Redeemer Fellowship Johnson County

The Person, the promises, and the power of Jesus offer us a steadfast hope even in the face of death. In John 11, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." It is a declaration that he has brought for the age of resurrection life and offers the promise of physical resurrection and spiritual resurrection (from spiritual death to spiritual life) to all who believe in him. He has secured that for us in his death and resurrection. And his resurrection of Lazarus serves as a paradigm and example of what he will one day do for us. A day is coming and it is a real day when Jesus will stand over the graves of those who believe in him and call us forth to a physical, eternal life in his presence! This hope is able to silence our fears now, and stir our hope for the future!

As God does the work of drawing us away from the enslaving realities that we have known and lived in--our sin, our stories, our past, our wounds--the unknown road ahead feels dangerous and lonely. In Exodus 13 we see the necessity of reminding ourselves about God’s great promises in uncertain times. We see that the God who leads his people by pillars of cloud and fire is always present with us as he leads us away into the wilderness. This is the work which Christ came to do! In fact, one of the most comforting realities for us as Christians is the comforting presence of God. Yet when we are faced with uncertainty our fear seems more present to us than the God who is with us, leading us, guiding us, protecting us. May we recognize his nearness and live as a people of his presence!

The people of God are often described as exiles — wilderness wanderers whose hearts are being drawn away and purified from the things of this world and prepared to meet our bridegroom. Hosea 2 gives us a look into how God uses the wilderness in leading his people — showing how he strips away the things that enslave us, meets with his people, and brings ultimate transformation.

As the situation with COVID-19 changes seemingly by the hour, this week we hosted our first online worship service. Pastor Kevin updates the church regarding what's happening, what Redeemer fellowship is doing, and what he believes God is inviting us into as a church during this season.

The Bible declares to us that marriage is a gift from God through which he allows human beings to bear witness to and display the mystery of the good news of his love to us in Christ. Therefore the goal of marriage is to bear witness to the essence of the living God AND ultimately bear witness to the story of redemption he has planned and is accomplishing to all of creation. This means that we do not get to redraw lines and give fresh interpretation of marriage based on cultural norms. The purpose, participants, and the practice of marriage are dictated to us by God alone.

In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul addresses what appears to be a list of questions the Corinthians have sent him (1Cor. 7.1).

In this passage specifically, Paul addresses confusion among the Corinthians related to the nature of the body and the realities of sex. Thought obviously not exhaustive, we experience a wealth in this passage of what God has to say about sex. In this sermon, Pastor Kevin invites us to consider the implications of what God says about sex in terms of what this says about us as humans and what this says about God.

Kevin’s hope, he states early on, is two-fold: (1) We would hear what God says about sex and find freedom; (2) We would hear what sex says about God — namely, the fact that God pursues his people with a zealous, intimate affection that sex can only point to— and be overwhelmed by the love of God.