Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Jacob: The Struggle Is Not Wasted

The enduring image of Israel (Jacob) at the end of his life is him worshipping as he leans on his staff. The man whose life had been about "wrestling with God and man" had come to a place of praise, seeing that by God's redeeming work, he had lived to see the salvation that God was working in his life. As we look at the end of Jacob's story from Genesis, let's go to God with our struggles, knowing that, when we are dedicated to His purposes, our struggles are never wasted.

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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Making Your Commencement Speech Captive to Christ

At this time of year, when graduates are graduating, we hear all sorts of wisdom being passed around. Now it's even popular for commencement speeches from celebrities to trend online. But how do we separate the well-informed from the merely well-intentioned? This week's message was advice on how to take captive your commencement speech (not your commencement speaker) and make it obedient to Christ.

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Monday, May 12, 2014

Jacob: The Struggle of a Blessed Life

When Jacob wrestled with God, he refused to let go until God blessed him.  And God did bless him, changing his name and his heart.  But in the chapters that follow, we see that Jacob's life was an endless struggle, characterized by tragedy and loss.  He must have been thinking, "THIS is the blessed life God promised me?"  Maybe you've thought the same thing.  This message addresses the struggle of a blessed life.

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Sunday, May 4, 2014

Jacob: A Tale of Two Church Kids

This week, Susanna made her third appearance in church on her 3-week birthday. She will be another certified "church kid." I cherish my "church kid" childhood and the heritage my parents passed on to me. It is a parent's greatest privilege and responsibility to pass on their faith.

But their are pitfalls to having an inherited faith. We see those pitfalls in the first generation of "church kids" in the Bible: Abraham's grandsons Esau and Jacob.

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Thursday, May 1, 2014

Abraham: A New Generation

I realized today that I hadn't posted Sunday's sermon yet. I have to apologize to all of you who have been refreshing this page every hour since Tuesday in anticipation, but here it is!

Today we look at the longest and final story that we have in detail from Abraham's life. In this story, Abraham is trying to ensure that Isaac will build on the foundation he has laid. That leads to an interesting question for us: How do we build on the foundation our parents have laid? How do we help the next generation build on our foundation?

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