"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Those well known words of commission from the end of Matthew's gospel are not just a powerful motive or fitting conclusion. They are a necessary bookend to a gospel that conveys the coming of long-expected king. An expectation that was built in part by Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 9. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on Isaiah 9:6-7 for more.

You sit down to partake of a wonderful feast, but you don't chew the food. You don't digest it all. What gain would you receive? Do this over weeks, and you would be malnourished. The same is true if we take in sermons, Bible reading, and songs if there is no meditation. Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation to digest the Word.

A photo of an alpine lake surrounded by mountains looks like it is a solid wall of rock. In reality, the mountain peaks are miles apart. When you look at the glorious peaks of the sign of a virgin-born son, we can see it with the same kind of perspective. When we do, we see that both Isaiah and Matthew direct our gaze to the salvation that comes through judgment. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on Isaiah 7:14 for more.

All the world is a stage, and we are players in it. Do you know your role in it? Yes, that includes knowing your lines, but you need to do them. However, on this stage, we don't have the full script the Author has written. We need to prepare and be ready when our time to act comes. Listen to Michael Urch's exhortation to rehearse the truth for more.

A significant contributor to the nostalgia we experience each December are the familiar things: traditions, songs, foods, etc. That is true as well for the Scripture passages we come back to time and again each December. But what are these prophecies really about? Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on Numbers 24:17 and the expectation of a kingly star that would be seen by the magi of Matthew 2.

What is the Bible? In all of its diversity and distance from our place in history and geography, why do we give it the focus and consideration that we do? Ahead of our Advent sermon series, “Foretold: The Prophecies of Advent,” why do we read the Old Testament Scriptures and have a worthwhile connection? Listen to Pastor David’s sermon on 1 Peter 1:10-12 for more.

As you gather with family and friends around your Thanksgiving table, there is plenty of fuel for discontentment: jealousy over another's material success, pride over political victory, envy of giftedness not possessed. Such discontentment might even seek to twist the gospel into a means of gain. Consider instead Eric's exhortation to pursue godliness with contentment.

If the President pardoned inmates and invited them to a banquet, it is right for him to be angry if some are prohibited from joining while others lack all decorum and decency at the buffet line. A similar scenario was playing out in Corinth as the church abused the gift of the Lord's Supper. But the foundational issue is that they missed the heart of the Supper. Listen to Pastor David's sermon on 1 Corinthian 11:17-34 for more.

Is the essence of "friendship" clicking a button to associate profiles online? Certainly not. But it also goes beyond casual time together at activities or events. If we will love the not-yet-glorified church, we must pursue biblical friendship. And that likely will entail repenting of self-focused fears. Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation for more.

Love is not one of our aims—love is the aim. Yet what is it that we are loving? Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter." Jesus loved the not-yet-glorified Church by dying for her while still sinners. Will you? Listen to Pastor David's exhortation for more.