Illuminate Community Church

For the last two weeks we’ve been seeing God’s glory revealed through the birth of Jesus. We learned that a Christian's joy is not tied to circumstances, rather it is tied to Jesus our savior who loves us unconditionally. He is Immanuel, always with us. The Christmas story holds yet another revelation of God’s glory. This revelation is often misunderstood because we’ve heard it misquoted many time...

The angel announced to the shepherds the one thing that could put all things right. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” These words broke through human history unlike anything else. What the world needed most, it received. Our sin meets God’s justice and therefore we need this savior. And yet, not everyone welcomed the news. In fact, some tried to...

Have you noticed the word glory appears in the lyrics of many Christmas songs? “Angels We Have Heard On High,” "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Joy To The World,” and “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” to name a few. This is because the word glory was used by the angel to describe what was happening with the birth of Jesus. “Glory to God in the highest!” he proclaimed. If we are going to grasp the meaning...

I often think about where the church will be in 50 years. Of course the hope is that she is stronger than ever. As I was contemplating this week’s update I received this email from Leadership Network.  Church attendance is down by over 7% Only 49% of Millennials identify as Christians The number of Americans who would classify themselves as “religious nones” have grown by 30 million in the past de...

Times have changed my friends. And they will always be changing. One hundred years ago you were suspicious if you didn’t attend a church. If you called yourself an atheist you were not to be trusted. Today’s landscape is very different. We are in a unique era. One that actually takes us farther back in time. We have many things in common with the earliest believers living 2000 years ago. Ancient d...

Have you ever thought of yourself as a healer? A healer is one who brings peace, joy, love, and life to others. This can be accomplished through our words, actions and in a way we don't often think about - through our generosity. In other words, there is healing power in sharing your resources with others. Generosity is a means by which we bring the kingdom of God to earth. But you and I have a st...

Our world is in desperate need of compassion. I believe most Christians want to step into that space and deliver but I'm not sure we really know what compassion means or how to do it? For most, compassion simply means having sympathetic feelings for those who might be "less fortunate" than us. The Biblical understanding is far more rich. Compassion is not just empathy. Compassion is the tangible e...

I've never met a child who said he wanted to grow up to become homeless. In the Fritz house it was "professional athlete," "animal trainer," and "President." I don't think any of that is going to happen but nonetheless my kids have been setting their sights high. Isn't this what we all want? We want to make our lives count, we want to have impact but many of us are not sure how to make that happen...

One of my mentors use to say, "Perhaps the most misbelieved verse in the entire Bible is this…" "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12 I think this is accurate. When it comes to spiritual warfare most people underestimate...

One of the larger challenges hurled at Christianity and perhaps the most difficult is explaining the problem of suffering. If God is a God of love then how can he allow evil to continue in the world which He created? For many of us this is personal, not just philosophical. We have front row seats to the various forms of pain life has to offer. What does the Bible say about this issue? Does the Bib...

Life is full of challenging decisions. Some have fewer consequences than others but even the small ones can end up having big impact. So how can you be confident you’re taking the right action? You’ll be glad to know that God wants you to speak to him about everything in your life. He wants to speak to you too. If you are not hearing from God on a regular basis then what I can tell you is that the...

If there was ever a question in which I felt totally inadequate to give meaning it would be this: Who is God? In our culture if you asked ten different people this question you would probably get close to ten different answers. Everything from, "He's the big guy upstairs" to "he doesn't exist." It’s not just that understanding God is complex; it turns out that this God himself is also extremely co...

“What happens when I die?” At some point in life everyone asks this question. Without Jesus the answer is hopeless. With Jesus the answer is hopeful. In our culture when we speak of hope we mean to say there’s at least a small measure of uncertainty in us. “Will it finally cool down tomorrow?” “I hope so.” Biblical hope isn’t this way. Biblical hope is a joyful conviction based on compelling evide...

I love the honesty of the Scriptures. There's no doubt as to the importance of the resurrection of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 Paul lists eight results of a still dead messiah… 1. Our preaching is useless. 2. Your faith is useless. 3. We are false witnesses. 4. No dead will ever be raised. 5. Your faith is futile. 6. You are still in your sins. 7. All who have trusted in Christ are lost. 8....

Last week I ordered a table from Amazon. When it arrived I opened the box, dug out the assembly instructions and got to work. Four legs attached to the top with metal crossbars. Super easy, right? An hour later I was losing my religion. Out of frustration I went to Amazon's reviews and discovered that every part of the instructions were completely wrong. Here's a quote from a guy who said he got d...

God is not a God of confusion, but of peace says Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. The Corinthian Christians were very confused and this proved they had something to learn about the practice of their faith. These early believers had a false belief that some gifts made you more spiritual than others and at the top of their list was tongues. They were wrong. Paul brings clarity by making a contrast...

I've officiated many weddings over the last 25 years and without a doubt the most commonly quoted Scripture is 1 Corinthians 13. Famously known as, "The Love Chapter." We think of Paul's eloquent description as the ideal relationship full of patience, gentleness, believing the best with endless romance. The blueprint for the husband or wife of our dreams. But here's the thing - it's not about roma...

When people hear the phrase, "the body of Christ" some think it refers to the literal body of Jesus like the one he had while on the earth. The term actually refers to the members of his church throughout history. Therefore every Christian is a part of the body of Christ. Just like a human body, the body of Christ is made up of many different parts but all are meant to function together in unity....

Perhaps you've heard Proverbs 28:19 (from the King James version) quoted in Christian leadership circles, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." This has become an inspiration in the church growth movement and widely used to support the importance of painting a compelling portrait of church direction. However, the verse refers to a literal vision from God. The kind of vision that Old Testa...

I have a confession to make…when I was younger, I mistakenly took pride in the "lone wolf" mentality. I thought I didn't need anyone. I was the one who helped others and could take care of myself. I was strong and ready for anything. Vulnerability meant weakness. I was wrong. Since then, I have learned to share my needs and receive care. God knew this all along. In fact, he created you and I to le...

It's been said that opposites attract. It's true for the north and south poles of magnets and It often feels true in relationships. While opposite personalities may be drawn to each other, it's what you have in common that keeps you together. The word community means "common unity." Christians celebrate the Lord's Supper which is also called communion. Christian communion is a sharing of deeply he...

“A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.  A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant, subject to all.” –Martin Luther   Christian freedom is one of the hottest spiritual topics today. To folks accustomed to legalistic Christianity and the sets of rules that many would say must guide Christian conduct, Christian freedom is a strange animal. Because of what He did on the cross,...

Saint Augustine said, "The essence of sin is loving anything more than God." In my opinion, this is one of the most profound and insightful statements ever made by a human. We often think of sin as those things that are dirty and ugly and really, really bad. Augustine gives us a different perspective. He tells us that we make idols out of good things when we make them ultimate things. This is a di...

Sometimes it's easy to forget that we Christians live in a broader context than our church community. We live in the world. We are called to be missionaries and ambassadors (good will representatives of some other place - heaven). The Corinthian Christians were asking this question - What is permissible for a Christian and what is not? We often think this way too. We want to know where the lines a...

Sometimes it's easy to forget that we Christians live in a broader context than our church community. We live in the world. We are called to be missionaries and ambassadors (good will representatives of some other place - heaven). The Corinthian Christians were asking this question - What is permissible for a Christian and what is not? We often think this way too. We want to know where the lines a...