Missio Dei: Phoenix

To wrap up our series in the Psalms, we look at some of Jesus' words at the end of his sermon on the mount side-by-side with Psalm one. The wisdom in these words bring us to our starting point in coming to the Scriptures, as well as our starting point in current life circumstances. We must begin with the question of who God is and how He is at work in the world, rather than beginning with ourselve...

For our final psalm this summer, we look at Psalm 98. This is a psalm that calls God’s people to look forward to our coming hope, and to rejoice. Though the world is broken and messed up right now, renewal and restoration are coming. We have a reason to sing a new song.

A call and response psalm: where the call reminds us of the Story of God at work in His world, and the response is praise. God is a god who has chosen to make a covenant with His people and He will never give up on that promise. His relentless, unfailing, unending love and solidarity with His people leads to salvation and life!

Psalm 90, perhaps the only psalm we have from Moses, is a story of coming home. Though Moses lived in many different places, from the palace of Egypt to the mountains to the wilderness of the Exodus, he always found his home in the eternal loving arms of God. When we wander from our home with Him, our days become numbered and we enter into the limits of man. Thank God for His work through the life...

God has made a covenant with His people - a deep agreement. Along with it come a promise, a command, and a warning. The promise of life, the command to follow Him, and a warning of what awaits if we do not. How have people been at keeping our end of the covenant? What is God’s response?

The psalms show us God's people longing to return to the house of God, to His dwelling place. At the start of the world there was an overlap of God's dwelling (heaven) with humanity's (earth) in Eden. This was lost because of mankind's rebellion. The temple for Israel was a picture of this, where God's dwelling would overlap with humanity's. Israel also lost their home and access to the temple bec...

In the beginning of creation there were two trees at the center of the story holding out a choice to humans: will you trust the Creator to show you what is good and what is not, or will you rebel against Him to try and make yourself king of your own life? Psalm 1 reminds God's people that one of these choices leads to life and the other leads to death. How have the first humans chosen? How have yo...

As we begin our series in the Psalms this summer, we start by looking at four eternal truths about who God is. So far 2020 has been a tumultuous and strange year. These truths about who God is and how He is at work in His world give us anchors during the storm - something to hold onto and to rest in, knowing that no matter what may change in our present circumstance, God is always Good, Great, Glo...

If Jesus was resurrected, what does that mean for you? For humanity? For all of creation? We continue through 1 Thessalonians for this 'physical distancing' Easter worship. He is risen!

Because of the love of Christ, our love ought to motivate us to good works for the sake of our neighbors.

What does it look like to overflow with love for all around you? Not just those you like or feel comfortable around, but even those who seem unlovable? How can we have this type of love?

Faith is an essential part of the Christian life and a word you've likely heard even if you haven't been around the church too long. But what does that word actually mean and how do we live it out? How much faith do we need to have? Where should we put that faith?

God calls us into His work with Him… to be co-workers with Him. Our job is simple really: let our lives witness to His kingdom. The problem is there is a tempter also at work to pull us away from this task. How do we fight off the temptation and live in our purpose of witnessing to God’s kingdom?

Paul saw the resistance and opposition that ran them out of Thessalonica and kept them from coming back as a play by the enemy. Not the Jewish religious leaders who actually stirred up the trouble. No, they were just a tool used in the process. The real obstacle came from a different enemy. How do we press on with such an enemy in our way?

You're suffering for believing this message. Just like the first church in Judea did. Just like the prophets did. Just like Jesus. Is it worth believing? I guess that all depends on whether this is a message from people, or from the living God who brings true life.

Even after suffering persecution in Philippi, Paul and Silas were still willing to share the message of Jesus in Thessalonica. Not only that, but to share their very lives (their souls) with them. What kind of message is worth giving up your life for?

The first letter to the Thessalonians is one of thankfulness for their faith and encouragement to continue in it. The church in Thessalonica was made up of new followers in Christ; converts who had recently turned from their cultural gods to trust in Jesus as King. They seemed to be marked by faith, love, and hope. The first chapter of this letter expresses a gratitude for the work God was doing i...

How does the True Story shape a missional people, sent to engage in God’s mission of the restoration of all things? See how God has been forming us into God’s people, living in God’s way, in sight of the nations.

One of our deacons, Will Krueger, speaking on how the True Story of the gospel shapes us into community.

If the story of the Bible really is the True Story of the world, what implications does this have for us? Shouldn’t this True Story then shape and form us as people living in the world? This week we explored together how the God who is writing the True Story has been at work forming a people from the beginning… and won’t stop until it’s done.

On the first Sunday of 2020, we began the year by reminding ourselves of the True Story of the whole world. We read a summarized version of the Scriptures beginning with the Creation of all things and moving all the way through to the Restoration of the world. It is out of this Story that we strive to live and shape our lives, by God’s grace and for His glory.

The promise that an offspring of the woman would come to crush the serpent’s head, the son of David would establish a kingdom for man and God to live together forever, the suffering servant would take humanity’s pain upon himself, and many other promises of advent, all came together in the birth of one Son. He was named Jesus, YHWH saves, and he was called Immanuel, because God had come to be with...

The king and kingdom of Israel seemed to be something of the past. They were in exile, and every king they ever had failed them - even the best of them had passed away. God continued to speak through prophets to let His people know He was still pursuing them. Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord told them that one day the promised Rescuer would come and take away their sorrow and suffering - and t...

King David wanted to build a house for the Lord. It seemed like a good idea. But God didn’t need David to build anything for Him. Instead, it was the Lord who would build a house for David, all of Israel, and all of those in Christ. Jesus, the better King, came to dwell on earth and has gone to heaven to prepare a home - one for God and mankind to dwell in together forever - one where Jesus reigns...

Advent is a season of waiting expectantly. It’s a waiting that is rooted in hope. And hope is not empty wishing, but something founded in a promise and assured with evidence. At the very beginning of the True Story of the world, humans rebel against their intended purpose of creation. But immediately after, they are given a promise, and that promise is accompanied with assurance, that one day ther...