Most of us are ordinary. We know all too well that our lives, our marriages, and our families fall short of the ideal. The Bible gives us a candid picture of numerous examples of people, who like ourselves, also fall short of God’s ideal. Join us as we talk about some of these families, the God whom we serve, and his overwhelming grace.

Some think the church is doomed, but not Jesus. Jesus is investing himself in the church, so that it can accomplish the purposes he gave to the church. While we at times prioritize other good things above the church (work, family), Jesus does not. His priority is the church. Can the same be said of us? Are we investing like Christ?

It’s intriguing to me that of all Luke could have included when he wrote his summary of the gospel, the story of Jesus, he included the story of these women. He left out a lot, no doubt. But he included the story of these women who ministered by giving. My hope is that somewhere in heaven there’s a book being written about us. And it’ll include the stories of us who minister by giving. Because that ministry makes a huge difference. The ministry of giving matters immensely.

This Wednesday Night class was led by Chris Altrock and his daughter Jordan. Chris shared eight ways God uses discomfort and pain to help us grow. From her recent month-long mission trip to Malawi, Jordan shared how adversity shaped the people she worked with and how it shaped her.

People are fascinated with heaven, though scripture does not tell us much about it. What we do find in Rev 21 is a guarantee that the sin, despair and suffering plaguing this earth will be no more in the new heaven and earth. This “ending” allows us to wait patiently—a virtue.

We are created to live gloriously. We are crowned with glory. Every one of us. And, at times, we live up to that potential. But the truth is that we usually don’t. We fall short. And nothing we do can make up for that. Nothing we do can absolve ourselves for that. But by faith, we can accept the free gift of Jesus. Like slaves, we’ve been freed. Like worshippers at the temple, our sin has been atoned for. Like defendants in a court case, we’ve been declared innocent. All because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

The power of the Spirit is why Jesus was who he was did what he did. The power of the Spirit is why the early church was who it was and did what it did. Think of those Christians whom you most admire. The power of the Spirit is why they are who they are and why they are capable of all they've done in their lives. If we desire to be like Jesus, like the early Christians, like those we admire the most, we must avail ourselves more and more of the power of the Holy Spirit.

You and I have received the greatest blessing from the one who died on that cross for us. It is all a gift. So don't waste that gift. I beg you do not waste the gift of God's forgiveness. But don't for a second believe that you can earn it. It is a gift. It is the gift. And it is finished.

God's in charge and his reign is expressed even more fully now through Jesus than ever before. And the invitation is to believe this good news. Believe this news that's hard to believe. Trust that once Jesus came, and died, and was raised from the dead, the rule and reign of God was unleashed in the world in a new way. Trust and believe that in Jesus and because of Jesus God's rule of justice and compassion and righteousness was marching toward an inevitable conclusion--the full and complete rule of God on earth.

God sends Jesus in this common and unassuming form so that we know we can go to him. If Jesus came as some larger than life fellow, this one who was overwhelmingly majestic and outrageously glorious, there's no way we'd ever turn to him for help. But as that tiny tree, that little root, that ignoble person, he's exactly the kind of person we unvarnished people can turn to. He's never once wandered off. But like us, there's nothing appealing about him. And I don't know about you, but I'm much more likely to turn to someone like him and admit my struggles and ask for help that I am to turn to someone who looks like the top one percent of humanity and admit my struggles and ask for help.