Can I trust the Bible?

Every major religion or faith/belief system has a set of Sacred Writings. For Christians, for Followers of Jesus, it’s the Bible — the Gospels, the letters of Paul, Peter, John and James and the other genuine accounts of God’s activity among humans. But... how trustworthy is all of that?

Today’s message: “Jesus is and was, Pt 2"
Does it REALLY matter whether or not Jesus rose from the dead?
The death and resurrection of Jesus has been poked, prodded, and pounded for 2000 years. Why? Because Jesus said that His resurrection would prove whether or not He had the authority to rearrange the future for billions of people. It means that life is not just up for grabs. Life has meaning — and we were created for a purpose! 

Was Jesus even a real person?
This is the question we'll be wrestling with in this message. Most of us are good with him being the best moral teacher, but in these modern times, is it really possible to believe that he is God?

Is God really who He says He is? 
The Bible paints a picture of a God who’s not distant, but deeply personal, loving, and involved in our lives. He’s the Creator, the Shepherd, the Healer—and He knows you better than you know yourself. 
But in this modern day and age, is it possible to REALLY believe that? 

As we step into the New Year, many of us are focused on the future — setting goals and making plans. But have you stopped and honestly considered whether you've surrendered every part of your life to God?In our world, "belief" gets a bad rap... at least in some circles. There are people who believe that all truth claims are power moves. There are some people who think that sincerely believing something makes it true; as in, "This is MY truth, and that is YOUR truth." What does 'truth' mean, and what does it really matter?

As we step into the New Year, many of us are focused on the future — setting goals and making plans. But have you stopped and honestly considered whether you've surrendered every part of your life to God?

There’s a reason for all the various shades of dark blue when it comes to Christmas — especially Christmas cards. A lot of the events happened in the dark. Jesus is born at night. The angels appear to the shepherds at night. The magi saw His Star in the East at night. Joseph has a dream at night where an angel warns him, "Get Mary and the baby out of here - NOW!" But that Christmas night in Bethlehem, the Light of the World was birthed in the darkness, pain and the mess of that cattle stall to TURN OFF the dark; to deal with all the stuff that happens in the dark: loneliness, fear, despair, guilt—and especially death.

The strange thing is that God’s ALL IN was pretty much invisible the night it happened. All these broken pieces of the world were still broken, but things were starting to come together. The angels filled the night sky with their joy and amazement. The shepherds saw it; GOOD NEWS - GREAT JOY - FOR ALL PEOPLE! That means YOU. So... do you see it? Do you know it?

Sometimes people interpret the ALL IN on Christmas as being an over-the-top, year-round, Christmas Geek. A Super Elf. Extravagance that takes a year to pay off... but really? Turning Christmas into a competition for attention, love and admiration is a giant exercise in missing the point. God’s focus is NOT on searching a cosmos-wide catalogue to find gifts for people who have everything; His focus is on giving us what we need most.⁠

Mary couldn’t be half-in or even 90% ALL IN on Christmas. Being ALL IN on anything involves hard decisions. It’s a burn-the-ships decision. No turning back. Being ALL IN isn’t based on the emotion du jour... In fact, it means every thing else gets what's left over. What are you ALL IN for?