1 Thing Matters

"HARD TRUTH" Series Everyone knows that humility is a positive trait and pride is a negative one. So, why bother talking about what we already know? Because in spite of that knowledge, we still helplessly fall into the trap of pride. We cannot help but think that our ascent to the exalted status we desire is our responsibility. We even take our exaltation into our own hands, either by treating poo...

"HARD TRUTH" Series When it comes to the difficult and uncomfortable topic of who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, it is natural to want to avoid the issue. One way we do that is to direct our attention to theoretical questions. “What is heaven like?” “How old will we be there?” “Are there really baby-faced angels wearing diapers and shooting love arrows?” Today, someone asks Jesus that same t...

"HARD TRUTH" Series Ask others and you’ll find that most people want peace, but they want it on their terms and as they define it. That is well and good, that is, until someone else comes along with different terms of peace or an entirely different understanding of peace altogether. How likely is it that peace between those two individuals or groups will be achieved? Not very. So what happens when...

In a sense, prayer comes naturally to us. We want so we ask. We hurt so we cry out. We are frustrated so we vent. We are blessed so we give thanks. So we sometimes define prayer as “speaking to God from the heart.” Seems so easy. What does not come naturally, however, is the focused prayer God wants for us. We need focus when it comes to the basis of our prayers - the unique and unearned relations...

Jesus wants focused followers. However, one of the things that can most easily get in the way of our focus is our earthly possessions. It is no surprise, therefore, that Jesus’ words so frequently focus his followers on wealth. Jesus’ followers don’t reject earthly wealth or despise it. They can be grateful for every good gift that comes from the hand of God - while also being on guard against gre...

Today, Jesus teaches us that he has set us free to live a life focused on serving others. No matter the neighbor and no matter his need, we are free to act in ways that often seem senseless. We are free to actively seek out a neighbor in need. We are free to bear any cost and go any distance to serve them as Christ would serve them. We are free to be more concerned about being friendly to others t...

"God's Words Possess God's Power" Series Jesus not only gives us his powerful Word, but also pastors who proclaim it. Those entrusted with the care of Jesus' flock are expected to shepherd that flock just as He would. So they share Jesus’ words, not because of what they might gain from the flock, but because of what the flock might gain from Jesus. When Jesus’ shepherds minister to Jesus’ flock, t...

"God's Words Possess God's Power" Series There are different types of followers: the half-hearted versus the committed. Jesus is uninterested in half-hearted followers who shoehorn him into their lives only when their other pursuits provide time for him. Jesus wants followers who are all-in… who love him above all things… who would be willing to leave everything else behind if that’s what it takes...

"God's Words Possess God's Power" Series We are born into this world on the side of the evil one. Unless and until God intervenes, we are enslaved to Satan and bent only toward sin. But God’s powerful Word has intervened! His words possess the only power that can promise freedom from the enemy. Just as Jesus’ words freed one man from the devil’s demons, so do his words set us free today. So powerf...

Even after Jesus had gone up into heaven, he still did what he does best: kept his promise! The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was the fulfillment of Jesus’ parting gift and promise to his disciples at his Ascension. Where man had left Babel in confusion, the Spirit brought clarity at Pentecost. Today the Holy Spirit continues his work of scattering and gathering, and for the same purp...

We want to make a difference. We want to serve a purpose. Without purpose, life seems meaningless, and we can feel as if we’re just in the way and taking up space. But purpose can breathe life into us, make us alive, and rekindle a passion from within. At Jesus’ ascension, he did not leave us because he was fed up, but rather to fill us up with purpose - his purpose! So we now have meaning. We now...

“This, too, shall pass.” There is a measure of comfort in knowing that seasons of grief will eventually pass. However, that comfort can be rather short-lived when we are suddenly slammed with the next unexpected wave of grief. How do we process grief then? Do we begin to just accept the miserable reality that joy will always elude us and that perennial grief is our lot in life? It doesn’t have to...

We love love. We love being in love and even love the idea of being in love. We love certain foods, clothes, celebrities, music, cars, teams, etc. - we could go on and on listing all the things we love. Is it possible, though, that our “love” for so much has watered down its meaning? More importantly, has our own love become watered down and meaningless? It might appear so as we consider how we se...

It could result in serious injury or death for a rock climber. It would dock the figure skater’s score. Falling can have disastrous consequences. But falling from faith would be even more devastating. Should you be concerned? Should you be worried about losing your faith? Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has an answer for you. Listen to him, just as sheep listen to the voice of their shepherd. His words...

We all fail. We all are well aware of our failures, and if we’re not, others will all too often remind us of them! But failings and failures from our past do not define us. We are not failures simply because we have failed in the past. How do we know? Because there is something greater that defines us, something far superior to any failure: a Christ who never failed. Christ’s resurrection is the p...

Easter Sunday has come and gone, the grind continues, and life goes on. If Jesus’ resurrection is such a big deal, why does it feel as if not much has changed? Struggles have not disappeared for us as Christians. We still come under fire for our faith. God’s people all over the world are suffering for the Savior’s sake, and we are not immune to it. Does Easter really matter that much? It does! Jes...

Defeated. It’s one thing to experience it when your team is on the losing end of the big game. It’s another to feel it consistently in life. When the hits keep coming, one after the other, when life takes this turn then that turn, it all takes the wind out of our sails. We feel defeated. But we aren’t alone. We aren’t the first and we won’t be the last to experience feelings of defeat. So the ques...

The events of Palm Sunday might not seem pivotal to our salvation. Christ sheds no blood on this day. However, Palm Sunday sets the tone for all of Holy Week. It perfectly illustrates that Jesus came to be the kind of king this world will never understand: one who conquers his enemies by surrendering to them, one who crushes his opposition by himself being crushed, one whose path to kingly exaltat...

Athletes, authors, and academics all have something in common: they’ve all been rejected. We all have. While no one enjoys it, rejection is something we’ve all experienced in multiple ways throughout our lives. Rejection can be crushing. Yet, there is one who has faced it more than anyone else. How did he handle it? Thankfully, in a way that we never could. "The Lord saves those who are crushed in...

Judgment is all around us. We judge others. They judge us. We judge ourselves. Along with so much judgment - justified or not - comes the crushing weight of condemnation. How do we deal with such a heavy burden? How do we remove it? We don’t. Grace does, and no burden of condemnation is ever so heavy that it can’t be lifted by grace. "The Lord saves those who are crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18).

It is easy for us to feel confident. We look at our track record of mostly good deeds (or at least better than others) and feel pretty good about ourselves. Or, we look at the good direction our life has been taking - compared to others whose lives appear to be in shambles - and we conclude that God’s favor must mean we’re doing something right. Be careful! Such an attitude, such conclusions leave...

Last week at the start of our “Crushed” series, we talked about temptation. This week we see what is at the center of every temptation: promise of a shortcut to glory. Even in a world as sharply divided as ours, there is near universal agreement that the preferred path to glory is the shortest and easiest. To walk the path our Savior puts us on, one on which the cross comes before the crown, puts...

The blow that comes as a result of a devastating loss, the defeat of personal failure, the despondency felt from guilt or anxiety or depression - these can all crush us emotionally. In a broken world, it is simply a matter of time before we feel crushed. For 1400 years the Church has set aside the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter as a time of repentance and renewal (this time is called “Le...

As the season of Epiphany ends with Transfiguration Sunday, we are presented with another paradox. For God's glory to be revealed, it actually must be covered. God's glory needed to be hidden in Christ. It is hidden in the gospel. This is how God enables sinful human beings to see his glory and, rather than turning away in fear, stare at it in wonder for as long as they want. Through today’s parad...

Last week we saw the paradoxical relationship between weakness and strength in Christ's kingdom. This week we see how Christ would have us react to those who wrong us or oppose us. Jesus asks us to befriend our enemies, to love those who hate us, and to repay evil with good. Logic would say that is a recipe for being walked all over. Yet, have we not seen this tactic work? When we were Christ's en...