Missio Dei: Phoenix

We begin a 40 week series through the entire True Story of Scripture, starting at the very beginning. Back in the day, God made everything up there and down here. He made order in the midst of chaos and placed life in the space where it could flourish. Then He appointed a particular creature, humans, to care for all of it.

As we try to realign our hearts to the True Story of the good news of Jesus and the Kingdom of God, we are reminded of our true identity in Jesus. We are a family of missionary servants, learning to follow Jesus. Or, to put it another way, we are a community of God’s people, learning to live in God’s ways, for the sake of our city.

The Bible tells one cohesive story from Creation to Restoration - and it is the True Story of the whole world. God, the Creator of the world, is the main character of this story. But this God existed even before the story began. We may not be able to know everything about this God, but by His love and grace, we can know God.

Simeon and Anna were two people who had waited their entire lives to see the promised Messiah; the one who would come to rescue God's people. Finally, they see their promise fulfilled in a little baby named Yeshua (Jesus). Their response is one of praise and of witness.

Perhaps you've heard this story before. The story of the virgin who gives a miraculous birth to a baby. The baby who would one day die and miraculously rise again. But this story is miraculous not only because of what happens, but because of why it happens. God has come to save His people, and to be with us.

Finally, after centuries of waiting, longing, and hoping, a miraculous birth occurred among the people of Israel. Well, not the one you're thinking of. At least, not just yet. Before Jesus was born, his cousin John was. Have you ever stopped to question why? Why did a regular human need to come and prepare people for the true perfect Son to come? Then again, why has God chosen to partner with huma...

Since the very beginning of the true story of the world, God's people have been waiting for the coming of their Rescuer. In the garden, a promise was given that he would one day come. And not only would he come from some far off place, but God would use the man and woman themselves to partner with his coming. All these years later, we have both seen him come and we wait again for him to return. We...

A brief conclusion to the book of Malachi and the entire Old Testament - and a hope for the Sun of Righteousness to come forth and shine upon the world. This was our final week in Malachi and the first week of the Advent season.

It all boils down to this: will you trust God? This was what God wanted from His people from the very beginning - and it's His complaint to His people at the very end of the Old Testament. They have not trusted Him. They have not been an obedient son. Yet, God gave them a promise that a better Son was coming to serve the Father perfectly, on their behalf.

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God. The second goes with it - to love others. In the message from Malachi, God had addressed first how Israel has not loved Him, then He went on to address their lack of love toward one another. They had not loved their own wives and families well, and that lack of concern for others spilled out to other parts of the community as well;...

Malachi is the last prophetic book of the Old Testament, before a 400 year period of silence, until finally another prophet named John would come to get everyone ready for the coming Messiah. In these parting words from the Lord, He reminds the people through Malachi that He has loved them, that He still loves them, and that He will always love them. But where is there love and honor for Him? Thei...

Jonah's preaching to Nineveh was successful (despite him trying to sabotage it). Yet, instead of rejoicing in God's salvation for the city, he grew furious. How could God save such a wicked people? Jonah still didn't fully understand the depths of God's grace. Have we?

Jonah seemed to repent in chapter two. But is it possible to repent of your repentance? Don’t you and I do that all the time? Have you ever been sorry for your sin only to find yourself doing it again? In chapter 3, God tells Jonah once again to go to Nineveh. This time he actually does, but it seems like he does the bare minimum required for the job. He barely goes into the city and preaches the...

Vomit. Giant sea creatures. Repentance. This tale has it all. What seemed like certain death was actually God's saving grace when Jonah was swallowed up by the big fish. 3 days and 3 nights in the dark belly of the beast, Jonah had time to reflect and turn from his foolishness (even if temporarily). Then, at that moment God breathed new life into Jonah - or in this case, vomited new life. Thankful...

The book of Jonah has often been relegated to a children's story about a whale. But Jonah's story is the story of Israel. It's the story of God's people. It's the story of you and I... and more importantly, it's the story of the God who relentlessly pursues His people. Why do we run from this God? You and I do it too, not just Jonah. What is your boat to Tarshish? Why do we look to so many other f...

In the final chapter of Ruth we see a family redeemer remove his sandal as a symbol of passing up his opportunity and responsibility to care for the vulnerable and invite in the foreigner, while another redeemer steps up in his place. This reminds us of Israel’s call to be a light to the nations and a kingdom of priests, but they neglected their call in order to look out for themselves. Thank God...

In Ruth 3 we see Naomi try to take matters into her own hands to provide for Ruth. The stage is set for history to repeat itself and for Israel to continue "doing what is right in their own eyes". But right at the climactic moment, something changes. What Naomi purposed in her own understanding, God intervened and used for the good of all His people.

Ruth goes to glean in Boaz’s field. She’s poor, hungry, an immigrant, a widow, and she’s vulnerable. Boaz and his men have every opportunity to take advantage of her… and every responsibility to take care of her.

The book of Ruth has often been treated as a side-story in the Bible about friendship or finding love... but it is so much more! The foreign, barren widow, Ruth, points us forward to the King of all creation, Jesus. In this historical story we find the loyalty and faithfulness of an oppressed woman teaching us about the loyalty and faithfulness of a good God.

Because of who God is, what He has done, and who He has made us to be - we can now live out the rhythms of life with intention, bringing the good news in all areas as we bless, listen, eat, speak, and sabbath.

The Canadians are coming. 2020 has got nothing on 587BC. Plus, some good news from the True Story. Listen to this teaching from Chris Gonzalez of Missio Dei: Tempe to hear more about our purpose and identity as God's people.

After reminding the church in Thessalonica about the hope they have in the return of King Jesus, he seemingly takes a sharp turn to talk about work and eating. Apparently, the good news of Christ and the Kingdom of God have much to say about the physical tangible world in which we currently live.

Because of the hope we have that Christ has died in our place, risen to new life, given us his Spirit, and is coming back, we can now joyfully partner with his Spirit as we grow in our sanctification - becoming more like Jesus.

The Thessalonian church needed to be reminded of the hope they had - that the true King of the world would return to set all things right finally and fully. This truth comes along with an assurance, that the false kingdoms humanity has built out of rebellion against God will surely fall. Even still today, we need this same hope and reassurance. King Jesus is coming. He will set all things right. A...

Paul wrote again to the small oppressed church in Thessalonica, continuing to encourage them in their faith, love, and hope. Their faith and love had continued to show strong, but in the midst of oppression and false teachers they struggled to hold onto hope. Paul's reminder and assurance is that Jesus is indeed coming back and when he does, he will put an end to the injustice and set all things r...