Sunrise Church

The Christian life is often difficult and fraught with challenges, not just the challenges of feeling outside or isolated, but the challenges of walking in the Way. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit who makes our obedience and faithfulness possible, who dwells among us and provides Jesus followers with a source of trust in the midst of chaos.

As Jesus consoles his disciples in the wake of his warnings of betrayal and impending departure, Jesus comforts his disciples with three truths: - We Know That Have A Future With Christ In God’s Presence - We Know Christ Has Revealed God To Us - We Know That Jesus Answers Our Prayers

As the cultural outpost of God’s kingdom, the defining cultural reality for the church is to be the love that is shared for one another.

As Jesus prepares his disciples to lead the church into the church age, he provides them with the most valuable and vivid lesson in how to lead like him.

Christ summarizes His mission, to bring those who are in darkness to light of salvation.

Belief is a gift from God. It is the purview of God whom He calls and the responsibility of believers to be faithful and obedient to Him.

[18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20)

Jesus followers are called to be children of the light and as such, are called to be people of truth, living in community with one another in the church and combating sin through confession.

After several weeks off, in preparation for the latter part of the book, here's a recap of the first half of John.

“...to be a Christian is to belong to a church...Looking to Christ as Lord means being united to Christ’s people. It’s automatic, like being adopted means you’ll quickly find yourself at a dinner table with brothers and sisters.” (Jonathan Leeman, Church Membership)

The way of the righteous is the way of Christ. The gospel teaches us that no one is righteous and that unless one’s righteousness far exceeds that of the most religious that we can imagine, we are in the category of them that will perish. Jesus, therefore, came (living a sinless life, dying a substitutionary death and rising victorious from the grave) so that we may escape the way of perishing and...

Jesus came to fulfill the promise made to Abram that all nations would be blessed in him. That blessing, however, comes not in this life, but in the honor of the Father to those who follow Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry was seen by many as the opportunity to seat a new king and finally eradicate the Roman occupiers, but was, in reality, a preconception breaking fulfillment of prophecy about the true nature and work of Christ the Messiah.

Smell can unlock potent memories. It could be a meal, an odor, a chemical or a scent. For Mary, the aroma of the costly spikenard with which she anointed Christ's feet would serve to remind her of the price of Christ's death and the cost of devotion to his mission.

As Jesus fast approaches the final week of his life, we see that he is at war with death and the enemy and that his ultimate aim is to glorify God.

Jesus declared clearly that he and the Father are One which was confirmed by the works that he did. Therefore, he is the true Messiah, sent not to merely deliver God's people from political occupation and oppression, but to deliver all of God's chosen people from sin and the wrath of God.

As the man born blind is cast out by the Jewish leaders, he finds belonging in Christ who is gathering a flock of sheep who know his voice.

The blind man's encounter with Jesus that led to his healing and his encounter with the Pharisees that led to his judgment is a reminder that God’s great big plan of salvation and restoration is in full effect, that allegiance to Christ means broken allegiances in this life and of the dangers of hollow religion that would blind us to the truth.

A wrong understanding of ourselves leads us to think that we don’t need what Jesus is offering and a wrong understanding of Jesus leads us to believe that he’ll offer us something that satisfies our desires, but a right understanding of ourselves as thirsty wanderers in the dark and Jesus as the way, the truth and the life places us in the seat of the slave and Jesus in the seat of the Son; us in...

The interaction between Jesus and the woman caught in adultery illustrates how we are all in need of forgiveness, the source of that forgiveness and the transformation that comes after Christ forgives us.

So much of what we seek to provide enlightenment only plunges us deeper into the darkness. Only Jesus is the True Light that leads us from darkness into God's glorious presence.

A message to the church in light of the Nehrt family's departure to support a new church plant in West Lafayette, IA with The Salt Company.