Echoing Jesus’ teaching, the Apostle Paul instructs us to go beyond bearing with one another’s weaknesses and actively seek to build one another up. Pastor Alex offers us some practical advice throughout this encouraging message, beginning with: be formed by the Scriptures even as Jesus was.  In the course of our spiritual formation, we lean […]

This week, our series continues with a deep dive into a crucial five-verse passage that is dense and challenging. We look at how one can be strong in faith. There are practical considerations for how Christians of strong, and weaker, faith are supposed to live with their brothers and sisters in ways consistent with God’s […]

This week, we continue our series in the first half of Romans 14. This passage contains some hard truths about what should happen when Christians disagree. Paul acknowledges that there are many actions and behaviors that are not inherently sinful or wrong, but might be sinful or wrong for some people in certain circumstances. He […]

During the last two weeks of this series, we’ve looked at the first two sections of Romans 12. This week, we look at the last section and some very practical instructions that Paul gives to the Roman church.  Even though thousands of years separate us from the people in the church at Rome, Paul’s instructions […]

Paul specifies how Christians should live within a vibrant faith community. His main areas of focus?  Faith, unity, and a clear sense of self. Paul is adamant that we all are part of an organic whole, which he describes as Christ’s body. That body has one head, the Lord Jesus, but many members — all […]

Pastor Brad, unpacks the implications of Romans 12:1-2 in this stirring message, beginning with a question: What does it really mean to be a Christian? If Jesus is who the Gospels depict him to be, then that’s a really important question. Paul thought so, and he spends 11 chapters of his letter to the Romans […]

In Matthew 16, Jesus takes his disciples on a trip to Caesarea Philippi. There he questions them, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Pressing further, he asks, “Who do you say I am?” Peter replies with his now famous confession of faith, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” […]

As Pastor Alex points out, Romans chapter eight ends with a crescendo celebrating the loving faithfulness of God. It seems like a mic-drop moment, after which no more needs to be said. However, Paul is conscious that his teaching poses a serious question. If Jesus is both Israel’s Messiah and the savior of the world; […]

In the second half of chapter eight, Paul reminds us that God has adopted us into his family as his heirs. Our identity is not based on anything that we have done, but rather on what God has done and who he says we are in Him. Embracing this gift of grace means that we […]

We all have the desire to be truly free. However, as Paul has written in Romans thus far, we aren’t really free if we are living according to our sinful nature. If we want real freedom, then, as Christians, we pay attention to the Spirit who lives in us. We listen and let him lead. […]