Every Kingdom has a king. We cannot serve two masters. Matthew 8:5-13 records Jesus asking a Roman Centurion, "Shall I come and heal?" The Centurion encounters Jesus and shifts his allegiance from Caesar's Empire to Jesus' Kingdom. If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not. If Jesus is Lord, all else becomes infinitely second, and it is for our greatest gain.

An encounter with Jesus is an encounter with the kingdom. In this series, we will look at 10 encounters with Jesus in Matthew 8-9. This sermon examines a leper's encounter with Jesus which leaves him forever changed and restored to life, society and worship.

Mike Potter brings us a message from Romans 8:1-17, encouraging us as those who live life in the Holy Spirit.

Jesus reveals God's posture towards those who resist and reject him as one of sorrow rooted in compassion. In Matthew 23:37-39, Jesus laments Jerusalem, expressing his longing to have gathered them up like a Hen does her chicks under her wings. Our sin is God's sorrow. His posture towards us is one of protection more than punishment.

By God's resurrection of Jesus from the dead, a new people, telling a story of God's new world has come into being. We proclaim the manifold wisdom of God through our diversity and our way of life. Ephesians 3:10

He is Risen! God is faithful and Jesus is Lord. We tend to worship the Jesus made in our own image. Jesus challenges us and our expectations of him. He is Lord.

The resurrection is the origin and source for resurrecting power in our lives and in the world. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead breaks the power of sin and death and empowers us for new creation mission in the world! The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is in us (Rom. 8:11)!

God is with us in every season of our life, even when everything is not fine. The Psalms give us language to put our pain to speech. Psalms of disorientation, or lament, are bold and honest speech that give us permission to speak honestly about our pain, doubt and suffering to God. Jesus suffers ahead of us, for us and with us.

This is a message given on March 27, 2017, at Foothills Fellowship in Albuquerque, NM, following the unexpected death of Auline Platt a dear wife, sister, mother, and friend. Today, March 2, 2018 is her 51st birthday. We pray it continues to bring comfort and hope in the midst of grief, suffering and death.

In the face of great need, Jesus takes the little we have and does more than we can think or imagine. In Matthew 15:29-39, Jesus reveals God to be full of compassion, fundamentally positioned against death, sickness, hunger and disease, multiplying life and fulfillment through the meager resources of his disciples.