Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.” Isaiah calls Jesus the “Prince of Peace.” And when Christ was born, the angel announced that this poor baby from Nazareth who would be God’s King signified, “Peace on earth and goodwill to all people.” Why then is peace so elusive? […]

We know love when we see it in action. We know when we feel it, but still, love is notoriously difficult to define precisely. That difficulty is compounded when we consider the love of God. How can a good and all-powerful God, who supposedly loves us and the world we live in (John 3:16), allow […]

In this first message of the series, we look at an idea that dominated Jesus’ preaching: the Kingdom of Heaven has come! Upon hearing that, we might ask, “What kingdom, and what does it mean to be a people of that Kingdom?” As we dig deeper, we see that Jesus taught about his Kingdom as […]

In John 14, Jesus tells us that he will make a home where a godly people can live with their just and loving God. However, there’s a problem: sin and the injustice it breeds. We cannot live in a just and loving space with God while sin persists. The story of Easter is about addressing […]

While the story of Palm Sunday may be familiar to some, and a regular part of the Christian calendar, it offers some really confusing details. When we embrace these unsettling elements of the story, we can learn new things about who Jesus is and who we are called to be in His Kingdom. As Jesus […]

How do we lose the sense of wonder and awe that the world is a beautiful place for of good potential? Is it as simple as “maturing?” Do we simply grow weary, ground down by the cares of life? Or, is it possible to retain the joy, trust, vulnerability, hope, love, and dependence of a […]

Jesus told his people to love and bless everyone, even their enemies. Literally. Everyone. For most of us, that’s a practical impossibility, because don’t know everyone. However, as this message points out: our ability to love everyone is dependent upon our willingness to love anyone. More to the point, if Jesus teaches us to love […]

Why should Jesus’ people be welcomed as a transforming presence into a community that holds a low opinion of Christians? Popular media makes it tough when it portrays Christians as hypocritical and ignorant. Admittedly, sometimes we live up to that press. But, how do these descriptions align with what Jesus demonstrates in the story of […]

Jesus described the Kingdom of God two ways: close to us and available. He also characterized it as priceless and desirable, so much so that someone would sell all they had just to have it. How do those descriptions resonate today? We live in a culture where almost anything we want can be shipped, streamed, […]

Is doubt the opposite of faith? Or, is our struggle to believe more like indifference versus faith? As we’ll see in this message, developing a solid and resilient faith will require us to dialog with doubt. Why else would John record Thomas’ resistance and Jesus’ response? Reasonable people don’t readily accept the idea that a […]