Text: Psalm 46 | Listen to Message Campaign Fatigue, Anyone? Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote in The Gulag Archipelago, “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” The major players in contemporary politics and “culture wars” often act as if Solzhenitsyn’s first “if only” statement is correct: one person/party/policy is all good and the other is all evil – and needs to die. There is a tremendous amount of...

Text: Luke 6:12-16 | Listen to Message What Makes Me A Somebody? We’re all seeking our identity in someone or something. In traditional cultures, this is often in family, vocation, hard work, and good character. In progressive cultures, it’s often in freedom of expression and sexuality. Others seek an identity in politics, fitness, prosperity, or physical appearance. Think for a moment about yourself: what do you seek your identity in? What do you need in your life to tell you that you’re important, that you’re unique, that you’re a somebody? Okay, got something? Now apply a few questions to the source(s)...

Text: Luke 6:1-11 | Listen to Message 4 Ways Jesus Is Not A Legalist   Jesus says the law exists to serve people. If anyone could say that people were made to serve the law, it would be the Son of God. But Jesus says the opposite: the law was given to serve people. People are God’s image bearers – and the law is just a tool that’s designed to help us. It helps us understand what God is like. It helps us understand how life flourishes in God’s world. It helps us know how to love our neighbor. It helps us see...

Text: Luke 6:1-11 | Listen to Message 7 Characteristics of a Legalist Legalism adds rules to God’s Word. Legalists love rules. The more the merrier. And they don’t think the Bible says nearly enough to properly control people’s sinful behaviors. So they add more. Lots more. And then they pretend like their rules came from God Himself. Legalism is obsessed with keeping the letter of the law. Who cares why the law was written in the first place? That’s an irrelevant footnote to what the law actually says. When in doubt, go with the most technically precise and restrictive meaning imaginable....

Text: Luke 5:27-39 | Listen to Message Holy, Joyful Compassion Conservative Christians are generally pretty good at demanding that sinners repent and get right with God, but they’re often short on compassion. As a result, the sin-sick often don’t feel welcome in conservative churches – because the message they’re hearing is, “You need to clean up your life first, and then you can come.” At the opposite end of the spectrum, liberal Christians are generally pretty good at displaying some kind of compassion for sinners, but they’re often short on leading them to a place of repentance. As a result, sinners...

Text: Luke 5:12-26 | Listen to Message Just Get To Jesus Luke 5 tells the story of two men united by a peculiar faith. The first man was a leper. Physically, his body was being eaten by a disease that infected every part of him and made it so he couldn’t feel properly. Socially, he was an outcast, an untouchable. Spiritually, he was unclean. The second man was lame. Physically, his body was paralyzed. Socially, he was stigmatized, yet dependent on others. Spiritually, he too was unclean. These men are pictures of what sin does to all of us. Sin is...