Close your eyes. Well not yet. Finish this first paragraph then close your eyes. Keep them closed and go back to doing whatever it was you were doing before. Well, not if it will hurt you or anyone else. Be responsible. You’re an adult.

How did that go for you? Unless you were already taking a nap or listening to music, the darkness got in the way, it probably completely frustrated whatever you were doing. It could have even been dangerous. Power tools? Butcher knives? Driving? The darkness severely limits you, even makes you dangerous to yourself and others.

This week we get another glimpse of the future, of the coming Kingdom, when Jesus employs the rich biblical metaphor of light and darkness. Do you feel limited, even threatened by the darkness inside you, or the darkness looming around you? Jesus grabs the attention of the crowd during the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem and announces, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The darkness in us and in the world around us will not have the final word. The light of the world is here. Like that crowd 2000 years ago, Jesus will speak to us this Sunday and as the light of the world he will lovingly expose us for our good, then renew us and finally send us out to reflect his light into the lives of others.

I can’t wait to worship together.

Pastor David

If you could get a glimpse of the future what would you want to see? If you did how might that change what you do today?

This Sunday we move into John chapter seven. Over the last weeks we walked through the first six chapters of John in a series called “Beauty and Belief”. We have seen that the apostle John wants to show us the beauty of Jesus and encourage us to believe, to entrust our lives to Jesus.

Starting this Sunday we begin a new series that will cover John 7 to 11, “Glimpses of the Kingdom.” We will focus on the glimpses Jesus gives us, though his teaching and actions, of what the Kingdom will be like when he returns. However, this series is not just about the future. We will also see how those aspects of the kingdom are breaking in to our reality even now. Each week we will ask what the kingdom will be like when Jesus returns, but also how we can see that kingdom reality now and how we can show that aspect of the kingdom in our neighborhoods. Below is an outline of the series:

The End of Thirst – John 7 – April 27th
The End of Darkness – John 8 & 9 – May 4th
The End of Oppression – John 10 – May 11
The End of Death – John 11 – May 25th
Our vision of the future shapes our lives now. May we know what is coming, see what is already here today, and show forth that beautiful reality to those around us.

I can’t wait to worship together this Sunday and glimpse the future.

Pastor David

Have you ever seen a sunrise? The darkness of night chased away by explosions of color. Easter is a celebration where the darkness of death is chased away by the bursting forth of new life.

If our Easter service is the sunrise, our Maundy Thursday service tonight is the darkness before the dawn. Maundy Thursday is a beautiful and solemn service that will focus your mind and grip your heart. After singing, silence, and a short meditation on John 13, we take the Lord’s Supper, prayerfully and seated at tables. For many this is one of the most powerful and rich communion experiences. At the conclusion of the service, the communion tables are ceremonially stripped and we leave in silence and darkness. Symbolically this darkness and silence is broken with the shout of “He is risen!” at the opening of our Easter worship service.

See you tonight (April 17th) at 8:00pm for our Maundy Thursday service and then this Sunday for our Easter worship service at 10am.

I can’t wait to worship together.

Pastor David

Jesus is a very odd sort of King. He is simple, yet complicated. His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday 2,000 years ago reminds us that he is not the King we expected, but he is the King we needed.

Jesus at times can be easily understood, and yet, at other times be easily misunderstood. This Sunday, Palm Sunday, we will study a passage where three different groups of people understand but also misunderstand Jesus. It will feel normal to relate to each of these groups as they understand/misunderstand Jesus. Our goal for the morning will be to acknowledge that Jesus is not confused about his identity and mission, he is greater than we imagine and is in control. As a response, we then must learn how to trust in him daily, even in the midst of our confusion.

As you prepare for this Sunday, may you also remind yourself that next week is Holy Week. Please take the opportunity to invite a family member or friend to our Maunday Thursday and Easter services by forwarding them the invite you received earlier this week.

I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday!

Adam Feichtmann
Assistant Pastor

God loves to be in the presence of his people, the church! This is all the more amazing when we realize that the church, every single one of us, is made up of God’s former enemies. Yet God pursued us in love and won us back.

God knows us from top to bottom; nothing is hidden from his sight. But don’t try to run and hide. Rejoice! Psalm 87 show us that God delights to be with his people. He loves us now and is transforming us into the people he made us to be, the people we long to become.

This Sunday Rev. Bryce Hales, the RUF campus minister at the University of Utah, will be preaching from Psalm 87.

I can’t wait to worship together.

Pastor David

The Lord’s Prayer, most of us have it memorized and recite it often. This prayer that Jesus taught his disciples is rich with meaning and sets forth a wonderful example and pattern for us to pray in weekly worship, as families, with friends, and by ourselves. However, from time to time it is worthwhile for us to pause and remind ourselves of the truths that are placed in the preface and each of the six petitions.

This Sunday we will have the joy to pause and look at the preface and first petition found in Matthew 6:9, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” We will recognize our need for God as our Father, the significance of Him being in heaven, and the applications of hallowing his name.

In preparation for Sunday, read and pray through the Lord’s Prayer a few times, and as you do so, pause and spend time reflecting over the richness and depth of truth found in the preface and each petition in a way that might be lost when you often recite this prayer on a regular basis.

I look forward to worshiping with you on Sunday!

Adam Feichtmann
Assistant Pastor

You are what you eat. Our bodies are constructed out of the nutrition we get from our food. Think of what you had for dinner last night. Right now your body is reducing that food into its essential components and absorbing it into your cells. You are built out of the food you eat.

We will finish our look at John 6 this Sunday. Jesus is speaking to a crowd in a synagogue in Capernaum. He tells them that “the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” and that his “flesh is true food” and that his “blood is true drink.” The crowd erupts in confused revulsion. What is behind this odd image of eating flesh and drinking blood? How are we even supposed to eat Jesus’ flesh?

This Sunday we will look at these questions and others, as Jesus points us to the nourishment that we need. You are what you eat, so Jesus gave us himself.

I can’t wait to worship together.

Pastor David

No matter what your work might be, whether you are a stay at home mom, a professor, surgeon, or gardener, your work is more of a witness than you might realize. The Kingdom of God is on display in our work. Do you understand how the Spirit empowers you for this vital kingdom witness?

Dr. Vincent Bacote is our men’s retreat speaker this weekend and will be preaching at Redeemer on Sunday. He is an Associate Professor of Theology and the Director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. He is the author of the The Spirit in Public Theology: Appropriating the Legacy of Abraham Kuyper (2005), and has contributed to books including On Kuyper (2013), Aliens in the Promised Land (2013), Keep Your Head Up (2012) and Prophetic Evangelicals (2012). He is a regular columnist for Comment (wrf.ca/comment) and has also had articles appear in magazines such as Books and Culture, Christianity Today, Think Christian and re:generation Quarterly, and journals such as Christian Scholars Review, Urban Mission and the Journal for Christian Theological Research. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Christian Ethics. He resides in the Chicago area with his family.

Dr. Bacote’s message on Sunday will aim at expanding our view of witness to include not just how we build bridges to others through our extra-church activities (and particularly work life) but also how what we do with those many hours a week are laden with the potential for kingdom witness empowered/enabled by the Spirit.

A message we all need to hear. I can’t wait to worship together.

Pastor David

Where does confidence come from? In the face of rejection, in the face of being misunderstood, questioned, and doubted how can we maintain true confidence?

Last week in John 6 we focused on the first portion of Jesus’ dialogue with the crowds in Capernaum. It’s true, what Jesus offers them and us is bigger and better than we could imagine. Yet the crowd does not trust Jesus. They don’t believe him. They don’t like the way God is doing things and they grumble, they complain. Have you ever felt that way?

Take a moment to reflect on the current circumstances of your life. Where are you complaining, or at least tempted to complain, about how God is doing things? Be honest. He already knows. Jesus wants to lovingly move us from complaining to confidence.

Confidence is possible, even in the areas where we struggle the most with complaining. Jesus invites us to feast on the bread of life and live with confidence. Where else would we go?

I can’t wait to worship together.

Pastor David

Hunger. Fortunately, most of us do not have direct experience with the fear and anxiety of not knowing where our next meal is coming from. However, many people today and throughout history have, and all of us can at the least begin to imagine it. Hunger is a powerful metaphor. Where do you feel like you are starving? Where do you feel like you don’t have the resources or energy to carry on?

We all hunger for a life that will matter and that will last. Jesus hones in on this powerful image of hungering for true life and tells a crowded synagogue in Capernaum, and us today, that he is the bread we need; he is the source of the life we long for. Jesus announces that God is satisfying our hunger with life that will last. Then he calls us eat the bread of life and live.

Come hungry this Sunday. Jesus is ready to feed us the bread we need, but he only feeds the hungry.

Pastor David