Storefront Church

Today we explore both a commandment and a calling. At the surface, it’s about honesty—but underneath, it’s about something deeper: whether we’re willing to live in reality—with others, with ourselves, and with God. Listen to the latest in our series on the Ten Commandments. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Like murder and adultery, most of us don’t think of ourselves as “thieves.” And yet, we all have ways of taking, withholding, and justifying. We don’t just break the commandment, we reinterpret it.

Today, as we consider the Eighth Commandment, we ask: When does your heart decide the rules don’t apply to you?

We said last week that some commandments we think we understand, and others we don’t. Certain commandments we assume are really for other people. The Seventh commandment might feel like one of those. But it’s not. Whether you’re married or single, this commandment is for you.

When we look at the Commandments, some make sense, some confuse us, and some confront us immediately. But there are a few we tend to feel relatively “safe” around—like we might actually move through life and keep them. The sixth commandment is near the top of that list, but are you sure you haven’t broken this command?

Luke 12:1-12

If Easter is true, our assumptions about reality need to change. We functionally assume: Death is final, that Power wins, and that Time is the eraser of all things. Bodily resurrection, however, means that Life can come out of Death, Weakness can defeat Power, and Hope can come from the most unlikely of places.  Easter means there is always more to the Story.

For John, Palm Sunday is Passion Sunday. John makes it unmistakably clear, that “ This is the moment when everything begins to move toward the cross— the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

Which means what looks like a coronation… is actually the beginning of a crucifixion.

John 12:12-36 

When God calls Israel to honor Fathers and Mothers, God is speaking to our first identity—as sons and daughters—and saying that at every stage of life, we are to honor our parents. For some of us, that feels natural. But for others… it feels impossible. What do you do when God commands you to honor someone who has both given you life… and deeply disappointed you? Exodus 19:1-11

In God’s original design, we were made to work with God and rest in God. But in a fallen world, and in our fallen condition, our relationship to both is broken. We mismanage our emotions, mismanage our relationships, mismanage our time, because we’ve mismanaged our relationship to Him.

Worship is one of the natural things human beings do, but right worship is one of the most challenging things we’ll ever do. Why is that? Because right worship comes about through revelation. Listen and discover why the second command is so helpful.

Exodus 20:1-4

You can hang a sign on a wall, but you cannot force a heart to love. We live in a world that feels like it has too many laws, yet we never seem to have enough to fix the human condition. What are we to do? Join us for our Lenten Series on the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 1:1-3