Restoration Living

God wants to partner with people, so He created covenants with them. Covenants are promises held by the honor of the person who made them. This is why God's covenants are so important. Unlike human pledges, which can be broken with little consequence, God's promises are entirely unconditional (a Royal Grant) or punitively conditional (Suzerain Vassal). In our last session, we looked at 2 more of the 7 major covenants God made with people: the Mosaic and the Davidic Covenants. These covenants show how God created Israel to be the nation that would lead to the restoration of the world back to God. Join us as we continue down our list and consider the Palestinian Covenant (or Land Covenant) to see how God plans to use a small territory to eventually redeem the entire planet.

God wants to partner with people, so He created covenants with them. Covenants are promises held by the honor of the person who made them. This is why God's covenants are so important. Unlike human pledges, which can be broken with little consequence, God's promises are entirely unconditional (a Royal Grant) or punitively conditional (Suzerain Vassal). In our last session, we looked at the 3 of the 7 major covenants God made with people: the Adamic, the Noahic, and the Abrahamic Covenants. These covenants explain why the world and humanity are the way they are in our fallen, sinful states. Join us as we consider the next two covenants God made with the nation of Israel and King David to see God's plan for fixing that problem.

In our culture, making promises takes work. Trusting someone to keep their word can be challenging, so we require something in return. It may be collateral that we return when the promise is kept or interest charged until a loan is repaid, but because people are hard to trust, we have difficulties believing they will keep their word. Thankfully, God does not break His promises. When He says He will do something, we can trust Him to do it faithfully. In the Bible, God makes numerous promises to His people. But there are 7 big ones we call covenants where God does something that impacts everyone as a result of it. These 7 covenants are the bridges between God's past promises and His future faithfulness. Join us as we start our consideration of these covenants by looking at the Adamic Covenant, the Noahic Covenant, and the Abrahamic Covenant.

It's nice being a member of an organization because memberships always bring perks. It may be discounts on purchases, access to opportunities, or even a form of pride that we show off to others. What can easily be confused with membership, however, is relationship. When I have a relationship with someone, it has perks as well. But the purpose of the relationship is not the bonuses it sometimes gives; it is the person we are connected to. As Jesus finished His teachings in what we call the Sermon on the Mount, we will see that in God's Kingdom, there is a vast difference between membership and relationship. God doesn't want us to simply be members of a church community, He wants us to have a relationship with Him that lasts for eternity.

It is easy to say something about yourself, but it is harder to prove it. I can tell someone I'm a marathoner, but what if they never see me running? There are always external actions that overflow from our internal identity. This is one of the great truths of life that Jesus wants His followers to know and apply. Join us as we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount to see what Jesus had to say about the kind of fruit our lives should produce if we are truly seeking His Kingdom.

Prayer is a difficult thing for many people. Some revert to the old King James English when they pray, and others love to repeat God's name repeatedly. Others feel they must say fancy and eloquent words, while some are so afraid to pray that they don't. Then, there is the trouble of feeling like we "have" to pray. We may not say it out loud, but we think that if we don't pray, God will stop loving us. Lastly, some pray, believing God is their genie, and constantly seek after selfish things. While there is nothing wrong with praying for the things we want, if our desires do not match God's desires, we cannot expect God to give us everything we ask for. The answer to all of this is relationship. Our relationship with Heavenly Father gives a balance between our desire for what we want with our passion for what God wants. Join us in this episode as we learn how our persistence in prayer shows our faithfulness to God.

Everyone enjoys a great love story. Whether it is a 'rom-com' movie, a Shakespearian play, a dramatic TV show, or a tear-jerking novel, we are always captivated by the power of love to overcome any obstacles. As Christians, we spend most of our spiritual lives focused on Christmas and Easter. These are certainly two of the most pivotal points in time for our faith, but there is so much more God has to show us about His great love story for us. Like maps of the Earth before the westward travels that discovered the "New World," our view of our faith is missing some very important pieces. Sadly, most Christians will never hear this story because it isn't taught in most church communities. Join us for this special Easter message as we look at the big picture of God's plan for humanity to not just forgive our sins but to restore us back to members of God's family once again.

It happens to us all at some point in life; we think we hear or understand something only to find out later we had it all backward. Usually, this leaves us feeling frustrated, confused, or even outright angry. It can cause us to forget important things, lose precious time, or even miss our chance at once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. As we celebrate Palm Sunday, we usually focus on how the crowds celebrated Jesus as the king who had come to save them. Sadly, their misunderstanding of Scripture and God's plan for salvation led them to quickly go from supporters to scoffers. Join us for this special Palm Sunday message as we work to ensure that we do not fall into the same trap as Jesus' followers did by being careful to twist our beliefs to fit the Scriptures rather than twist the Scriptures to fit our beliefs.