Redeemer West Side

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 6:17-31  Luke’s biography of Jesus continues to show his growing popularity as Jesus presses the claim that he is the long awaited Messiah.  Having established that he has come to establish God’s kingdom on earth, he now lays out the values of that kingdom; values that turn the world’s understanding of happiness and success upside down.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 6:1-11 Luke gives us two Sabbath vignettes in which Jesus is first asked why he was breaking the law on the Sabbath?  Jesus answers that question with his own question about what is lawful on the sabbath?  Jesus is pressing those around him to reflect more deeply on the purpose of the Sabbath and then to  accept more fully that He is its Lord.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 4:22-30 Jesus returns to his hometown where initially he is welcomed as a gifted teacher.  The events quickly turn dark as his neighbors gather as a mob in an attempt to throw him to his death.  The reasons for this are found in understanding the gap between our expectations of who Jesus is and who he actually is.  He is not Joseph’s son, but God’s Son.  The former demands...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 4:1-13 Jesus begins his public ministry with a 40-day wilderness time of prayer and fasting. He encounters Satan, the enemy of God and his people, who tempts him three times. These temptations are a test of Jesus’ character on behalf of his people. In this story, we see the spiritual battlefield between our temptation and trust.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 Lent begins with a reminder of our mortality and need for reconciliation with God. In Scripture, ashes serve both as a symbol of mortality and as a sign of mourning and repentance. In this passage, Job has an encounter with God in which he sees himself in light of God’s holiness and repents in dust and ashes, a reminder that what changes us (repentance) is n...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Ezekiel 11:14-25  When the temple was destroyed, the exiles must have thought they lost God. They couldn’t be farther from the truth. God says of the exiles: “though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone” (11:16). Ezekiel sees God’s presence depart the doomed temple and head east in the direct...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE |  Ezekiel 1:1-9, 1:15-18, 1:25-2:5  Ezekiel’s vision of God’s glory is awe-inspiring and shocking. We see a violent storm, angelic creatures, complicated, machine-like chariot wheels covered in eyes, and a human-like figure sitting enthroned above this tumultuous scene. As Walter Brueggemann points out about the book: “Popular interpretation tends to dismiss Ezekiel as ‘bizarre....

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE |  Ezekiel 2:6-3:11  God feeds Ezekiel a new kind of food, a divine word, in the form of a scroll containing hard news to be delivered to the community. God’s word starts sweet but is often a tough pill to swallow. Ingesting it and bearing witness is true soul food. When Jesus was hungry and thirsty, he still could say, “I have food to eat that you do not know about … My food is...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Esther 7:1-8:5; 9:20-23  Once again, God saves. God’s people celebrate their deliverance from seemingly certain destruction. Their protection is hard won, with violence and turmoil, but it paves the way for the true Messiah to deliver them. We are shown about the importance of remembering the gifts that we are given.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Esther 4  Esther is the closest female to Xerxes, the King of Persia. As a woman, she has no formal power, but she risks her life to influence the king. Her hidden Jewish heritage could either expose her to danger or be leveraged for good. God uses his people and the positions that they hold to achieve his sovereign plans.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Esther 3:1-6; 6:1-10 Mordecai has influence, honor, and power in the kingdom. He uses that power in ways that are honest, noble, just, and wise. Rather than seeking his own glory, he works for the good of his king, which in turn both accomplishes God’s plan and brings him more honor. This passage shows us how to live faithfully in our callings, despite challenges, by seeing the...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Esther 2:3-10, 15-23  This portion of the story sets the stage and introduces us to the king of Persia, Esther, and Mordecai. They are put into place through an accumulation of small circumstances, which fulfills God’s design. No one knows what the future holds, but it is no surprise to the Lord and he guides history. The sovereignty of God is a central theme of the Bible, and...

As we have seen since September, God made promises that one day he would rescue his people and put everything right. These promises eventually focused on one thing in particular: God would become king. That day has come with the birth of Jesus who in his first sermon identifies himself with a revolution that will overcome darkness with light and a call for followers to turn from darkness and follo...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Matthew 2:1-12  One of the core promises of the Bible is given to Abraham early on: “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). This promise comes true through the birth of Jesus in the humble town of David. Soon after we see illustrious Magi from the east come to worship him and offer their treasures. This story invites all who spiritually seek to journe...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Matthew 1:1-17 When Jesus appeared on the scene of this world, he ushered in a new era in world history. He is inarguably the most influential and consequential figure who ever lived. But where did he come from? What was his background, and what does that tell us about who he is and what he came to do? Jesus didn’t appear out of nowhere, but was the climax and fulfillment of a...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | 2 Samuel 6:1-16   David resolves to bring the ark of God’s presence home to Jerusalem with much fanfare, only to be derailed by a shocking loss, anger, and fear. David learns that bringing God into your life is as much God bringing you into his life: God comes on his terms. The story begins and ends with joyful worship, with hard lessons learned in the middle. In Advent, God co...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Psalm 98 Advent is a season where the story of Jesus’ birth is celebrated in word and song. Psalm 98 captures the wonder and purpose of Jesus’ birth through poetic imagery of creation rejoicing over God's great gift of salvation. It also anticipates the second Advent of Jesus when he will return to “judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.”

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | 1 Samuel 16:1-13  We are looking at the grand story of the Bible. In Genesis we saw that God’s plan to save the world begins when he creates a covenant people (Abraham). But the people are continually unfaithful to the covenant. As we come to the story of David we find that the books of Joshua and Judges revealed that the Mosaic law and the Promised land were not sufficient to...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | 1 Samuel 1:2-11, 19-20, 24-28   This grand narrative that will introduce us to David begins with a very human story of a family that, like Rachel and Leah, Hagar and Sarah, is outwardly pious but internally suffering. Hannah’s pain and waiting and longing, expressed to God, are a reminder that as Buechner put it: “If indeed there is a God and if indeed he is concerned with the...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Genesis 50:15-26 In one of the most well known narrative twists in Scripture Joseph, who began as an arrogant, favored son of Jacob, has become God’s agent of redemption. This is a reminder of how God uses the dark chapters of our lives for our good and His glory. As the curtain comes down on Genesis we find hope in the midst of Joseph’s death as he looks to a day when his fami...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Genesis 37:1-11, 19-20, 34-36 Joseph is a dreamer, but it lands him in trouble. The divine message is hard for others to accept. Even Joseph forgets his dreams until they come true (Genesis 42:9). This sermon draws lessons for big dreams and for when God’s plans seem impossible, mysterious, or too hard to accept.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Genesis 32:1-6, 22-32  Jacob’s past catches up with him as he must confront his brother Esau. Before the meeting takes place Jacob finds himself wrestling with God and comes away with a limp and a new name: Israel. This marks the end of the story of the Patriarchs and looks ahead to Joseph and his brothers who would become the twelve tribes of Israel, through whom the world wou...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Genesis 28:10 -22  The story of Jacob is the story of a person living for himself, deceiving his father and father in law. In between we find him with a stone for a pillow, a sign that his life had reached rock bottom. Yet what we find is that despite his circumstances God was with him. The story is a reminder that God has not abandoned us to a world that is disenchanted, but o...

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Genesis 22:1-19   This is one of the most famous stories in all of ancient literature and narrates the nature of biblical faith. In the command given to Abraham we hear echoes of Jesus’ description of what it means to follow God: “Take up your cross.” 

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Genesis 16:1-16, 21:8-10, 14-21  The story of Hagar is a case study in how to read the Bible. Here we find that the heroes of the faith are engaged in polygamy and slavery and act out of jealousy and hate. What are we to make of this and what does it tell us about the essence of the Bible’s message? Part of the answer is found in the way God sees and responds to Hagar, displayi...