Grace for New Life

We all need to make value choices. But how do we make those choices?  By what gives us status, power or money? Jesus shows us that none of those valuations will secure our life forever. Instead, he invites us to make him, the rejected one, the chief cornerstone of our lives. In his eyes, we are living stones which he will build into a beautiful home that glorifies God. (Based on Luke 19:45-20:18 &...

Far too often our actions indicate that we underestimate what God can do in our life & in the lives of others. So we use the resources and opportunities he gives us to try to keep ourselves safe. But that self-made security will be stripped away before God when we have to answer for what we did with what God gave us in this life. Jesus is offering us a better way to live. Through his interacti...

Sometimes the sins of others are so offensive to us that we consider them to be beyond any redemption. It would be unfair, we think, if they enjoyed life with God when we, who consider ourselves to be good people, deserve it far more than they do. But Jesus died and rose again for the sins of all people and the Kingdom of God is open to everyone who trusts in Jesus. God's grace is for those w...

Far too often, the lives of Jesus followers don't look any different from those who don't follow Jesus. Like the women who went to Jesus' tomb, we expect to find death instead of life. But Jesus' resurrection changes everything for us. Not only has Jesus defeated death for us, he also invited us to join him on his mission of redeeming and restoring all things. Clothed with his...

Many in the city of Jerusalem missed the opportunity for peace because they did not recognize that God came to them in the person of Jesus, and the sorrow over what had been lost caused Jesus to weep. But Jesus' compassion for humanity is our security of salvation, for Jesus continued beyond Palm Sunday to the cross, where he made our peace secure in him. (Based on Luke 19:28-44.)

The radical nature of God's grace can seem offensive. When those who seem to be less-deserving get a greater blessing from God, our hearts cry out, "That's not fair! I have been more faithful for longer than they have ever been!" But none of us are deserving of God's grace. We don't need fairness. We need mercy. And in Jesus Christ, God has mercy, and grace, for all....

There is a lot of emphasis on identity these days, and rightly so, for everything we do flows from our identity. But what if we are wrong about our identity, or fail to live up to the identity we have set for ourselves? The possibility of such identity failure leaves us with a tinge of fear. However, through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus gives us a new identity as new creation people. As...

We human beings make plans for our lives, but it is God who directs our steps. Because he is a good, gracious and loving God, we know that he is directing us toward a good ending, an ending which he has prepared in advance for us to enjoy, an ending which is far beyond anything we can ever ask or imagine. Therefore, we can trust in God for today, tomorrow and forever. (Based on Ephesians 3:14-21 &...

We think that we are free, but most of us are addicted to having some kind of power over others by either dominating them with control or manipulating them to gain approval. Our power-focused approach to life only harms ourselves and others. Jesus shows us a better way to live. By suffering & dying in humility, Jesus set us free to live life in him. Secure and satisfied in Jesus, we gladly hum...

We can't always see it, but sin-based systems and powers force people to live in bondage and we cannot free ourselves. Jesus is the God-human who came to overthrow those demonic structures and set humanity free with his forgiveness. Freed and given new life by Jesus, we live according to God's will and let our light shine before others so they too may know Jesus & the freedom he give...

Purpose and direction are very important in life and all of us learn our direction and purpose from somewhere, but we often aim too low and settle for much less than God wants to give us. Jesus rose from the dead to give us a totally new life with him and we learn how to live from him and show others how to do the same so all of us can have a rich, full, abundant life with God. (Based on Matthew 2...

When tough times come upon us, it can seem to us as though all, including God, have abandoned us. But humanity’s greatest problem is not a lack of good times, it is the lack of a relationship with God. And Jesus chose to go down a path of betrayal, abandonment and suffering for us so we could have the steadfast presence of God in our lives. Jesus has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. (Bas...

There are so many decision points coming at us in life and so many voices telling us how to handle those decisions. How do we best navigate those challenges? Through a story Jesus tells us about the kingdom of heaven, we can see that the best thing we can do is step into the invitation Jesus gives us to enter into a deeper life with him. (Based on Matthew 22:1-14 .)

At times it can feel like we are all alone in this world and we can get discouraged over what is happening in our life. But the Bible tells us that we are never alone. Jesus has put on flesh and blood in a way we could understand so we could receive a life that was beyond our comprehension. (Based on John 1:1-18 .) Our guest preacher this Sunday was Pastor Matt Peeples, our presenter from the Miss...

Pastor James shares with Pastor Matt how he got connected with the Missionary Pathway and the two of them discuss some next steps for learning more about the Missionary Pathway and how to make disciples as we go about our everyday lives wherever God has placed us.

Having listened to our community first, we are then ready to engage with it. Pastor Matt teaches about ways that we can do this with a focus on the Person of Peace and using BLESS Rhythms.

We cannot engage with our community without first listening to it. In this episode, Pastor Matt shares how we can do that.

Based on what we have seen Billy Graham or others do, we may think that evangelism is only about getting people across the finish line of faith. If we are not gifted evangelists, we then may think that there is no place for us in God’s work of making disciples. But the process of coming to faith involves several steps along with way. Each step is important and there is a role for each of us, regar...

What can an ordinary, everyday believer in Jesus do to reach others for Jesus? They can actually do a lot of things that professional church workers cannot do and this has been part of God’s plan from the beginning. With biblical and contemporary examples, Pastor Matt shows us how.

Pastor Matt shares a very simple, but powerful way to do Bible Study which anyone can do anywhere with anyone who is willing.

We might think that we do not know many people who do not yet know Jesus. But when we create our own Oikos Prayer Map, we will discover that we are surrounded by people who we can pray for and love and perhaps one day share the Gospel with.

Pastor Matt shows us how thinking about the Christian Church in a new way can help us to reach more people for Jesus.

When you think that anything is possible for you, then you become willing to step into new opportunities. For many of us who follow Jesus, our picture of what it means to be a Jesus-follower is too small, not much more than going to church on Sunday morning, so then we never step into a new opportunity to follow Jesus beyond that. But what if church and following Jesus is much, much more than that...

​​Many of us tend to avoid dealing with our problems by filling our lives with pleasure, hearkening back to a previous time with nostalgia, or fleeing from our problems. But none of those approaches work. Jesus shows us a different way. By addressing our inner problems, with God’s help, and then becoming a conduit of his grace, we become part of God’s plan for dealing with all the world’s problems...

Far too often, we human beings try to live a good life without the power of God in us and our efforts inevitably fail. But God has given us all the power we need to live life with him in his Word, the Bible. As we feed our soul with God’s Word, we will have all we need for life with him. (Based on Matthew 4:4-11.)