"God did not simply dismiss thousands of years of history and the special election of Israel with the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus was contextualized in that history."

"False teaching similarly tries to separate us from the love of God by convincing us that God and sin can coexist in us..."

"Through Jesus we learn that prayer is God’s gift to us for intimate communion, not primarily an avenue for transferring information."

"God does not expect us to be exceptional or to live exceptional lives.  God expects us to live like Jesus."

"What is revealed when we are challenged, when we are disagreed with, when we are disbelieved?  The natural human tendency is to vilify our opponents or to find some reason, apart from the merits, to discount her or his contentions."

"Because God’s Holy Spirit means life, we must breathe in God’s breathing out—the Holy Spirit must be our animating force—our spirit within us."

"Baptism does not save us.  But baptism is a public confession of our willingness and commitment to follow Jesus all the way to the end of our earthly lives."

"How will each of us use the time we have been given?  Will we use it in service of God and of His kingdom, or will we use it to pursue desires and agendas of our own?"

Originally preached on February 17, 2013.

"We don’t get to choose how to show our loyalty to God.  There is no spontaneity in that allowed God’s people.  God has told us how to honor Him, how to worship Him, how to testify to our faith in Him."

"One of the greater gifts God has given to His people is prayer.  Even more, whether we pray, how we pray, and how we speak about answered prayer all reveals which God to whom we have prayed."