Pursuing Jesus

God holds us accountable for how we deal with money. Whether we have little or much, we go through times of testing with respect to money.

 We are going through a time of testing. We can learn from those who have crossed the finish line, the saints who have gone before us in the faith, as we seek to do well in these times.

Truth is having a hard time these days. That's not a new thing. In John 18:28-40 Pilate is confronted with the truth of Jesus. He retreats into the theoretical and misses God in the process.

 Freedom is a big deal - for us and for God. God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt - so they could be his own wholly devoted servants. That theme echoes through the rest of the Old Testament and into the New. Freedom is also one of our highest American values, though we need to learn from Jesus how to do it well.

 One of the BIG THINGS in the Christian faith is love. We see an account of love laid out in 1 Corinthians 13.

 What does victory - winning - look like in church, for Christians? We get some ideas from 1 Corinthians 1:26 - 2:5.

 Jesus' strategy for Spiritual Warfare was to get "up close and personal" with sinners, with broken people, with dangerous people. We see his strategy reach its culmination on the cross.

 The weapons offered to us in the "armor of God" described in Ephesians 6 are designed to use FOR people, not AGAINST people.

 Ephesians 6 tells us who our enemy is. No person, no human, no "flesh and blood" is our enemy. "Principalities and powers, spiritual rulers and authorities; Satan and his minions: They are the enemy. In spiritual warfare we are fighting FOR people, not against them.

 We've talked about having a VISION for life in Christ, forming an INTENTION to pursue that vision, and taking up the MEANS, the practices that make that vision happen. Now the question is - will we do it? From Joshua's challenge to the Israelites and Paul's charge to Timothy, we see the call to respond to God's grace & action.