Grace for New Life

Tough times can drain our hope. But there is more going on in reality than what we can sense with our physical senses. The sure and certain promise of glorious worship in the presence of God with countless others encourages us to faithfully endure hardships and share with others the hope we have been given.

The introduction of the internet has made it possible to easily spread fabricated stories around the world. When we share fake news, we undermine our personal credibility, making it less likely that a skeptic will believe us when we share the Good News with them. The Good News of God's love motivates us to be prudent in what we share.

Unlike happiness, joy is not an emotion that is dependent upon circumstances. Joy is deeper and more durable than happiness because it is a resilient rejoicing rooted in the comforting presence of the One who has overcome all things. Making a practice of trusting in Jesus results in contentment, peace and joy in our lives.

We may desire to follow God, but our following is always partial and imperfect. The Good News is that Jesus has not only rescued us and brought us into God’s family as a free gift, He has also given us the Holy Spirit Who helps us to turn away from evil, produces supernatural fruit in our lives, and encourages us to believe that our new identity in Jesus is actually true, which it is.

The thought of starting to dance with God can be intimidating. “I don’t know how to do it. I have no confidence in my abilities. This is going to be awkward and embarrassing,” we may think to ourselves. But God’s gracious love is big enough to wash over and fill all our weaknesses and insecurities.

Sometimes we can take for granted what God has done for us. But a big picture view of the universe and the Bible helps us to see that what God did and does is amazing!

The default strategy for human beings is to try to live life on our own. But eventually we come to the end of ourselves and realize that that does not work. Jesus invites us to follow him and his teaching, and he will give us rest.

The things that Jesus said in the Bible are sometimes presented as one-line zingers intended to shore up our broken and hurting lives. But those one-liners come from a larger story which is also important for us as we seek to grow in faith, hope and love. Listen to what many consider the best sermon ever, the Sermon on the Mount, and let Jesus' words wash over you and lift you up. (Mt. 5-7).

God is able to take a great loss and turn it into something positive for many people. This is a special message about how God did that through a mission outreach to Africa.

From time to time, we do silly, even embarassing, things. But God, in His great love for us, continues to woo us in the hope that we will return to Him, our source of life, love, hope and forgiveness.

Without the unconditional love that we need, we develop a false persona to try to get others to love us. But it is all false, and we never have peace or love inside us. Through Jesus, God has come close, connected with and chosen us so we can be confident in His love.

When we lack intimacy in our relationship with God, we miss out on living life with peace, hope and resilience. Jesus is inviting us to receive more of God’s love in the deepest part of our soul so that we, and others, feel both safe and loved.

While we struggle to understand if God is who we want Him to be, God has been faithfully loving humanity since before time began. When we open our hearts and minds to His love, we can see evidence of God’s faithful love throughout history. We see that faithful love shines most clearly when Jesus came to personally rescue us and bring us into the freedom of abundant life with Him.

We believe that God loves us, but it is hard for us to imagine the infinite scope of God’s love for us. Jesus shows us that God’s love for us has no limits.

We usually think of other humans as both the source and the object of our love. But we read in the Bible that the ultimate source of all love is God. He loved us first and best, and as we know and rely on His love, He helps us to truly love others.

God does not change and yet He does new things. When is it time for us to get out of our comfort zone and change? God will guide us in when and how to change. The most important thing is to remember why we change: Because we want to know God better and we want others to have the joy of a close relationship with Jesus.

Given enough time, all of us will face challenges that are beyond our ability to meet and that’s when we cry out to God for help. But God wants something more for us in life than that. He invites us to live in continual confidence of His saving love for us. That begins by being aware of our own neediness.

Most religions teach that we need to earn God’s favour, but not Christianity. The Bible tells us that God Himself came to earth in the person of Jesus and suffered the punishment of divine justice to bring us into His family where He sings with delight over us.

The most important thing in life, Jesus tells us, is to love God and our neighbor. Such love is more valuable to God than religious worship. And God motivates us to love by loving us first. And our soul is fed by receiving God’s unconditional, infinite love for us.

Our desires and misplaced values often lead us astray. We value some things too highly and pursue them while, at the same time, we neglect and disregard our own soul. Jesus knows that our soul is the most precious part of us and because He loves us, He gave up everything, including His life, to save our souls. Jesus’ sacrificial love helps us to rightly value and guard our own soul.

This Sunday we celebrated because eight young people from our church confirmed that the Christian faith is their faith. We not only celebrated that God has given them faith, but also that they have been supported and nurtured in the Christian faith by their families and this community of faith and they are now ready to take responsibility for their own faith. Listen as they share their personal te...

Examining our own soul is an important part of Soul Care. But we are often reluctant to examine our own soul because of what we might find there. Because of God’s unconditional love for us, we know that the most important things in life-His love for us and our life in Him-are not going to change. Thus encouraged, we examine our own souls because we want to grow in living the life that Jesus has gi...

The soul is the most important part of us, but most of us do not know how to care for our own soul. So our souls languish, undernourished and neglected. Jesus wants to give us a rich, full, abundant life with Him. That life and relationship is a free gift He gives to us. But experiencing the fullness of that relationship and life requires caring for our own soul, and we do that when we receive God...

On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate that God has poured out the Holy Spirit upon all believers. When God pours out the Holy Spirit upon us personally, the before-and-after difference is dramatic for the Spirit gives us life and peace.

Without water, we soon become thirsty. Similarly, each of us has a great inner thirst that needs to be quenched. Jesus invites us to come to Him and He will give us the Holy Spirit Who will satisfy our inner longings.