The point of fasting is to change our schedules and desires in such a way that we find delight and joy in God's presence; that we find true life through Jesus. He is the source of life and when we feast on Him, then we will truly find life and find it to the full. Just as we have made a disciplined plan to fast, we must also create a disciplined plan to feast on God, to engulf ourselves in His Word and Presence. There is a lot in our lives that can easily demand our time and focus, which is why it requires a pre-decision to create space to feast. In this sermon, Pastor Matt outlined his method of feasting on God, called "prowling." Here is his acronym: P – Place to pray R – Reading plan O – Observe something new W – Write down thoughts L – Listen in solitude

In the second week of "Crave" Pastor Matt began by asking the question why. Why do we crave the things that we do? Why do we crave sex, why do we crave a second helping of food, why do we crave the approval of others, why do we crave to dress a certain way, or why we crave to have our house look a certain way? Why do we crave for our sports team to win? Why do we crave that kind of job or that good of a grade? The bottom line answer to these questions is this: we desire what we experience and enjoy or what we see others experiencing and enjoying. In short, our desires are shaped by what we see and experience.

The danger of grace is “understanding it in your mind but not believing it in your heart.” We can understand grace intellectually yet not believe in grace emotionally and relationally. And when this happens, grace becomes a license towards complacency, sin and satisfying our fleshly cravings.

The Father sends the Son. The Son sends the Spirit, The Spirit empowers us to be incarnational missionaries. Which means...to “Put On” Jesus and represent him being his hands, his feet and his voice in our world within your normal rhythms of life.

This Sunday, Matt preached on how Jesus intersects and invades the dark circumstances of our lives with power and redemption. In this story, we learn how Jesus knows your circumstances; he truly knows and understands your circumstances, especially when they are difficult. Jesus gets and invades our difficult circumstances.

In the first Sunday of Advent, Pastor Matt preached on the need for rescue. There is a sense of anticipation for Christmas, as we seek to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It truly is a great and joyous time that completely changed our lives and the course of this world. But the greatness and joy of Christmas only makes sense when we understand our real need, and the world's real need for Christmas. The birth of our Savior is only truly glorious in light of the recognition of our need. It's our only glorious when we come to terms with the inclination of our heart towards sin. When we recognize our need, then we can fully celebrate the hope of Christmas. For that is truly what Advent is about: hope. It's a hope that doesn't come from ourselves.

In the last 6 verses, Malachi will lay out the eternal destiny of the two distinctions. Now eternity is almost impossible for the finite mind to comprehend. Most of us have trouble imagining what we'll be doing next week, let alone 50 million years from now.

As we read this passage, and consider even creating our own "scroll of remembrance" we may have a sense of fear of what actually we would remember. The list of our life could at times feel inadequate and falling short. And that's okay. It's okay because the distinction between the righteous and the wicked it not ultimately rooted in our own lives. Our lives will be littered with mistakes and corrupted by sin. If we would put our own scroll of remembrance, it would fall short. But that's okay. It's okay because the distinction between the righteous and the wicked is ultimately based on Jesus Christ.

"This passage provides the vision for our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ., as members of this Community Group, and as a part of Netcast. After the resurrection, Jesus appears to his
disciples for the last time before he ascends into heaven. In his final appearance Jesus sits down to explain to them the central meaning of the Bible and provide direction for the rest of their lives (v.45—he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures)."

So, what can we say about material blessing in the New Covenant? For us, we can say that material blessing has a specific purpose. Paul informs us in 2 Cor. 9:11 how God says, "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." Our material blessing is tagged with an outward focus. Our giving can change the way others worship.