by admin | Jan 13, 2022 | Defined
Your identity (who you are) is defined by God, not by you. If you are a Christian, your identity is In Christ, and you are defined by God as “a chosen, adopted child of God; sinful, but declared innocent, holy and blameless; radically and irrevocably loved by God.” ...
by admin | Jan 4, 2022 | Fulfilled
Our passage this week focuses on the first events recorded in the gospel of Luke after the birth of Christ. From the parents’ perspective, they were expecting to dedicate Jesus to the Lord according to the Law. Yet what occurred was far more significant than they...
by admin | Dec 21, 2021 | Fulfilled
The advent of Christ was all part of God’s plan from the beginning to show His love for us to rescue us from our sins through the death and resurrection of His Son. We were guilty, yet God chose to intervene and sacrifice the Innocent One in our place. This is...
by admin | Dec 16, 2021 | Fulfilled
The promise of Jesus in John 16 is that he is our peace. It’s a humbling thought that the God of the universe, who is holy, righteous, and just, would be willing to lay down his life for us. We are broken – not holy, not righteous– and have corrupted justice to...
by admin | Dec 16, 2021 | Fulfilled
God promised to send a Savior who would shine the light of hope and salvation and bring victory over His enemies. The light and victory of the Messiah are the basis of joy in Isaiah 9:1-7. Joy should be a hallmark of God’s people in every generation because Jesus is...
by admin | Dec 1, 2021 | Fulfilled
The term Advent means “coming.” The prophet Micah foretold a future hope for the people of God in the advent of the Messiah, who would come from the town of Bethlehem. Matthew tells us in his Gospel that this hope is fulfilled in the birth Jesus Christ. As a church we...
by admin | Nov 17, 2021 | Shaped by the Cross
Suffering and hardship for the sake of Christ build a greater dependence on the Lord within us. It is through these difficulties that we also experience God’s peace and the power to endure by faith. We also gain a deeper insight and understanding into the suffering...
by admin | Oct 27, 2021 | Shaped by the Cross
Alarmed at the influence of false teachers in the Corinthian church (whom Paul called “false apostles, deceitful workmen, and servants of Satan”), Paul addressed the problem head-on. The false apostles had been boasting about themselves, slandering Paul, and being...
by admin | Oct 21, 2021 | Shaped by the Cross
When is it ok to be jealous!? Only when we are jealous to keep Jesus as the love of our lives for ourselves and for others. In our passage, Paul wrote with divine jealousy wanting only one thing for the Corinthian church, sincere and pure devotion to Jesus. This...
by admin | Oct 21, 2021 | Shaped by the Cross
Our boast in who we are and what we do is shaped by who Jesus is and what He has uniquely done for us. The problem for us is that our enemy and our sinful hearts lead us to boast in ourselves rather than Christ. This, in turn, leads us on the unsatisfying chase of a...
