Easter is a shocking event. Shocking that Jesus is alive. Shocking because He didn’t jet. And shocking because His grace is real.

We can find joy in God. Not in circumstances. In God Himself. This is different from pretending we’re ok. It’s different from passively waiting until life goes our way. It’s different from seizing the moment and hustling until it’s better. We can have contact with the God who made us, and that contact itself will result in joy. So what’s stopping us?

I don’t just want to do great things. I want to be great. I want to love with abandon, to flourish in all circumstances, to have wisdom for the ages, to be a place of refuge for the weary around me. I want to be so much more than I am—can I ever get there? Yes. And here’s how.

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Main Text: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18

Simple outline:

Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard of Jesus’ desire for us to be in His presence.

This week’s main point is simple: living a spiritual life is the way to true, lasting, deep transformation.

This week, when you find yourself still doing things that you no longer want to do, remember Paul’s promise that simply being in the presence of God is transformative.

Stay connected:

Upcoming events and announcements: Good Friday, Easter, Redemption’s 5 year anniversary, and more.

We love Sundays, but our midweek HUB groups are where we become family. If you’re not in one, what are you waiting for?

New to Redemption? Here are some great ways to get connected.

Despite what you may have heard, the Kingdom of God is here. It’s among us. It’s present. And now our job is to help make it so through our lives.

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Preacher: Rebecca Harris has been part of Redemption Church for over 4 years. She has co-led our college ministry at HBU, the Vine, since 2015. She recently defended her PhD dissertation at Rice University, focused on the concept of time in Second Temple Judaism, particularly in the Dead Sea Scroll texts. She will be moving to Pennsylvania this summer to teach at Messiah College. She is married to JR, and they have two children, Lylah and Nehemiah.

Main Texts: Mark 12:34; Luke 10:8-9; Ephesians 2:1-7; 1 Corinthians 15:22-25; Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 4:20.

Living a spiritual life is a real option for you, yes you, not just super-Christians. You can talk to God. You can hear from God. Here’s what Jesus says about it.

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Main Text: John 11:38-44; John 12:23-32; John 14:12-26; Matthew 6:9-13

Simple outline:

Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard of Jesus’ desire for us to be in His presence.

This week’s main point is simple: living a spiritual life is a real option for you, yes you, not just super-Christians.

In John 11 and 12, Jesus points out His ongoing, two-way conversation with God.

In John 14, Jesus promises to give the Holy Spirit to all Christians. This Spirit will give us the same kind of conversational power.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve mentioned several spiritual disciplines to use as you try to draw near to Jesus, including this week’s praying through the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6) together. Is there one discipline that you might use this week to draw near?

Stay connected:

Upcoming events and announcements: Good Friday, Easter, Redemption’s 5 year anniversary, and more.

We love Sundays, but our midweek HUB groups are where we become family. If you’re not in one, what are you waiting for?

New to Redemption? Here are some great ways to get connected.

What’s even better than knowing that you can enter God’s presence right now? Knowing that He wants you to.

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Main Text: Luke 10:38-42; John 11:28-35; John 12:1-3; John 17:20-26

Simple outline:

In a society that so prizes busyness, it’s easy for our work for Jesus to crowd out our time with Him.

Last week we saw two sisters, Martha and Mary, one who wanted to work for Jesus and one who wanted to be with Jesus (you can listen to that sermon here).

This week, we’re tracing Jesus’ relationship with these sisters (and their well-known, resurrected brother, Lazarus) to see Jesus’ delight and desire at work—He loves them and desires to be with them.

Jesus also loves us and desires to have union with us. This is a major New Testament theme, expressed perhaps most movingly in Jesus’ prayer in John 17.

Because Jesus desires union with you, when you practice intentional spirituality, He responds.

Christian writers throughout history have catalogued useful practices for drawing near to God. You might check out Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline or Adele Ahlberg Calhoun’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. (Or works by AW Tozer, Augustine of Hippo, Teresa of Avila, Dallas Willard, Brother Lawrence, Gregory of Nyssa …)

What would it look like for you to choose the good part this week? Is there one particular discipline you might be willing to try?

Stay connected:

Upcoming events and announcements: Good Friday, Easter, Redemption’s 5 year anniversary, and more.

We love Sundays, but our midweek HUB groups are where we become family. If you’re not in one, what are you waiting for?

New to Redemption? Here are some great ways to get connected.

In the midst of whatever chaos you encounter today, remember that you have access to the presence of Jesus. For all that seems necessary today, only one thing truly is—being with Jesus. Be filled with His Spirit. Let Him sustain you.

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Main Text: Luke 10:38-42

Simple outline:

We just finished a series that challenged us to work together with Jesus, doing the things that we’d expect Him to do. (Check it out here.)

But in a society that so prizes busyness, it’s easy for our work for Jesus to crowd out our time with Him.

This is what Jesus teaches to two sisters, Martha and Mary, in this week’s main passage.

Martha is so busy and anxious that she doesn’t learn from Jesus and becomes irritated with her sister enough to gripe about her to Jesus.

Mary, on the other hand, sits at Jesus’ feet, learning from Him.

Jesus teaches that Mary has chosen the good part, and it’ll never be taken from her.

What would it look like for you to choose the good part this week?

Stay connected:

Upcoming events and announcements: Good Friday, Easter, Redemption’s 5 year anniversary, and more.

We love Sundays, but our midweek HUB groups are where we become family. If you’re not in one, what are you waiting for?

New to Redemption? Here are some great ways to get connected.

Ever want a better prayer life than you have? Want to know more intimacy with God? Here’s a place to start.

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Main Text: Luke 10:1-20

Simple outline:

When Jesus called His first disciples, He called them not only to be with Him but also to be like Him.

This week we see Jesus commission a large group of followers to do the same work He does—proclaim God’s kingdom and bring its healing, with the authority and power of Jesus.

As we’ve been asking this whole series: where might God be inviting you to join Him in bringing the hope of Jesus to this world?

Let’s use all our courage and all our creativity as we partner with God in this great task.

And yet Jesus says two things in this passage that reveal the secret to doing this successfully:

We must start by joining Jesus in praying for those around us who need the hope of His kingdom.

Our greatest privilege in this is being welcome in God’s very presence.

Keep up with this week’s announcements and events here.

Jesus shows us how to live and how to thrive. His teaching is our path to joy and peace and all we long for. It might look very different from how we imagined ‘Christian life’ would look. And yet it’s the true way, the beautiful way, the best way, the way to life. Let’s walk in it.

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Main Text: Luke 6:17-49

Simple outline:

When Jesus called His first disciples, He called them not only to be with Him but also to be like Him. (You can listen to the first two sermons of this series that explain this here.)

This week we see what it looks like to follow Jesus, to do the work of Jesus, to represent Jesus in the world.

Jesus’ perspective is upside down of ours and the world’s.

Jesus says to love our enemies—it’s what God does, even to the ungrateful and evil.

Jesus says not to judge.

Jesus expects His way to be impactful. If we’ll live this way, we’ll see results.

So will we do it? If we call Him “Lord, Lord!” then let’s do what He says.

Keep up with this week’s announcements and events here.

Want more of Jesus? Let’s go to where He is—with the sick, the poor, the hurting, the helpless, and the unholy. He’s called us to join Him in His work of redemption. Will we?

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Main Text: Luke 5:27-32

Simple outline:

When Jesus called His first disciples, He called them both to be with Him and also to be like Him. (This was last week’s main point. You can listen to that sermon here.)

This week we see that Jesus’ work is to be among the sick, the unholy, the people who aren’t expected to be close to God.

So no matter who we are—Jesus is here for us. Unholy? Jesus will make you holy.

And then, if we’re going to live into our calling of being like Jesus, we need to be where Jesus is—with the sick, needy, downtrodden, and unholy. He loves them. We must too.