There are two ways to live life. We can live with God, love one another, love our neighbors and serve according to our divine purpose with joy and peace even in the midst of opposition. Or, we can live with jealousy, fear and anger while still considering ourselves religious. In our message today these two ways are contrasted in the lives of the apostle Peter and the high priest Caiaphas. Why was Peter able to serve with love and joy even when thrown in prison and beaten? The answer to this question is revealed in Peter’s words to Caiaphas. It is also the secret for living the life God created for us today.
"joy" Tagged Sermons (Page 3)
All of us, no matter our status of faith, encounter times when it seems Jesus is far away. In this post-resurrection account, we find two travelers literally experiencing just that. Suddenly Jesus himself appears and as he walks with them, unbeknownst to them, Jesus listens to their hopes and dreams and disappointment, revealing a pattern for prayer for all travelers especially when…
Our cultural default and the tradition of America is to be completely in control and to live out our dreams. The culture in Jesus’ day was to live “in-control” in a religious sense – full of prim-and-proper religiosity. When Jesus is asked a question about fasting, He replies with a veiled correction followed by 2 mini-parables that almost seem out of place, but after examination, highlight how humanity’s need for control and the familiar has to be given up if one is to have real, deep, intimate relationship with God. Jesus Himself perfectly demonstrated this, maybe no more tangibly and beautifully than in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Did you know that you are uniquely made to bless others in the family of God? Are you clear on how God has created you to serve the body of Christ? This week we explore this reality so that we can all pursue serving in the right roles for the right reasons. Once we discover how God has made and equipped us…
Do you ever wonder how some people are able to gladly sacrifice so much to honor God and love others? If we could discover their fuel for joyful obedience maybe we could do the same. In these twin parables Jesus reveals that there is a treasure available to all of us that is so wonderful that any sacrifices made to get it…
The Prodigal Son just may be the best short story ever told. It’s incredibly concise, yet has both deep sorrow and joy in the midst of scandal and strained relationships. As we look at each of the story’s three characters in succession, it’s obvious that the one thing even more extravagant than the younger son’s self-indulgence, is the Father’s self-sacrificing love. Yet it’s all lost on the older son at the end of the story, and his reaction exposes our tendency to…
Today we begin a new series looking at some of Jesus’ parables. A parable is a story that serves as an analogy for important eternal realities. In this message from the Parable of the Sower we discover that Jesus came to broadcast an eternal kind of life for us now. We also are challenged to both receive Jesus’ offer for life overflowing and to share it with others.
Since Christians may be criticized when they faithfully follow Jesus, Peter writes to make sure believers know how generous God has been to bring them into His family and to lavish His blessings on them. This message is a declaration of the grace and love of God on all who are believers in Christ.