Our faith isn't in lifeless principles. Our faith is in a living God, who's been seen on earth, who lived, who died, who resurrected, and who's still available to us today. Talk to Him. Relate to Him. Share with Him. Enjoy Him. Have fellowship with Him!

Main Text: 1 John 1:1-4; John 2:1-11

Outline:

Being God's children means we're His family—so how do we act like His family?

One key way is having fellowship with Him and each other.

We have fellowship with God: living in constant awareness of His presence

We have fellowship with each other: living in joyful mutuality, as sons and daughters who carry God's Holy Spirit

And we want more and more: inviting others into this radically inclusive family

When we begin to see God as our Good Father, we realize we can run to Him, even when we're at our worst. He's already seen our worst, and yet He's really going to forgive us. Won't you turn to Him right now?

Main Text: 1 John 3:19-24; John 7:53-8:11

Outline:

Being God's children means we're His family—so how do we act like His family?

One key way is we trust Him as our Father. We confess and repent.

He hates our sin, and wants to free us from it

He forgives us, even at our worst

So we can always run to Him for help

(Should John 7:53-8:11 be in our Bibles? Yes. Here's our blog that tries to explain why.)

Because God is our Father, we are now brothers and sisters. This profound truth transformed the world of the early church—and it will ours too if we'll let it.

Radically inclusive. Hope for absolutely anyone. Houston, TX

Life can give us many reasons to turn back from Jesus, whether it's because we don't think we need Him or don't think we can trust Him. So let's start our 2018 with a resolution to continue hoping in Him. This hope will anchor our souls and will allow us to press on in enthusiastic pursuit of being with Him.

Main Text: Hebrews 6:9-20

Outline:

6:9-11: The Creator always remembers the Created

6:12-16: The Created must remain faithful

6:17-20: God's hope is our anchor through faith

The world still has a lot of hurt and brokenness, but there’s hope. The King really is coming to finish the fight against darkness. He really is going to destroy death once and for all, and everything in creation will be set right. The best part is that the battle has already started, and we can already see little cracks in the darkness as the light starts breaking through.

Main text: Psalm 110

Outline:

The King is coming!

Who is being conquered?

The powers of sin and death

How will the King conquer them?

Jesus is a new kind of priest, so he will also be a new kind of conqueror

Revelation 5:1-10: What does this conqueror look like?

The King is already here!

Jesus is fighting death even now

1 John 2:8: the light is already shining

Let’s live like we believe this new kingdom is near, and make more cracks in the darkness

God's plan to fix the world through Jesus will actually and fully fix the world. He's bringing shalom, restoring life, harmony, wholeness, and joy to the entire universe. He's making things the way they ought to be, and He's already started.

Main text: Psalm 85

Outline:

God is coming, so shalom is coming.

The word "shalom" occurs over 250 times in the Old Testament and is usually translated as "peace".

Absence of conflict and an inner sense of well-being are only part of the concept of shalom.

Shalom has to do with universal, holistic flourishing.

Psalm 85 shows us how holistic and universal the coming shalom will be.

Ps 85:1-7: Given that God has forgiven in the past, the psalm requests salvation again.

Ps 85:8-13: shalom is coming!

Will we live like we believe shalom is coming?

It’s all going to be ok. God is coming. It’s safe to hope. God is coming. Dry your tears. God is coming. Lift your voice, your heart, and your hands. God is coming!

Main text: Psalm 96

Outline:

Sing and rejoice! God is coming! God is coming to judge the earth!

This is even better news than if we were to go.

God’s judgment will bring justice, righteousness, and shalom.

So, really, let’s sing and rejoice. Every day in this season.

God's steadfast love is better than life. It's experientially preferable. It's truly better than anything else we could ever encounter, up to and including life itself. And beholding this greatness of God is the key to changing ourselves into the kinds of people we want to and ought to be.

Coming into contact with the profundity of God's love makes us loving people. It makes us love Him. It makes us love each other. And it can even help us love the whole world.

Main text: Psalm 63

Outline:

Psalm 63:1-2: David's existential longing leads him to encounter God.

Psalm 63:3-8: David's encounter convinces him that God's steadfast love is better than life.

Psalm 63:9-11: Even in great distress, David has realized he can count on God's steadfast love.

God is our great re-creator. Though His good creation seems hopelessly broken—is hopelessly broken—the purpose of Jesus is to redeem, restore, and re-create. There's still hope for us all.

Main text: Psalm 51

Outline:

Who are we? What do we need?

Psalm 51:1-6

Church history provides us with precious clarity about sin and grace:

Pelagius:

As God's image-bearers, we are able to do what God commands

Christ redeems us of our past sins and embodied a just way of life

We have the ability and the responsibility not to sin; we have no excuses

Augustine:

We inherit original sin from Adam (i.e. born with a sin nature) (Romans 5:12)

Jesus is the Physician who restores us to what we were before Adam’s sin – so that we are now free both to sin and not to sin

God's mercy goes before all our good works

The Council of Ephesus (431 CE) and the Synod of Orange (529 CE) condemned Pelagius' teaching and affirmed Augustine's core teaching on sin and grace

Psalm 51:7-17

Bottom Line: We're broken, but God recreates us