Back Creek Church | Charlotte, NC

We were created and redeemed for a great adventure, called to express our faith through taking risks with discernment.

How do we keep going in an unpredictable, volatile, vain world where even wisdom can't give us all the answers we want? Trust and obey.  The failure of human wisdom to figure it all out is actually a very good thing and a blessing, because it calls us into a trust relationship with God.  Trust God for His provision. Obey God for your good. Trust God for your eternity. 

To navigate and enjoy life under the sun, we need wisdom.  Wisdom in our perspective, character, lifestyle, work, and speech. 

The key to enjoying life is never the gifts. It is always the Giver.

The certainty of death reveals to us the opportunity of life that frees us for the intentionality of enjoyment to the glory of God. 

Under the sun, injustice, impermanence, and individualism reign. But under the sun is not all there is. Jesus gives us hope that one day justice will reign, that joy may be found in this life and beyond, and even under the sun, two are better than one. 

Human experience, emotion, and endeavor under heaven are dominated and dictated by the transitory, temporary, unpredictable, even futile. If there is any hope for us, it is located in the character, nature, and actions of the God who is in heaven: Beautiful, Eternal, Generous, Sovereign Creator and Redeemer.  The Preacher says, "A time to seek and a time to lose." Jesus says, "The Son of Man came...

We have an innate sense that our lives mean something, and most of us are on a search for meaning in life. In this passage, the Preacher shares his quest for meaning with us.  Searching for meaning in life, the Preacher pursued wisdom. Searching for meaning in life, the Preacher pursued pleasure. Searching for meaning in life, the Preacher pursued work.  They all brought some value to the Preacher...

Introducing Ecclesiastes. From a horizontal, human perspective, life under the sun is vanity, a vapor. It is filled with impermanence, dissatisfaction, repetition, and insignificance. We do not always have answers and hurt, grief, and absurdity are commonplace. It does us good to consider this, so that we do not build our lives around that which is fleeting and finite.  While life under the sun of...

Jesus commands us, "Do not be anxious." Why according to Jesus should we not be anxious? Because God is our Master. Because God is our Provider. Because God is our Father.

We learn to number our days and get a heart of wisdom through an eternal perspective and expectant prayer. So teach us to number our days    that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long?    Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,    and for...

This has been a year full of weariness. Simeon and Anna were two people who had waited their whole lives to see the Lord's salvation. In our weariness, we can learn from them how to wait upon the Lord.  They waited with patience. They waited with faith. They waited with intimacy with God. 

The Christmas Story is an Adoption Story! But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir throug...

The Christmas Story is an Adoption Story! The Old Testament anticipates the Son of God.  The New Testament announces the Son of God. You are adopted through the Son of God. 

The Christmas story is an adoption story. When Joseph discovers that his fiancee is pregnant with a child that is not his own, he is faced with a choice. In his choice to believe God's Word, marry Mary, and adopt Jesus, we see Joseph's character, his compassion, and his commitment - 3 things we will also need, by God's grace, if we are going to adopt adoption.  But Joseph, like us, was a man of im...

An unexpected pregnancy plays a crucial role in the story of Christmas, the story of salvation. When an angel tells the virgin Mary she is going to conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and give birth to a Son, she responds in humility, in faith, and in surrender to the Lord.

The Christmas story is an adoption story!  The Apostle Paul says Jesus had to be born so that we could be adopted by God (Galatians 4:4-5). But according to God’s covenant with David (2 Sam. 7), being born wasn’t enough. It was necessary for the Messiah to be a son of David. But the Apostle Matthew’s genealogy doesn’t establish Jesus as the natural, biological son of David. Rather, it shows that J...

Thanksgiving is personal and corporate, intellectual and emotional. We are called, with the totality of who we are as individuals and as the church, to cultivate and express gratitude to God. The Psalmist gives us one strategy to do so: Remember. Remember his provision. Remember his power. Remember his precepts. Remember his presence. Remember his praise.  Give Thanks to the Lord!

After a contentious and divisive election, whether we feel like we've won or lost (or somewhere in between), we ask the question "what now?" For the Christian the answer is always the same... Pray Live Witness

Voting (or principled abstention) is a matter of Christian conscience, Christian conviction, and Christian community.

We put politics in its place by prioritizing unity in our  discourse. We prioritize unity by practicing faith, hope, and love. 

Submission to governing authorities (even ones we don't like or agree with) is one way we show our ultimate allegiance to Christ. It doesn't show we trust their authority, it shows we trust God's. Because our ultimate allegiance is to God, there are points at which we cannot submit to our governing authorities. Our obedience to Christ's authority always supersedes our obligation to civil authority...

The most radical and revolutionary political declaration we can ever made is our pledge of ultimate allegiance: Jesus Christ is Lord!  Because Jesus is Lord, His Kingdom is our primary citizenship (not that in our nation). Because Jesus is Lord, His Church is our primary community (not our political compatriots or tribe). Because Jesus is Lord, His Great Commands and Great Commission are our prima...

Jesus gives us hope.