Illuminate Community Church

Not long ago, over a thousand Americans were asked to identify their anxiety triggers and this is the list of common answers… • family and relationship problems • work stress or job change • change in living arrangements  • major emotional shock following a stressful or traumatic event  • verbal, sexual, physical or emotional abuse or trauma • death or loss of a loved one • pregnancy Perhaps you c...

For the last several weeks we’ve been looking at the words of Jesus in the most famous of all sermons - the sermon on the mount. It’s here that we see Jesus set the highest ethic of all time. You won’t find it anywhere else and I’ll prove it to you in one statement. Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” No one has lived up to this with any kind of consistency except for Jesus himself. In the world’s ma...

For the last several weeks we’ve been reading the words of Jesus as he gives an incredible sermon on the side of a hill north of the Sea of Galilee. He’s been talking about what it means to live a righteous life. The word righteous means to live right. It is to think, act, speak and do as God desires. Jesus’ topics include purity, loving others, reconciliation, and speaking the truth. When a perso...

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, "Revenge is a dish best served cold.” What I think this means is that if you wait to pay it back, the wound will be deeper. The message this Sunday is for anyone who has ever held a grudge. It is for anyone who has wanted to get revenge on another person. It is for those who have been mistreated and wanted to settle the score. In other words, this message is for ev...

This Sunday we arrive at a command from Jesus that applies to all of us because we all speak. We all make promises and commit ourselves to things, places, and times. As a result, people are counting on us to do what we say. In general, humanity is not very good at keeping its word. Isn’t this the reason we have legal contracts? Because we are prone to breaking our promises we must get the weight o...

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." -Matthew 5:27-28 We live in an age where you can see more naked bodies in five minutes than your ancestors could see in five lifetimes. Technology has promoted lust in ways that could never have been imagin...

If you’ve ever had conflict in your life, then Sunday’s message is for you. We’ve all been in situations where our feelings have been hurt. We have been wronged or mistreated and this causes stress and anxiety. The hard truth of the matter is that we also have been on the other side of that equation. We have been the one hurting others. This might be a stranger, neighbor, classmate, coworker, prob...

In John 10:10, Jesus said that he came to give people abundant life. I think people desire this now more than ever. There are many modern voices giving advice and yet so many are stuck and confused. Certainly Jesus is worth hearing. After all, he is themost influential man who has ever lived. Let me forewarn you by saying that Jesus is the master at disrupting people’s lives in the best possible w...

Jim Rohn famously said that you are a composite of the five people you hang out with the most. “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” Well that might have been true 50 years ago but the age of social media has completely changed this. Today, we are influenced by algorithms based on our preferences. Consequently, we imitate people we have never met. The breadth of influence upon us i...

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." -Matthew 4:17 For a good part of 2023, we will be looking at the words of Jesus. Specifically, the things he tells people they should or should not be doing. Now I realize this might not be popular because no one likes being told what to do. At the same time, people are desperately searching for meaning,...

"The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” Matthew 6:14 It surprises people to know that the story of Jesus’ birth contains two opposite images: darkness and light. Both are essential to understanding the truth about Christmas. Timothy Keller captures it well... “Christmas, therefore, is the most unsentimental, r...

Joseph and Mary were required to travel to their ancestral homeland to be counted for the census. They were from the line of David so this meant a four or five day trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem (known as the city of David). Do you realize the prophet Micah foretold the birthplace of Jesus 500 years before Jesus was born?  "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans...

The Bible never ceases to amaze me. We find our faith’s inspiration from the real-life accounts of the men and women who have gone before us. Jacob is old and dying. His last work is to pass God’s promises of land and family to an unlikely pair of what some have called, "half-breed" grandchildren. Jacob will adopt Mannaseh and Ephraim as his own sons. One of them will have a descendant who will br...

Finally, the moment arrives. Father and son reunited after 20 years. What a sight for both. Joseph arrives in style. He would have been wearing the white linen of aristocracy, surrounded by an entourage while riding in one of his personal chariots.    It’s an emotional reunion…As soon as Joseph appears before Jacob, the son throws his arms around his father and he weeps for a long time. Jacob said...

This week we will take a brief pause from our series in Genesis to reflect on the theme of thankfulness. Thanksgiving Day means different things for different people, but what I hope it allows us all to do is spend a few moments reflecting on our lives and all that we have to be thankful for. When Pastor Jason asked me to speak on this topic, I began to think about our church, and my mind instanta...

Trauma can be devastating. Everything within us wants to avoid the pain of going back to those hurtful memories and experiences. In our text this Sunday, Joseph is confronted with the reminder of abuse at the hands of his own brothers. Time has passed but deep wounds don't easily heal. Twenty years later these wounds quickly summon strong emotions that haven’t changed. However, Joseph's knowledge...

When Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy more food, he had no idea what was in store for the family. He did, however, ask God for a special measure of mercy upon them…and they needed it. The oldest son tried to make a power grab over his dad, the next two sons murdered an entire tribe out of hateful revenge and all of the boys were guilty of abusing their little brother Joseph. This family needs m...

What a crazy plot twist!!! After 13 years, Joseph will see his estranged brothers (and they will bow), yet they do not recognize him.  A lot has happened. God has placed Joseph in a position of tremendous power. He could easily have his brothers killed for their abuse. What stops him? Joseph understands where his power comes from. When he interpreted Pharaoh's dream, he was quick to say, “Hey! Don...

This week we pick up where we left off in Genesis. If you remember, we were looking at the life of a young man named Joseph. He was the second youngest of twelve brothers. His father favored him and gave him a special coat to let everyone know. As a result, this made his brothers jealous. Further, when Joseph was just a teenager, he had a couple of dreams in which his family bows down to him. Litt...

Matthew 25 holds a story about you, me, and our future together. It is a parable told by Jesus about making the most of every spiritual opportunity God has given us. Now, it’s obvious that the master is Jesus. The long journey is his time in heaven where he is now seated at the right hand of the father, but one day he will return. Christians are the servants and we are now in upper management. Eac...

I have a few trees in my backyard that have been there for a long time. I know this because I planted them myself 21 years ago. For the first couple of years, they didn’t seem to make much progress. But the consistent water, fertilizer, and sunlight have made them my favorite places to relax for one simple reason - shade from the heat. I often think of Illuminate in this way. We are the generation...

Last week I shared about Illuminate’s humble beginnings, “Only God” moments, and where He is leading us into the future. We use three words to describe this.  Bigger, Smaller, Deeper Bigger refers to what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."  In John chapter 12, Jesus gives us the...

We often repeat a couple of phrases at Illuminate…”Only God!” and “Where God guides, He provides.” This has been the history of our church; from our small beginnings in my living room six years ago, to serving over 2000 people each week in person and online today. Yet I believe the best is yet to come because God wants to do more than we could ask or think. Let’s have our faith expanded by the way...

I have been thinking a lot about family recently. I have family members in other states getting older that I want to spend more time with. I have cousins and siblings moving to incredible cities around the country that I’d love to visit and support. My wife has family on opposite sides of the country and in different cities than all of my family. We have college friends who have moved back to thei...