Missio Dei: Phoenix

We started our series in Matthew during the season of Advent. The first week we looked at the genealogy of Jesus. Family trees and ancestral lineage doesn't always sound like the most interesting of topics, however, Matthew was revealing many very significant truths about who this Jesus was. Join us as we see the promised Rescuer God's people had been waiting for centuries to come.

Wrapping up our series in Hebrews, we come to chapter 13. This seems like possibly the author getting out his final thoughts and recommendations for living righteous before he seals his letter, but it’s so much more connected to the rest of the book than that. He has spent 12 chapters making the case how Jesus is better than all else and is the fulfillment of all they had been hoping for. In chapt...

Mountaintops were seen in the ancient near eastern world as places where humans could climb to meet the divine; heaven and earth could touch. In the Old Testament we have a story of Israelites trembling with fear before Mount Sinai because the glory of God came down with fire, clouds, thunder, and lightning. Hebrews 12 tells us we have not come to that kind of mountain, but Mount Zion where we cel...

A loving father disciplines his children. For some, we may have this experience to relate to. For others, we hear that word and flinch. We think of cruel punishment. No matter your experience with a human father, we have one who is far better and His discipline is perfect. It is not angry punishment, but corrective guiding leading us to the path of life and goodness.

Chapter 11 of Hebrews is perhaps one of the more well known chapters in the whole bible. Often referred to as the ‘Hall of Faith’, it lists off a number of people from Israel’s history who “by faith” lived a certain way. If we take a deeper look at each of their lives we will also find a lot of failures and acts of disobedience. Yet, there is one who showed an even better faith — the pioneer and p...

This world offers many ways to live, but really there are two: find what seems right or feels good to you, or live by faith in Jesus. One way leads to life, the other to destruction. One way is fulfilling and brings ultimate joy and satisfaction, the other brings chaos and sorrow. When we say Jesus is better, we don’t mean he is subjectively a slightly better option, though any option is fine. We...

What's the difference between delight and desire? Both are often talked about in the biblical narrative and seem to be key to the story. When delight and desire are misdirected and misplaced, destruction and even death can result. But when we desire what is good and delight in what we already have access to, this leads to flourishing. How can we rightly align our desires and delight? Only through...

The sight of blood is alarming. It signals that something is wrong, because blood belongs in the body. Life is in the blood. But for the ancient Israelite culture, blood also signified something else: cleansing. The thought of blood being used to clean anything now is more than strange to us, but there was a cultural and spiritual significance to it for the Israelites. As we seek to understand why...

A covenant is the deepest form of promise between two people, intertwining them together. Hebrews 8 shows us that Jesus has brought a new and better covenant, one that fulfills and completes where the old one fell short. The old covenant was good in that it pointed us toward the coming of the new covenant, but only by the new covenant can we completely enter into God’s presence. This new covenant...

Melchizedek is a mysterious character who only has a couple short sentences written of him in the Old Testament, but the author of Hebrews keeps bringing him up and seems to think he has a great deal to do with Jesus. Who is this guy? What is the connection to Jesus? As we explore chapter 7 of Hebrews, we see that God has been giving us a preview of what would come fully in Jesus all throughout hi...

Storms come in life. That is a certainty. When you hold onto an anchor, you will still feel the push and pull of the waves from the storm, but you will also be held secure where you are supposed to be. Our culture and even religion offer many anchors that end up not really being planted securely into a firm foundation. There is only one anchor for your soul that will truly hold you securely and he...

John Looney, one of our missio community leaders, covers Hebrews 5:11-6:12. Immaturity in the Gospel can lead to falling away, turning to our own works as a means of salvation. But the true way to life is only found in the work of Jesus. Persevering in Christ is our assurance of salvation.

God rescued Israel from the Egyptians, but He also made a way to rescue them from their own wickedness and rebellion. He allowed them to make sacrifices and draw near to His temple through ceremonial cleansing. God allowed these things to be mediated through people with a specific role, called priests. However, these priests also had their own sin and faced their own mortality as well. Jesus has n...

When God rescued His people out of slavery to Egypt, He called them to follow Him through the wilderness into a land He promised them — a land of rest. Many did not believe God’s promise and because of that, they failed to enter into His rest. Yet, God is inviting us into a deeper and fuller rest now through His Son, Jesus. May we listen. May we not harden our hearts as the Israelites did in the w...

God was building a nation and a people through Israel, and he used His servant Moses to start the work. But the true Builder was not Moses. Jesus has come to finish the work of building a people and a kingdom. He is the better builder who is the foundation and completion of what God is establishing.

Jesus is not only the better message, but has come in the flesh as the better human. He fully inhabits humanity and lives out what we were meant for and created to be. But he not only shows us how to be human — he also made a way for us to become more fully human through the power of his Spirit.

In the past, God spoke to His creation through various methods and messengers. But now He has spoken fully through His own Son, Jesus. Jesus is not only the better messenger, but the message of God himself, come to us in the flesh fully revealing who God is and what He is up to in His world. Are you listening to His message?

The Lord is good and His faithful love endures forever!

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day. This is the only psalm of 150 that is directly meant to be sung on the sabbath day. And yet, nowhere in the psalm does it give a command to rest, nor is the word rest even mentioned. What we do see in this psalm is a reminder of the works God has already accomplished. It is out of God’s work that we find rest, not our own. This psalm is an invitation to look to...

God gives a promise through Haggai to Zerubbabel: the other nations’ kingdoms will be destroyed one day and God’s kingdom will reign, and Zerubbabel will be the sign of this coming kingdom shaking the heavens and earth. But we know historically that Zerubbabel never sat on the throne crowned as king. He died. And Israel remained under the power of other nations long after he passed. What message w...

God is very clear about how unclean hands defile and the Israelites were not consecrated to build the temple. And yet, He promises to bless their work and their land anyway. What must take place in order for them to be made clean and set apart for this work? How can what is defiled be made pure?

God’s people were disheartened by how the new temple was shaping up compared to the splendor of the former temple Solomon had built. God spoke through Haggai to encourage them and remind them that this temple did not require fine silver and gold to be glorious, and if it did, He could surely provide it! But God’s own glory would come and fill that place and His presence would make it more glorious...

God’s people were supposed to rebuild the temple once they were released from Babylon. But they got caught up building extravagant homes for themselves. Of course, God didn’t need a home built from human hands, but the temple was about God’s presence and glory being near His people. What are you building? Are you building up a life that is far or near from God’s glory and presence?

An invitation to pray, as our King Jesus modeled for us to pray. These are not just ritual words spoken but a posture which transforms us and unites us with the kingdom work of Jesus.

What does it mean to pray, “Your Kingdom come”? What is it we are actually asking for to take place on earth, as it is in heaven? What was Jesus proclaiming as he announced the Kingdom of God was at hand and in our midst? In this message we explore seven realities we see about the Kingdom Jesus brought with him and what it means to live in those realities. 1. The Kingdom has a King. 2. The Kingdom...