9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have…
How do we remember God’s story, week in and week out? Short answer: The service and all the stuff we do in the service. This is where we’re going over the next several weeks. The service itself tells a story.The stuff that we do tells the gospel story. When we preach, we preach from the Bible–the very Word of God,…
Let’s go back to the beginning. Jesus’ Bible, the Apostles’ Bible, is the Old Testament. Christian worship finds its roots deep in the Old Testament. From the beginning of the Scriptures, we see chosen people meeting God in sacred spaces. Now, when we survey the theology that undergirds what is happening in the tabernacle and the temple, I am struck…
Our primary point of contact with the church is the Sunday morning worship gathering. I’ve grown up in church, so I’ve sat through services almost every Sunday for 30 years, and in all of those we’ve sang, someone has preached, and sometimes other stuff happens, depending on the church and the service–prayers, offerings, recitation of creeds, baptisms, the Lord’s Supper,…
Being hated is a hopeless feeling. Few things discourage us more than rejection from someone we want to accept us. We’re tempted to put our hope in the affirmation of others–to find our moods, our peace of mind, our joy–sort of fixed to how others esteem us, what they think about us. Walking the way of Jesus in the world…
John 15:26-27, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” The hatred of the world is an opportunity for the people of God to:…
Sticking with Jesus can be costly. You can do all the things he tells you to do and still suffer. When are you tempted to quit something? When it gets hard. But there’s an even deeper pain than the pain of a tough workout, a long trek, or a crummy job–the pain of rejection, the pain of being disliked, the…
Let’s consider the sort of life that flows from God into us and through us. This is part four of a four part series. Read parts one (spiritual fruit), two (powerful prayer), and three (sacrificial love) now. Full Joy 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my…
Let’s consider the sort of life that flows from God into us and through us. This is part three of a four part series. Read parts one (first mark: spiritual fruit) and two (second mark: powerful prayer) now. Sacrificial Love 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep…
Let’s consider the sort of life that flows from God into us and through us. This is part two of a four part series. Read part one about the first mark now. Powerful Prayer 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this…