Our lives are full and cluttered. We often don't have time for the all that we want to accomplish, but we sure try to make it all fit. Maybe we need to rethink our approach. The Advent season gives us opportunity to make room in our lives for Jesus, to prepare for His arrival. What would our lives look like if we made space for the King of Kings? How can we prepare Him room?
We often make the common mistake of connecting gratitude with our circumstances - when good things happen we are thankful. But the scriptures give us a different understanding of gratitude that is not dependent on what happens to us. Incredible shifts in perspective occur when we practice the habit of giving thanks.
Luke records an interesting event in his story of Jesus' life: a group of people experience healing from an awful disease. May God give us grateful hearts as we reflect on this passage of scripture.
When we gather together as a church, we gather as a family. God uses the family analogy often thoughout scripture to help us understand our responsibility to each other. Today we will focus on the needs of those throughout the world who feel as though they have no family at all.
Abraham and Sarah get a big promise from God, but then must endure a long, long wait. That leads to efforts, like many of ours, to grab control and try to make things happen. Thankfully, God does with them what he'll do with us: he disrupts their control and gives surprises of life-giving love.
One of the most famous passages of scripture helps us understand the very nature of love and maturity as we follow Jesus every day.
One of the most famous passages of scripture helps us understand the very nature of love and maturity as we follow Jesus every day.
Using one of the most meaningful correlations in scripture the Apostle Paul explains that the Church is actually the Body of Christ. How does this practically work? Why is this important? What happens if I try to live independent from this truth?
Paul pulls a page from the history of Israel and makes a startling statement: their time wandering in the wilderness happened so that we could learn from their experiences. So, we will honor that truth and welcome the warnings intended for us.
Paul pulls a page from the history of Israel and makes a startling statement: their time wandering in the wilderness happened so that we could learn from their experiences. So, we will honor that truth and welcome the warnings intended for us.
This week we will tackle 5 chapters of Paul's letter to the Corinthian church. I know, it seems like a lot of ground to cover! But, this section of the letter gives us a great opportunity to talk about HOW to read the Bible thoughtfully and carefully.
Before we keep moving forward in 1 Corinthians we'll take a quick detour to another letter that Paul wrote where he describes how having the "Mind of Christ" transforms our relationships.
In these few verses the Apostle Paul gives us a road map for dealing with our egos and our insecurities.
Paul describes how upside down life can be for followers of Jesus: wisdom can seem like foolishness and God's power is best displayed in feebleness and trembling.
Paul begins this letter by describing one of the key problems plaguing the church in Corinth — people have misplaced loyalties that create division and competition. The same thing, along with the same disastrous results, happens in our churches today.
This week we held our weekly gathering at Philip Miller Park in Castle Rock.
Wherever you find people and relationships, you’re also likely to find a mess: selfishness, hurt feelings, egos fighting for starring roles, and so much more. Of course, this problem isn’t really new, and it’s also no surprise that the mess is part of church life: Jesus’ followers are far from perfect. The Apostle Paul wrote a couple of letters to believers in a bustling city who were living examples of human strife and chaos. Over the next several weeks, we’ll study 1 and 2 Corinthians and cons...
