The 167: March 5, 2020
If you missed the email from me yesterday, I encourage you to make sure to read it. You can also find a copy of it here. As we came away from last Sunday, one of the points of application from the “game of thrones” (also known as 1 & 2 Kings) was to look for and demolish the “high places” in our own lives. And as we continue to move forward in these days of anxiety that is riddling our community, perhaps one of the high places we need to be especially aware of is that of fear. It’s normal to have waves or moments of fear and anxiety, but we also choose as...
Read MoreThe 167: February 27, 2020
I hope you have had a “foolish” week! 😉 (If you’re not exactly sure what I’m talking about, I encourage you to listen to our podcast from this past Sunday.) This Sunday we are finishing our Sunday journey through our current “KING of kings” sermon series. And what a closing chapter…you won’t want to miss it. Something else happened this week. The season of Lent began yesterday. This year we are inviting you to intentionally enter into this season. We will especially be doing this together in our worship services and starting with our new...
Read MoreThe 167: February 20, 2020
4 verses + 4 words of accountability + 4 words of encouragement This was our focus this past Sunday as we looked at the latter part of David’s life. We found a cautionary tale and guidance for how to handle temptation in 2 Sam 11:1-4. We discovered the blazing liberation that can happen when we let others in and provide accountability, like when Nathan bravely said, “You are the man!” And hopefully you found meaning and encouragement in one of the four words of exhortation at the end of the message: Flee…Light…Repent…Forgiven. We will continue our...
Read MoreThe 167: February 13, 2020
Have you been experiencing the G.I.G. Syndrome at all this week that we talked about this past Sunday? You know…the Grass Is Greener Syndrome. Where we’re tempted to get focused on any and every thing besides the pasture that we are in. Where we lose sight of the most important and critical question related to the G.I.G. Syndrome: WHOSE pasture am I in? I was struck last night in my small group conversation around our recent Kingdoms reading that included the beginning of Saul’s life. Having just preached about the beginning of David’s life, I was struck by the...
Read MoreThe 167: February 6, 2020
What a great morning we had this past Sunday when Dani Cole from Team World Vision came and shared God’s Word and a special invitation with us. If you missed her message, I encourage you to listen to it here…especially if you’re not overly familiar with what all of this “Team World Vision” stuff is. As I shared briefly in the video after Dani’s message, the invitation to partner with Team World Vision is such a great way for us to make a global impact for God’s Kingdom in the northern region of the DR Congo. I also love that this opportunity is...
Read MoreThe 167: January 23, 2020
Every day we find the temptation within to initiate a coup. That was the heart of the matter that we discussed this past Sunday as we studied one of the major scenes from Samuel’s life. Israel wanted a king…a “real king.” And Samuel stood in the gap while his people insisted on rejecting God as their true king for the sake of some idolatrous and lesser option. And it all lead to that which we’ve been hopefully reflecting on during these 167 hours: Am I tempted to do that same kind of rejection and coup in my own life? It’s a real temptation that can be...
Read MoreThe 167: January 9, 2020
As we begin the new year, so also we begin our next chapter in our Immerse Bible Reading Experience as we turn to “Kingdoms.” We are encouraging everyone to engage with our journey of reading through Kingdoms. You can read through it via the slightly more intense 8 Week Reading Plan. Or you can take the more leisurely journey (although still quite the accomplishment) of the 16 Week Reading Plan. Or you can break it down into whatever number of weeks will work best for you. The goal is to simply immerse ourselves in this part of God’s Word. There’s even a 40 day...
Read MoreThe 167: December 19, 2019
It’s really profound when we truly stop, pause, and think about what is being declared in some of these classic Advent and nativity texts. Like this past Sunday where we started with the angelic proclamation to the shepherds in Luke 2 and really sat on the words “He is the Messiah!” I don’t know about you, but I sometimes forget that the nativity story is really the beginning of the apex of the Great Rescue Mission of God. This apex goes from the cradle to the cross (and most definitely to the empty tomb). Christmas is coming. It’s less than a week away. ...
Read MoreThe 167: December 12, 2019
This Advent and Christmas season we are taking some intentional time to really pause and think on some of the classic texts and themes of this season. It is really the perfect time to invite friends and family members who are currently plugged into a church. This last Sunday we had the awesome experience of being semi-unplugged for our worship service (thanks to the adaptive leadership of our worship band!) and we took time to really pause and sit with the ginormous truth and reality that our “star-breathing” God took on flesh in the person of Jesus as a fragile baby. If you...
Read MoreThe 167: December 5, 2019
As we continue to head into the month of December, I want to give you a heads up about a few things that are directly connected to our ongoing emphasis on the 167 hours between our Sunday worship gatherings. I’m praying that we all would continue to encounter Jesus in deeper and more transforming ways as we walk through this Advent journey. This is such a special season where there seems to be such a softening and opening from others to be able to encounter the real meaning and person of Christmas. As we continue to encounter Him in a personal way, my encouragement to all of us is to...
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