Speaker: Nathan Guy

Before God’s Spirit can build us up in the fruit of love, joy, and peace, he must first break us down–whether our problem is the self-assured pride of will-worship, or the careless disregard for how we conduct our lives. God sows the seed, but God also tills the soil. And he can do remarkable things if we will let Him.

Close your eyes. Picture God. What do you see? Now focus on the emotions welling up inside you. What do you feel? Where did that image and those emotions originate? How you view God determines how you see yourself and everything else in the world. It might be time for new lenses. Lesson 1 in the series “A Good and Beautiful God.”

Picture a lion. Wild. Untamed. Not safe. But fast, strong, and in charge. This is Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. This is the kingdom of God in strange and mysterious ways. Mark portrays Jesus and His kingdom memorably. Will we follow Jesus to the cross, declaring God to be Lord of all? Will we enter the wild kingdom? Welcome to our series Jesus Christ and the Mysterious Kingdom of Suffering Servants. This introductory lesson shares the background to the Gospel of Mark and provides a run-through of Mark’s highlighted points.

God will take your faith that wanes and give you back a faith that sustains. Part of the fruit of the Spirit series.

Baptism imitates the example of our Lord. It symbolizes our answer to the greatest commandment. It demonstrates the gospel. It is a uniting event. And it marks a crossing over, an exodus, out of slavery to self and into the freedom of God’s gracious kingdom of love. But like every story in scripture, it’s only significant because Jesus Christ meets us there. Follow him to the water. Call upon him in the water. Be buried with him in the water. And trust in his grace to rescue you from every troubled water.

Part 5 in the “Fruit of the Spirit” series.

Beginning is tough. Starting over is harder still. But Paul says he is confident that the same God whose voice shook the earth, that rouses the dead from slumber, and brings salvation from heaven is at work…in you!

My God is “endlessly patient” (Exodus 34:6 MSG). And Christians are called to live out of that story. Patience for the long journey. Patience in the face of persecution. A patient trust in God’s timing.

“Learning to love” is “learning Christ.” And for the believer, we are loving to learn; loving to grow; loving to be, and to become what Christ is forming us into. In every relationship he gives us, every job we hold, every person we meet, Christ is ALL and IN all. Part 3 in the series “Learning Christ.”