This Sunday, May 20^th, we begin a new message series on the book of Acts, entitled “The Gospel Unleashed.”  Acts is the story of Christ’s powerful work to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth through that small band of followers He left on earth.  We are a part of that story and an important part of that work.  Join us as we see the Gospel unleashed among us!  Check out our Messages and Media page for audio and video content.

If you want to do something that nutty, go right ahead—but don’t take your 10 year old son with you!  That’s what happened few years ago.  The mother of the child contacted police after seeing a newspaper photograph of her ex-husband leading their son by the arm just a few feet in front of the bulls.

What kind of dad would do that?  What if the boy tripped?  What if the dad tripped?  What if they couldn’t get over to the side soon enough?

It just reminds me to give thanks for what an awesome heavenly Father we have, one who tells you, “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty.  The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deut 33:26-27)

All too often in our lives, the “bulls” of bills, stress, guilt, pain, and bad news are snorting down our backs, ready to trample us.  But, when we face these things, we aren’t alone and we aren’t running next to a God who can’t help us any more than we can help ourselves.  Our God rides on the clouds and is able to bear us safely away in his everlasting arms when we’re running out of strength to continue on.

But will he do that?  Will he be there for us?   Will he run alongside?  Will he deliver us at the right time?  Well, Isaiah tells us that he was willingly “pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.”  He was gored by the guilt of our sin on the cross so that we could be spared the wrath of God.  I think we can certainly say he will also deliver us from the current “bulls” in his perfect time.

Be at peace; you are in his arms.

Ever feel like Kaylee and her parents that God is asking you to do something way out of your league?  New parents feel it.  New employees.  New Christians.  New leaders.  It happens when we enter a new home or a new life, when we receive bad news about cancer or our job.

As the pressure builds, we want to yell out, “I don’t know what I’m doing!  I can’t handle it!”

But then, Jesus quips in, “I am greater than everything I put on your plate or allow into your life.  I conquered death; changes aren’t a big deal for me.  So look to me; you can do all things through my limitless strength.”

Live in his power today!  Give it all to him!

Philippians 4:12–13 (NIV84) — 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Here’s the thing: every time I bought doughnuts, he always threw in extras for me.  I watched the other customers, and it didn’t seem to be his normal routine.  Maybe he just enjoyed a little bit of company that much, or maybe he was just generous.  I don’t know.

But as I think about it, I am reminded of David’s words which he spoke to God after God pronounced even more blessing upon his family.  “2 Sam 7:18-19  Who am I , O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19 And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign LORD, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign LORD?”

Have you ever really contemplated why God chose you to know his grace, to experience his love, to hold the promise of heaven in your feeble hands?  I find myself thinking about it more and more all the time.

The more I meditate on it, the more I realize that it has nothing to do with me.  I may get extra doughnuts because I talk to the owner, but there isn’t a chance that heaven and forgiveness have anything to do with me.  I know my faults.  I know the secret temptations and sinful thoughts that lurk in the darkness of my heart.  I know my guilt and how much I try to excuse it and cover it up.

And yet, God chose me, forgave me, loves me, and will bear me home someday.  What a marvelous mystery!  What an amazing grace!

Through Jesus, that same God is your God.  Live in and for his amazing love today!

Sometimes in life, there isn’t much you can do but cry or pray or a little of both.  There just isn’t always an immediate or apparent solution.  There just isn’t always a black and white answer.  There just isn’t always an opportunity to say or do anything, especially when it comes to someone who has cut you off.

But that doesn’t mean we are helpless.  That’s what’s so awesome about those prayer warriors on the bridge.  They didn’t just stand there gawking hopelessly at the mayhem or thinking of what they might say to the camera crews if interviewed.  They got to work with hands and hearts lifted up to the Almighty and Merciful God.

James said, “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

When you can’t do anything, you can still pray.  And the same Jesus who prayed for you and rescued you from the murky depths is listening; he will answer; he will come with strength, wisdom, and deliverance at the proper time.

Lt. Eduardo Ojeda took up her case some years ago and did everything he possibly could to figure out her identity.  “It was always on my mind; it really kind of bothered me,” He said. “As someone said: ‘You don’t find peace until you find all the pieces.”‘

That’s an interesting quote:  “You don’t find peace until you find all the pieces.”  It’s hard to be at peace if you don’t know who you are.  That’s what leads people into everything from rampant consumerism and relentless ladder-climbing to despair and suicide.  If you don’t know who you are, you just keep plugging block after block into the God-shaped hole, hoping that one of them will fit, but none of them ever do.

What a blessing to know who you are.  In Christ, you are a marvelous Creation, the handiwork of God.  You are twice His because he not only made you; He also redeemed you through the precious blood of His Son.  He has called you His own child and given you purpose for living:  to love Him, love each other, and love the world.  In Him, you find complete fulfillment and the assurance that “you are somebody.”

Isaiah 43:1  But now, this is what the LORD says —he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

With a worried and weary look on his face, the dad feels his son’s head for what seems like the hundredth time.  It’s still burning up.  Yesterday it was just a few aches and chills, maybe he just needed to rest.  But this morning, the boy took a turn for the worst.  In addition to the fever, he is sweating profusely; he is slipping in and out of consciousness.  And it’s 27 A.D.  There are no hospitals, no blood tests, no readily available medicines, no answers.  Barring a miracle, this boy will die.

But wait!  Jesus is back in town.  The word on the street is that he healed many in Jerusalem over the Passover Feast.  It might be just wild rumors—there’s always some hopeful fanatic who imagines that he sees visions and healings—but this has been confirmed by so many.

So the dad sets out on his own, praying desperately that he can find this Rabbi before it’s too late.  After a frantic search, he stumbles upon Jesus in Cana and begs for a miracle.  Then the Bible tells us…

“The royal official said, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’  Jesus replied, ‘You may go. Your son will live.’  The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.  When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.’  Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’  So he and all his household believed.” (John 4:49-53)

Isn’t that amazing?  “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.”  Notice that it took him another day to get home!  Without cellphones, Twitter, or Facebook, he simply had to walk for a day in faith, hoping that Jesus was right.  I wish I had that kind of faith.  I would have wanted proof.  I would have asked Jesus to come with me just to make sure.  But this man simply took Jesus at his Word.

When troubles come and Jesus says, “It’s going to work out,” it’s so hard to take Him at his Word.  It’s so hard to get up and face a day of uncertainty.  It’s so hard to head right back into our regular responsibilities and daily chores with the belief that, in the end, it will be okay.  It’s easier just to roll up into a ball or pull the covers back up to our nose.  It’s so tempting to just plop down in front of the TV or just eat some more junk food.  “Comfort Food” we call it.

But the man took Jesus at his word and departed—went back home, went back to work, went back to life.  He didn’t even know the rest of the story.  But we do.  This Jesus not only kept His word about this healing; he kept His Word about living our place, suffering for us, and rising victorious.  Every promise made by Scripture saw its complete fulfillment in Him.

And so today, that risen, victorious Healer says to you, “It’s going to be okay.”  Maybe life seems too complicated and entangled for any decent solution to your problems.  Maybe it seems like too much walking on faith.  But face the day with courage and confidence.  Take Jesus at his Word.  He’s good for it!

People who are new to Christ and even those who have followed him for a long time sometimes think to themselves, “This is too good to be true.”  Did God really choose me from eternity in love, and does He still love me in spite of my failure and my guilt?  Does Jesus really forgive all of my sin through his life, death, and resurrection?  Does the Holy Spirit really live in me and guarantee my spot in heaven after I die?  Does God really have a great plan worked out for me?  Sometimes, it just seems too good to be true.

When it comes down to it, every world religion offers eternal delights or peace with God.  Every one of them makes big promises.  But every one of them also has a catch:  if you want these things from God, you must show yourself worthy, you must appease God through pilgrimages or sacrifices, you must follow a certain code or make up for your depravity in some way.

But Jesus is different.  Only Jesus follows God’s code perfectly in our place.  Only Jesus makes the pilgrimage for us up a stony hill with our cross on his shoulders; only Jesus makes the great sacrifice in offering his body and soul for our sins. Jesus not only offers us heaven and peace with God.  Jesus arranges it completely from beginning to end and gives it to you as a gift.  In the case of Jesus, He’s so good, it has to be true.

Praise God!

Romans 5:6-8

6  You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. NIV84

You only need to look at the magazine rack in line at the grocery store to figure out that we have this all backwards.  “5 exercises for a sexier butt.”  “Lose 10 pounds in two weeks.”  “4 Keys to a Hot Date.”  All of it says, “You are a body, nothing more.”  And the problem is that the moment you are only a soulless body, your value is entirely based on looks and performance.  So, it’s no wonder why countless people go unloved and ignored while their spouses scrounge the internet for porn or a better match in the “personals” on Craigslist.  It’s no wonder why husbands can’t keep their eyes on the beauty in front of them but get addicted to the rush of every woman walking by in tight jeans.  It’s no wonder why people are struggling with sexual addictions at every age, both male and female.  It’s no wonder why people tire of their spouses and decide to move on.  It’s no wonder why we are constantly frowning in the mirror, eternally discontent with who we are.

It’s simply, really:  we usually treasure the body over the soul.  We tend to assess people initially, and sometime perpetually, on how they look, giving little attention to what’s inside.

Thank God that Jesus treasured more than the body.  When He encountered the Samaritan woman, he was face to face with the town floozy who was known for sleeping around.  Besides that, she was a Samaritan, a half-breed by the standards of the day, someone no self-respecting person would ever talk to.  And yet, he neither gawked at her nor turned away in disgust because he saw deeper than her skin.  He saw a precious soul in desperate need of hope and assurance.

It’s the same thing He sees when looking at you, your spouse, that flirtatious coworker, or that woman posing for the camera.  He sees a soul that He loves, a soul He died for, and a soul He longs to walk with in heaven for eternity.  When you recognize that, your attitude turns from “what can I get out of her/him?” to “How can I help her see how precious she is to Christ?”  Remind someone this weekend what a treasure he/she is.  In a soulless culture, we all need to hear it.