The Big Idea: The Messenger IS the message. Hebrews 1:1-4 John 1:1-5, 9-14 The Privileges of the King Philippians 2:5-11 The Power of the King Paradoxical power: Power that looks for all the world like weakness, intervention that seems indistinguishable from nonintervention. More than that, it is guaranteed to stop no determined evildoers whatsoever. “The New Testament proclaims an unlikely Savior. The work of Jesus in his incarnation, life, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension makes no w...
Jun 26, 2022•44 min
The Big Idea: The Father’s blessing satisfies the deepest cry of the human heart. Matthew 3:16-17 Matthew 17:1-5 Fatherlessness is the most destructive pandemic in our world. The enormous impact of fatherlessness in the world: • 90% of all homeless and runaway children are fatherless • 71% of all adolescent substance abusers are fatherless • 80% of adolescents in psychiatric hospitals come from fatherless homes • 2X more likely to commit suicide • 9X more likely to drop out of school • 20X more ...
Jun 19, 2022•38 min
Romans 15:1-13 Big Idea: The Body of Christ is defined by the overflow of hope and love. Acts 10:11-15 We are called to be like-minded, with Christ because the world needs a united Body of Christ. Philippians 2:3-11 Be Like Christ: 1. Unconditional Love 1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 2. Acceptance Acceptance: To grant one access to another’s heart. 3. Self Sacrifice John 15:13 ...
Jun 12, 2022•37 min
Big Idea: The unity experienced through the Gospel triumphs any disagreements of human conviction. Romans 14:1-23 So what are disputable matters? Matters of conviction - things that your conscience has deemed right or wrong for you. FOOD Romans 14:2 DAYS Romans 14:5 Romans 14:6 The importance to God lies in our UNITY, not our like mindedness on non-essential matters. “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” ― St. Augustine Weak vs. Strong Romans 14:14 “The cons...
Jun 05, 2022•36 min
Romans 13:11-14 Practical Wisdom for Today: Understand the Time Understand the Forces at Play Choose the Greater Yes Understand the Time: Kairos / kī räs/ “an opportune time for action.” “our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” The Big Idea: Times of cultural chaos are times of incredible opportunity. Understand the Forces at Play: (They are as different as Night and Day) ● Asleep vs. awake ● Deeds of darkness vs. armor of light ● Gratify the flesh vs. clothe yourself with Chri...
May 29, 2022•35 min
Romans 13:8-10 Leviticus 19:18 The Big Idea: We have one debt that drives our entire social strategy and practice. ● To whom do we have a debt? ● What is the debt? ● How do we pay the debt? ● What is the power of honoring this debt? “Debt” - An obligation to make a payment as the result of having received something of value. To whom do we have a debt? To God Himself. This debt never goes away because God continually pays it forward to you, so that you can pay it forward, too. What is the Debt? T...
May 22, 2022•32 min
“Revival is no more a miracle than a crop of wheat.” - Charles G. Finney Romans 13:1-7 The Big Idea: A refusal to submit to those in authority is a refusal to submit to and trust God. FOUR CRITICAL TRUTHS ABOUT GOD, AUTHORITIES, AND YOU: 1. Authority is a God idea. John 19:10-11 2. Submission to authority is a godly decision. Ephesians 5:21 3. Rebellion against authority is rebellion against God. Acts 23:1-5 4. Your decision to submit or rebel reveals your level of trust in God’s Sovereignty a...
May 15, 2022•41 min
Big Idea: The Christian Life is best lived with an appreciation and awareness that God exists WITH US. “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.” - Saint Augustine Emmanuel Hebrew “God is with us.” Combination of the Hebrew expression “with us” and the word for God (El) from Elohim. God WITH US in the garden. Genesis 2:25 Genesis 3:8 Tabernacle: Mishkan /mish-kawn’/ Hebrew “dwelling” Exodus 25:8 God WITH US...
May 08, 2022•32 min
Romans 12:9-21 The Big Idea: You love God best by how you treat people. Love the fulfillment of God’s WHOLE law. Matthew 5:17-18 Galatians 5:13-15 Your engine: JOYFUL in HOPE, PATIENT in AFFLICTION, FAITHFUL in PRAYER. How do I avoid being overcome by evil? Overcome evil by good. 6 Laws of enemy love: 1. Don’t curse people – ever. 2. Make blessing your only response to cursing. 3. Harmonize with them. 4. Crucify your pride. 5. Provide tangible resources for needs. 6. Pursue peace with everything...
May 01, 2022•36 min
Romans 12:3-8 The problem with ME How Jesus sets me free from ME How the free me contributes to WE “People with high self-esteem pose a greater threat to those around them than people with low self-esteem and feeling bad about yourself is not the source of our country’s biggest, most expensive social problems.” - Lauren Slater, The Trouble With Self-Esteem, The New York Times magazine, Feb 3, 2002 “If Christians lived out what they believed about the teachings of Jesus, we would all be Christian...
Apr 24, 2022•34 min
“God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing—or should we say “seeing”? there are no tenses in God—the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake, the nails driven through the mesial nerves, the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time, for breath’s sake, hitched...
Apr 17, 2022•31 min
The Big Idea: We can’t always know God’s ways, but we can absolutely know and trust His heart. Romans 11:25-36 Three Outlandish Claims: 1. All Israel will be saved (v26) Jeremiah 31:31-34 1 Peter 3:18-22 2. God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. (v29) ● Irrevocable: “without repentance” “no regrets from the giver.” ● Gifts: charismata- Grace Gifts Genesis 8:21 ● Calling: Invite to a task and a relationship. Romans 8:28 ● God designs and guides history irrevocably, without regret, and will nev...
Apr 10, 2022•38 min
The Big Idea: Pay attention to the goodness and severity of God as He builds a people for Himself. Romans 11:1-24 The Goodness of God: “God’s mercy especially towards those who are singularly unworthy” The Severity of God: “The exercise of His goodness and holiness, which leads Him to sever from His mystical Body whatever would injure, corrupt, or destroy it” The Four Subjects: 1. The Jews 2. The Gentiles 3. God 4. The Olive Tree John 15:1-8 Continue in His kindness vs. persisting in unbelief: •...
Apr 03, 2022•35 min
The Big Idea: Trust in Jesus is the only essential and it is impossible to fake. Romans 9:33, 10:1-15 People approach God in one of two ways: 1. Establishing a righteousness of your own 2. Submitting to the righteousness of God ● Christ is the culmination of the Law, so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 The essential good news: “The one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” Taking Personal Responsibility: Believe in your heart and confess ...
Mar 27, 2022•35 min
The Big Idea: God exercises His sovereignty to redeem all who trust Him. Romans 9:19-33 1. Paul’s summary of the matter: (v30-32) Gentiles vs. Jews and obtaining righteousness: THEIR PURSUIT is the point. “Pursue” or “strive” = follow with urgency and intensity of effort. God’s process of hardening some and having mercy on others is not arbitrary. Romans 11:22-23 2. The Potter and the Clay Jeremiah 18:1-12 The point of the pottery analogy is not God’s unilateral control, but His willingness to c...
Mar 20, 2022•39 min
Romans 9:1-18 Big Idea: God has sovereignly decided that all who relate to Him by faith shall be saved. A Deterministic View: All things, including human action, are decided by and determined by God, with nothing to do with our own will. 1. EVERYTHING points to Jesus and the ABSOLUTE POWER of GOD’S LOVE. What is the heart of Jesus? That all would come to faith in Christ Jesus, and be saved! John 3:16 If what we are reading does not fit the character of Jesus or the heart of God, then we must not...
Mar 13, 2022•28 min
The Big Idea: The Holy Spirit can transform our suffering through the certainty of our hope. Romans 8:18-30 “One of the really interesting aspects of this incredible capacity for making up missing information is that it usually comes with a great subjective sense of certainty, and when we act on that certainty we can get ourselves into trouble—by sideswiping a cyclist we just didn’t see but were quite certain we had checked all the mirrors and blind spots, or by accusing a lover, spouse, friend,...
Mar 06, 2022•37 min
Big Idea: Through the Spirit of Life, we are free from death and condemnation. Romans 8:1-16 FLESH VS SPIRIT Death is not simply a physical occurrence, but an all-encompassing state of being. The Spirit of Life brings us into the kingdom of God as true adopted children. Roman law of adoption: Rejection of old life - new identity Entire debt has been wiped out - forgiven There is no condemnation for you. Why? In Jesus you live in a new realm: The Spirit of Life. FREEDOM FROM DEATH 1. Freedom from...
Feb 27, 2022•35 min
The Big Idea: Moral rules can tell you you're sick, but they cannot cure you. Romans 7:1-25 Psalm 119:165 Psalms 19:7 But… Acts 15:10 Freedom from sin and freedom from the Law go closely together. The Point of the Matter: Romans 7:4-6 ● We die to the Law so we can belong to another - to Him who was raised from the dead. ● SO THAT we might bear fruit for God. ● In the realm of the flesh, we bore the fruit of death. ● By dying to what bound us, we serve in the new way of the Spirit, not the old w...
Feb 20, 2022•36 min
The Big Idea: Freedom from sin is a birthright for Christians Romans 6:1-23 Two Logic Questions: 1. Since grace abounds, can’t we just go on sinning? LEGALISM is not the answer to LIBERTINISM. PAUL TEACHES A BETTER WAY: Radical TRANSFORMATION IN CHRIST, through THE SPIRIT. 2. Can those who DIED TO SIN, continue to live in it? Clarity for the Confusion Comes From 3 Ideas: 1. Baptism 2. Crucifixion 3. Slavery Baptism: ● We are BAPTIZED into HIS DEATH. ● We are buried with Him into death SO THAT bo...
Feb 13, 2022•38 min
The Big Idea: Knowing the whole story changes how you understand the current chapter. Romans 5:12-21 The Origin Story: ● Humans are the PINNACLE AND PURPOSE of everything God made. Genesis 1:26-28; 2:72:7 ● We wanted MORE and LOST IT ALL. Genesis 2:15-17 ● God REFUSED to accept the reign of death. (Romans 5:14; 17) Romans 5:14-15 The Current Chapter: ● Two kingdoms REIGN SIMULTANEOUSLY. Romans 5:12-21 Romans 5:20-21 The Heroes’ Dilemma Either sin and death EXERCISE CONTROL in an absolute manner ...
Feb 06, 2022•36 min
Romans 5:1-11 Romans 4:23-25 The Big Idea: Whether you know it or not, the Hero of your life is Jesus. Through faith we have: ● PEACE with God Through faith we have access to: ● The GOOD FAVOR of God ● The ability to KISS OUR CROSSES Why Suffering is my Servant: ● Suffering produces PERSEVERANCE > Produces CHARACTER (knowing the genuineness of something by examination or testing) > Produces HOPE (high confidence) > Which DOES NOT PUT US TO SHAME. Your Worst Time is Just the Right Time: ...
Jan 30, 2022•37 min
How does one achieve a proper relationship with God? And having become right with God, how do I stay right? The Big Idea: You can work very hard to try and make something real with God or you can live trusting that it is already real and live your life in the power of it. Romans 3:21-24 Romans 4:1-13 Why do we struggle to accept this? What does Abraham teach us? How should we view our path going forward? Why is this so hard to accept? 3 Issues: 1. It is a PRIDE issue. 2. It is a CONTROL issue. 3...
Jan 23, 2022•42 min
Into the Wild, 3 - Escaping the Rabbit Hole of Depravity Jim Ladd, Jan 16, 2022 Romans 1:24-32 The Big Idea: The universal pathway of depravity must be intercepted, interrupted, and overcome. People who want no god “enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved.” - C. S. Lewis This depravity spiral is a universal problem! Romans 3:9-20 "The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the...
Jan 16, 2022•34 min
21 Days of Extraordinary Prayer SCRIPTURE FED, SPIRIT LED, WORSHIP BASED Psalm 73:25-26 But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. (v.2) Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason? I get nothing but trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain. (vv. 13-14) Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked. (v.17) Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all to...
Jan 12, 2022•28 min
The Big Idea: Following Jesus into the wild requires us to reject lies and embrace the obvious Romans 1:18-25 Today: What is the PURPOSE of the Wrath of God Why there is NO LEGITIMATE EXCUSE A SIMPLE PROCESS to change your life God’s heart is ALWAYS seeking to drive us back to Him through repentance. It is ALWAYS for our good and not for destruction. Why there is no excuse: Because the only way to miss the TRUTH is to suppress it V20 - God’s invisible qualities have been clearly seen since creat...
Jan 09, 2022•38 min
Romans 1:1-6; 16-17 The Big Idea: The adventure of a lifetime begins with knowing “why.” The Apostle Paul’s “Why”: ● I know WHO I am. ● I know WHOSE I am. ● I know MY CALLING. ● I know what REALLY MATTERS. The life of adventure is BY FAITH from start to finish. Galatians 2:20 Response: ● Find my WHY in Christ alone. ● Embrace MY CALLING. ● GIVE MY LIFE TO the person and work of Jesus.
Jan 02, 2022•37 min
Matthew 18:1-5 The Big Idea: Becoming great is the hardest simple thing you will ever do. Overview: ● God’s idea of greatness ● The doorway to greatness ● How to live a great life Romans 8:14-17 Abba (Aramaic)- Typically the first word spoken by a child. (Like “dada.”) Adoption to sonship - Full legal standing of an adopted male in Roman culture. The Doorway to Greatness - Matthew 18:3 This childlike faith is not an ideal, it is a requirement. How to Live a Great Life: Matthew 18:4-5 Response: ●...
Dec 26, 2021•29 min
Hebrews 7:17-28 ● Why do we need a Priest? ● How is Jesus Christ the Priest we need? ● What difference will it make if you receive Him as Priest? V25 - a key word that talks about Jesus’ work - “Intercede.” “For years I looked at life like a case at law. It was a series of proofs. When you were young you proved how brave you were, or smart. Then later on what a good lover you are. Later you prove what a good father or husband you are. Finally you prove how wise or powerful or whatever. But under...
Dec 19, 2021•39 min
John 8:54-59 Exodus 3:13-15 The Big Idea: Jesus is the eternal I Am who is a “right now” Redeemer. ● Jesus is the Eternal God who met with Moses. ● “I Am” is only a fraction of the identity of Jesus. ● God defines His name in Exodus 6:1-8 Exodus 6:1-8 ● All of the resources of God are focused on redemption. I will rescue you out of the yoke of slavery. I will take you as my own people. I will bring you to a new possession. ● What holds you back? Exodus 6:9 Response: If this really is God’s Word ...
Dec 12, 2021•37 min
