God's work is never done, it's just one step at a time.

After a move from up north, the weekend at RISING Weekend was just what they needed.

Todd and Tracy answer the question, "what brought you back?"

You are a child of God, not because you are good, but because his grace is good. Jesus is the measure of your acceptance.

As we talked about in this past Sunday's message, "entitlement is the killer of gratitude." It is very difficult for us to appreciate and be grateful for that which we feel we are entitled to, owed, and deserve. What does God owe us? What do we deserve because of our sin? We are entitled to complete rejection by God. He should say "get away from me!" We are owed death. That is the paycheck we have earned. Yet what does Jesus offer us? He offers us grace, acceptance & forgiveness. All unmerited. All undeserved. And if we truly understood this, our response would be more like the penitent prostitute than the self-righteous Pharisee. We would welcome Jesus into our hearts and lives. As Jesus said, "he who has been forgiven little, loves little". This Thanksgiving, may we understand how much we have been forgiven for, and thus love much, and not little. May we be appreciative, grateful, and give God the love he is due.

If you were a senior in high school and your high school guidance counselor told you, "unless your GPA, your SAT and ACT scores, your extra-curricular activities, your letters of recommendation, your resume all surpass that of the class valedictorian, you will certainly not get into college", what would you have thought? That's the basic nutshell version of Jesus' most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus challenges the religious notions, beliefs & practices of his day. Jesus' point being that we cannot make ourselves righteous enough to be accepted into God's kingdom. It's impossible! We need help. We need a Savior, which is why out of God's great love and mercy, God sent us just that! It is through Jesus, and Jesus alone, that we are made righteous in God's sight, and thus acceptable. Jesus is our way into heaven.

This past Sunday we saw Jesus extend the boundaries of his "ex-oo-see-ah" as he boldly declared before the Pharisees and teachers of the law that he has the power, the weight, and the authority to forgive sins on earth. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing Jesus' "ex-oo-see-ah", verified by Jesus' clear miracles, and becoming disciples of Jesus, the religious leaders of Jesus' day were instead threatened by the potential loss of their "ex-oo-see-ah", and thus sought reasons to accuse Jesus, charge Jesus, find fault with Jesus, defame & dismiss Jesus. This is the path of the Pharisees: vehemently, if necessary violently, oppose anyone who threatens your power, weight & authority. Unfortunately this is the path many follow today, especially in the politically charged and divided culture we find ourselves in today. Don't listen, just scream and rant and rave and find fault, whether there is fault to be found or not, in those who disagree with you. Is this the path we are supposed to tread as followers of Jesus? Who do you want to follow? Do you want to be a Pharisee? Or do you want to be a sheep? As the song goes, "I don't want to be a Pharisee, because a Pharisee ain't fair you see, I don't want to be a Pharisee." My hope and prayer is we would choose to follow Jesus, that we would be his sheep, following his example and his lead, even if it's a more difficult path. That we would be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control, in a world that so often seems out of control. May we shine a different kind of light!

We had the chance to create an event where we brought our international missions partners to church and gave them the opportunity to share their vision and mission with the greater church body. It was such a blessing to have these 'workers' in the same room with us, sharing what God has called them to do.

Is Jesus afraid of our mess? Does Jesus run away from us and our sin as if we were untouchable lepers? If we will just humble ourselves before Jesus and ask him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus is willing, and will not only heal us, but is willing to touch our area of pain & infection. So what strongholds and lies of the enemy need to be eradicated from your heart and soul? What areas of infection do you need to turn over to Jesus, knowing that the Great Physician is the only one with the power, weight & authority to make you well?

Our prayer as a church body is, "Lord, undo me, as I pursue thee, for you are worthy!" We can be joyful and worship God in spite of our circumstances because we are not victims, we are victors in Christ. Everything has been won for us in Jesus. Our future is secure. We have an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade!