The Local Church

The third gift from the magi, myrrh, is full of both hope and sorrow throughout scripture. This is reflected by the reality that Jesus is the ultimate prophet -  He IS God's steadfast love, faithfulness and hope brought to life in the midst of sorrow. None of these gifts from the magi make something true about Jesus. They represent the truth of who He is: a king who reigns, a priest who redeem...

The second gift the magi brought King Jesus was frankincense. In Exodus, we learn that the scent was used in the tabernacle and was presented to God by the high priest with an animal sacrifice, representing prayers of repentance rising to heaven. The magi presenting this gift to Jesus foreshadowed that he would become our ultimate high priest and stand in the gap for our atonement.

The magi in Matthew 2 recognized that as King, Jesus deserved their first and best - that was their gold. Many of us attempt to use our "gold" - the wonderful gifts God has given us - to buy a sense of satisfaction; but everything else we try to put out hope and faith in can never satisfy what we're truly longing for. What's holding you back from giving your first and best to the...

As we wrap up our Vaux|cation series, we dive into how our work matters right now, and is just as important in the future. You can love or hate what you do, but do it all for God's glory and the Kingdom.

God cursed the field and the family. Our work is hard and frustrating at times because it is cursed—God’s protection and blessing has been removed from these areas as a result of the fall.

God is a worker and God cares about our work. Throughout the Bible, the portrait of work that we are offered is not divided by sacred and secular, but good/right and bad/evil work. We have the opportunity and privilege to discover the kind of work that God is calling us into and partner with Him to take the world someplace.

There is an intimate connection between who we are and what we do. The prefix “vaux” just means to be worthy of; it’s where we get the word ‘valor’. God makes us worthy of work—an opportunity to partner with Him to take the world somewhere.

The Holy Spirit points the spotlight on Jesus, reveals who he is, guides us to Jesus and glorifies him (makes him beautiful). We must recognize our limits if we are to experience the potential that Jesus has for us.

The school of suffering is one that none of us can avoid and one that God uses to change and mature us. We have a choice: to trust in the darkness, to trust that God, that God is present in our suffering, and that God will make all things new.

If we don't do the painful, humiliating, and liberating work of cheerfully bringing our failures out from the darkness, we're limiting our growth! We must bring our sins into the light acknowledgement before a Christian brother or sister.

The life, death and resurrection of Christ makes acquittal possible for us. In Christ, we are justified and have right standing before God. Sanctification is our growth in holiness. Justification is the not one-time vaccination that spares us from hell but food to nourish us all the way to heaven. It’s not the spark plug to the Christian life; it’s the engine.

You cannot overestimate God's love. You can only underestimate it. In fact, we do it all the time. Nothing that we can do could ever slow the overwhelming, never-ending, infinite love that Jesus has for us. To grow in Christ is to yada - to know - that love that he has for us. 

God desires union with us. Look to Christ. You will grow in Christ as you direct your gaze to Christ. If you take your eyes off of Jesus Christ and direct your gaze to your own growth, you will prevent the very growth you desire.

God's word tells us that despair is simply a gateway to joy. If you want to grow in Christ, you must first sink to the solid ground of self-despair. To the degree that we minimize the evil within, we lower the ceiling on how deeply we can grow. 

In order to grow Deeper in our relationship with Jesus, and become more mature disciples of Him, we need to understand His nature and what Jesus truly wants for and from us. Jesus is bigger than you can imagine, and Jesus is closer than you dare believe. He is more committed to your growth in Him than you are.

Paul ends his letter to the Colossians with some acknowledgements. These acknowledgements tell us that not only should the church be made up a wide and diverse group of individuals, but that people are imperfect and in need of God's grace. God is not looking for perfection, but faithfulness.

When we read and reflect on scripture, we can come across components of it that do not sit well with us. To us and the culture we find ourselves in, these parts of scripture can taste "off" and wrong to us. It's important that we understand the context on which scripture is written so that we can comprehend and appreciate what the author is really saying about us, God, and our relati...

Like Eustace & Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, God wants to rip off our old clothes and dress us in new clothes. All of this starts with us dropping our fig leaves at the feet of the King who rescues us back into relationship: our God who is our father, and we his beloved children.

In Colossians 3:5-11, Paul reminds us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the salvation that Christ has given us. When we consciously and continually choose sin instead of God, we become less and less human. Because we are alive in Christ, we must seek to be more like Him. Because we died with Christ, we cannot wear the clothes of the new creation if we are still wearing the clothes of the...

In Colossians 2:16-23, Paul reminds us that we cannot earn our way into Heaven. Many highly religious people will argue that obeying man-made laws is necessary for salvation, but Paul says that's not the case. Strict discipline and adherence to rules can represent an increasing reliance on the self, which will always fall short in comparison to resting in Jesus' finished work.

It's easy to be deceived by the world and convinced that we can decide for ourselves what is good and evil. But in Colossians 2:6-15, Paul reminds the church that Christ is sovereign. We can joyfully leave behind our old selves that struggle for control and trust in Him above all.

According to Colossians 1:24-2:5, Christ is in us and He is the hope of glory. If we truly believe this, it changes  everything : we have the responsibility and privilege to share it.

A perfect gift awakens a response that realizes the value of the gift and brings transformation. In Colossians 1:21-23, Paul explains that Jesus's physical death offers the gift of rescue and reconciliation. Our continued faith and choice to make Him our foundation bring about the fullness of life that God wants for us.

Viewing the poem in Colossians 1:15-20 as the beautiful, full truth about Jesus, we can take away four powerful applications about: where we find fullness of life,  the "threats" of this world,  Christ's capability to sustain us, and how vital connection to the church body is.

Are you intentional about becoming something wonderful, or are you ambivalent? An outline of the Colossians 1:9-14's "ask" and outcomes helps us understand the power of setting intentions targets and praying for certain characteristics in our lives.