Life on the West Side

I hear our Lord gently saying to us as we read Acts 2:42 (“and they were devoted to the Apostles’ teaching”) “go and learn what this means.” These young Christians were barely dry. Not one of them had a New Testament handed to them as they came up out of the water, because it had not been written yet. Paul had not written his majestic letter to the Romans, or to the Corinthians, or to any of the c...

Dedication takes time. It takes practice. It takes excitement and commitment. When you add love to time, practice, excitement, and commitment, what you get is devotion . What the New Testament calls for is intimate connection through deep commitment within a covenant community. One that blesses those inside, blesses those on the outside, puts the world on notice and causes the world to take notice...

The early church was not made up of the line leaders and kickball captains. We are the community of the have nots. Those picked last. But here is the good news. If you are in Christ, you are picked! You are on the team! You are on the roll. If you are still standing against the fence, fingers clutching the metal rings, hoping against hope that today just maybe you might get picked, I’m here to tel...

How do we handle life the week after the party? What do we do when the celebration is over? Especially if, for some reason, we missed it. The power and majesty of Resurrection Sunday does not describe my usual experience. Most days just aren’t like that. If the weight of the world has replaced joyous hope in your life, then trust me: you are not alone. And, in the wake of the happiest event in the...

I wonder…what would count as the best day ever? I don’t just mean for you. I mean for everyone. Pick a day, and I wager that scripture would agree with your high estimation. What do you think would count as the world’s best day? Creation? Exodus? Covenant? Christmas? Good Friday? The Last Day? All good options. But one day includes and explains all of those days…and more. The sermon today is title...

[NOTE: audio corrects at 12:47] Do you see him hanging there, with his back against the grain? Hear him crying in pain, as he pushes off his nail-pierced feet to breathe, rubbing his wounded back against the grain. See the early Christians, staring down the Roman Empire, facing brutality armed only with sacrificial love, going against the grain. And cast your eyes to the wheat field, to the stalks...

Read the Bible with Gospel Lenses. When God says he will bless the entire world through one man. When all cry out for deliverance from Egypt, or Assyria, or Babylon…and God comes to their rescue. When outsiders beg for mercy, and dare to touch the face of God, and they find overwhelming grace and acceptance. The gospel was preached to Abraham. Every section of Scripture—Law, Prophets, Psalms, Gosp...

Read the Bible with Gospel Lenses. When God says he will bless the entire world through one man. When all cry out for deliverance from Egypt, or Assyria, or Babylon…and God comes to their rescue. When outsiders beg for mercy, and dare to touch the face of God, and they find overwhelming grace and acceptance. The gospel was preached to Abraham. Every section of Scripture—Law, Prophets, Psalms, Gosp...

Read the Bible with Gospel Lenses. When God says he will bless the entire world through one man. When all cry out for deliverance from Egypt, or Assyria, or Babylon…and God comes to their rescue. When outsiders beg for mercy, and dare to touch the face of God, and they find overwhelming grace and acceptance. The gospel was preached to Abraham. Every section of Scripture—Law, Prophets, Psalms, Gosp...

Read the Bible with Gospel Lenses. When God says he will bless the entire world through one man. When all cry out for deliverance from Egypt, or Assyria, or Babylon…and God comes to their rescue. When outsiders beg for mercy, and dare to touch the face of God, and they find overwhelming grace and acceptance. The gospel was preached to Abraham. Every section of Scripture—Law, Prophets, Psalms, Gosp...

Read the Bible with Gospel Lenses. When God says he will bless the entire world through one man. When all cry out for deliverance from Egypt, or Assyria, or Babylon…and God comes to their rescue. When outsiders beg for mercy, and dare to touch the face of God, and they find overwhelming grace and acceptance. The gospel was preached to Abraham. Every section of Scripture—Law, Prophets, Psalms, Gosp...

Read the Bible with Gospel Lenses. When God says he will bless the entire world through one man. When all cry out for deliverance from Egypt, or Assyria, or Babylon…and God comes to their rescue. When outsiders beg for mercy, and dare to touch the face of God, and they find overwhelming grace and acceptance. The gospel was preached to Abraham. Every section of Scripture—Law, Prophets, Psalms, Gosp...

My identity is not what I think apart from the wisdom of God.  My identity is not what I feel apart from the reordering of God.  My identity is not what I do over and above the person of God.  Challenging every thought, desire, and religious duty—taking them captive, and surrendering to Christ alone. My true, intended, and chosen identity  The sermon today is titled "Christ Alone." It is...

Imagine if that terrible moment—that mistake you relive over and over again in your mind—was erased from your record. Imagine if, like in some fantastic dream, you were loved without limit and forgiven forever. Imagine if you were accepted. Loved by the God who made you. Forgiven by the God who bought you. Declared innocent by the God who died for you. Imagine if there were no stones to throw, onl...

Think of all the things we give power to define us. Our last name. The accidents of our birth. The community to which we choose to belong. What we do for a living.  The Christian story says that, in Christ, and through the gospel, God is calling you to a new identity. It comes with a new name. A new birth. A new community. And a new vocation.  This is who you are called to be. This is who you real...

“Aging is what happens if we’re lucky; it means that I’m alive.” —Cindy Crawford. Young and old, we are unhappy with our bodies. Sometimes they don’t work. Sometimes they don’t make sense. But I want to tell you that your body has meaning, purpose, and a future. And to prove it…our Lord has one too. The sermon today is titled "Body." It is the third installment in our " Identity &qu...

Listen to the music. “Satisfy My Soul.” “Heart and Soul.” “Soul Survivor.” We know we are more than flesh and bones. We thirst for something deeper. Something richer. Something more. God put that in you. You were made for something more. It’s your true identity. That longing you sense deep down? That's your soul thirsting for God (Psalm 42). The sermon today is titled "Soul." It is...

When we sense no purpose, we create purpose. We have to. It’s how we are wired. Without purpose, without meaning, without a sense that we are wanted and our contribution is meaningful, we die. But we know all to well that self-created purpose lasts as long as we find interest in it, and it is only as solid as your imagination allows.  What we long for, what we sense deep in our bones, what we want...

God is the perfect parent . All the traits we find most helpful in mothers and fathers are found first--and fullest--in God. As image-bearers, we learn how to parent from the God who parents us. And we rejoice in sharing a blessing on all children and parents, as we dedicate our children to the Lord. The sermon today is titled "Parenting In The Image of God." It is a stand-alone sermon f...

Where does the gospel lead? What does the gospel create? What develops as a result of the gospel? Can you imagine an advertisement to be “free from weight loss” where the before and after picture looked the same? In the New Testament, the gospel that frees, the gospel that saves, the gospel that redeems leads to freed, saved, redeemed people living free, saved, redeemed lives. It means recognizing...

How do I know if I am explaining the depth of the gospel or adding to the gospel? The answer is found in discovering the content of the earliest preaching, the central themes that appear in gospel presentations. What we would need is something that touches on all the central items the gospel seeks to proclaim, the things that would have been believed and received when the “word” was preached. We w...

Some headlines are clearly counterfeit. Your "gospel" is the headline that defines your life. We can probably name some really bad, truly wrong headlines that seem to define life for many people. “Might makes right,” or “All that matters is who wins.” These are counterfeit gospels. But then there are good things. Maybe great things. Even essential things. But if they take top billing in...

Simple? Yes. Simplistic? Not on your life. The gospel is not just a list of beliefs about something that happened 2,000 years ago. It’s the controlling narrative that makes sense of everything that’s ever happened, and everything that will happen. It is the constant flowing river underneath every commandment, every prophetic message, every story of conflict between good and evil, and every hope ex...

What is the gospel? Every religion teaches about man chasing after God. The gospel says that God came chasing after us. I am not the primary agent; God is the primary agent. I am the problem. God is the solution. The gospel highlights not my worthiness, but my unworthiness. The gospel highlights Christ’s worthiness, and then it talks about how in Christ, through His Spirit, by His power, the most...

The fruit of the Spirit is ...meekness . What do Moses, Jesus, and the servant compelled to go one mile have in common? A willingness to accept the task assigned, and to do so by the power of God. The sermon today is titled "Meekness." It is an installment in our " Fruit of the Spirit " Series. The Scripture reading is from Galatians 5:23 . Originally preached at the West Side...