ReActions Speak Louder Than Words - Part 3

Often times our reactions to life events are caused by a desire to control all the outcomes of life. Jesus offers you a standing invitation to put down burdens you were never intended to carry. Come to me all you who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

So many Jesus followers react with GREAT OFFENSE and DEFENSE when the "non-Jesus" world wrongs or offends them. However, this is the exact OPPOSITE of what Jesus invites us to do. Today, we learn that if we have confidence that GOD IS IN CONTROL, we will be freed up to REACT with uncanny love...and ultimately be more effective in the mission that Jesus has given us.

Jesus viewed being mistreated as an opportunity to react in a way that caught people off guard. He reflected our Father in heaven by responding like our Father in heaven.

What’s on the inside eventually shows up on the outside. That’s why it’s important to learn to guard our hearts and manage our emotions.

American Christianity gets really weird when it talks about the End Times...it seems to always focus on fear, current events, and geopolitical interpretations. Good News: The focus of the Bible is different. While there's some sobering stuff about the End Times, the Bible teaches us that ultimately, the focus of End Times teaching is: Encouragement. It's pretty simple: Jesus is coming back...and he wants you to be with him when he makes all things new.

Everyone loves to receive Jesus' forgiveness and mercy. But along with that comes a new way of living by following the way of Jesus. Living this new life requires us to humbly submit our lives to the will of God.

Nobody likes it when people act like legalistic...yet, we are all prone to drift into legalism if the right topic comes up. Today, we spend some time in Galatians to learn how to NOT be legalistic while living the life Jesus calls us to live.

If the general population heard that church people were showing up to something in their daily lives, would that be good news or bad news? The Early Church demonstrated that Jesus was GOOD NEWS for every part of life. And this is still the mission of our church today.

Are we willing to set aside our preconceived notions of God and hear what Jesus says? The world looks at some people and thinks, "There's no chance for them." But to Jesus, they are worth a try...and he is willing to GENEROUSLY shower the seed of his word into their hearts. If we are willing to hear, Jesus says that he will bring LIFE into our lives that we could never imagine.

In "Season 2" of our "Make it Make Sense" series, we are beginning with Jesus' stories: the parables. When we lose heart, we don't need to be convinced of anything. We need to be woken up. And Jesus does just that through his stories. He wakes us up to receive his promises and live in fullness of life.

In "Season 2" of our "Make it Make Sense" series, we are beginning with Jesus' stories: the parables. When we lose heart, we don't need to be convinced of anything. We need to be woken up. And Jesus does just that through his stories. He wakes us up to receive his promises and live in fullness of life.

For some reason, God keeps choosing to engage with the world through flawed people. Today, we see that Jesus enters the scene on a path paved by his friends. And..Jesus will enter people’s lives on a path paved by YOU. Why does God use flawed people like us? The answer is probably better news than you think.

“Make it Make Sense,” is about making sense of our story in light of God’s story. Everyone loves a good story. In fact, our entire lives are shaped by the stories that we believe about ourselves and the world around us. God has wired us that way which explains why the Bible is filled with stories. In fact, if you have eyes to see, the Bible tells one grand overarching story. And you are a character in God’s story.

A lot of us have a picture in our minds of the KIND of person that God would be drawn to. For some of you, that picture looks…well…like you. You know that you need forgiveness and grace, but probably not as much as THAT guy. OR, it looks NOTHING like you. You think you don’t have a chance with God. I have good news: You’re both wrong. Today, in “Hard to Ignore”, we are going to take a look at how Jesus defies everyone’s expectations in the story of the Magi. God chooses the most unlikely people - and that’s good news.

The Angels announcement to the shepherds that a Savior had been born was pretty hard to ignore. So is the mercy and peace that God brings to you today.

What would you do if you came home and found a baby left on your doorstep? Whatever your response, you probably couldn’t just ignore it. The same is true for Jesus. When we look at his claims and calls, we can reject or receive him, but there’s not much room for pretending like he’s not there. Although his presence might feel threatening to things we’ve come to value, Jesus didn’t come to take away what is valuable. He came to give us something better than what we’ve settled for.