Part of what makes Revelation and the study of end things difficult is that Jesus, Himself spoke about the Kingdom of God as something that was both at hand (here now) as well as something to come in the future. We call this the “already but not yet” way of thinking about the Kingdom of God. In this continued introduction John has a glorious vision of Jesus Who undeniably puts Himself in the position of the One True God. We will focus on what it means for the people of God walking in patient end...
Feb 12, 2023•47 min
In this intro and doxology the writer magnificently sets the stage for a glorious vision of the Lord Jesus from the Lord Jesus.
Feb 05, 2023•44 min
The People of God are the greatest proof of His faithfulness. God, throughout redemptive history has made it a point to ensure that the glory of His grace be displayed in the lives of His people. We gather together as those who display the faithfulness of God and in so doing we encourage one another to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. For He who promised is indeed faithful!
Jan 22, 2023•40 min
Doing life with our Christian brothers and sisters should be more compelling, more hopeful, more exciting, more redemptive, more profitable than with anyone else in the world. It would seem that even the structure of this text gives the impression that if we will live out the true marks of a Christian together, it will inevitably bleed over into our lives with those of the world. Our community in here very much impacts our mentality as we walk out there! May the Lord use our community of faith t...
Jan 15, 2023•43 min
Scripture itself attests to both its transcendent value as well as its pragmatic value for everyday life. Paul is working out the action verbs that outline the ways in which scripture equips us to live a life from faith in Jesus Christ. Every time we open scripture, scripture itself is leading us towards repentance and faith. We desire our DNA groups at ARCC to be a context where our people gather around the word and disciple one another towards a life that experiences this on a regular basis....
Jan 08, 2023•39 min
Grace for our salvation… And Grace for everything else… All of that comes from One… One full of grace and truth… The Christmas baby Jesus… God with us… And God For us… Best Gift Ever…!
Dec 18, 2022•38 min
Jesus is God in the flesh. The Son of God. He came as a baby in the fullness of time to redeem those lost in darkness. God wasn’t hoping for the best when He sent His one and only Son. Jesus was going to overcome the darkness as the true light. People would indeed believe because people had indeed been born of God!
Dec 11, 2022•45 min
As we begin to celebrate the first Advent of Jesus using John 1:1-18 where Jesus’ birth isn’t even mentioned, how do we prepare to celebrate Christmas without the story of baby Jesus? When we grasp the meaning of the Gospel of John’s preamble (John 1:1-18) the meaning of the Christmas story we find in Matthew and Luke is much more profound.
Dec 04, 2022•58 min
As the creation narrative comes to a close our Good Father has set the stage for a redemption that will display the glory due His name. As the garden is officially closed off with a cherubim guarding with a sword on all sides. Adam and Eve, newly clothed by the Father, will set off on a journey of faith in waiting for the TRUE Light of the World who would show us the Way to Life everlasting.
Nov 27, 2022•33 min
We have a Good Father!
Nov 20, 2022•48 min
We have a Good Father.
Nov 13, 2022•41 min
The world did now know God through wisdom and it pleases God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. Our first parents fell because they believed the lie that more “wisdom” would make them like God. In the process they were puffed up in their own eyes and God was belittled. In the end they worshipped the created thing rather than the creator and their eyes were opened not to see themselves as more like God, but to the shame of their nakedness.
Nov 06, 2022•46 min
In this section the author describes God’s explanation of the relationship into which Adam will enter into with the woman who has yet to be named. We call this “one flesh” union marriage. This ends with the crescendo of creation: the man and the woman both naked and unashamed. God was showing Adam that in loving union with another there was to be found unparalleled joy and freedom.
Oct 30, 2022•43 min
There is something profound to consider that in the garden of Eden “very good” and “not good” were realities taking place at the same time. This paints an incredible picture of the fact that “very good” could be used to describe the things around us and yet our deepest longing not be satisfied. It seems that we as sinful humans will do just about anything to avoid addressing this issue. God addresses this for Adam, giving incredible insight along the way, into the greater reality to come that wo...
Oct 23, 2022•42 min
What if Adam could speak to us today? What if he, as the one through whom sin entered the world, could give us some insight that could help us not fall into the same trap that he fell into? In a very real sense, Jesus, the second Adam, does this very thing. If we listen closely, Jesus speaks in His day as One who was there in those days. Jesus, as the One through whom righteousness would enter the world, speaks the heart and wisdom of God to those bound up in Adam’s failure.
Oct 16, 2022•41 min
This is the beginning of mankind’s existence in the world God created. As the crowning achievement of God’s creation, how would this omnipotent creator relate to man? In our day there are those who do not believe in a creator. They believe all that we see and know is the result of time and chance. Others believe there must be a “higher power” who created it all but is like an absentee landlord—a creator who wound it up and turned it loose to see what would happen. Holy Scripture, however, descri...
Oct 09, 2022•8 min
It should absolutely grab our attention that the day the Lord blesses and sets a part is the day that God rests from His work. It is a wondrous thing that God would want us to know that rest was a part of His created order. May we see the goodness of God for us in His mandate that we join Him in it. This section is written in such a way that we realize that the kind of rest that God has from His work is not simply the absence of work, but that which comes at the completion of it. How then are we...
Oct 02, 2022•47 min
Oh that we would live considering all that it means for us that we were created in the very image of God. The Imago Dei. How would encouraged and strengthened we would be to live life believing God! And yet, how humbled we would be so as to truly live life considering others as more significant than ourselves! May this truth forever and always dictate the way we view God and man…and ourselves. This week we will consider several of the implications for our life as creatures who share in the very ...
Sep 25, 2022•40 min
The creation account is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is worthy of study that many have put into. God reveals Himself through His Word, through His delight, and through His ordering. In creation we have reason to trust our God as He sets forth His wonderful purposes which beautifully come into the light. In this text, there is so much to celebrate. Within the account of creation we can see God hinting at His plan for redemption. May we delight in every one of His good gifts as His creation ...
Sep 18, 2022•40 min
The second verse in Genesis seems to be often overlooked in the excitement to get to verse three. After all, who can wait to get to the part where God speaks and brings light out of darkness? But what if verse two was meant to enhance the whole experience? It’s possible that verse two could help us enjoy the rest of the creation narrative all the more! The implications of the reality that God started with formlessness and a wasteland covered in darkness are far reaching. There are none greater t...
Sep 11, 2022•41 min
For the one seeking to live from a biblical world view the beginning is of utmost importance. Therefore it is of utmost importance that we begin with God. Most who will listen to this series will have no problem with this sentiment. However, scripture itself seems to point to a reality that we as humans have a tendency to forget, deviate from, and even willfully suppress this truth. If we are honest with ourselves there are some places in our life where we struggle to perceive and understand and...
Sep 04, 2022•40 min
Right now. Could you go “be” with Jesus? Jesus’ mission was to reconcile us to God. Christ put on flesh and came to us that we might be His people and He would be our God. As a part of making disciples at ARCC we desire to equip the saints with a yearning to take advantage of the welcome we have in Christ to come into the presence of God and simply be still and KNOW Him. We believe that Discipleship must come forth out of this regular “being” with the Lord.
Aug 28, 2022•27 min
Outside of Jesus and His twelve disciples the relationship between Paul and Timothy might be regarded as the most explicit example of mentor discipleship that we have. In essence, young Timothy was invited to join Paul on his missionary journey. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul reminds Timothy of the primary purpose for getting to be with Paul for all these years. By the power of the grace that is in Christ Jesus Timothy was to join Paul in the lineage of training up faithful men who could t...
Aug 21, 2022•42 min
Jesus, the Son of God, has been in community from all eternity. We believe that He has been satisfied completely by and in and through the eternal presence of the Father and the Holy Spirit. When Jesus came to earth He did His ministry alongside others. He knew them and they knew Him. There is an important aspect of Christian discipleship that cannot happen outside of community. Living life in community is a large part of the process of “growing up into Christ” as Paul would put it to the Ephesi...
Aug 14, 2022•45 min
What would you do if you believe you were going to meet with God? Certainly what you believe about who God is and where you are in relation to Him would make a difference. At ARCC we desire to reclaim the meaning and depth and value of the privilege that it is for the people of God to gather together for worship on Sundays. Not only are we experiencing a foretaste of what it will be like when Jesus returns and we get to actually stand around the throne, but we are also being formed by and in and...
Aug 07, 2022•45 min
Sometimes the warrior can lose sight of the point of being a warrior. Sometimes in weariness and exhaustion and wounded-ness the warrior can believe that it is safer and easier to find sure footing by simply viewing everyone and everything as the enemy. To be sure, life impacts the way your flesh is conditioned to view, perceive, and respond to every situation you walk into. The Psalmist seems to outline some of the ways we would be tempted to hide ourselves and make ourselves feel “safe” and “s...
Jul 31, 2022•40 min
Longing is an emotion that most of us are pretty uncomfortable with. We don’t like the feeling that it creates in us. This uneasiness that there is something out there that my heart deeply wants, and I don’t have it. We deal with this in many different ways. Most often, when we do experience a deep longing in our heart, we try to satisfy it as fast as we can or at least distract ourselves from it. But most of the time, in our immediacy to put the longing to rest, we settle for things that only c...
Jul 24, 2022•44 min
Hebrews tells us that God shakes things so that we will know what belongs to His Kingdom and what belongs to the kingdom of this world. We live in a time where it seems like everything is being shaken and it truly seems difficult to know where to find firm footing. The writer of Ecclesiastes looked in many places and in many directions only to come to the conclusion that all was vanity. In Psalm 52 we are given a picture of what it looks like to see God as truly our rock and salvation as well as...
Jul 17, 2022•47 min
The Psalmist, whose heart is growing faint, seems to be giving us something of a simplified checklist of things to work through in order to give his heart the care it needs. These things are all aspects of the life of one who belongs to the Lord. The profundity of these things is that they are NOT profound at all. In fact, the danger lies in that we would have a tendency to assume or overlook or even discount the validity of these things. As believers, for the sake of our hearts, we must get bac...
Jul 10, 2022•48 min
Jul 03, 2022•44 min
