Well, folks, we’ve been learning about the topic of GRACE (& LAW) for the past several weeks, but how are we doing? Do we understand it all yet? Is the idea of GRACE crystal clear in our lives—in our everyday lives? Every day of our lives, God’s GRACE is available to us—every day of our lives. It doesn’t matter what the past has to say. It doesn’t matter what your parents have to say … or what your siblings have to say about you. It doesn’t matter where you’re at...
Hollywood is not usually known as a culture of grace. It’s more like a dog-eat-dog kind of atmosphere. Personal value is attached to box-office sales and the unpredictable swings in fashion. SO … it was extremely shocking, then, when ONE WAY LOVE and its fruit made a surprise appearance on the big stage in 2011… The occasion was Robert Downey Jr. receiving the American Cinematheque Award—a prize given to those deemed an extraordinary artist in the entertainment industry, “making a significant contribution to the art of the Moving Picture”. A...
If you want to know when you’re encountering the LAW, do a quick inventory of your fears. What are you afraid of? I mean … really afraid of… In a survey of the general public, people were asked about the same thing. Death came in at Number 6. Number 1, by a long shot, was … public speaking. And I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that fear of public speaking is really about a much deeper fear—that of judgment … being vulnerable in a room full of people,...
I will never forget standing in the kitchen of the parsonage at La Farge, Wisconsin, my mother working over the sink with tears in her eyes, my father having just come in the front door … looking at me and saying, “Either you’re going to leave … or your mother’s going to leave … and your mother’s not going to leave!” I was probably in my sophomore year of high school. I was absolutely full of myself … and so unhappy! And you know they say you take things out...
Folks, if you’ve ever studied any church history before, you’ve probably already heard the term sola gratia or ‘grace alone’. It’s a term that Martin Luther (and others) used to talk about how our relationship with God is supposed to work. However, over the years, I’ve discovered that even though we claim to live by ‘grace alone’, we’re more likely to actually live by ‘grace a lot’ … but not alone. In this series, I’m determined to take back what the church has lost. For Martin Luther (and others), it...
Good morning, again! What a glorious day to end this worship series we’ve been in. Folks, serving (our third banner) is so important … and that’s what this series has been all about. And today we conclude this series by talking about one more way we can serve—one more way we can be fully engaged in our life with God. And, once again, this is also the answer to the future of our church… So, as we’ve been making our way through this series, we’ve been looking at a life...
For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been in a worship series that celebrates the life of those who are committed to God and it’s called ‘Fully Engaged’. The first week, we talked about being fully engaged in our walk with God. That’s where it has to all begin. Then, last week, we talked about being fully engaged with our church—what it means to fully engage with God as the Body of Christ or the Bride of Christ (the church known as both)… And we began with a scripture that’s...
Good morning, everybody! Today, we continue in our worship series called ‘Fully Engaged’—looking at the power of a committed life. And we started with our scripture that’ll be our theme for this entire series. Do you remember? It’s from 2 Chronicles 16:9a and it says (follow along with me)… “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him….” So, God looks over the whole world to find those fully committed to him—fully engaged with him. And God’s gives...
Today, we’re kicking off a new worship series—that will run for 4 weeks—called ‘Fully Engaged’. I’m not sure when you used those words last, but I’m sure you know what they mean—fully engaged. It’s a phrase you use when things are going your way. It’s a phrase you use when you’re really focused on something. It’s a phrase you use when things are really happening in your life—fully engaged. So, I’m wondering when was the last time you remember being fully engaged in anything… I spoke with Gail Ray a...
Today, folks, we’re finishing up an eight-part late-summer series called ‘Christian’. We’ve been talking about a problem with the branding of ‘Christian’. If you’re a ‘Christian’, what does that mean biblically speaking? The truth is we don’t really know … as the word’s only used 3 times in the New Testament and never clearly defined. The word Jesus actually used to describe his followers, however, is very clearly defined—disciple. And in its simplest form, it means a people who love one another—first and foremost, then love others with the love...
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