Sermon Topic: Faith
Genesis 15 – Faith Over Certainty
Does God Keep His Promises?
Yes, he does! Everything we are and everything we believe hinges on this one fundamental truth: God keeps his word. The one thing that must be true -- before anything else about God can be true -- is that God keeps his promises. And if God keeps his word, then there is no place we can go that’s too far from him, no place he won’t go to bring us home. This is true for you, for me, and for the world. And friend, even when it doesn’t feel like it, its true. May this be your hope this week.
Discerning the Call of the Blessing – Genesis 12
You know that critical moment in a suspense movie when the right person finally shows up? Everything looks like disaster is eminent, but suddenly something happens that brings a future and a hope? This week God shows up with His plan that will redeem all things. It's a plan that begins with the lives of Abraham and Sarah, but quickly comes to us. Like Abraham and Sarah, how do we partner with God to bring His blessing and overturn the curse. Join us as we continue our journey through Genesis this Sunday!
Faith in the Story
It is a miracle that Mary would have such faith as to believe that God's plan could be accomplished through her. But the miracle of faith is not just Mary's. There are miracles of faith all over the Christmas story. Joseph believed the word of angels. The shepherds talked to angels, too, and believed what they were told. Elizabeth (Mary's aunt) was filled with the Holy Spirit and believed that God was working out his plan through her also. And what the Story of Christmas asked of those faith-stretched people, it asks of us too. And every time faith happens, it is a miracle. What is the story of Christmas asking you believe about God? What is it asking you to believe of the world around you? What new level of faith is it calling you toward?
Hypostatic Union
Last week, we talked about the 5% and the 95% and were challenged by Mary's story to live in the 95% realm of believing in a supernatural God who does supernatural things. This week, we will explore one of the most powerful proofs of his miracle-working power — the union of God and man in the life of Jesus. Brothers and sisters, this is good theology! He who was fully God became fully human — two distinct natures in one Person. He had both the power of his divinity and the experience of his humanity, and only Jesus was able to reconcile those two natures inside one personality. The nature of Jesus is a miracle and THE great mystery of his existence. He IS God, and yet he has lived my life and yours. Why does that matter, and why does it give such hope? Come on Sunday and let's dive in.
Topics: Divine/Human, Faith, Jesus
Jonah Chapter 4
You know, it's one thing to cancel or ghost the people in your life. But its another thing altogether to cancel God. Can you even imagine having the nerve to tell God you think he got it wrong? Well ... of course, you can! We all do it, in big and subtle ways, when we either ignore God's call to action or fuss at him for not doing as we've asked. And we disagree with God all the time when it comes to people we don't much like or agree with. Sometimes God's mercy doesn't line up with our preferences. This is the big lesson of Jonah, and this week we wrap up the story with a conversation about how choosing God's mercy is very much a choice for life over death. I'm excited to be in the room with you and the great "whale tail" one more time!
Worship That Expects
This week, we continue our series on the Art of Worship with a message on what it means to worship and pray in expectation - in expectation of God's dreams for us individually and corporately to be realized, in expectation of miracles to happen and for breakthrough to be a real thing for real people. And most of all, that the supernatural presence of God meet us where we are and draw us into a new, deeper reality.
Topics: Expectation, Faith, Presence, worship
Be Found
As we walk toward Easter, we are finding faith in the eyewitness accounts of those who were there when Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. This week, we enter the story of the centurion who stood at the foot of the cross as Jesus breathed his last breath. We'll notice who witnessed that moment, and we'll hear a man's stunned confession of faith: "Surely this man ..."
Topics: Encounter, Eyewitness, Faith
Thomas
Here's a tough and stark question: If God exists, why doesn’t he make his presence more easily known? Why doesn’t he give us more tangible, verifiable evidence? Wouldn’t it be easier for us to just "know," rather than requiring us to come by faith? These are hard but good questions to wrestle with, and we do so in good company. People throughout history have come to Christ holding doubt and faith in the same hand. And yet, from the beginning -- ever since God revealed himself to the world -- we have the witness of himself to the world -- we have the witness of those who saw with their eyes and believed in their hearts that the resurrected Christ is Lord and God. As we walk toward Easter and the most dramatic event in history, let's hear their eyewitness accounts, and find fresh faith for a new season.
