MVT: Rewind

The book of Proverbs is… well, a book of (ancient Hebrew) proverbs.  On one hand, they are accessible and easy to understand, since they are stand-alone sayings and are a literary form we’re used to.  But how are we supposed to read/understand/apply them as God’s word?  (or, what does this have to do with Jesus?)

Brandon walks us though 1 Corinthians and explores why the Church is for us, but the Church is not about us.
View The Bible Project Illustration to 1 Corinthians here. 

Mark takes us on a wild ride through Ephesians with six mini sermons! 

The “book of Romans” is often read as a theological treatise, but it was written as “a letter to the church in Rome” — a diverse church whose members are struggling to follow Jesus together in harmony.  Paul addresses this by calling them back to the gospel.

In this new series, Course Corrections, we are looking at letters Paul wrote to a number of New Testament Churches. In Galatians, we see where these new followers of Jesus were persuaded to believe a different version of the gospel… one that required them to add something additional to grace. Here, Paul is pointing out the dangers of trying to earn grace versus receiving grace. Paul gives them (and us) and stern but loving reminder that grace is all we need.

We don’t have to walk in our loneliness alone. We can choose to push back against the lie that there is no one that fully knows us. Jesus wants to be our friend - and not only that, but He fully understands what difficulty and trials each of us have experienced. Closeness with Jesus may not fully remove our sense of loneliness, but it will help us realize the truth that we are never alone.

“Shared joy is double joy. Shared sorrow is half the sorrow.” 

This may be true, but so often we feel like sharing our sorrow just doubles our sorrow. Pain is one of the most significant enemies of friendship. In our suffering, it becomes so much easier to believe that no one else will understand or can understand us. But so often, it’s through vulnerability that we find healing. As we explore Jesus’ presence with us in our pain, and our need for others, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you courage.