Another week begins and with that comes another Music Monday. As I dug through the top hits in Christian music this morning I found this song. I had never heard it before, so I decided to give it a listen. Imagine a life where we’re bound and tied. Shackled to every bad decision, poor choice and evil thought that ever came from us. That’s the image I have in my mind when I hear this song.
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Throughout the season of Lent, those 40 days leading up to Easter, we gather on Wednesday nights for an extra time of worship and contemplation. Generally we take a theme of sorts and weave these weeks together. At the church I serve, we are journeying through the moments of Jesus’ life and looking at significant events through different eyes. This week we see things through eyes of betrayal.
It’s not a fun idea, I know! No one wants to be known for betraying anyone, much less betraying God. This week we take a look at a man named Judas. He is best known as the one who handed Jesus over to be arrested and killed. Judas traded Jesus for a friendly kiss on the cheek. How awful is that!
What would cause a man who followed Jesus so closely for a little over three years to turn on this man so quickly and for seemingly so little pay? What would make him do this? And how would Jesus react when it happened?
These are the questions we address in our Eyes on Jesus series focusing on Betraying Eyes. Take a few minutes and listen as we unpack the night when Jesus was betrayed and see just how Jesus will respond to this horrific moment.
The weeks leading up to Easter are known by church people as the season of Lent. This time of year consists of the 40 days, not including Sundays, that go from Ash Wednesday up to Easter morning. The purpose of this time of year is to provide time for reflection and mediation and a re-centering of our lives around what’s most important.
Let’s admit it. By now the diligent work you started back in January with those New Year’s resolutions is for many of you a thing of the past. It’s great to have a quick check in time here in the first few months of the year to get us back on track again. Lent could very well be that time to help you refocus on the things that are most important.
Through these weeks of Lent at Living Word Galena, where I serve as pastor, we’re focusing on what Greek word. It was a word that Jesus spoke while on the cross. As a matter of fact, it was the final word that Jesus spoke from the cross. That word is tetelestai. It’s a funny sounding word but it simply means it is finished. But more than just it is finished there are six different angles we can take when evaluating this word. Each week through the season of Lent, we’ll look at another one of these perspectives of it is finished and see what that means for us today.
This week our focus was on the idea of accomplished. What did Jesus accomplish for us? Why did he need to accomplish it? What does it mean for our lives today that Jesus did what he did? The short version of this message is that back in the Garden of Eden when Adam ate that forbidden fruit, he really jacked up life for all of us. He sinned and his sin made me a sinner. I know it sounds crazy but check out the message to hear more. But more than Adam making me a sinner is the reminder from our message:
What Adam did in the fall, Jesus undid on the cross. Share on XSo there you have it. Jesus accomplished something far better than Adam ruined. Give the message a listen and join us each week as we look at another aspect of what it means that Jesus finished it on the cross.
This week we wrapped up a sermon series titled God Questions. It was a series all about questions we have for and about God. We’ve talked about Who is God and Is following God worth the trouble. This week we come face to face with a question of purpose. What does God have in store for me? Or a more general question of does God have anything in store for me? The short answer is yes, He does. But there’s so much more to it than just that.
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This week we started a new sermon series titled God Questions. The idea behind the series is that there are a series of questions that just about everyone asks at one point in time or another. These are what we consider the top three questions people have about God. Before we get into the series and the first message, let’s talk about the graphic for this series.
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The past four weeks have been spent emptying us of our selfish desires so that we might be more filled with the things of Jesus. If you’re not a Jesus follower, then I understand this sounds a little corny but give me a few minutes and maybe something here will make a little sense.
Continue readingOur first sermon series of the year is about losing more of ourselves so that we can get more of Jesus. We typically start our year with resolutions and goals and empty promises. But if you’re like most of America, you’ve already given up on those resolutions and replaced them with the same old way of doing life.
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Today is Epiphany and it was one of Mr. Bill’s favorite days of the year! If you’re not sure what Epiphany is give me a minute and I’ll explain. But first Mr. Bill was a great friend and my personal mentor. He walked with me through some pretty rough stuff and always pushed me to be stronger in my faith. Unfortunately for me he was called to heaven a couple of years ago. It’s unfortunate for me because there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of the impact this man had on my preaching and teaching. But it’s so fortunate for him because he is where he longed to be! He’s living the Epiphany life!
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Why do we celebrate Christmas? Why do we gather around a tree with our family and give each other gifts? Why is it ok for a large man in a red suit to invite children to sit on his lap and no one finds that wrong? Why is it that we tend to fill our churches on Christmas more than on the Sunday after Christmas? This week in our Adventually series we address the idea of love by asking the question why.
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As children we focused on getting presents! And it really was all about the presents and the bows and the stockings and the fun new toys. But as I got older, I started to act like Christmas was still about the presents. Just in a little different way. I started to treat Christmas like it was all about how much I could give to my family and friends at Christmas time. But that’s not the point either.
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