December 15, 2024
Oftentimes when we think of the word joyful we think of someone who is happy, always smiling, and an “easy hang”. We don’t usually equate it to someone as being content or satisfied, particularly in Jesus and his grace. I think at Christmas we often don’t practice this kind of joy. We more often are running around going from spot to spot, making sure everyone is happy with the stuff we get for them, and end up dreading the season more than being thankful and worshipful during this season. We even will give ourselves over to more “respectable sins,” as Jerry Bridges would put it, and chalk up our actions to the “stress” of the season. Christmas though isn’t about stress, gifts, or family gatherings. Its about God becoming like his creation. 
In the person of the Son of Man, Jesus, we have someone whose joy was satisfied in doing what the Father had asked of him. Why? Because a man, like us in every way, lived a perfect sinless life and gives us his righteousness and takes on our unrighteousness. Because God loved you so much that he gave himself for you so that you and I can live joyfully satisfied in Christ. That’s the beautiful, amazing, scandalous gift of the Son of Man.
Romans 5:12-21

December 8, 2024
God had promised to send a King, a descendant of King David, to reign on the throne of David forever.  Jesus, a descendant of David, fulfilled that promise by coming to earth in human form.  Following his ascension, he now reigns as King at the right hand of God the Father; his ministry as King is now focused on salvation (filling the Kingdom with Believers) and sanctification (bringing them to holiness).  In the future, King Jesus will return to earth to reign as warrior King, to conquer all enemies, judge the world, and then hand over the Kingship to God the Father. At that time, all God’s people will live forever, in a new heaven and earth, in the presence of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Today, King Jesus rules from heaven, fully God and fully man, glorious and exalted, the sovereign King of the universe, with supreme authority and power over all people, and full control over all events.  As grateful subjects of His Kingdom, we should submit to Him, worship Him, and love Him, and invite others to join the Kingdom.
Matt 22:41-46

December 1, 2024
Advent 2024 has arrived! As we journey toward Christmas and reflect on the first coming of our Lord and Savior, we will explore specific titles and roles that only Christ can fulfill. He is the Son of Abraham, the Son of David, the Son of Man, and the Son of God. We begin by examining what Scripture reveals about Him as the fulfillment of the covenant God first made to Abraham.
Galatians 3:15-29

November 24, 2024
disobedience, a few remained faithful and devoted to Him. Where such love and faith existed, God’s blessing followed. Amidst one of the darkest times in Israel’s history, God provided the story of a man whose loyal, sacrificial love to a widow set the stage for His promise to be fulfilled—establishing a royal lineage that would eventually lead to the King of kings.
Ruth 1-4

November 17, 2024
Judges 17-21 contains stories that show Israel’s absolute collapse and abandonment of God. Chapters 17-18 focus on their spiritual failures while chapters 19-21 show their complete moral collapse. Central to each of these stories is the failure of the spiritual leaders, the Levites. The very ones who were supposed to embody and uphold everything good and right in God’s sight were complicit in Israel’s complete collapse. The entire message of Judges points to the truth that God, and only God, could save His people out of their condition.

November 10, 2024
If there was ever a person who served as a reflection of his generation it was Samson. He was a man who was set apart from birth for God’s special purposes. Set apart for holiness. Set apart for faithfulness. Set apart to deliver his people from evil. Yet, he chose his lustful and vengeful passions over his godly calling. The people of Israel did the same. Yet, even in the midst of rampant failure, God proved faithful and remained true as Israel’s Help and Hope. The Samson cycle will challenge each of us to constrain our passions as we seek to live out the special calling in Christ we share as God’s people.
Judges 13:1-16:31

November 3, 2024
Virtually every religion on earth is a cause/effect situation. If I do “x”, my god will do “y”. In this kind of relationship, the condition-setter is in control. All false religions and forms of idolatry are an attempt by people to manipulate the terms of their spiritual life. The account of Jephthah in Judges 10:6-12:15 teaches us that, try as we might, God cannot be manipulated. We never take control even though we intentionally (or unintentionally!) try.
Judges 10:6-12:15

October 27, 2024
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” is a familiar phrase to most American Christians. This phrase rings true for Gideon’s flawed legacy. Gideon displayed faith but was ultimately corrupted by his thirst for personal glory. After his death, the people of Israel turn away from the Lord again, and the narrator of Judges now turns to the surprising account of Gideon’s illegitimate son, Abimelech, who rules as a regional king and oppresses God’s people. Here, we see Israel’s oppression coming from one of their own rather than a pagan king. Instead of conquering the remaining wicked nations, Israel suffers from one of their own and spirals into civil war.
Judges 8:33-10:5

October 20, 2024
Gideon is one of the more popular judges because of the symbols and stories that are attached to his time as a judge. We remember the fleece, the shrinking of his army, and how he goes from scared stiff guy to a conquering warrior. Gideon’s name means “great warrior,” and when we come to chapter 11 of Hebrews, we see his name mentoined as one who had great faith. The story of Gideon is actually less about his faith and more about the One who gave him his faith. God is the giver of faith, Ephesians 2:9-10 reminds us of that. In Gideon’s story, God takes a man who is beat down, weak, scared, and ultimately a coward and uses him to accomplish His purposes by instilling in him a faith that is rooted in God. At the end of the story, we see Gideon desiring a part of the glory for what was accomplished for himself. The reality is, you can’t look at Gideon’s story and say how great he was, but instead, you see, through Gideon’s story, how great the LORD is. The same is true in our own lives. We too are weak, fragile, and, at moments, act and live out of a fear that everything is bad. The Lord meets us at our weakest moments and gives us His faith to believe in Him and His power to rescue and redeem. Our role is to remember that it was the Lord who rescued us from death, that our “work” is to be busy killing sin in our lives through the power of the Spirit, and to run away when we are tempted to think t`hat we have arrived in any way.
Judges 6:1-8:28

October 13, 2024
Judges 5 is a "worship song" that traces God's providential and powerful involvement in the victory over the Canaanites. But it also sheds light on some crucial principles about how important it is to partner with God's Kingdom work in the world, right now. It has a bit to do with that "dangerous power" of choice we talked about earlier. Choose your camp, choose you this day (today) whose side you want to be on. Partner with God and participate in the miracles! Make excuses or worse, do nothing "to help the Lord", and miss out on the adventure of a life of faith that demands action.