There is an unfortunate tendency in the Church to separate the Spirit of God and the Word of God. We take sides, form tribes, and categorize ourselves and others. But the Scriptures couldn’t be more clear: there is a wonderful harmony between Word and Spirit. Reach will seek more of Jesus by living in the fullness of both.
Culture matters in the church. God is always moving us and growing us - and this causes culture to accumulate. We’ll spend the next few weeks speaking to vision, values and important questions in the life of the church. But before we begin that conversation, we want to remember what it means to be Jesus’ church.
As Esau rapidly approaches Jacob, his rascal brother, the drama of a long estrangement comes to a close. On the one side we have Esau, foolish and angry. On the other we have Jacob, tricky and manipulative, yet on the heels of a fresh encounter with the Living God.
In Genesis 32, we encounter a pivotal moment in Jacob's life—a night of wrestling with God that would forever change his identity and destiny. As Jacob prepares to meet his estranged brother Esau, he finds himself alone, fearful, and uncertain. It is in this solitude that he engages in a mysterious and intense struggle with a divine figure.
God is with you in your waiting, even if you’re not waiting on Him. His presence is the true fulfillment of all your longings, because having Him with you is better than getting what you’re waiting for. In the presence of Jesus, even the weight of your waiting will bow its knee.
Running from a revengeful brother, armed with a dramatic vision of God, Jacob arrives in modern day Iraq. What was intended as a short stay becomes twenty years as Jacob gains a large family. Yet the seeds of deception the younger Jacob sowed are coming to ironic fruit as the new Patriarch and father of a tiny nation is humbled and changed.
As Jacob flees for his life, God slows down the story to encounter Jacob and reveal the heavenly reality of His presence.
Genesis 27 brings us to an uncomfortable story of deception and theft. Yet despite human unfaithfulness, we see how God is still orchestrating all things for the covenant to continue.
In a world where joy often feels scarce, we will find it in unexpected places. True joy is not just a fleeting happiness, but a deep gift rooted in Jesus the King. Here are four unexpected places where joy is waiting for you…
As the twins (Jacob and Esau) are born, we see the generational impact of their family across 3 different stories of 1) A parent’s favoritism, 2) A grandfather’s faithfulness, and 3) A son’s weakness.
We finally come to the account of Abraham's death. This short text will allow us to review and relive Abraham's journey and the story of his faith, from which there is much to learn and live ourselves.
Three episodes spanning three chapters bring us sad news, big questions and one of the most cinematic love story scenes of the whole Bible. In all of it we find not only truth but living, challenging and transformative application.
God tests Abraham's faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham obediently prepares to carry out the sacrifice and at the last moment, God provides Abraham with a ram as a substitute, reaffirming His covenant with Abraham and blessing him.
It’s a subject no one enjoys discussing but one that everyone knows personally. Suffering. What does the reality of diverse kinds of suffering say about God? About His goodness? What do Job and David and Joseph and Daniel and Jesus have to say? But mostly, how do we walk closely with God in the midst of suffering? These, and many other questions will be the main topics in this special lecture and prayer time.
After 25 years of waiting on God to make good on His promise for a family, Abraham and Sarah finally feel the flutter of life within an aged womb and then finally hold the in their wrinkled hands the new joy of a child, Isaac, born according to the perfect promise, plan and timing of God.
After only eight chapters, Genesis 20 gives us a huge déjà vu. As Abraham has a repeated struggle with his faith, we think things like, “Not again…” and “He should know better by now.” Yet these are the same thoughts we have toward ourselves in repeated unwanted behaviors. How do we walk this messy journey of sanctification? Who will rescue us from this struggle?
In Mark, Jesus said “Let the children come to me”. There’s an invitation for His people to have a simple faith that is childlike; full of expectancy and awe. It all begins with seeing what Jesus did for us, and understanding why He did it.
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is heavy. It can be hard to comprehend the depths of the disease of sin. It can be hard to grapple with God’s righteous judgement of sin. And even still, we can see the compassion and mercy of God. Lot had an advocate. And so do we.
In this powerful text, Yahweh appears to Abraham to hand deliver yet another promise of a son. Abraham gets to look into God’s eyes, in some wildly mysterious way, and see the commitment and purpose held in His gaze. We also gain wonderful insight into Abraham’s dynamic relationship with God through an awkwardly beautiful give and take.
Thus far, God has made unconditional promises to Abram through covenant. Now, he invites him and all future offspring to trust in the Lord. Trusting, we will find, may not be as easy as one assumes.
Waiting on the Lord is challenging. Sometimes when we are waiting on Him, we choose to take things into our own hands. This is certainly the case in the account of Abram, Sarai and Hagar. There is a cost to doing it our way. Even still, the Lord is faithful and near.
God's covenant promise to Abram is now repeated and ratified in a dramatic ceremony that reveals a powerful glory in God's character. What God reveals to Abram has a direct line to your faith, today. How Abram responds to God is a centerpiece for the Apostle Paul's explanation of the gospel of grace.
Slowing down dramatically, we take a beat to examine Abram's encounter with the magnificent and mysterious Melchizedek, priest and king. A major psalm and a good portion of the book of Hebrews helps us connect this brief encounter to the person of Jesus. Even more, it equips us with powerful tools for relationship and ministry.
As both grow in wealth, Abram and Lot separate from one another, revealing what they both love most. Lot proves the fickle nature of putting money over God; Abram shows the freedom and blessing that come from loving God first.
As the nations begin to spread out after the Flood, we arrive at a minor hiccup in the story of humanity. But the story of Babel will reveal the ghastly potential for idolatry, which warrants God’s gracious intervention. As we conclude the first part of Genesis, we are left with a dire need for covenant — God revealing himself to humans who do not know him.
After the Ark, Noah encounters a Covenant-making and Covenant-keeping God. In this Creation-rich interaction we see a wealth of relevant, faith-building truth that lives as well today as it did millennia ago.
In the account of Noah and the flood, we must see that our God takes sin and rebellion seriously. And, we see His grace to preserve a remnant; ones who will recreate a community of worshippers from the wreckage.
A destructive cycle of rebellion and chaos follows Adam’s descendents. God continues to invite humanity to walk with Him and bring blessing into the world, but they continue to choose their own way, bringing us to the prelude to the flood. Yet God promises, even in rebellion, that a wounded victor will come to defeat Satan, sin, and death once and for all.
In Cain and Abel, we see two different heart postures in a setting of worship. As the disease of sin spreads — even in the midst of the most calloused and heartbreaking disobedience — God shows up as a shepherding father.
The rebellion of Eden is the most universally consequential event of human history. Yet, within God's gracious response, is the seed of His Solution - a Man that would conquer the Serpent and return us to the presence of God.
