The Perfecting Church

We live in a fallen evil world. Because of sin, the natural drift of the current of this world is downward. If we’re honest, the darkness and evil isn’t just out there; we feel it in us from time to time too.  The natural response is to resort to our own resources and efforts to make it — work harder, go to more therapy, be nicer, change schools or find new friends. All of these things may be appropriate, but without the wind of the Spirit it just leads to futility and exhaustion.  We need to be filled with the Sprit.  We need to be intoxicated Christians.  

In Mark 4:35–41, the disciples were caught in a storm they couldn’t handle, but Jesus was in the boat with them. What overwhelmed them was silenced by the One who has power over the wind and waves. Jesus is more than able to speak peace into the storms of your life. No matter how fierce it gets, Jesus is about to calm every storm because He’s not sitting idly by—He’s in your boat.

God can do all things and works through us to fulfill His purposes. Too often, we hold back because we think we lack what’s needed. In Acts 3:1–8, Peter met a lame beggar and, in faith, trusted God to meet his need — and He did. Money can help, but it’s not always the answer. God asks us to be available, to trust Him, and to believe He has already given us enough to serve others

Every believer will endure fiery trials. It is not if, but when. The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego teaches us how to navigate the difficulties of life. That even with personal struggles, challenges, or even persecution God is always present with us. We must remain faithful and trust God above the circumstances, even when the pressure tries to seduce us into compromising and bowing to the fire. Our outcome will not only be deliverance but lessons in endurance through the fire. Our unwavering faith during adversity serves as our testimony to the power and presence of a God who never leaves His people.

 When the incidents and accidents of life in this fallen world leave us bent over, today’s message reminds us there is always hope in Jesus. There is no earthly power or might more able than the strong hand and compassionate heart of Christ our King. Though time may have caused us to settle for a less than existence, this word reminds us that despite religion’s expectation, Jesus sees us, He frees us, and releases us to give Glory to His Name!

Crisis doesn’t catch God off guard. Even when famine gripped the whole world, God had already gone ahead to prepare a place of provision, protection, and purpose. Goshen was a space of divine difference, where God’s people were covered in crisis and multiplied in the margins. Goshen reminds us that we don’t need to be removed to be redeemed—because God is more than able, right where we are.

3 Questions to Receive all God has for you: God has so much for all of us, but are we in a position to receive it? The blessings of God are not incentive or carrot sticks but ways that he wants us to live day in and day out. These 3 questions will help you possess all he has for you.  

Text: Matthew 5:13-20

1. Are you fully present?

2. Is your Light Shinning?

3. Is the Gospel working for you? 

 In different seasons of our lives, we face circumstances that test our faith in God and His ability to provide for us. The blessing comes in knowing that God has already prepared for our situation long before we entered into it. Therefore, we have a choice, to trust, believe and follow His plans or to complain, doubt and create our own. His plans are always better and more abundant than anything we can contrive by our own hands.

Some things in life aren’t just broken—they’re beyond repair. They’re finished. Ezekiel stood in a valley of dry, scattered bones, where death had settled in. But God didn’t bring him there to mourn—He brought him there to act and to speak. God doesn’t just raise dead things—He restores what others have given up on. God is not only willing—He is more than able to restore. He has a vision for our valleys. 

 As highlighted throughout this series, humanity’s fall corrupted God’s “Very Good” intention for Creation, undermining mankind’s mandate to dwell interdependently and justly with God and one another. As a consequence, self-preservation displaced community transformation as love, mercy, and justice were replaced by hate, prejudice, and politics. However, God’s plan for creation has not changed. This series finale details how the ministry of Jesus serves as the ultimate act of civil disobedience, disrupting the systems of this world and recommissioning us for the glory of God and the "Very Good" of creation.