Text: John 17:20-26 | Listen to Message His Love In Us A recent tweet summarized the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy as “nine hours of men fighting over jewelry.” That’s a crude (and inaccurate) oversimplication. But it’s not tragic. It’s tragic when we oversimplify irreducibly complex matters of eternal significance. Take the Cross as an example. A myopic view of the Cross reduces the most significant act of love, grace, and justice in history to the palatable, personal blessings that we enjoy in its wake – blessings like happiness, forgiveness, and heaven. But the Cross speaks to much...
Text: Luke 1:39-56 | Listen to Message Grace For The Humble And The Hungry If Jesus were like other kings, he’d favor people with connections, positions, and money – and who knew how to leverage their assets to get stuff done. If Jesus were like other kings, he’d feed the grand delusion that the proud, the powerful, and the prosperous are actually in control of their lives – and that any problem can be fixed by simply manipulating the right resources. If Jesus were like other kings, he’d side with the “haves” against the “have nots” and perpetuate the lie...
Text: Luke 1:26-38 | Listen to Message Nothing? Really? Nothing? Buried in the story of the annunciation of Jesus’ birth to Mary is this little phrase, “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). And here’s where our minds go with that: “Nothing is impossible? Seriously? NOTHING? So God can make a square circle? And God can help me win the Powerball Lottery? And mom’s cancer is going to go into remission? And I’m going to get that promotion? And our little Christian school is going to pull the biggest upset in state history, all because we claimed this promise...
Text: Luke 1:5-25 | Listen to Message Biology vs. Theology It was the highlight of his life, the apex of his personal history! Zechariah had been chosen by lot to enter the Holy Place and burn incense on behalf of his entire nation. He must’ve been quivering with nervous excitement as he entered into that sanctuary where he’d never set foot before. Suddenly, exhilaration turned to dread terror: someone else was in the room with him! It was an angel named Gabriel who’d come with a message from the Lord: “Your wife Elizabeth is going to bear you a son!” “How...
