Guest Speaker: Rev. Joe Franks Text: Mark 11:15-19
John 10 presented Jesus’ beautiful promise that nothing can snatch us out of His hand. But sometimes, life and circumstances look just the opposite. In this very next chapter, a family that Jesus loves is rocked by the death of a loved one, and they don’t understand why or where Jesus was. For the times […]
Christians are saved by grace, purchased by the life of Jesus, chosen by the Father – and held by both Him and the Son. What difference should that make? How does grace show up and change us? Text: John 10:27-30; Ephesians 5:1-4, 17-27
When things are at their worst, when we’ve done our worst, or when we are barely hanging on – How can we know that Jesus “has us”? Consider what Jesus has said about the effectiveness of His atonement and the certainty of His choosing – combine those and you get a wonderful promise about the […]
Having looked at what Jesus accomplished in purchasing our salvation on the cross, we now turn to the doctrine of election. This doctrine has suffered from so much confusion and controversy, which is so far from why God speaks of it in His word. God didn’t give election to us for arguing…He gave it to […]
What did the death of Christ accomplish? Did it simply make salvation possible – if we finish the deal? Or did Jesus’ death actually accomplish salvation for His people whom He is calling out of sin and darkness? How the Bible answers this question is huge – for it determines whether or not we can know we are really, […]
If you’ve been around Christianity much at all, you’ve heard references to God as our shepherd (like in Psalm 23) and us as His sheep. It’s easy to take such notions for granted. But let it arrest you again. There is much in this text today that is meant to be shocking about who we […]
The Bible speaks often of “darkness and light” as concepts for establishing its worldview of the brokenness and state of this world. If we’re honest, we know it to be true in our own hearts. Where do you feel the darkness? Where do you fear the darkness? Listen, and find hope for the Light that […]
Times of suffering can be some of the most difficult seasons in our faith. We naturally question whether God is made at us, or if He has withdrawn His love, or if our life is out of his control and blessing. Rather than being proof of the absence of God’s love, however, our two texts […]
New Years is filled with hope, resolutions, and looking forward. Out with the old, in with the new! But none of us really know what this year will hold, nor what will happen to us. Beyond resolutions for self-improvement, a Christian’s calling and purpose is to glorify God with his or her life. Are you […]