York Alliance Family of Churches Podcast

Jesus. Who is this man? Two trials, one publicly held under the cover of darkness and one privately held in the corner by a fire, show us the weight and power of the question. Our willingness to acknowledge Jesus or stand for Him does nothing to impact His Lordship, but it dramatically impacts our lives and the lives of those around us. We are invited to live in the recognition that Jesus is Lord.

Our will to act, while strong at any given moment, is never enough for us to live in the way of Jesus. When left to our human strength, we will always fail. Jesus shows us another way. In His humanity, Jesus relies on the Father for strength. It was in His moment of greatest weakness that Jesus gives us the pathway to strength.

Matthew's cross narrative begins with two contrasting pictures of worship: one is extravagant and deeply humble, and the other seems cheap and marked by pride. How do we respond to the deity of Jesus? How will we handle the downward journey to the cross? Matthew's message is not just that Jesus is enough, but that Jesus is everything.

God's intended plan for the transformation of the world is through the power of Jesus and through the vehicle of His Church. We are called as ambassadors for Christ, living each moment as a living testimony to the power and hope of Jesus. This means that every detail of our lives is being used by God, that we are never without purpose, and that every moment is an opportunity for Jesus to work

For the Apostle Paul, the Gospel of Jesus was the foundational and central theme of everything He taught and of all He did. He said it this way: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

The call of Jesus was never primarily to a set of beliefs or a point in time commitment. Rather, He calls each of us to apprentice after Him—learning to be with Him, becoming like Him, and doing the things that He did. The goal of all apprentices of Jesus is that we would live as He would if He were us. This can only happen with our effort and with His power.

The New Testament vision of church was far from a religious organization. Instead, Paul and the early church leaders envisioned a counter-cultural society of people who lived together in such a way that their very existence made them a prophetic voice in the world around them. Living as God's new society isn't complex or difficult, but it requires all of us to be committed to one another in covenant love