This week we start a new sermon series focusing on the book of Acts. We're starting with Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. It was a seminal moment for the early Christian church. A large crowd had gathered. Everyone was curious about this group of Jesus' disciples. What does Peter say? Exactly what you'd expect. He preaches about Jesus, about sin and grace, about the stubbornness of humanity and the unstoppable plan of God.

The resurrection of Jesus sounds too good to be true. It sounds a little far-fetched. That's what the Corinthians were starting to think in 55 AD when Paul wrote this letter. But in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul begins his defense of the resurrection of Jesus. He shows us first that the resurrection is a reality. Then he shows us the incredible results it has for our lives as it reshapes our identity.

It's not hard to see ourselves in this Good Friday narrative. We are just like the people two thousand years ago. Things haven't really changed. We are still focused on ourselves. Our own wants, our own needs, our own desires. Meanwhile, on the cross, Jesus is focused on the needs of others and the will of his Father in heaven. Through his perfect sacrifice, the work of our salvation is finished. Our debt is paid. Through Jesus, God looks at us, and he calls us good.

What would you do with unlimited power, wealth, or influence? It's fun to imagine what that would be like, but for us, that's where it ends. In our imagination. For Jesus, it's reality. He has unlimited power and influence, and what Paul shows us in Philippians 2 is that he used that status not for his own advantage, but for ours.

Have you ever gotten your hopes up just to have them come crashing down around you? That's what happened to the woman in this story. She finally got the son she had hoped for, but then he tragically died. What we see in this story is how God raises our hopes above the things of this life to the eternal hope and eternal life he won for us at the cross.

Sometimes it feels like God is far away, especially in our times of need. That's how the Israelites were feeling, and in response, they turned a deaf ear to God's Word and closed their eyes to his goodness. But God wouldn't let their stubbornness get in the way of his grace. He promised to turn the darkness into light and their blindness into sight. Through Christ, he does the same for us, assuring us that he will never forsake us.

This week we continued our series for Lent called Exactly What I Need. What we learn we need in this reading from John 4 is Living Water. Jesus provides the living water we need that refreshes our souls.

Abraham is a hero of our faith. It took a lot of faith for him to leave his homeland behind and travel to a new land when he was 75 years old. How do we get faith like that? What we'll see as we look at this story is that faith in God's promises comes from God's promises. We are blessed by God's promises to overcome doubt and adversity and to be a blessing to others.

After a long renovation process, we are finally able to worship in our new building! It's an awesome place! But the question we ponder in this sermon is, "Why?" What is it that makes it so awesome? In order to answer that question, we look at another awesome place. A place called Bethel, where Jacob had an experience that teaches us about the unexpected presence and undeserved love of God.

God is coming to do something about all the injustice and evil in the world. Isaiah makes that clear. He is coming to bring justice. But is that good news for us or bad news? It depends on which side of God's justice you're on. Because of our Redeemer, we know that for us, God's justice means salvation and life.