Text: Mark 4:35-41 | Listen to Message If you’re like most of us, you’re dealing with heightened levels of anxiety, stress, and fear because a deadly, invisible Coronavirus has reached pandemic levels around the world. Some of us remain hopeful that this goes away as quickly as it came on – through some combination of social distancing, herd immunity, a vaccine, etc. But as I write these words, it’s 100% guaranteed to get worse – probably far worse – before it gets better. And it’s 100% guaranteed to leave many layers of devastation and death in its wake. So anxiety, stress,...
Text: Genesis 3; Amos 5:24 | Listen to Message The notion that God would punish literally every sin – including ours – is repulsive to modern culture. Truth be told, we don’t want a righteous and just God; we want a God who’s nice. [Nevermind the fact that a God who is unjust is not actually good, kind, or nice to the victims of injustice.] But we can count on this: God, by definition, is only and always just. Just: God always responds rightly to both good and evil because he himself is righteous. Key Verses: Genesis 3; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm...
Text: Genesis 2:3; Isaiah 6:1-5 | Listen to Message Our culture doesn’t think much about holiness – and they don’t think much of it, either. Holiness is associated with someone who’s “holier than thou.” It means religious piety. It means a lengthy list of rules and the No Fun Zone. Few are striving for personal holiness; perhaps fewer still are truly in awe of God’s holiness. Yet holiness is part of what makes God God. And without holiness, God would be neither worthy nor trustworthy. Holy: God is infinitely pure in all his perfections and works, wholly set apart from everything...
Text: Genesis 2:7; Habakkuk 2:18-20 | Listen to Message It’s one of the most obvious facts about God, but also one of the most underappreciated: he’s alive! We serve a living, personal God, and yet we often act as if he’s little more than a dead hero who wrote a book of rules we’re supposed to follow. God isn’t an abstract sovereign, impersonal force, cosmic force, universal energy, or simply the figment of someone’s overactive imagination. Living: God is a living, personal, relational, triune Being. Key Verses: Genesis 2:7; Job 12:10; Psalm 42:1-2; Jeremiah 10:1-10; Habakkuk 2:18-20; Matthew 16:13-18; John 11:25;...
Text: Genesis 1:31; 1 Chronicles 16:34 | Listen to Message Imagine for a moment a great and all-powerful God who was not good. He could – and probably would – use his infinite power in a capricious or cruel manner. He would be feared, but not loved or trusted. We would cower under his authority, but we would not desire to know him and enjoy him. So what a remarkable gift it is that God is both great and good! Good: God is both the standard and the source of all that is beautiful, virtuous, and beneficent. Key Verses: Genesis...
Text: Genesis 1:1; 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 | Listen to Message God asks the father of the Jewish people, Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” Is there any power or force in the Universe that can prevent him from doing as he pleases? Is anything impossible for him? The simple answer is no. Sovereign: As the Creator and Lord of all things, God possesses the freedom, power, and authority to do whatever he wills. Key Verses: Genesis 1:1; 1 Chronicles 29:11-12; 2 Chronicles 20:6; Psalm 135:5-6; Isaiah 46:9-10; Daniel 4:34-35; Acts 4:24-28 As author/designer/artist/inventor/creator of the Universe, God has sovereign...
Text: Genesis 1:1 | Listen to Message The Bible begins with these words: “In the beginning, God.” We probably never pause to let the significance of those four words sink in. But here it is: In the beginning, before anything else existed, there was God – Father, Son, and Spirit – eternally existing in himself. Eternal: God never had a beginning and will never have an end. Key Verses: Genesis 1:1; Psalm 90:2; Jude 25; Revelation 22:13 Though scientists, philosophers, and theologians continually debate the origins of life, the Bible is unequivocal in its assertion that God doesn’t have an...
Text: Ephesians 1-4 | Listen to Message If I am who God says I am, then other people are who God says they are. But we don’t tend to see people as God sees them, do we? Our relationships are often characterized by seeing the worst in others – even exaggerating or inventing new faults to be upset or feel self-righteous about. We want to believe that our identity is found in Christ, but other people? Nah, they’re measured by a different standard. They’re defined by their successes and failures. And when they’re failing bad, we can’t wait to let them...
Text: Romans 7:15-25 | Listen to Message An “Identity Crisis” is when someone feels confused about his or her sense of self, or – to put it another way – is unsure of where his or her validation and meaning is going to come from. This crisis typically occurs when someone is undergoing a major (and often negative) life transition – like being fired from a job, getting divorced, losing a loved one, or retiring. Spiritually, we experience a crisis of identity when we’re conflicted about where to look for our sense of self or significance. God tells us in the...
Text: Colossians 3:1-17 | Listen to Message If you ever feel like we overcomplicate the Christian life, you’re not alone. There are hundreds of “rules” in the Bible – both “dos and don’ts.” So how can we possibly keep them all straight and apply them correctly to every situation? How can we remember all the things God says about our identity in Christ and walk in light of these truths 100% of the time? We can’t. Maybe this is why even Scripture itself provides summary statements of the Christian life, like, “Love God with all your heart . . . and...
