Hollyview Church

After proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven on the mountain, Jesus heads down to demonstrate the power of the kingdom. The power of the kingdom is displayed by moving toward the broken, being full of compassion and offering hope. He uses the map of the temple to seek the hurting to offer a deeper hope of eternal life and forgiveness of sins.

Matthew introduces this section of scripture with the description of the proclamation of the good news of the kingdom. In God's kingdom where Jesus is king, citizens are all those who recognize their need for a savior and come to him, the covenant is being fulfilled by Jesus, this kingdom is characterized by the goodness of God. We are given a creed to say in the Lord's prayer that informs our actions as kingdom citizens. 

After Jesus passes through the waters of baptism, he is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to go through three temptations. Jesus response each time was to use the Word of God to pass the test!

Guest speaker Paul Frederick. John the baptizer heralds Jesus coming as the King of kings, God in the flesh. Jesus' surprising entrance to the scene is not with the fanfare of the powerful but by humble obedience to His Father. If Jesus our King humbles himself to serve and give his life as a ransom for many, what does it mean for us who follow Him?

Our vision informs our direction and defines our identity. Our identity motivates our mission the steps we take to accomplish our vision. At Hollyview we have 4 pillars or identities, Bride of Christ, Family of God, Body of Christ and the Church. What we do flows from who we are in Christ!

As Jesus nears the end of his ministry, He stops and prays for his disciples and those who come after them who believe on Jesus. He prays for us today. His prayer is one of vision for the church, that we would be a community in unity, caring for one another. We aim to be a worshiping community of Jesus followers!

The words from our mouth gallop out like powerful animals that bring life or destruction. Paul gives us 4 questions to ask before we let the words out. It is True? Is it beneficial? Is it the right time? Is it grace filled? If the words pass those gates we are given one more question to ask. Is it to the right person?

We spend two weeks talking about gifts the Lord has given us as we journey together this next year, forgiveness and communication. In this message we'll discover Biblical forgiveness as our example of "God in Christ forgave you".

Guest speaker Eric Wood presents Jesus fully filling the story of the Old Testament in the killing of the boys in and around Bethlehem, returning from Egypt and settling in Nazareth. We also get the great example of Joseph in the story as he "obeys right away!"

The good news of Jesus according to Matthew begins with a powerful genealogy that reveals two assertions. 1. Jesus is the coming King that has been anticipated in the Hebrew Bible. 2. His kingdom is for everyone with examples of 4 women included in the genealogy that were grafted in to the line of Jesus.