Last week I made the comment that the only thing we are here to do, alive to do, is a be a witness for the Gospel. Today we continue our What Is? series by looking at what is the Great Commission and before we do, let’s look at the Great Commandment. Can we obey the great commandment without obeying the great commission? Can we love God, love our neighbor without the great commission? Why would that be a part of loving God and our neighbor?

The message today is not about a particular form of government. The follower of Christ follows Him under whatever government they find themselves. Throughout history, most Christians have not only had no say, they didn’t even think about having a say in the government that they followed Christ under. We continue our 'What is series' today with what is government? A lot of ways to approach this: biblical responsibility of government and leaders, patriotism, which I do believe the Bible would support, wrong views we tend to have about government. Does the Bible support a certain kind of government. The relationship between church and state. But I am not talking about any of that. Is government from God and why? Let’s read Romans 13:1-7.

Graduation. Marriage. Parenthood. A new job. A hard diagnosis. An unexpected loss. Retirement. Every one of those moments turns our hearts toward the future and makes us ask what comes next. Now the answer may look different in different seasons. What comes next after high school is not the same as what comes next in retirement. But I believe there is an answer to that question that fits every season, every transition, and every circumstance of life. Turn with me to Hebrews 12:1–3.

In case you don’t know me, I’m Mike Osborne, and I’ve had the privilege of serving here at The Heights as Executive Pastor. Or at least I will for the next 16 days. At the end of this month, I’ll be retiring after 23 years in this role and nearly 47 years in full-time ministry. So today, I’m not standing at an ending as much as I am standing at a crossroads in a long journey.

If you’ve ever walked a long trail, you know that the farther you go, the more clearly you can see where the path has led. That’s how I feel as I look back over these nearly 47 years of ministry. It has been a long and gracious journey—filled with mountain peaks and valleys, hard climbs and quiet resting places, seasons of joy and seasons of sorrow.

In this series we’ve been asking some big theological questions, like: What is the Bible, What is God the Father, and what is God the Son, what is God the Holy Spirit. And over the past couple of weeks we looked at the questions What is Sin and Salvation and What is Eternal Security. Today we’re looking at another ‘What is…’ question—What is The Great Commandment—a question that is asked of and directly answered by Jesus Himself.

Loss can come at a moment’s notice and strike anything we have. Most of the time, the chance we would lose our job or marriage or health, tomorrow, seems so slim, it isn’t real, but it is. Ask anyone who has experienced it. We can lose anything and everything without seeing it coming. That is why it is such good news that God has something for us we don’t have to fear losing. We continue our 'What is?' is series with the question, 'What is eternal security?' Some call it the 'once saved, always saved' doctrine. To not understand this is to not understand the cross.

Loss can come at a moment’s notice and strike anything we have. Most of the time, the chance we would lose our job or marriage or health, tomorrow, seems so slim, it isn’t real, but it is. Ask anyone who has experienced it. We can lose anything and everything without seeing it coming. That is why it is such good news that God has something for us we don’t have to fear losing. We continue our 'What is?' is series with the question, 'What is eternal security?' Some call it the 'once saved, always saved' doctrine. To not understand this is to not understand the cross.

Today’s question is: What Is Sin and Salvation? The Bible teaches that every person—regardless of status, personality, or background—needs salvation because humanity has a problem we cannot fix on our own. Our culture often denies that problem, but without recognizing our condition, we’ll never seek the help we desperately need. To truly understand salvation, we first have to understand sin—and the standard by which it’s measured.

Today’s question is: What Is Sin and Salvation? The Bible teaches that every person—regardless of status, personality, or background—needs salvation because humanity has a problem we cannot fix on our own. Our culture often denies that problem, but without recognizing our condition, we’ll never seek the help we desperately need. To truly understand salvation, we first have to understand sin—and the standard by which it’s measured.

Today we continue our series, 'What Is', a series to deepen our faith and understanding in and of God. Last week we looked at What is the Church and continue that today with what is baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Let’s start in Galatians 3:1-3.