Everyone is given an identity from someone or something else. Whatever that someone or something is, is your God. Therefore your identity is grounded in who or what you worship.

God’s sovereign grace is attached to every storm in order to work his mercy into our hearts and bring us back to himself.

Running from God is always a downward trajectory and the enemy waits with the perfect ship to take you away.

The resurrection is part of the fulcrum of the gospel; it is central to everything that Christians believe. In 1 Corinthians, Paul eloquently displays the facts and the implications of the resurrection for those who are in Christ, namely that their own resurrection is not only plausible, but inevitable!

Jesus is the promised Messiah. He is from the line of David, and here he enters Jerusalem as Israel’s true King. Here he would also die King of the Jews—this is something that he not been unaware of but had set his face towards. But he would also be raised and return as their King. The triumphal entry is Luke’s way of informing his readers that Jesus is the fulfillment of all Old Testament promises. This Jesus, in whom they believed, is truly the Son of God.

As Jesus continues in his journey towards Jerusalem, the question over who will and won’t be saved comes into focus. Jesus’ response is to strive to enter through the narrow door, i.e., to go through the difficult process of repentance. Anyone who seeks to follow Jesus without repenting and turning from his ways is following a Jesus of their own design. This is the great reversal of the kingdom of God. Those who are at table with Jesus in the great banquet will often be those whom no one expects while those who are left outside will be surprised. The question is, are you willing to repent to follow Jesus?

In 9:51-55 we see that an entire Samaritan village reject Jesus because his goal was Jerusalem and not Samaria. The troubled history between Jews and Samaritans underwrites this rejection, and since Jesus’ agenda did not match their own, they reject him. In 9:56-62 as Jesus is going on the road to Jerusalem, we learn of three people who are eager to follow him, yet Jesus presents clear obstacles in their way. These two sections are sides of the same coin. Following Jesus comes at a cost. For some it will be the cost of leaving their old life behind and for others it will be to suffer the same kind of rejection that Jesus experienced. Either way, to follow Jesus is to follow him to the cross.

As we hold our first service together in our new building, we look back upon the momentous occasion when God's people crossed into the promised land, and into all that God had prepared for them.

We were created to worship and to enjoy God as we worship him.

Every Christian is called to be a disciple, and as disciples, we grow.