Trinity Church of Lake Nona

As we turn our attention to Holy Week, we will compare the trial of Jesus and the trial of Peter.  Mark intentionally structures these two trial accounts as contrasting stories. Peter is on trial just like Jesus, and the key question is: does he have what it takes to be a faithful witness? And what we…

“Do not steal…” This week is a celebratory week in our church, as we celebrate baptism and new members!  We will also continue our series on the 10 Commandments by looking at commandment eight: do not steal.  Everyone knows stealing is wrong, so surely this commandment will not be as applicable as the others…right?  Maybe…

“Do not commit adultry…” DEARELY beloved friends, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of his congregation, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony,      which is an honorable state,      instituted of God in Paradise,          in the time of manes innocence...

“Do not murder…” This is one of the shortest verses in the entire Bible. It is just two words in the Hebrew. And yet, the scope is nearly limitless.  This week, we will open up this commandment by examining the first murder: Cain killing Abel. We will see that this is the second fall narrative, culminating…

“Honor your father and your mothers…” This week, we turn our attention to the fifth commandment. This command focuses on our view of authority.  To many, this command seems so stuffy, so conservative, so oppressive.  If you look at our hero’s and listen to our songs you would think that our real national anthems have the theme…

“Remember the Sabbath…” This week, we turn our attention to the fourth commandment. All of the commandments are important, but this one might be the most significant for our times. We live in an age where everyone feels rushed, overwhelmed, and busy. This command touches on our labor and our leisure. It is meant to…

You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain… When most people think about the third commandment, they primarily think of not cussing. This commandment touches on our words, but it is so much more.  We will see this week that this commandment is more than the words we use…it focuses on who we are.…

Recently famed director Martin Scorsese announced he is working on a new film about Jesus.   Hollywood depictions of Jesus make me nervous. Sometimes, you get faithful attempts to depict Jesus, but other times, you get irreverent folly, like Will Ferrel’s prayer to “sweet Baby Jesus.”   But the temptation and the danger of making a false…

Jay Heinrichs is one of the most successful marketers and salesmen in the world. His pathway into sales began with a disastrous Father’s Day gift and a shrewd salesman who taught him that image is everything. The second commandment is all about the power of images. And few things could be more relevant for us because…

Learning to share is hard. I knew this part of parenting would be a challenge. But over the past few years, as I have tried to learn this myself, and teach other small humans how to do it, there are some aspects of learning to share that I wasn’t ready for. For example, one of the troubles…

I hope your new 2024 year is off to a great start!  I am excited to get back into the book of Exodus, and we will begin this year by taking a deep dive into the 10 Commandments.  Several years ago, when I was in youth ministry, one of our students had one of the…

We will continue our focus on Joy and look at Philippians. And our theme this week will be the connection between peace and joy. Those are two words you hear every Christmas season, but how do they relate? How can you have them? To help us unpack this, we will think about the Goal of joy, and…

When I was a kid, we used to sing a song:  I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart!     Where? Down in my heart!      Where? Down in my heart!  We don’t really sing that song much anymore. Maybe it is a little too silly? Or maybe we are a little…

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, and lots of really good food!  This Sunday, we finished the first major section of Exodus and point forward to our Advent series on Joy.  Fittingly, we arrive at the institution of the first Passover meal, which could be the original Thanksgiving meal. And central to…

Marketers tell us that the before and after photos are among the most powerful tools to motivate change and sell products.  We love a dramatic before and after photo.  And in Exodus 2 through 11, we see a dramatic before and after.  We begin with an overconfident, impulsive Moses who dramatically acts and drastically fails, which leads to a…

As we journey through Exodus, we come to the Ten Plagues.  The plagues run from the stomach-turning discomfort of spoiled water, to the cringe-inducing invasion of frogs to the exasperating annoyance of the lice and flies, to the economically damaging animal sickness, the personally debilitating pandemic of boils, to the environmentally disastrous hail and locusts,…

As we move through Exodus, we have come to the point where Moses must confront his fears. He claims he is afraid that neither the people nor Pharaoh will listen to him, and he will fail.  But is that what he is really afraid of? Or is there something deeper?   If I asked you: What are you…

As we move into the final section of the introduction to Exodus, it might be helpful to get a basic map of where we are and where God wants us to go.   There are two basic movements from 4:18-7:7. First, we have Moses’s arrival back in Egypt and his first encounter with Pharaoh (4:18-5:21). This…

The character of Moses lives in the memory of both Jewish and Christian believers as a towering figure. He is remembered as a mighty leader, a great teacher, and a colossal man.  But it is important to remember where he started. In chapters 3 and 4, we encounter a Moses who is deeply insecure, uncertain…

The stories in the early part of Exodus speak to us in our times of greatest and most urgent need. They speak to us when we are tempted to say: God has forsaken…God has forgotten…Why me? Why? Why now? This doesn’t make sense… Exodus 1-6 quietly reminds us that these feelings are not true. In fact,…

As we continue in the book of Exodus, Moses is a fugitive on the run, a man of ambition whose life has descended into obscurity. As chapter three opens, he is leading his father-in-law’s flock through a desolate, rocky wilderness.  And then, something happens.  He sees something. Something unexpected…something he couldn’t anticipate, plan, or control. …

Last week we looked at the big picture of Exodus. This week, we dive into chapters 1 and 2.  Chapters 1 and 2  are a remarkable story. It is a story that delights, showing how the weak and powerless defy the wicked. It is a story that horrifies, showing terrible suffering and portraying unspeakable evil. It is a story that…

This Sunday, we are kicking off a new study through the book of Exodus!  Exodus is one of the most exciting, dramatic, and important books in the Bible and all of world literature.  In it we are given answers to some of life’s most important questions:who God really is, who we really are, what we…

Baptism Sunday is here! Baptism paints a beautiful picture of what God has done, through His Son, to make us right in His sight.  It is a picture of our union with Christ, our cleansing from sin, and our adoption into the family of God.