Rocky Creek

While God’s transcendence is amazing, His immanence is astonishing. The most surprising thing about our exalted God is how close He comes to ones like us.

As David encountered testing trials, he confessed that his sure hope in this life and the next was in none other than the LORD. If we desire to rediscover joy, we must reorient our focus upon the only one who can provide it.

When David was overwhelmed with God’s discipline in his life, he maintained a proper perspective and took it to God through prayer. Don’t talk to everyone else about your troubles while neglecting the one who can fix them.

As we commit to a local church, what happens when we fail to represent Jesus? The Bible is clear on expectations of how we are to confront one another to avoid drifting spiritually.

Many people will join a church based on what it has to offer their specific situations. Instead of focusing on what the church can provide for you, have you ever considered how you can use your gifts to bless the church?

As a church grows larger, how do you avoid getting lost in the crowd? Our relationships in the church will only grow according to how intentional we are.

While the phrase, “church membership” is not in the Bible, the concept grounds the New Testament message and methods. Devoting yourself to a local church is essential for your soul and helpful for your congregation.

With so many expectations on us, what does committing to a church realistically look like? As we study the early church, we will see God’s intention that the church is to be more than a service you casually attend.

In the concluding comments of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus commissioned the disciples to take the gospel into all the world. If we continue to follow Jesus, He will lead us to people and places that need to hear the gospel.

As the women came on Sunday morning to anoint the deceased body of Jesus, they were shocked to realize that the tomb was empty. All of our faith and purpose in life is wrapped up in the belief that the tomb is still empty today.

When followers of Jesus sought to care for the body of Jesus, Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus died so early in the process. Scripture teaches us not only why He died so early but also why He died so willingly

As Jesus hung upon the sinner’s cross, people ridiculed His inability to perform one more miracle and escape His death. The greatest miracle of Jesus’ ministry was His commitment to forsake salvation from the cross so that we could experience salvation by the cross.

Intending to rid himself of the responsibility of Jesus’ death, Pilate assumed the people would choose Jesus over Barabbas to be the one prisoner released at that year’s Passover. Instead, the people chose to free a sinful criminal and condemn the sinless Messiah.

Judas betrayed, the disciples fled, the people accused, and Peter denied. After all Jesus had done for this world, the world abandoned Him.

As Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He fully grasped the weight of His impending sacrifice. Aware of the severity of God’s wrath, He emulated the need for prioritizing God’s will over my will.

Jesus gathered His disciples to celebrate the Passover and to institute the Lord’s Supper. The head of the table not only recalled the Passover sacrifice, but He showed them that He was the true Passover sacrifice.

As Jesus prepares for His sacrificial offering on the cross, Mary prepared a sacrificial offering for Him through an alabaster jar. As followers of Jesus, there is no gift too extravagant to lay before our Savior.

People have attempted to predict the end times, but Jesus assured that no one will know the precise time. While we don’t have the exact details of Christ’s return, we can hold the certain reality of His return by faith.

Providing the people with signs of the times, Jesus prepared them for coming persecution. Jesus taught on the coming end times, not to increase our anxiety in the future, but to increase our activity in the present.

The rich and distinguished people in Jesus’ day believed that their worldly affluence provided them divine acceptance. When Jesus praised a poor widow’s offering, He revealed that the heart of giving is more important than the amount of giving.

Out of the 613 commandments in the Old Testament, some religious leaders wanted to know which one that Jesus thought was the most important.  Not only did Jesus provide His top two commandments, but He summarized them all and gave His followers a simple direction for all of life.

People wanted to know what Jesus believed about the status of marriage in heaven. Jesus emphasized that what we receive in heaven will be greater than what we take with us to heaven.

Trying to trap Jesus in His words, His enemies collaborated in an attempt to force Him to choose a side between God and government.  Jesus’ response teaches us what our commitment to both should be.

As the opposition to Jesus increased, He told a parable foreshadowing what would happen to Him on the cross. Just like those opponents, anyone who rejects Jesus rejects the Father who sent Him.

As soon as Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, He intentionally targeted the religious community. Followers of Jesus must continually evaluate if we are fulfilling the call He has placed upon us.