New Life Downtown

Contentment can feel like a moving target. How do we know when enough is enough? Yet until we are content in our hearts, we will struggle to live at peace with others. As we follow Paul's trial before Jewish and Roman authorities as it progresses this week in Acts 25, we take a closer look at how Paul was able to live at peace with others because he had learned the secret of being content. Pastor Glenn Packiam draws on two of Paul's letters written around this season of Paul's life- Romans and Philppians- to show how we can find our sufficiency in Christ and be content in every situation.

Pastor Daniel Grothe unpacks the phrases in the Lord's Prayer, helping us find the theology and the power behind these familiar words.

When everything seems lost, what gives us hope that God will sort things out and set things right? Pastor Glenn Packiam teaches from Paul's speech to Felix in Acts 24, highlighting Paul's emphatic claim that he worships the same God and has the same hope as the Jews. In other words, Paul saw Jesus not as a "Plan B" but as the culmination of the story of Israel and the fulfillment of God's covenant with them. Moreover, the resurrection, the long promised hope that God the Creator would set everything right at last, was now a certain hope because it had already happened to Jesus. This is what gives us hope today.

How should we, as followers of Jesus, think about government? Some may be turned off by an overly politicized faith and dismiss political engagement as irrelevant; others may insist that government is a key to the Kingdom advancing. Pastor Glenn Packiam unpacks Paul's interactions with two rulers in Acts 23--one Jewish and the other Roman-- to show how we must respect authorities while reminding them who the rightful Ruler of this world is. As we discover parallels between the political climate of the 1st century and our own day, we are challenged to see Jesus as God's Kingdom-bringer, the saving King and true hope of the world.

Is it possible for God to use you right where you are to speak of His grace? What if every part of your story- your strengths and your brokenness- can be woven together for 'such a time as this'? As we explore Acts 22, Pastor Glenn Packiam challenges us to see Christ as the one who calls us, prepares us and sends us out into the world each day. Even in the midst of the ordinary or the difficult moments, Christ is with us, filling us with His Spirit, sending us as witnesses to His grace. But as He does, don't be offended at God's surprising generosity to those we did not expect to be the recipients of His grace.

We have been called to participate in the "Jesus Life" by imitating- re-tracing- the life of Christ with our own life. This "Christ shape" can be seen as an "even when" kind of obedience: an obedience "even when" God warns of opposition, loved ones try to discourage us, and people misjudge us. Pastor Glenn Packiam shows how Paul embraced obedience to the Lord's will for his life even when it meant suffering because it also meant the chance to share in the "fellowship of Christ's sufferings."

Is there a difference between being "drained" and being "spent"? Is the difference related to people "taking" from us versus when we "lay our lives down" for others? In Paul's farewell speech to the Ephesian elders- leaders of the church where Paul spent the longest amount of time- he urges them to follow his example in caring for God's people. Pastor Glenn Packiam calls us to drink deeply of the "incredibly extravagant generosity of God" so that we can spend ourselves for the sake of others. Only when we see how Christ spent His life for us and for others will be able to spend ourselves. Then, instead of being drained, we will find that we have lived lives "well spent."

Many of us know that communion is important, but we're not always sure why. In fact, if we're honest, we tend to be so afraid of being superstitious (like the Medieval Church?) about it, that we tend to downplay it and emphasize "purely spiritual" ways of encountering God. Using Scripture, Church history, and compelling examples of our own need for physical "focal practices", Dr. Steven Todd explains how we can reclaim the power and the mystery of coming to the Lord's Table.

What does it mean to announce Jesus as the King? What difference does it make to make the focus of our Gospel-proclamation and demonstration the person of Christ instead of the "plan of salvation"? As Pastor Glenn Packiam teaches from Acts 19, he explores three things that result from the Kingdom arriving in Ephesus through Paul's ministry there. We see the Church being formed there as a sign of the arriving Kingdom, we see captives being set free, and we find that all other loyalties are challenged. May God bring the full force of His Kingship to bear on our lives as we surrender to Jesus the King.

In a culture that idealizes the "self-made individual", many of us feel stuck when we run out of strength. Rather then telling us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps or quit altogether, Pastor Glenn explains from Acts 18 how the Gospel challenges us to allow God to bring us strength through friendships, through His presence, and through a large and diverse community of faith. With Christ forming our identity, His word dwelling in us richly, and His Spirit filling us continually, we learn a Godly sense of dependency and embrace the end of the "hero myth."