palm Sunday is familiar to us- Jesus arrived on a lowly donkey, not a war stallion- his entourage was no army, but a roiling, ragtag mass of commoners saying all the right things for all the wrong reasons.- What Jesus did, and did not do, left people scratching their heads.- - -And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, -Who is this-- Matthew 21-10 -NKJV-.- - As Palm Sunday's scenery is familiar, so its message is needful- Jesus is different from people's expectations. He often leaves people scratching their heads. He accomplishes what His people most need, not always what they most want or expect.- Just as its scenery is familiar and its message is needful, so Palm Sunday's warning is sobering- to measure Jesus wrongly, however enthusiastically, is to reject Him.- We hope you'll join us this Sunday as we turn to Matthew's gospel and consider, -The Presentation of the King.- See you here-

To rightly understand and delight in the gospel, we must rightly understand and delight in God's wrath. Does that seem strange to you- God's perfect displeasure at sin -- any sin -- is revealed in His wrath. We create a god of our own making when we imagine our infinitely holy Creator to be without just wrath for sin. Ancient Israel was full of such idolatry- God's people mistook His patience with their sin for His indifference. So, prophets like Hosea were sent with blunt, often startling warnings of God's wrath toward sinful people, and His merciful remedy.- --... They were filled and their heart was exalted- therefore they forgot Me. So I will be to them like a lion- Like a leopard by the road I will lurk- I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs...- -Hosea 13-6-8 - NKJV--- This Sunday, we'll return to our study of Hosea's prophecy and see how God's holiness demands that He oppose everything that is polluted. God is determined to be the enemy of sin in His world and in His people until all sin is fully vanquished. This determination is gloriously displayed at the cross of Jesus, where God's just wrath and covenant love for His people meet. I hope to see you here this Sunday as we continue our study, -God's Loyal Love.-

The gods of self are terrible taskmasters.- Self-centeredness never gets enough attention. Self-satisfaction never is content. And self-protection never feels secure.- Only when these false gods are put to death does a soul made for relationship with God find purpose, satisfaction and confidence in Him alone.- But how are these false gods killed-- -So you, by the help of your God, return- observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually,- Hosea 12-6 -NKJV-- As the Lord of heaven's armies prepared to judge His people, Israel, He tenderly invited them to follow the same restorative path as their patriarch, Jacob.- God graciously offers this same path to His self-preoccupied people today.- We hope to see you here this Sunday as we continue our study in Hosea with, -God's Loyal Love- Return, Observe, Wait.-

This coming Lord's Day will be a Sunday of firsts. For the first time, we'll be blessed to baptize believers indoors during a worship service. And for the first time, we'll celebrate the Lord's Supper and baptism in the same service.- Both ordinances are precious gifts from our Savior to His church to remember and testify of His sufficiency for us. The righteousness God requires of His people is a righteousness He has provided entirely -- and exclusively -- in the work of Jesus Christ. - Do you believe this-- The glorious gospel of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone is the very power of God to bring any sinful person into His family, remake them as His image-bearer, and gift them with eternal life.- -For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith- as it is written, -THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.- -Romans 1-16-17-- Just as we are saved by faith alone, we're meant to live daily by faith alone.- We hope you can join us here this Sunday as we celebrate our all-sufficient Savior with, -Sola Fide- Faith in Christ Alone.-

The uncultivated heart is destined for difficulty, even despair.-And so, for love's sake, God warns His people to cultivate their relationship with Him- to neglect to do so is to sow seeds of correction.--Sow for yourselves righteousness- reap in mercy- break up your fallow ground---Ancient Israel neglected to cultivate her love for the LORD. Instead, she presumed upon His grace and -spent- His material blessing on her own selfish desires- for centuries.-We don't have to look far back to historic Israel to see what an uncultivated heart looks like.-We can simply gaze into the mirror of Scripture and allow God to examine our hearts. Are there thorns and thistles that need to be plucked from that soil--Here is our hope- -- it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.- -Hosea 10-12 NKJV--I hope to see you here this Sunday as we continue our study of Hosea, -God's Loyal Love.-

The uncultivated heart is destined for difficulty, even despair.-And so, for love's sake, God warns His people to cultivate their relationship with Him- to neglect to do so is to sow seeds of correction.--Sow for yourselves righteousness- reap in mercy- break up your fallow ground---Ancient Israel neglected to cultivate her love for the LORD. Instead, she presumed upon His grace and -spent- His material blessing on her own selfish desires- for centuries.-We don't have to look far back to historic Israel to see what an uncultivated heart looks like.-We can simply gaze into the mirror of Scripture and allow God to examine our hearts. Are there thorns and thistles that need to be plucked from that soil--Here is our hope---- it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.- -Hosea 10-12 NKJV--I hope to see you here this Sunday as we continue our study of Hosea, -God's Loyal Love.-

How do I stay on track- Why am I always the first one to panic- Why don't I have the abundant Christian life- How can I feel the way I feel and yet press on to maturity- Do those questions sound familiar--In his precious letter to the saints in Colossae, the apostle Paul is blessing the church with solid spiritual guidance as they have been influenced by dangerous false teaching. Dangerous influencers have claimed to have superior spiritual understanding and have begun to devalue the person of Christ and the new identity each believer has in Him. Yet, Chapter 3 of Colossians exemplifies the everyday Christian endeavor toward maturity as you and I walk in the Spirit of God living in a world claiming to have superior knowledge of spiritual things.--Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body- and be thankful.- -Col 3-15 NASB--Join us this Sunday as we receive instruction from our Lord in everyday Christian living. The practical day-today life that each of us should expect and endeavor toward as we follow our great God. Please prepare by reading the letter to the Colossians, meditating specifically on Col 3-1-17. What personal direction do you see from your Lord from this passage- How can you implement it in your daily walk before Him-

Is this the end of the age--Disciples have asked that question since the church's birth.-And our Lord's answer to His first followers remains His answer to us today.--It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But- you shall be witnesses to Me-- -Acts 1-7-8 NKJV--It is the privilege of the church to continue -all that Jesus began both to do and teach- -Acts 1-1- by deliberately and actively serving as His witnesses to a perishing world.-It is Christ's Kingdom, not man's, that is to be each believer's abiding preoccupation. Like the early disciples, we struggle to keep the kingdom of man and the kingdom of God straight in our minds. Don't you think- Our perspective either helps or hinders the church's witness to our community.-This Sunday, we'll turn to Acts 1 and reconnect with our Lord's enduring commission to His followers. I hope to see you here as we consider, -When Kingdoms Collide.-

Shallow views of God lead to shallow worship- and shallow worship is idolatry renamed.-That's why God sent His prophet Hosea to bluntly put an end to His people's religious merrymaking.--Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples, for you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love for hire on every threshing floor.- Hosea 9-1 -NKJV--To worship God truly, we must know Him as He truly is, not as we imagine Him to be- nor how we prefer Him to be in our fallen nature.-Israel imagined herself to be a nation of true worshippers, yet God exposed her idolatry.-Hosea 9 is as severe as Hosea 8 is urgent- judgment is certain for those who harbor shallow views of God's holiness, man's sin, and the personal accountability God assigns to each sinner.-But the gospel declares God's strong resolve to pull His people out of the shallows, into the joyful depths of lasting relationship with Him.-And He has done so through the loving work of His Son.-I hope to see you here Sunday as we continue our study of Hosea, -God's Loyal Love.-