Tag: The Church

The Nature of Our Work

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One more week and we are finally through our series, Telling Our Story. I hope this has been as encouraging and productive a journey for you as it has been for me. Today, having spent lots of time talking about the how and the why of the things the first church did, we shift gears and talk about the what. What was is they were doing that enabled them to be so successful? Read on to find out.

The Nature of Our Work

What does it look like when you’ve done a job well? That depends on the job, of course. A school project done really well looks like a paper with a big A on top. If you’re selling insurance, it looks like helping someone understand the worth of investing in a personal safety net should the tightrope that is life get plucked, sending you falling to the ground. If you’re a firefighter, it looks like a rescue made with as little collateral damage as possible. For a NASCAR team, it looks like a trip down victory lane. If you’re building something you ordered from Amazon, it looks like not having any extra pieces beyond the ones that are supposed to be there. The list here is as varied as the jobs we could imagine. Let me give you one more, though, what does it look like when we’ve done church well?

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Standing Out

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The early church was just different from the people around them. This didn’t make life easy for them, but it did keep them in line with what God had designed them to be. As we continue in our series, Telling Our Story, this past Sunday we talked about the fact that as a church today, we are called to stand out still. What are some ways you can stand out as a follower of Jesus?

As an extra note here, we are getting some much needed time off this week, so this will be the only post this week. I look forward to being back with you starting next Monday. See you then!

Standing Out

Have you ever known someone who was comfortable in his or her own skin? There are some people who have the gift of being content with who they are. That’s not the case for most of us. Most of us have little doubts or insecurities that keep us constantly trying to hide one thing or another that we don’t like about ourselves. But those people who are just comfortable and positively confident because of it stand out.

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Bold Moves

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When Jesus left the scene after the resurrection, the disciples gradually picked up the pieces and began to organize themselves into a powerful group. But as of yet, we haven’t seen them go anywhere. They were all packed for a journey, but they hadn’t gone anywhere yet. Getting ready is one thing, but actually going is another entirely. It requires something of us. What is this? In Acts 3-4 Peter and John put it beautifully on display for us. Keep reading to find out what it is and what it means for us.

Bold Moves

Let me start with a bit of a survey this morning. Do you think Christians today have more or less freedom to pursue the practice of their faith than we did 10 years ago? If you would say, “More freedom,” raise your hand. If you would say, “Less freedom,” raise your hand. Okay, let me change the question just a bit on you. Do you think Christians have more or less cultural power than we did 10 years ago? If you say, “more,” raise your hand. If you say, “less,” raise your hand.

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The Makings of a Revolution

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This past Sunday we continued our new teaching series, Telling Our Story, by looking at how the church finally exploded into existence. Being in the room where that happened would have been pretty cool, but there’s something even better that we can be a part of: The continuation of the movement they started into our own communities. This leads us to an important question: How did the early church find such success and what were the results of their efforts? Keep reading to find out.

The Makings of a Revolution

So, last weekend, I finally got the chance to see the Broadway mega-hit, Hamilton. I had listened to the soundtrack through a few times, but there’s just something different about seeing it. The music was just better seeing it performed on stage. The story it weaves from beginning to end is powerful. It puts on beautiful display a full range of human frailty and strength, humble grace and devastating pride, kindness and cunning. The acting was wonderful, and the emotional expression achieved by the actors made seeing the show up that close much better even than seeing it in person would have been. It was, in short, a great show.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 13:29, 32

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“In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that he is near–at the door. . .Now concerning that day or hour no one knows–neither the angels in heaven nor the Son–but only the Father.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Something a little different for you this morning and we’ll get back to Habakkuk early next week. With all the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world there is a growing question on the minds of many folks with even the slightest amount of spiritual sensitivity: Are we in the end times? Personally I’ve been asked this twice this week. So then, are we? Let’s talk about it.

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