Grace for New Life

Prayer is something that many people do. But why should we pray and how? Does prayer really do anything or are we simply casting our wishes into the empty void of the universe? Jesus helps us to see that prayer is powerful because we have a good and loving Father in heaven who wants to give us good gifts. (Based on 1 John 5:1-15 & Luke 11:1-13.)

It is human nature to love only those who love you. But God doesn’t love like that. He loves all people, even those who are His enemies, and His Son Jesus died and rose again to pay the full cost for all people to be reconciled to God. Therefore, as His children, we love as He does. We are unconcerned whether others love us in return. We have all the love we need in Jesus. (Based on Rom. 12:9-21 &...

Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus gave us one thing to do: go and make disciples. But how do we do that? It is much the same process as starting to follow a sports team. When we are clear about which team we are following and how people encounter Jesus, disciple-making will happen through us. But it all starts when we let our roots grow into Jesus, and let our lives be built on Him.

There are times for all of us when we face challenges that threaten to overwhelm us. But because God the Father has entrusted everything to Jesus, He has the authority to bring us the right solution at the right time that will not only be good for us, it can give us a platform to point others to Jesus too. Therefore, we can trust Jesus unconditionally.

Freedom may be something that we desire, but struggle to attain because we always have people to whom we are accountable and responsibilities that we need to fulfill. Jesus shows us that true freedom is a matter of the heart and mind. When our faith and values are re-aligned by Jesus and we seek His Kingdom first, and then we are truly free.

Having His followers fish for people is the way that Jesus brings people into His Kingdom. Though many things have been stripped away from us as a church because of Covid-19, this is still something that we can do. Using a net of Jesus’ love, we fish for people so that Jesus can give them a life with Him that will last forever.

Times have changed and it seems like we no longer know how to make disciples of Jesus. But Jesus is doing the heaven lifting in the disciple-making process, and as we share our lives with others, as He did, He is able to draw people closer to Him and give them new life.

Because of Covid and secularism, there is a lot of uncertainty for churches these days. How will we make disciples now? But just as He did after His resurrection, Jesus stands in our midst and says, "Peace. I am with you, I love you and I have a plan." Because Jesus is with us, the Church is always able to adapt.

Having a strong sense of home in our hearts can give us a sense of belonging, identity, security and confidence. But even a strong sense of home can cause anxiety when it is rooted in this world because something can always go wrong at home. Jesus has given us a new forever home with God and the way to that home is the way of love. Therefore we make God’s love the driving force in our lives so tha...

There are times when it seems like Covid-19 has stripped away our society’s veneer of congeniality and we can see what other people truly care about by what upsets them. But what about us? In the race of life, what are we running for? When we see what Jesus has done for us, we are moved by His sacrificial love to run our race for His Kingdom.

Feeling foolish about our faith can prevent us from fully living life as God intended us to do. But faith is about seeing ultimate reality as it really is and when our faith is anchored in Jesus, we are freed from our fears of being foolish and able to faithfully live and love others.

All of us have the power to make decisions, but what guides us as we use our God-given power? Will it be love or self-interest? Both Jesus and Avengers: Endgame show us that sacrificial love brings us the Endgame result we desire.

Our natural response is to fight against or flee from our fears, but both responses pull us away from the abundant life Jesus wants to give us. With a turning point of love and faith, we can head off in a new direction with a far better result, all because of the transforming power of love.

When we get anxious, we tend to make our values about gaining creaturely comfort and worldly security for ourselves, with no regard for the negative impact our values may be having on others. But God loves all people and sent Jesus into the world to win forgiveness and restoration for all. Moved by God’s love and mercy, we align our values with God’s so that we can truly love and bless others.

We all need hope for the future, but whether we think that hope is even possible depends in large part on what we believe. Jesus came into this world to defeat that two things that always hold us back: sin and death. His death and resurrection created the possibility of a far better future for us. That possibility becomes reality for us through faith in Jesus.

One of the fundamental questions in life that all of us must answer is “Who am I?” We could try to find the answer inside ourselves, but what if the self we find there is broken? It is in Jesus where we find our true identity. When we bring our fractured soul to Him, Jesus heals and completes us and helps us to see who we really are in Him, a beloved, forgiven child of God.

One of the reasons why The Princess Bride is a favorite with so many people is that it appeals to us in many different ways, but most of all it is a love story, a story of true love that is so strong that nothing, not even death can stop it. In it we clearly hear the echoes of the Christ story, where Jesus loves us with the love that we have always wanted: True Love that is pure, infinite and unco...

There are many resources to which we can turn to seek help for living a good life, but without God, our quest is hopeless. We are flawed, broken beings who need help from outside of ourselves. Thankfully, we have that help through Jesus, and with the love that He gives us, we are able to live a good life full of love for others.

Everyone has a foundation of faith of some kind in their life, something that they trust in above all else as they live their life. In the marketplace of ideas there are many options for us to consider, but the greatness and the goodness of the God of the Bible suggest that faith in Jesus is the best foundation for us to have.

We don't like to think about God being angry but His anger is the result when the people He loves get hurt. We all have hurt ourselves & others and therefore deserve God's wrath, but God did an extraordinary thing. He let the wrath that we deserve fall on Himself instead of us, so that we could have peace. That peace is more than a cessation of hostility. It is a rich, full life defi...

Life is often a struggle. Not only is there the exterior struggle, which we all share, of trying to make our way in this world. There is also the intensely personal interior struggle in which we all try to answer the question, “How do I know that I am going to be ok?” The default method for answering this question is with worldly measurements, but those things will all eventually disappoint or eve...

While this time of social distancing can be frustrating because of the increased limitations we experience, it reminds us that limits are part of life. We may not like limits, but they help us to realize that we need Someone to help us. That Someone is Jesus, in Whom we experience amazing freedom, even in times of great limitations.

One thing that none of like to do is suffer, but suffering is part of life in this world. Is there a way to rise above it? As we look at the account of Paul & Silas in jail in Philippi, we see that they were able to do so. How? By living their lives before God. He is our foundation & future and the source of our identity, joy and hope regardless of our circumstances. Therefore, we can stil...

How does God think about people? This is an important question because, without it, we assume that God thinks like we do & accepts or rejects people based on whether they fit with his picture of what a follower of his should look like. Thankfully, God does not think like we do. He shows no favourites & he accepts people from all nations who fear him and do what is right (Acts 10:35). When...

What we believe can help shape our reality because our beliefs direct our vision and influence the environment we create. But our beliefs need to be based on what is true. The truth of the resurrection of Jesus helps us to see and people who know that, because of Jesus, we are loved & loving.