Holy Week is a phenomenal time of preparation for the celebration to come. One thing that makes it even more phenomenal is recognizing the clear connections between Christ and the Passover. The disciples also saw this connection and used the phrase "the lamb" or "the Passover lamb" frequently. Seeing the connections between Christ's actions before Easter and the sacrifices of Passover brings a new meaning and appreciation for the profoundness of our Easter celebration.

We celebrate Easter every year making it easier and easier to see it as yet-another-annual-tradition. The problem with this is Christ's desire to see a true since of sincerity in our hearts. We can see this throughout the Old Testament but also in Christ's anger which burns against those cheapening the celebration of Passover. In this scene, we see Christ's anger against the actions of those profaning His temple, but also anger at the priests and scribes who allow it.

As we studied Revelation, you saw a recurring theme worth digging into: Christ's sole ability to produce the renewal we all crave.

What is Hell and why would God send someone there? If God loves us, wouldn't he want to save us from punishment instead of sending us there? The answer reveals that we may be asking the question entirely wrong.

There is perhaps no more popular icon of Revelation iconography than the antichrist. Images of an evil boogie man exists in many people's minds, Christian and non-Christian alike. However, when we look at the image of the antichrist in Revelation, see something that looks strangely heroic and desirable. It is that image that is the source of the antichrist's danger for those who see him. Even scarier is the realization that the antichrist isn't simply a distant character during the end times, but a present threat for us today.

In the middle of Revelation we hit a series of allegories that would be enough to intimidate anyone. However, when we forge through these allegories and take hold of the broader picture, we can see connections to God's standard of perfection, our own sin, and ultimately Christ's redemption.

The beginning of Revelation opens with an address to some of the churches in the first century. There are plenty of theories on what this may prophetically mean for us, but the righteous lessons couldn't be more clear.

Note: This sermon was super chaotic. Pastor Joseph had nearly lost his voice, there were tornado warnings going off, and one of the windows started leaking. The perfect setting to kick off a series about the 'end times'!

The groundwork for the book of Revelation is laid far before we hit those final pages in our Bibles. In fact, individuals have been speaking about the end-times generically and specifically for quite some time. That provides important context for how we read these pages today and power-through all the symbolism and prophecy within these verses.

A lot of people have opinions on what makes a good pastor, but what does the Bible say? How much of our image of the "perfect pastor" comes from cultural and organizational expectations? Many "good pastors" are deemed "good" more for their image and ability to run a 501(c)3 institution than they are their Gospel... and that's the problem.

Due to events in the past week, we are doing something a little different today. Meredith and Pastor Joseph lost someone beloved to them, but remembering them teaches us something important about how people will know our unification with Christ.