The Town

Joshua was a great military leader who followed the commands of the Lord. God had promised to be with him as he led Israel into the Promised Land. Under Joshua, the nation of Israel experienced the presence of God from one victory to the next. As a result of Joshua's leadership, and at the end of his life, Israel was a nation after God. They were His people and He was their God. Joshua built up a...

Jesus is our example of what missionary should be like. But first, he changes our lives with his own mission. Jesus crosses cultural boundaries, satisfies our deepest needs and invited us to join him on mission. We, the church, belong to Jesus, and we get to participate with him as he works in the world.

Christianity is not meant to be experienced alone. God has called us forth as his chosen people to regularly assemble together in community. This community is called the church! Here, Christians find a place to rest, talk about Jesus, be comforted, and urge each other forward toward godliness. As good as this sounds, it can't happen apart from the consistent presence of one another. From the beaut...

Everyone is a leader. Anytime we have influence we are leading. The question is whether or not we leading others for ourselves or in a selfless way. The world is in desperate need of leadership - leaders that are servants. In the New Testament, the word "servant" is used over 900 times to describe those who lead the way that Jesus leads. Each of us have people in our lives that we can and will inf...

This church exists to be a big presence in a big community to make a big impact for Jesus. Our call is for all people to come as they are, to meet Jesus, so that they might participate fully in God's plan for their mission and life. The work here has only just begun. What happens to a church when they are fueled by the Gospel and empowered by the Holy Spirit as they live in obedience? They are par...

What is your deepest need? What do you need to be true? We live in a culture that wants to believe sincerity is the test of truth. If we sincerely believe something, than it must be considered truth. The Christian faith makes assertions that do not allow for alternate truth. Jesus is the heart of Christianity and he meets our deepest needs - to know God and to have a Savior. The Christian faith ma...

The greatest need we have is to know God. God has given us the means of grace that we need in order to know him and know him deeply. These means of grace are the disciplines of grace - spending time in God's Word. Spending time in worship and community with other Christians. Prayer. Prayer is most neglected because we don't understand it. Yet John tells us that prayer is the key to knowing God and...

What is of utmost importance in the church? Jesus. Everything the church is about revolves around Jesus. For John, the testimony of Jesus Christ was his life, his death, and his resurrection. These testimonies concerning Jesus were the most important concerns for the church in his day and they are of the most important concern for us today. In fact, believing the testimony of Jesus' life and death...

Fear is something we all struggle with. There are things that keep us up at night. Fear can range from anxiety to all terror. How can we live a life without fear? How does the God who created us with the ability to fear also tell us that we have no reason to fear? The Gospel gives us every reason to live in real peace as Jesus ends our fear.

We have all asked the question at some point in our life. "What is love?" How do we know when we have found love or have been loved? Is love a feeling? An experience? Can we define what love is and what it isn't. John says that God is love. God has defined love for us in his Word and by His actions. Jesus is the love of God manifesting itself so that we can know what it means to be loved perfectly...

God is love. If God is love, it makes sense that Christians would love God and love others. This is the second time that John wants to address this issue. John is facing a church that is divided by conflict and tension. In this passage, we can see the true heart of a pastor as he exhorts and encourages the fractured congregation to reflect on God's love for them. John teaches that the motivation a...

"I've received a word from the Lord." I can't tell you how many times I have heard this phrase. It also comes in other forms: "I have prayed about this," "I heard the next best thing to an audible voice," or "[insert mega-church pastor name here] has said." Many times this phrase is used by excited Christians to qualify some life decision, a reason to leave the church, an excuse to sin, or some ot...

We define ourselves in all kinds of different ways. Christians tend to focus on what makes them distinct - distinct from the world and even distinct from one another. But Jesus says that the church will be defined by their love for one another. That is why John says that true Christians will have a love for one another like no other - it will be so revolutionary that those outside the church will...

The Christian is sure to sin. We are sure to fail because God is not done working with us until the day that we meet Jesus. Even though we fail, we have been promised that Jesus is up to something - he is making all things new - and it is precisely because of this that though the Christian might falter they can always be sure that nothing can separate them from the love of God. The return of Jesus...

John describes the spirit of antichrist as being present whenever we deny that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God. These titles not only tell us about who Jesus is, but they also point to his Lordship over all things. That means we also deny him when we struggle to lay claim on the things which chiefly belong to him. God calls us to abide in him through the work of his Son and the indwelling of h...

The world offers much but can never deliver. We are promised happiness, peace, and joy if we buy into the pursuits of our culture. But since sin came into the world it has only been able to offer brokenness and discontentment. Jesus was set against the ways of the world in order to bring us something new - a Kingdom that would last forever. John exhorts the church to turn their affection away from...

Every generation in the church is called to carry the Gospel to all generations. Each person has a purpose and mission in which they are called to participate. Children are called to a simple faith as an encouragement to the aged and experienced. Young men and women are called to lead and exert influence for the Gospel. Older and wiser generations are called to share, teach, and preach of the good...

What is love? Today it can mean so many things. Bono of U2 sings "in the name of love", Haddaway pleads that his baby won't hurt him with it, romantic novelist Jojo Moyes says that "love drives all great stories, and sister Catherine Wybourne says, "Love is free yet binds us." So many opinions and so many songs. John, an Apostle of Jesus tells us that love is absolutely without question a fruit of...

Humans are heartfelt hypocrites - plain and simple. We claim to know truth but do not practice the truth. But Jesus changes all of that. Jesus transforms heartfelt hypocrites into righteous sons of God. But what is the proof that we have sonship? How do we know that we have been called into the family of God? John provides several tests throughout his letter to the church - and these tests are des...

Has God spoiled the ending? Does God's promise to forgive us for all our sins give us a reason to sin? Won't a person who know's they can get away with something take advantage of the one who allows them to get away with it? Not for the person who's heart has been won over by grace! God has not allowed us to get away with our sin, but instead poured out all of his wrath upon Jesus who became our s...