Inherent to the good pleasure of the Father giving His children the Kingdom is His prerogative to see to it that we are ready. As the servants culminate in the return of the mast in the previous teaching of Jesus, this week the accused will meet the judge. Will we be ready for that day?
Like servants left with their master's estate while he is away, we are called to live in readiness for his return.
The Lord Jesus speaks the truth and promises of God that rightly go with a command to not be anxious.
The garden and the gardener motif can be such a helpful presentation of the beauty and the struggle. It is especially glorious when we are given eyes to see Jesus in the garden as THE Gardener.
There is a fear that casts out all fear and there is a pursuit that trumps all pursuits. The people of God need a fresh vision of God to pursue the mission of God.
Most of us have preconceived notions around the term “Pharisaism”. Jesus is going to bring great clarity around the devastating qualities of the men who were meant to lead to the people towards God but instead leading them away.
Good news was meant for an evil generation. The problem with the evil generation is that it things everything else is the problem. However, we must make sure the light IN US is not darkness.
Missional Communities at ARCC are the “everyday” vehicle by which believers are equipped to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19-20)
Jesus disciples people through their unbelief that shows up in many ways. Jesus points out the barriers to belief which also happen to be the consequences. It truly is blessed to hear and believe.
In this story prayer goes from a good thing we should learn about to good news of hope as we walk through this broken world.
In this story prayer goes from a good thing we should learn about to good news of hope as we walk through this broken world.
The story of Martha and Mary presents such a clear picture of the difference between doing what we do because Jesus is our treasure and doing what we do to try to earn His approval.
The gospel is hidden in plain sight. If we carefully consider the context of these encounters with Jesus we will see that He is faithfully calling people to Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The gospel is hidden in plain sight. If we carefully consider the context of these encounters with Jesus we will see that He is faithfully calling people to Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
To be a part of the Family of God is not to lose our personal identity. In fact, it is because we will be individually held responsible for all that we say and do we need the Family. In the Spirit-filled Family of God we are compelled towards courageous obedience and mission. For this reason, the Family of God needs us.
That the word of Christ would dwell in us richly is central to our faith. It is important, however, for us to realize that this is something that was meant to happen in the context of family for the purpose of worship.
As we break down Ephesians we see the plan of God not only to make peace with men through the blood of Jesus but to also make peace among men through the blood of Jesus. Through the gospel of Jesus we are family and as the household of God we take the glory of God to the ends of the earth.
The sovereignty of God was not meant to squelch the plans of men. To consider the sovereignty of God frees us to count great costs and hope for big things and ultimately find rest.
Christmas Eve service where we worship together in song and story!
As we celebrate the coming of Jesus, we are grateful to serve a God who didn't make us choose between truth and himself. May God set us free by the truth of His Word to celebrate the true wonder of his arrival.
God revealed wisdom to his people to make them ready for the Christ who would be its embodiment. Only through the gospel will the obedience of faith be brought about so that we can enjoy the fruits of a life lived trusting in the Lord.
We will look at the wisdom of God through the lens of the gospel and apply it to our relationships, especially those closest to us.
In short, Jesus is always going to lead us to rejoice in the Lord and what He has done. We recognize that to have one’s name “written in heaven” is the foundation that speaks not of our merit, but of the unconditional love of God and the eternal communion of the Godhead.
Since we are created in the image of God, to image God in various ways, our understanding of the human experience must be able to be defined by the vastness of God's word. We are created in the image of God as thinking, desiring, and doing beings. The scope of sin's devastation affects each of these categories of the human heart, but the scope of Christ's redemption triumphs over sin in the life of the believer.
Jesus gives a vision for the mission of advancing His Kingdom. Through the sending out of the disciples we know that Jesus was looking for laborers to be messengers of peace.
Jesus addresses the hearts of His disciples while giving them a true picture for what it means to follow Him.
We don’t really know what to do with this idea of greatness. In a culture set up to answer the question of who is the greatest Jesus comes along and gives good news to a people longing to reach an arbitrary standard.
The disciples who watched Jesus transfigure in glory on the mountain were also the ones who watched him agonize in sorrow in the garden when he was delivered into the hands of men. What does it mean for us that our Lord calls us to behold glory and suffering?
Jesus is saying and teaching us so much when He tells the disciples that He “must suffer many things.” The cross of Christ was so much more than just a fix to a major problem.
In this story Jesus shows His disciples what it means to be on His mission with Him. In a very real sense we come to realize that to be on mission with Him should be our mission.
