James warns against DEAD faith, DEMONIC faith and calls us to a DEMONSTRATIVE faith. Claiming belief in Jesus Christ without affection and submission is demonic. Your faith is alive, spiritual, and active when it is exercised on behalf of others.

Don’t place too much of your identity on the things of this world. Ephesians 2:6-7 (ESV) “made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

How do we have a life of impact during our time on earth? It starts with the Father – as we sit in His presence and spend time with Him we will understand more and more who He is and who we are in Him. A life of impact is also shaped by the character of God, it is fixated on the Perfect Law [Jesus Christ] and is not satisfied with empty religion!

Our joy rests on the willing sufferings of Christ. Jesus has rescued us from the foulest form of suffering, that we could be cast away from and separated from God, that we would have no way to atone for our sin, that we have no way of being healed of the abuse and shame we suffered. It was His joy to endure the cross, pain, suffering trial and shame so that He can bring us everlasting joy in the midst of temporal suffering and pain.

Brad Sarian leads Restored LA in Northridge and inspired us and equipped us to fulfill our evangelical mandate: to love Jesus and make Him known.

The word “empty” is a complicated word. It is not associated with positive things. In that moment, when Jesus’ followers found the empty tomb – it was not good news, it was confusing, mystifying even frightening. Jesus appeared in His resurrected body to His followers and taught by word and tactile touch, that He was King over the natural and spiritual world they did not understand immediately but were beginning to. Today we celebrate the historical fact of an empty tomb, we celebrate that when people arrived at find the tomb filled with the body of Jesus they found it empty! Resurrection Sunday is called so because it wasn’t just an empty space, HE WAS NOT THERE BECAUSE HE IS ALIVE!

Mercy Commons is part of a global network of churches called Advance, a movement of churches partnering together to advance the gospel by planting and strengthening churches. PJ Smyth (together in team) leads Advance and we had the privilege of having him come and teach at Mercy Commons and strengthen us as we desire to make much of Jesus.

The Church that Jesus is building is a beacon of the Good News. That there is Someone who can free you completely from the bondage self and sin, from the idols of autonomy, from the oppression of self centred and selfish living and invite you into a story full of risk, adventure joy and meaning.

What does it mean to take up your cross like Jesus asked us to do? We are not aimlessly carrying a heavy weight – we are following Jesus. We are modeling His way of life. Taking up yourself Jesus’ character and mission.

God has called His Church to play offense not defense. As we spread the hope and message of the Gospel, the Church will spread to the ends of the earth. Remember: The gates of death won't hold us back or hold us in, Our offense will look different than the world's, and The Church is not dependent on human religious performance. The Church is not dependent on human religious performance because Jesus is going to build HIS Church. Our focus is to prevail IN HIM [Jesus], by abiding in Him and as we abide in Jesus it will lead us to action to continue the spread of His Church.