It was in Antioch where they first called the followers of Jesus — Christians. Never before and no where else in society had Jews, Gentiles, Men, Women, Poor and Rich gathered as one together. There were rigid social boundaries and distinctions drawn around these groups but the Church changed all of that. It became a unique expression of humanity, known for its worship of Jesus and for it’s unity with one another. They Called Us Christians. Galatians 2:11-16 Acts 13:1 Acts 11:26 2.19.2023 Messag...
Feb 19, 2023•47 min
Race and class have entrenched us in a false identity never intended by God. This defining and devaluing of ourselves and fellow image bearers has disfigured and dehumanized humanity. The Church was established to be an outpost of God’s Kingdom in the earth, redeeming us from defining and devaluing, by ushering in a Beloved Community marked by its loving esteem of one another and fellow image bearers. God has made us all greater than the way we’ve defined and devalued one another.
Feb 12, 2023•53 min
The business of building the Church is Jesus’ business; and from the very beginning until the very end, the Church Jesus builds comprises every nation, tribe, people and language. This isn’t to say a mono-ethnic Church is out of His will, it’s to say a decidedly mono-ethnic one is. May His Church be the barrier-breaking, bridge-building, peace-making witness described and prescribed in His word and so desperately needed in this world
Feb 05, 2023•41 min
We live in a day and time where we address nearly every issue in some natural way. We are more likely to pursue counseling, therapy or medication than we are prayer, fasting and repentance. While natural remedies are important and they have their place. There are some things in our lives that are above natural remedies. They are a different kind of opposition.
Jan 29, 2023•40 min
As we fast, there must be a focus, there must be an expectation. As a woman who has just been told that she is pregnant, there is preparation for what is to come. Expectation is the womb of manifestation.
Jan 22, 2023•40 min
God is a gentleman, is a common refrain among clergy and followers of Jesus. It captures the meekness that’s a part of God’s character. He has all power; He is present in all places; and He knows all things — but He doesn’t use His power, presence and knowledge to bully His will into our lives. But there are times, both in the Bible and our personal experience, when God uses His power, presence and knowledge to force His goodness on us. And when we find ourselves in those moments, it’s dangerous...
Jan 15, 2023•37 min
If we could take all of the decisions we’ve ever made and form a person with them, it would be exactly who we are right now. Our lives are the cumulative effect of decisions — the ones we’ve made and the ones that’ve been made for us. Fasting and prayer is one of those decisions. Fasting and Prayer is a decision to consecrate, dedicate — setting our lives apart to choose God over and over again.
Jan 08, 2023•39 min
The Kingdom of God was the message Jesus’ proclaimed — referring to the Kingdom nearly 100 times in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Jesus’ teachings established the Kingdom of God as the priority for our personal lives, of all our endeavors and even our prayers. The Kingdom of God is the territory over which God reigns and rules. Psalms 145 declares, “Your Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations.” As we enter into 2023 the posture of our hopes ...
Dec 31, 2022•39 min
On this last day of Advent we anticipate the coming Christ. We look and wait for the manifestation of God’s promise. The original hearers of Isaiah’s message would have heard it as a riddle. While it seems so obvious to us that Isaiah is pointing to the promised Messiah; it would have been less obvious to Isaiah and even less obvious to those listening in that day. Like us today, they all had the same need but each looked for a different solution.
Dec 24, 2022•29 min
The Christmas season is the time of year to reflect on the love of God through the birth of his son Jesus. However, we can get distracted from resting in God's love entering the world by the troublesome events that happen daily in our world. The birth of Jesus in 1st century Judea provides us with assurance that love can both abide in a hateful place and conquer it. Scripture(s): NKJV
Dec 18, 2022•29 min
In the midst of a census, for the taxation of the entire Roman occupied world, God inaugurates His heart Kingdom for all who will receive His Son. There is a deep, personal joy found in Jesus for each of us; a joy that can not be found in any other thing or in any other way. To know Jesus, is to know a deep and abiding personal joy. .
Dec 11, 2022•44 min
The Messiah has come that we might have peace within, peace with others and peace in the world. The word shalom in all of its forms is mentioned 550 times in the Bible. We typically use peace and shalom interchangeably in the English language. But shalom is far more comprehensive than simply the absence of war and chaos. Shalom is the relational restoration of creation as God the creator and sustainer intends. Scripture(s): NKJV Isaiah 9:6-7Luke 2:1-14
Dec 04, 2022•47 min
We celebrate Advent, Christmas, the arrival and birth of Jesus the long awaited Messiah. Jesus is not only the hope of the entire world, He is the hope of every single event in our lives. No where can hope be seen more clearly than in the way God takes our temporal lives and sweeps them into His eternal plan for all creation.
Nov 27, 2022•32 min
Dropping Materialism, Individualism and Consumerism is not a once and for all thing. It’s a decision we make daily. This world never stops telling us we aren’t worthy and God isn’t trustworthy. So we must choose God and His way over and over again, until our serial yes produces a different kind of person — a person with a heavenly perspective, peace and provision — a child of the living God.
Nov 20, 2022•45 min
Mankind traded the good life — life as God intended — for the goods life — buying and selling the life we choose. No where is selling and purchasing the life we choose more celebrated than American Western culture. We pride ourselves on being what we want to be, doing what we want to do and accumulating what we want to have. But in the end, life part from God is a lie. The goods life ends in chaos and destruction or by God’s grace, it ends in being reconciled to God by Christ Jesus....
Nov 13, 2022•38 min
We are blinded by materialism because unlike other sins it hides and holds us captive. It convinces us our lives consist of the things we have and apart from things we aren't inherently valuable. Materialism is a functional god that forces us to serve it and trust it, convincing us if we have nothing we are nothing. Jesus sets us free from materialism by giving us His peace, His joy and eternal worth -- things that materialism promises but can't deliver. Scripture(s): Luke 19:1-2 Luke 12:15 Luke...
Nov 06, 2022•47 min
Materialism, Individualism and Consumerism undermine Jesus’ intent for our lives and the Church. The Church was never intended to exist simply to make our lives better. Jesus’ Church has been placed in the world to extend His Kingdom and to usher in eternal life.
Oct 30, 2022•55 min
Individualism stems from a determination to get what we want rather than embrace God's will regardless of the outcome. But, it's in our valleys, times of despair when things don't go as we hoped, that we develop a deeper dependence upon God and experience God's power to shelter, protect, sustain and position us in His will now and for what is to come. It's in these moments that we must trust God is a Good Shepherd who according to Psalm 23 leads us, lays us down and restores us, especially When ...
Oct 23, 2022•52 min
Listening to God demands radical love that engages a community sacrificially requiring excessive generosity - THIS turned the world upside down - let’s turn our city upside down
Oct 16, 2022•42 min
Before Jesus dropped the mic ending His earthly ministry, His final priestly prayer for those that would bear His name was a prayer for unity. Of all the things He could have asked of the Father as He left this sin-stained, demon-infested world — His deepest desire was that we would be one. Unity is of far more value than we’ve realized. It’s tied to our destiny here and our destiny in the world to come.
Oct 09, 2022•42 min
Have it your way, do your thing, just do you, are a few of the catch phrases that’ve become the norm in daily thought and language. We live in a hyper-individualized, materialistic culture that’s all about getting what you want and doing things your way — because after all You Only Live Once. But for many of us the biggest obstacle to our peace, joy and flourishing is the very thing we’ve been encouraged to pursue. What if the three-headed monster of Materialism, Individualism and Consumerism wa...
Oct 02, 2022•50 min
The God we serve is love and He empowers us to love- to answer the call of the great commandment to love, the great commission to go and the ministry to reconcile.
Sep 25, 2022•1 hr 3 min
We’ve all experienced brokenness in relationships. Some of us have siblings we haven’t spoken to for years. Others among us are at odds with in-laws. Some know the pain of divorce. But if we’re ever going to live as the reconcilers God has called to be, we have to stop normalizing ex’s and lean into God's grace to be reconciled.
Sep 18, 2022•43 min
Who hasn't been hurt by the actions or words of another -- a parent who constantly belittled, a colleague who sabotaged a project or a friend who was disloyal? We’ve had traumatic experiences -- being physically or emotionally abused by someone. Wounds caused by others can leave us with lasting feelings of anger, bitterness and even vengeance. If we don’t learn to forgive, we will never experience the fulness of Love. We must learn to embrace and embody a love that forgives.
Sep 11, 2022•48 min
We’re part of a world filled with people who have lost the way. The way for humanity in the the mind of God has always been the way of love. We were created in Beloved community; we were created by Beloved community and we were created for Beloved community. When we go the self-absorbed, self-exalting, self-glorifying way of this broken world; we become what Love hates – we become the opposite of Love.
Sep 04, 2022•53 min
The human ego is one of the biggest enemies of God’s love. Ego works to exalt our will, our way and the pursuit of our glory over God’s. But we were made in Love; we were made by Love and we were made for Love. When we refuse to live in love we destroy ourselves. If we’re ever going to recover the beloved existence God intended -- conformed to His will and way – we will have to choose God’s love over our ego..
Aug 28, 2022•51 min
God is calling us, inviting us and teaching us to love. He knows apart from Love we can produce nothing, become nothing and gain nothing of value. We were made for Love; we were made by Love and we were made in Love. When we give ourselves to real Love, we begin to really live life – a life of real love.
Aug 21, 2022•45 min
As those born of Love, we’ve been supernaturally equipped to live in Beloved Community. Our rebirth and renewal changes everything—our new life resting securely on the foundation of our immersion into His abiding Love. Love is not just what we do; Love is who we are.
Aug 14, 2022•39 min
Love God's 4-Letter Word: Perfecting Love 428 views Streamed live 22 hours ago Introduction: At some point real love shows itself in what it does, not simply in what it says or feels. Love that says or feels but never does, is not real love. We try to really love, but apart from God we can’t – God is love. In order to perfect lov(s): NKJV 1John4:15-18 8.7.2022 Message Takeaways Confessing is more than saying with our mouths – it’s reflected in our lives. The God who is love teaches us to abide i...
Aug 07, 2022•47 min
Over the last five years, popular culture has become inundated with spirituality, particularly New ageism. On any given day now, you can walk into a store and find crystals, and books with a concentration on chakras and the power of the mind. It is Indeed fascinating to explore the possibilities of being able to manifest one’s own destiny, ideas that we find in both Christianity and beyond. The question, however, is, are these things true? Am I really the master of my own fate, Is it possible to...
Jul 31, 2022•37 min
