Redeemer West Side

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Matthew 11:25-30 The series begins with Jesus calling those who are weary and burdened to come to him and yoke themselves to him.  Our increasingly post-Christian culture has left us weary and burdened by cynicism, despair, depression and disillusion.  This is the fruit of yoking ourselves to the current cultural narratives we will be exploring.  Discipleship begins with trusti...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Revelation 21:1-6; 22:20-21 Knowing the end of a story transforms how you see every earlier chapter of the story. Here we get a glimpse of the end of the story, and it is beyond our wildest dreams. All evil, every last vestige of it, has been finally defeated and expunged from the world. All suffering will be made up for and swallowed up. The people of God will enjoy him foreve...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Revelation 19:6-10 The future is heading toward a feast, which will be a great unending celebration. Feasting is a joyful response of thanks for the fruitful end of our labors. The church’s mission is to prepare for the feast of Jesus, to invite everyone, and to be changed into beauty. For God’s glory and out of love, Christians gather all people with the message: God will make...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Matthew 25:31-46 The verse, “Judge not”, may be the most recognized verse in the Bible today. Our culture recoils at the idea of judgment. And yet it’s impossible to live as a human being in the absence of all judgment. We are all evaluating one another, all the time, though we may each have different standards for doing so. And in the end, our hearts cry out for judgment. We l...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Romans 8:18-25 We need hope to get through life. We need to believe that there’s a better future possible, that there are good days ahead. To live utterly devoid of all hope is to live in despair. But hope can often be little more than wishful thinking unless there is a solid basis for it. For the Christian, hope is a guaranteed assurance of glory on the horizon, and it infuses...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Hebrews 2:5-11 The world, according to the biblical story, is heading somewhere. We’re not going round in circles, with civilizations rising and falling for ages without end. There is indeed a “world to come” in which Jesus will rule over all things with perfect justice, wisdom, power, and love. In fact, that world is already here in part, breaking into the present form of this...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | John 17:20-23; Philemon 1:8-18 The 21st Century Church is filled with contradictions. For the first time, Christians are in nearly every language and social group around the world. The tide of growth and vitality is tipping to the developing world, yat at the same time the church is split into thousands of smaller denominations. More good is done in the world in the name of Chr...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | John 17:6-8; 1 Timothy 3:14-16 The Reformation Church regained many core truths of the church: Christians are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone. Against corrupt religious and political elites, many put themselves in peril to reform God’s people. In the process, they unleashed the foundations of...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | John 15:5-6; 1 Timothy 2:1-6 The Medieval Church became an alternate society, eventually protecting Western culture from extinction during the dark ages after Rome’s collapse. Despite many problems, many sought mystical unity with Jesus or sacriifcial service to the world. Monastic societies attempted to create a pure embodiment of the body of Christ in the world. We can learn...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | John 15:18-20; 1 Timothy 4:1-13 The Early Church grew for centuries as a persecuted minority in the Roman Empire. Mostly outsiders and poor, they eventually replaced the old pagan religions. That journey was hard, filled with sacrifice and love. No guidebook existed to show them the way and the early leaders crafted sense out of immense ideas like the Trinity and identity in Ch...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | John 16:12-13; 2 Timothy 1:5-7, 12b-14 The Apostolic era ends as the second generation of leaders, taught by the Apostles, steps into leadership. Paul writes to Timothy with tender wisdom, telling him how to remain faithful to the gospel. We can learn the beauty of servant leadership and the risks of fear.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE |  Acts 26:4-32 The last 8 chapters of Acts are about Paul’s journey to Rome where he will stand before Caesar. Along the way, we see a series of instances where Paul is defending the gospel to the rulers and powers of the empire. Here, he stands before Agrippa and his entourage to give an account of his life and of the gospel. Even when imprisoned and under examination by the po...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 19:11-20 The account of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus concludes Luke’s narrative of the uninhibited spread of the gospel. “The gospel’s confrontation with Hellenistic religions reaches a climax in Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.” (Johnson) In Ephesus, we see the gospel’s confrontation with the spiritual powers (vv. 11-20) and with economic idols (vv. 21-41).

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 16:11-33 When the gospel comes to Philippi, we see the gospel transforming the lives of three completely different people. Lydia is a wealthy trader, yet she senses her need for the Lord’s salvation. With the slave girl, we see how the gospel now only makes room to hear the voice of the oppressed and marginalized, but we also see the cost of setting people free as it upend...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 11:19-30, 13:1-3 The new church in Antioch arose through persecution, as the word spread across not only geographic lines but also cultural and ethnic lines. God is not only sovereign over suffering and persecution, but uses it to advance his purposes in the world. This is the first church in Acts where Jews and Gentiles fellowship together, and this was when Jesus’ follow...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 8:26-40 The Ethiopian eunuch is both a racial and a sexual/social outsider. As a eunuch, he was excluded from the courts of the Lord and from belonging to the people of God according to the laws of the earthly sanctuary. What compelled this eunuch to worship God in Jerusalem? Perhaps this despised and rejected eunuch sensed that the despised and rejected servant (Isaiah 53...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 6:1-7 The disciples also experience internal tensions and threats. Cultural and ethnic discrimination and injustice crops up in the life of the church, needing to be addressed. We see that “systemic” patterns of inequity are possible even when it is not intended. We also see the importance of both word and deed ministry as new leaders are appointed for this important work...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 4:1-4, 18-31 The disciples quickly experience external opposition and hostility for their faith. The religious establishment is anxious about the threat to their power and influence and tries to intimidate the disciples and hinder the spread of the gospel. But the apostles boldly and courageously move forward in mission, and the prayer of the disciples is not for comfort o...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-5:11 The experience of God’s grace and the Spirit creates a surprising, deep fellowship, one that is marked by devotion to God’s word, prayer, and the sharing of all of life, including one’s resources. We see a community life that is both “attractive in its love and terrifying in its holiness”. Such fellowship is deep, energetic and costly, but in today’s ind...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 2:1-18 The outpouring of the Spirit is the “promise of the Father,” the long-awaited fulfillment of promises made long ago, something that would transform all of life. “The prophets looked forward to a time beyond the experience of Israel as disobedient and under God’s judgment… to a time when God would establish a new covenant relationship with his people, cleanse their h...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 1:1-11 Jesus prepares to unleash his disciples for the kingdom of God. He teaches them about the kingdom of God for forty days, and tells them to wait for the promise of the Father. But the disciples’ concept of the kingdom of God needs to be expanded to cosmic dimensions. The long-awaited age foretold by the prophets is about to break into the world, and Jesus’ followers...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 24: 36-53 The Apostle’s Creed contains the assertion: “I believe in the resurrection of the body.”   This is a reminder that Easter is more than an annual celebration, but core to the faith of those who follow Jesus.  In this text Jesus gathers with his fearful followers, addresses their doubts and then reminds them of their vocation: “You are witnesses”. Which means that...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 24:1-12 The Biblical story reaches its narrative peak with the resurrection of Jesus, without which ‘let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.’ (1 Corinthians 15:32)  Luke’s account of the resurrection reveals how it was unexpected (‘they did not believe the women’)  and wonderful.   Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ mother Mary, Salome and Peter all see the empty tomb and ‘wonder’ a...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 19:37-44  On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the true king. His kingdom brings peace and joy, humility and rescue. Despite the cheering of the crowds around him, Jesus weeps. He sees the heart of the people — past, present and future — all of their hatred, inconsistency, selfishness, hypocrisy, weakness, fear. He knows that within a week most of them will want hi...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 11:37-54 When a religious leader invited Jesus over for lunch, Jesus used the occasion to launch into a sharp critique of the prevailing religion of the day. Religion gone wrong is not only unattractive and oppressive to people but is an abomination in the sight of God. Jesus shows that true religion is not about practicing rituals and following rules, but about a devotion...