We are a community of people dedicated to follow Jesus in all that we do. If you’re looking for a church committed to loving God, loving each other, teaching his word, and worshiping him, then we invite you to come join us at any of our worship gatherings and activities for adults, youth, and children (see our About page and Activities page). Also, if you’re looking to learn more about Jesus and what it means to be his follower, I would love the chance to talk with you (also, see our About page for contact information, or see our Follow Jesus page).
Check out our site, read the blog posts below for news updates and devotional posts, and check out one of our worship gatherings!
~ Pastor Mike
Sunday Morning Schedule
9:45am ~ Small Groups / Sunday School
10:45 am ~ Worship Gathering
This morning, we’ll take a look at Exodus 35:4-29 and reflect on the topic of generosity. Then this evening, we’ll wrap up our video study on Philippians. We hope to see you there!
Schedule
@945 Small Groups / Sunday School for all ages
@1045 Worship Gathering
@6pm Philippians Study in youth room
Sermon Notes Generosity ~ Exodus 35:4-29
The sermon in one sentence: God generously gives us all things through Jesus and he calls us to be generous toward others.
Defining Generosity: Generosity is freely and happily giving of our resources (money, time, possession) for the benefit of others
Generosity is a response to God’s grace (35:4-9, 20-29)
Recognize God’s great generosity toward you
Give to needs in response to God’s prompting
Position yourself to give more abundantly
Generosity helps meet the needs of the moment (35:5-19)
Generosity considers the need and gives accordingly (35:10-19)
Generosity gives from the resources on hand (35:5-9; 1 John 3:17-18)
Songs for Worship Wonderful Words of Life Freely, Freely Peace Like a River Glorify Thy Name I Love You Lord Take My Life and Let It Be
In this devotional series, we’re taking a look at Matthew 24 & 25 to see what Jesus teaches us about his return and the end of the current age of history. Today, we’ll consider Matthew 24:15-22.
In today’s passage, we come to one of the more debated sections of Matthew 24. Jesus speaks of a prophecy in Daniel concerning the “abomination of desolation” and warns of a “great tribulation” or “great distress”, depending on your translation. Some believe this points forward to the Anti-Christ and the wrath of God poured out on the world.
But we find several clues in scripture that indicate these verses speak more of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.
One of the first places to look is the parallel account in Luke 21:20-24. In Luke, we read slightly different words from Jesus, and what are we to make of that? Does that mean a contradiction in the writings? No, it’s better to think about it in the way we perceive things.
Two people can go to the same baseball game. One might sit in the left field stands and the other behind home plate. They watch the same event from different perspectives. When they tell others about the game, they might share different details or highlight different big plays, all depending on their vantage point and audience. Yet, assuming they both shared accurately, what they each individually said is true and a piece of the whole. That’s how the different gospels work–they were written by four different men (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), each led by the same Holy Spirit but in different times, different places, and for different audiences.
So, reading Matthew and Luke together give us a more complete picture of Jesus’ words. Luke doesn’t mention Jesus’ reference to Daniel, but he does record Jesus saying, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that its desolation has come near.” Then he gives the same advice to flee to the mountains and country side. And he describes the time not only as a period of distress but “wrath against this people.” Finally, he speaks of Jerusalem being overwhelmed by “gentiles” (non-Jews) “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
Historically, leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, the violent and volatile political group called the Zealots fought to control Jerusalem and led a rebellion against Rome, killing many in a refusal to pay taxes. Rome responded by sending troops and besieging the city. During this time, the Zealots burned many of their own supplies hoping to motivate others to join the fight, but ended up causing the death of many from a lack of food. Titus, sent by his father–the emperor Vespasian, led the assault that captured the city, destroyed the temple, and left Jerusalem in ruins. Many who had not fled were killed.
In this case, the battle was the “great distress”, Titus was the “abomination of desolation” whose armies left the city in ruins, and Jerusalem has had populations consisting of many gentiles ever since.
Elsewhere, the Bible still says plenty about antichrists and “the antichrist.” The Bible also says much about the distress and tribulation that many followers of Jesus have faced and will face throughout history. Jesus will speak of his return further in Matthew 24, but we must remember that part of his answer was in response to the question by the disciples about when the destruction of the temple would take place (23:37-24:3).
So, these words of Jesus in Matthew 24:15-22 remind us to look backward to fuel faith in what lies ahead. Jesus’ words that proved true with the events of 70AD will also prove true when he returns, just as he promised.
In this devotional series, we’re taking a look at Matthew 24 & 25 to see what Jesus teaches us about his return and the end of the current age of history. Today, we’ll consider Matthew 24:3-14.
After prophesying about the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple, Jesus was gathered with his disciples on the Mount of Olives. There, they asked him a series of questions: “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
It would seem in their minds, the destruction of the temple and the return of Jesus were part of the same event, not different events separated by nearly two thousand years of history and counting. This will be important as Jesus’ answer progresses and we look to separate the events of 70AD with events still future.
But before Jesus gets there, he details some things that must happen before the end of the age. On the one hand, it’s not a pretty picture; but on the other hand there is hope woven within. So, what are the marks of the not-yet-end?
The deception of false messiahs–Jesus says many others will come claiming to be him, the Savior-King of the world, and they will be liars. As Jesus will detail later, his return isn’t going to be to some wilderness compound in secret, but will be loud and visible for the whole world to see.
Increasing warfare and geopolitical tension
Increasing natural disasters
Persecutions, false prophets, and a turning away from the faith
Growing lawlessness and a growing lack of love
These things are not pretty, and at times when we see such things, we think, “Surely the end is near”; but Jesus calls such things the “beginning of birth pains.” When a woman is pregnant, we look forward to the birth of the child–bringing new life into the world. But that is preceded by pains that tend to get worse as the moment of birth draws near.
We long for the day where eternal joy and hope will spring forth in the birth of a new creation, but until that time there will be growing pain. That is the natural course of sinfulness on the world. We are marching toward a wonderful utopia, but not one built on the plans and actions of humanity. No, ours is built fully on the plan and actions of God.
Yet, even with this warning of things growing worse in a sinful world, there is hope. The faithful will endure and be saved, Jesus says, and the gospel will spread into all the world. In Revelation, John sees a picture of eternity where people from every “tribe, tongue, and nation” are worshiping Jesus. People will only worship Jesus if they know about Jesus, and they will only know about Jesus if they hear the gospel. And people from all over the world will hear and believe.
In short, this is Jesus saying: The darkness will not snuff out the light. People will hear about me, know me, and follow me.
What, then, do we do as we see the darkness in the world that signal birth pangs but isn’t quite the end? We keep shining light. We let the world know about Jesus who will one day return and bring an end to all the darkness.
This morning, we’ll take a look at Exodus 33:12-34:35 and see how Moses had a life-changing encounter with the glory of God and how that points to the life-changing encounter we experience through Jesus and his gospel. We hope to see you there!
Schedule
@945 Small Groups / Sunday School for all ages
@1045 Worship Gathering
@230pm Adrian Manor Nursing Home Service
@6pm Philippians Study in Youth Room
The sermon in one sentence: Moses encountered God’s glory on Sinai and it changed him forever; we encounter greater glory through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and it changes us forever.
Moses’ encounter with God’s glory
Moses prayed a bold prayer: “Show me your glory” (33:12-17)
God responded by agreeing to put a muted version of his glory on display (33:18-23)
In his glory, God declared his name as well as salvation and judgment, an experience that changed Moses (34:1-9, 29-35)
Our encounter with God’s glory
We experience God’s glory must fully in the life-changing gospel of Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:7-4:6)
So, be bold in your pursuit of Jesus
Be bold in sharing about Jesus with others
Be bold in prayer
Songs for Worship Holy, Holy, Holy He Hideth My Soul I Stand Amazed Great Is Thy Faithfulness Rock of Ages
One topic that always draws a lot of attention in Christian circles is the end times. In general, all followers of Jesus believe the same basic truth: History has a time limit. God in his plan has set boundaries on the beginning and the end of present age of humanity. Jesus will come back, and when he does he will right all wrongs and make all things news and glorious for his people.
As for the timing, order, and specifics of certain events related to that basic truth, Christians throughout history have diverged with various interpretations. That can be a good things as long as we humbly realize that we have much to learn from different perspectives and don’t become too heatedly dogmatic on debated aspects beyond the basic core truth.
With that in mind, in this devotional series, we’ll be taking a look at Matthew 24 & 25 and see some of what we learn concerning the end of the age and the return of Jesus.
We’ll start today with Matthew 24:1-2:
As Jesus left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings. He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down.”
In Matthew 23, Jesus blasted the Pharisees and other religious leaders for their hypocrisy. Through their rules and regulations, they would lay heavy burdens on people they were not willing to bear themselves. Further, Jesus said that even though they gave the appearance of righteousness and zeal for God, their hearts were far from him. Then Jesus concluded with a lament over Jerusalem, speaking to how he longed to gather the people to himself but they were largely unwilling to follow him.
It’s in response to these scathing statements that the disciples seemed eager to find something about the city and religious culture of the day that would impress Jesus. So they pointed out the buildings of the temple.
But Jesus was not impressed. In fact, his reply was that the whole complex would soon be a pile of rubble. This sets the stage to follow, after Jesus and his followers go to the Mount of Olives in 24:3, for the discussion on the end of the age and the return of Jesus.
While the temple and Jerusalem of that day were largely destroyed in the year 70AD, fulfilling Jesus’ words, this speaks a truth to current history and the end of the age: God is not impressed with our idols.
You see, for the religious leaders of that day, the temple had become and idol of sorts. Jesus at one point even drove out persons and animals with whips while overturning tables because the outer courts had been turned into a market to make a profit off people’s sacrifices to God. The religious practices of that day had become corrupted so that a place of worship became a place for exalting man. The temple itself had become a status symbol for the supposed caretakers over the Jews.
Likewise, when Jesus returns, our idols will not stand. Paul wrote of this truth in 1 Corinthians 3 when he talked about how our works to help build God’s kingdom will be judged. Those who build with “gold, silver, and costly stones” or good works that exalt God and show love for others, will find their deeds refined and rewarded. Those who build with “wood, hay, or straw” or works that mainly exalt self, even though they appear good–motive still matters–will find their works in ruins.
This reminds us that as we wait for the return of Jesus, the point of life and faith isn’t to try to impress God and others. Rather, the point is to be faithful, God-glorifying, and others-serving. Thus, as Jesus said elsewhere: The last shall be first and the first shall be last.
So, let us keep watch on our motives, abandon our self-exalting idols, and live fully for the glory of God.
Scripture quotes taken from the Christian Standard Bible.
In a recent church survey, we asked if there were any particular sermon topics people would be interested in hearing. We received back quite a few topics that Pastor Mike is planning to use to finish out 2018 once we wrap up our journey through Exodus at the end of this month.
Unfortunately, there’s not enough time for every idea (though they may be visited further in the future). Below are the series and sermons planned from August through December.
August: The Art of Prayer and Fasting
08.05 “Learning to Pray” (Luke 11:1-13)
08.12 “The Art of Praying Well” (Romans 8:26-30)
08.19 “Learning to Fast” (Isaiah 58)
08.26 “The Art of Fasting Well” (Matthew 6:1, 16-18)
October: Finding Light in the Darkness (hope in the face of despair)
10.07 “The Greatest Light” (Genesis 3, John 1)
10.14 “The Light of Hope: Battling Depression and Fatigue” (1 Kings 19)
10.21 “The Light of Peace: Battling Anxiety” (Matthew 6:25-34)
10.28 “Shining the Light: Supporting Others in Their Dark Times” (Romans 12:9-15)
November – December: The Life of… (biblical character studies)
11.04 “The Life of Mary”
11.11 “The Life of David”
11.18 “The Life of Hannah”
11.25 “The Life of Daniel”
12.02 “The Life of Tabitha”
12.09 “The Life of Barnabas”
This Sunday we’ll take a look at Exodus 31:1-11, & 35:30-39:43. We’ll see how God gives his Spirit to his people, gifting us to serve others for his glory and their good. We also have a meal and business meeting following the morning service. We hope to see you there!
Schedule
@945 Small Groups / Sunday School for all ages
@1045 Worship Gathering
@Noon Meal & Business Meeting in gym
@6pm Philippians Video Series in Youth Room
