Mercy Commons Podcast

Jonah, the rebel prophet, built a shelter from the hot sun while selfishly waiting for God to destroy Nineveh. Like him, we too, build shelters from the pain rather than engage God. How do we avoid the Jonah trap? Look inward, upward, outward.

The problem: “How to not allow the most significant accomplishments of your life’s work to amount to a devastating emotional and spiritual breakdown.” When Christian believers care more for their  own interests , their  own groups  security and comfort or their  own cause  more than for the good and salvation of others, they are sinning like Jonah.  “There is no such...

Did Nineveh experience true revival? How does our call as disciples change the city we are in? Sometimes God will use disasters as instruments of mercy. Sometimes he will use negative events to grab our attention. In a world that seeks to medicate our pain, numb it, ignore it, we can miss the message of God. Pain humbles us and opens the door to repentance.

Just like Jonah we have all heard God’s voice to arise, go, and share the Gospel with our neighbors and even our enemies. We must remember we carry a scent and our message carries a scent. The message: no one is innocent, we are all active rebels; we are spiritually impotent; only God can save; no one is beyond God’s grace – even our “Ninevites.” The scent of this message should not be disguised.

Repentance is more than remorse. Repentance begins with embracing reality. However, sin distorts our view. So God brings us to the end of ourselves. Our opinion of our abilities can delay our repentance. Repentance is a lifelong journey home. Remember, Someone greater than Jonah is here! Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer! www.mercycommons.church

“Sin hardens the conscience, locks you in the prison of your own defensiveness and rationalizations and eats you up slowly from the inside.” ~ Keller

“Each Christian will so consider his neighbor, so consider himself a debtor to his neighbors, because of the image of God in them, that each Christian will exercise kindness toward them and set no other limit than the end of his resources.” ~ Jon Calvin

The temptation, is to put our hope in a new year because it represents a change. That the calendar change will magically make this year better than the last. And my desire is that we don’t see another 2020, but that is not where I put my hope. So what can we do to make 2021 a different year. A more successful year? What can we do to develop the endurance needed to break through the habits and hang...

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. C.S.Lewis www.mercycommons.church

The Son sacrifices, the Father adopts, the Spirit seals.  What are the implications of adoption? We have security, intimacy, and family. www.mercycommons.church

The Government of the Mighty God brings about three things to establish peace: (1) to destroy what needs to be destroyed, (2) to establish what needs to be established, and (3) to judge what needs to be set right. www.mercycommons.church

The Problem: Darkness, confusion and distress fall upon those whom do not believe in & follow the path lit by the counsel of Jesus. When you submit to worldly counsel:  It causes us to become distressed, anxious fatalists, and causes us to roam through the land. In contrast, what do the words of our Wonderful Counselor teach us? Isaiah 9:2-7 and Isaiah 8:20-22. www.mercycom...

How are we held together as partners and friends on mission? By recognizing and honoring tenacious loyalty. By being resolute and restoring. By challenging and encouraging each other to love and good deeds.

How do we partner with the One who holds all things together? Pray. Walk. Talk. Have a prayer life that is marked by steadfast devotion and vigilant gratitude. Pause, Rejoice, Ask, Yield.

As followers of Jesus, motivated by the love of Jesus, we must do what Jesus does and partner with God in confronting the systems which oppress people and deny their core personhood.

The world and media sources encourage contemptuous attitudes towards each other. God to stand for truth and to stand united with our brothers and sisters in Christ. How can we dismantle contempt? Through creating a culture of honor. By bearing with and forgiving one another. And by learning from one another.

As we continue in Colossians chapter 3, we ask trusted members of our community questions regarding obedience, submission, relationships, and discipling children.

What is God's vision for your life and how does your view of Jesus affect your future? In Colossians 3:1-11, Paul encourages us to look up to Jesus, look in to our idol-loving hearts, and look out to love our neighbors.

This week we are looking at Colossians 2:18-23. "Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism [taking delight in false humility] and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God."...

We are made in the image of God, in the image of this Word made flesh. The book of Revelation tells us that the saints overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony – holding fast to the story of who Jesus is –and what He has done for us, a story of absolute substance.

The whole point of delusions is that you don’t know that you are being conned. Am I in danger of being deluded? Yes, if you are depleted, exhausted, isolated, or separated. In the second chapter of Colossians, we learn how to protect ourselves from delusion and how to say strong together as a body of believers with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

The treasure of the Gospel – “Christ in you.” And know that because Christ is in us, we can live for his kingdom, instead of our comfort. We can grow into maturity, instead of following our own path. We can be empowered by his strength, instead of relying on our own power.

Colossians 1:15-23 is one of the most beautiful, poetic, powerful and empowering portraits of our Savior. It is all about the preeminence of Jesus Christ. He is before all things and in Him ALL THINGS hold together. This week we focus on God’s sovereignty over the spiritual realm. Spiritual warfare is real and happening all around us. How can we respond?

When we speak of held together in Him, we mean that not only is God is the source of all things, but that He is active in and through us to restore the world to His original design.

How do we reboot our lives? Through reengaging with God’s Word, His presence and His people.