Illuminate Community Church

It's been said that all of man's life is one long attempt to avoid death. But then someone you love dies. You attend the service honoring his or her life. Depending on your age, you might think for longer than a minute about your own memorial and then you push it aside. Still, someday people will be talking about you in the past tense. The apostle Paul was faced with this thought time and again. P...

I'm very excited to announce "Joy Unchained" is the new series beginning this Sunday. It's a study in the book of Philippians which is written by the apostle Paul while a prisoner of Rome. What would he want to tell us while wearing the chains? The message is simply this: there is joy in adversity. I don't remember much about the early years of my public school education. I do remember feeling anx...

Esther's story is a great one. She is taken from total obscurity to national prominence as Queen of the Persian empire. But there's a twist. She's a Jew and Jews were about to fall on hard times because of a racist scoundrel named Haman. For now, Esther has kept her ethnicity a secret. However, she will be asked to take a risk to save her people. She doesn't want to do it because she's interested...

The story of Daniel and the lion's den is a Sunday school favorite. But it's not just for kids. The faith of Daniel is for every Christian who wants to please God in all circumstances. Have you ever thought about why God allows the lions in our lives? The answer is found in the outcome of the story. Through the witness of Daniel, his faith, and the faithfulness and power of God, an entire nation c...

The story of Daniel is the story of worship. In our lives today, there is a constant battle for our worship's attention. King Nebuchadnezzar commanded all people in his kingdom, including those in high and low esteem, to bow down and worship the golden image when they heard the sound of the musical instruments being played. The strategy of the enemy is at all costs to get us to look away from the...

Most change brings pressure. Christians know what God does with pressure. He turns ordinary stones into gems. This is the history of God's people. There was pressure on Abraham as he left his homeland. There was pressure on the nation of Israel under Egyptian rule. Daniel felt the pain of leaving his home overnight and being squeezed into Babylonian culture. Esther's pressure revealed that she was...

Long before World War II newspaper headlines proclaimed, "Victory!" there was a much bigger battle fought and won. The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. The apostle Paul sums it up...    “Death is swallowed up in victory.”   “O death, where is your victory?   "O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the...

Matthew 21:1-13 It's becoming increasingly common for people to ask, "Is the Coronavirus God's judgment?" The answer is yes and no. Disease and virus are the results of what took place in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned all of creation became a broken and cursed place. Romans 8:22 explains...   "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth...

You need some good news and encouragement right about now. Let me give it to you. Your life is in God's hands. There's never a moment when he doesn't watch over you. How's this for comfort... "You have seen me tossing and turning through the night. You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one in your book." Psalm 56:8 The whole world has pushed the...

Fear is the world's most powerful motivator. Fear will paralyze our actions, consume our minds and make us forget who we are. Remember, the devil is a thief and he loves to steal our peace. So it's good to have this verse in our minds and hearts... "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." 2 Timothy 1:7 Power Love Self-Control It's the power of God that gives u...

Some of the most accomplished people on the planet will tell you about the failures that came before the successes. Although I prefer Popeye's, the Colonel makes some great chicken. You're probably familiar with his story. In retirement he started traveling by car to different restaurants and cooked his fried chicken on the spot for restaurant owners. If the owner liked it, they would enter into a...

When my kids were little we played a game that took "hide and seek" to the next level. They loved it when I turned out the lights while they hid themselves in the house. Then after one minute I would quietly seek to find them. They could never keep it together. When I got close they would scream with excitement, run from their hiding spots and flee my presence in terror. But it didn’t matter. Back...

Sources used for this series include commentary by John Piper, Tim Keller, Colin Smith sermons at unlockingthebible.org, Henri Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son and Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. We live in a time when this question will be answered a hundred different ways. But there is only one answer that matters and it comes from Jesus. His response carries by far the most weight be...

This week we’ll be discussing the most important concept in the Bible. Yes, I know that’s a big statement, right? So here’s the thing…if you don’t understand this concept you will not be able to relate to God, Jesus or yourself. You won’t have personal joy or the motivation to serve others. There will be a consistent groan deep within your heart as it searches for what will give it life. I’m talki...

If you’ve grown up in Sunday school then you know the story of a diminutive but wealthy man named Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector. You probably know the song about him as well…"Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he…” He climbed above the crowds perched in a sycamore tree just to get a glimpse of Jesus. The story unfolds with Jesus calling him down saying, “I must stay at your...

Not all "coming to faith" stories are the same. Some are gradual and some are rapid. The phrase “Damascus Road experience” is used to describe a conversion which is dramatic and startling. It was a man named Saul (you might know him better as the Apostle Paul) who experienced Christ in a life-changing, instantaneous experience, although many others describe their conversion as more of a process in...

Right in the middle of Jesus’ family tree is a shocking name: Rahab. Most of us are familiar with her. She is almost always mentioned in the Bible as “Rahab the harlot." But that’s not all. Rahab was also a Canaanite; the hated enemies of Israel. Her most exemplary deed was telling a lie. Think about that. A harlot, a Canaanite and a bald face liar. You wouldn’t think she would have much chance of...

One of my mentors would often say, “The most misbelieved verse in the Bible is Ephesians 6:12.”  “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” I think he might be right. Very often the Christian community seeks to fight the battle in...

We have heard it said many times, “God loves you.” But for whatever reason it doesn’t always stick. This is why Jesus spoke in parables. Storytelling captures the imagination and the heart. Jesus was the master teacher. Luke 15 contains three stories that reveal God’s love for all people. The last story is the famous “Prodigal Son.” There is however more than one prodigal son in the story. The you...

As we look into the new year I’m mindful of all the things that make for a healthy church. Certainly at the top of that list is evangelism. After all, this is the reason why Jesus came. John 3:16 tells us that evangelism is the ultimate act of love. Healthy things grow and growing things change so if Illuminate does not see the transformation of lives by the gospel then we’ve missed everything. We...

  Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.  1 Chronicles 4:9-10 “None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is...

As we begin this new year let's remember what God requires as Micah wrote: act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. 

The birth of Jesus changed everything. Just a few minutes before he entered the world, it looked very different. Where there was conflict, there is now peace. Where there was darkness, there is now light. This is why the angels proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest!”

The fist half of Luke chapter 2 contains a well known account of Jesus’ birth. But it might surprise you to know that the rest of the chapter takes an interesting turn. What more could Luke want us to know? Perhaps the most important part: What is your response to the birth? When they (shepherds) had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who he...