RUF Arkansas

"I'm glad to be here with you Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things." - Frodo

This is my last talk with RUF at Arkansas (I recently took a job to be the Campus Minister at the University of Tennessee). And because I'm an enneagram 4 and melodramatic...I had to quote Tolkien from Lord of the Rings! But because of COVID-19, we had our last RUF Large Group over Zoom. Aaaaaaand... I was in my mother-in-law's bedroom for my last sermon!

Anyway, I thought to myself, What would I want my students to hear? What do I need to hear? And that's how we came to 1 Corinthians 15. Paul says that the gospel of Jesus is "of first importance." So, my beloved Arkansas students, remember the gospel.

Christ was born. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.

TEXT: 1 Corinthians 15:1-10

We continue our series entitled: "Unveiled: Following Jesus into the New World" by looking at the true story of the world.

We all love a good story. What if it's because there is a STORY behind all stories? A story where an evil Villain tries to ruin a good world. A story where a Hero comes to save the day? What if Revelation 12 is true...

"And the great dragon was thrown down..."

TEXT: Revelation 12:1-17
Special thanks for my boys Robert Cunningham and Brian Sorgenfrei.

We continue our series entitled: "Unveiled: Following Jesus into the New World" by looking at the Great Tribulation, which is accompanied by our favorite animals - the four different-colored apocalyptic horsemen and (only?) 144,000 people raising their voices to God in heaven. Yep...

Revelation starts to get crazy... There's suffering and temptation BUT there's also the blood of the lamb... What is the Great Tribulation? Could it be happening now? How does the blood from a lamb help?

"These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb..."

TEXT: Revelation 6-7

We continue our series entitled: "Unveiled: Following Jesus into the New World" by looking at the letter to the church at Laodicea. Intern Extraordinaire, James Post, explains what Jesus means when he says to the Christians at Laodicea (and to us!)...

"Because you are neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth..."

We want to be self-sufficient. We need to repent. We need Jesus.

TEXT: Revelation 3:14-22

"Why was I in such a hurry to become someone I didn't even like?" - John Mark Comer

If you feel overwhelmed, busy, anxious, or always having too much to do, come hitch yourself up to Jesus, and live life at the pace of grace, a rhythm of unhurried, intentional labor. For, the claim is, it's really hard to love people when you're in a hurry.

TEXT: Matthew 11:28-20
RESOURCE: "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry", John Mark Comer

John writes 7 letters to churches in Asia minor. Ephesus is the first church addressed and they are doing amazing things for God. They are achieving and performing, guarding doctrinal purity, laboring patiently for the gospel... 

BUT. 

They forgot something. They forgot to love Jesus. We'll discuss the reasons we often forget to love Jesus, and how this letter wants to train us to NOT forget to love.

TEXT: Revelation 2:1-7

We begin a new series entitled: "Unveiled: Following Jesus into the New World" by looking at the opening verses of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. To understand one of the most avoided, least preached on, and most misunderstood books of the Bible, we have to understand what GENRE it is. It's apocalyptic, prophetic, and a pastoral letter. You get this wrong, you get the whole book wrong, and you miss what God is trying to tell you.

Special love to my man-crush Robert Cunningham.

TEXT: Revelation 1:1-8

We finish our semester with a 2-part sermon series based on David Zahl's book, "Seculosity." We often try to find value and meaning in horizontal, earthly things, rather than vertical, heavenly things. We will look at busyness and romance.

"You complete me." Tom Cruise's iconic phrase from Jerry McGuire is the anthem of our culture's belief regarding romance. But is it possible to find one person who will complete us? This week we look at the longing we have for romance, the dangers of romance, and the God of romance in the story between Jacob, his two wives (Leah and Rachel), and the crazy road to creating their family. Get ready: this section of Scripture is unfiltered and intense - just like romance. 

TEXT: Genesis 29:30 - 30:24

We finish our semester with a 2-part sermon series based on David Zahl's book, "Seculosity." We often try to find value and meaning in horizontal, earthly things, rather than vertical, heavenly things. We will look at busyness and romance. 

"How are you?" You get asked that multiple times a day. Most likely, you respond with some form of "Well, busy as always." But is this the way we are supposed to live our lives? Jesus offers us a way out. Martha is busy and stressed. Mary sits at Jesus' feet. Jesus commends Mary. In this episode we look at the expectations our culture places on us to live stressed-out, busy lives, it's devastating effects on us, and how we can receive the rest of Jesus in our busyness. 

TEXT: Luke 10:38-42

We begin a new series this Fall entitled, "Questions from Jesus: Invitations to Grow." Jesus' first recorded words was a question (only 12 years old in Luke 2:50!). In the gospels he asks almost 300 questions! Why? Questions stretch us and force us to deal with issues we often try to avoid. The claim of the semester is that Jesus asks us questions as invitations for us to grow - both in self-awareness of who we are and in our knowledge of God and who He is. Each week we look at a different interaction where Jesus asks someone a question. I invite you to take Jesus' questions seriously - he's asking you because he loves you and wants you to grow!

This week we see a nameless, faceless woman who has been bleeding for 12 years and is desperate to be healed. She comes to Jesus from behind and touches his garments, hoping he can heal her. We will see that this woman is desperate to be healed. Suffering has stolen her dignity. But we will also see that Jesus is desperate to find this woman because he wants to restore her dignity. Jesus wants to know you in your suffering.
TEXT: Mark 5:24-34