Grounding, Calling & Sending = LIFE
After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them . . . As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Joshua 1:1–2, 5–6 Why ground your lives in the narrative of God? Because it is only in this grounding that our story can have the fullness that God...
Read MoreWater in a Parched and Desperate Land
Jesus said: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:14–17 God heard the cry of his people when they were oppressed in Egypt. He saw their misery in their enslavement. And so called Moses and sent him to free his people. With a mighty...
Read MoreSeek Out Life
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) Reading through the Old Testament can get exhausting pretty quickly because it can feel like a lot of death. It’s not easy to read through passages about plague and the striking down of thousands of unfaithful people. It’s uncomfortable to read through the details of proper butchering of animals and not get bogged down in the feeling of loss and grief. But our response must always be to seek out the life that is given, the people who are...
Read MoreYour Call From God
“So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey . . . . And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:8–10 Everybody wants to have a life of meaning. I think we all know internally that we were created for something more than what we are doing currently. The fact that we believe that we were created for...
Read MoreWhy Would You Want To Live Any Other Way?
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalms 73:25–26 I love these words of the Psalmist, they are one of my go to scriptures for reassurance, redirection and courage. If you read the entire Psalm (and I encourage you to – here is a link) you will see that Psalmist does not start where he ends up. He starts with his eyes on others, ungrounded and untethered and just as angry and bitter as everybody else in the world, not light or salt, but just more noise,...
Read MoreThe Story: Grounding Your Life In The Narrative of God
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good. Genesis 1:1–4 A week ago we looked back at our life as a church and as individuals and families and leaned into the intentional practice of remembering how we had seen and experienced God during the past year. How easy it is to forget to remember. How important it is to set intentional pieces so that we do not. Seeing...
Read MoreDon’t Forget To Remember
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them . . . . You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today . . . . When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they...
Read MoreConquering Your Warped Wall
Hi friends! (Forwarded from Becky Watson) James 1:19-27 Listening and Doing 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his...
Read MoreBaptism, Blessing, Invitation
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 This past Sunday was Creekside’s annual baptism service at Tolt McDonald Park in Carnation. It is always one of my favorite services of the year. If you were with us you know that this year, like the previous ones, was outstanding. We sang and we celebrated. We listened to commitments made by those being baptized and made committed ourselves to helping them live out theirs. We walked together to the river, gathered together on the shore and...
Read MoreFearless Love
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:16–18 For the past three weeks at Creekside, we have been talking about Lessons From Improv. Starting with the realization that sometimes Christians can be a bit ridged and scripted, we looked to the art of improv comedy for lessons on how to...
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