As we come to the end of Exodus and the end of the School year, it is test time! It doesn’t seem this is the case anymore, but some of you might remember when you had to pass a test at the end of the year to see if you would move on to the…
This week, we move into one of Exodus’s most infamous and sad stories: the story of the golden calf. Here, we are given a graphic portrayal of our fickleness and foolishness.We will use the imagery of a clown show to help us get to the heart of this passage. This is what sin does. It…
Throughout history humans have constructed some amazing buildings: the Great Pyramids, the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, the World Trade Center,but the most important structure ever built was the structure we will look at this week: the Tabernacle of God. This is the only building ever designed by God Himself and constructed according to His architectural…
Throughout history humans have constructed some amazing buildings: the Great Pyramids, the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, the World Trade Center,but the most important structure ever built was the structure we will look at this week: the Tabernacle of God. This is the only building ever designed by God Himself and constructed according to His architectural…
Spiritual but not religious? Now that we have finished our deep dive into the Ten Commandments, we are going to get back into the story of Exodus. My goal this week is to reorient you to the rest of the book and to introduce our key theme for the rest of April and May. We…
This week, we will wrap up our series on the Ten Commandments. The final commandment focuses on one of the most serious soul conditions: coveting. This is a cancer of the soul and must be aggressively dealt with. However, it is very hard to detect and even harder to treat. Here is our outline: 1.…
Is it possible to begin again? Can you come back after deep disappointment or overwhelming failure? Last week, we looked at Peter’s denial of Jesus. The last we saw of Peter, he was a broken man. This week, we will see how the resurrected Jesus restored Peter. In doing so, we will see how Jesus can…
As we turn our attention to Holy Week, we will compare the trial of Jesus and the trial of Peter. Mark intentionally structures these two trial accounts as contrasting stories. Peter is on trial just like Jesus, and the key question is: does he have what it takes to be a faithful witness? And what we…
“Do not steal…” This week is a celebratory week in our church, as we celebrate baptism and new members! We will also continue our series on the 10 Commandments by looking at commandment eight: do not steal. Everyone knows stealing is wrong, so surely this commandment will not be as applicable as the others…right? Maybe…
“Do not commit adultry…” DEARELY beloved friends, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of his congregation, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony, which is an honorable state, instituted of God in Paradise, in the time of manes innocence, …
“Do not murder…” This is one of the shortest verses in the entire Bible. It is just two words in the Hebrew. And yet, the scope is nearly limitless. This week, we will open up this commandment by examining the first murder: Cain killing Abel. We will see that this is the second fall narrative, culminating…
“Honor your father and your mothers…” This week, we turn our attention to the fifth commandment. This command focuses on our view of authority. To many, this command seems so stuffy, so conservative, so oppressive. If you look at our hero’s and listen to our songs you would think that our real national anthems have the theme…
“Remember the Sabbath…” This week, we turn our attention to the fourth commandment. All of the commandments are important, but this one might be the most significant for our times. We live in an age where everyone feels rushed, overwhelmed, and busy. This command touches on our labor and our leisure. It is meant to…
You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain… When most people think about the third commandment, they primarily think of not cussing. This commandment touches on our words, but it is so much more. We will see this week that this commandment is more than the words we use…it focuses on who we are.…
Recently famed director Martin Scorsese announced he is working on a new film about Jesus. Hollywood depictions of Jesus make me nervous. Sometimes, you get faithful attempts to depict Jesus, but other times, you get irreverent folly, like Will Ferrel’s prayer to “sweet Baby Jesus.” But the temptation and the danger of making a false…
Jay Heinrichs is one of the most successful marketers and salesmen in the world. His pathway into sales began with a disastrous Father’s Day gift and a shrewd salesman who taught him that image is everything. The second commandment is all about the power of images. And few things could be more relevant for us because…
Learning to share is hard. I knew this part of parenting would be a challenge. But over the past few years, as I have tried to learn this myself, and teach other small humans how to do it, there are some aspects of learning to share that I wasn’t ready for. For example, one of the troubles…
I hope your new 2024 year is off to a great start! I am excited to get back into the book of Exodus, and we will begin this year by taking a deep dive into the 10 Commandments. Several years ago, when I was in youth ministry, one of our students had one of the…
We will continue our focus on Joy and look at Philippians. And our theme this week will be the connection between peace and joy. Those are two words you hear every Christmas season, but how do they relate? How can you have them? To help us unpack this, we will think about the Goal of joy, and…