Spiritually speaking, the attitude we have when we work to advance God’s Kingdom is far more important than the work we actually do. If we do the “right things” but don’t don’t imitate Jesus in our attitude we don’t reflect the Kingdom of God the way we could. Humility, gentleness and bearing each others’ burdens are basic to serving one another in Christ-like love. Read More
When we hear sermons, often we apply them to someone else. It is always easier to see and try to fix other people’s faults than it is our own. It is common to do this when we read Bible stories. One of the functions of Jesus’ parables is to free us from this self-serving favoritism and force us to look in the mirror.
Our perspective about what God is like deeply affects our relationship with him. Is he a distant, immovable being or does Jesus give us a different view of God? God is more upside down and different than many of us realize. Read More
God’s unique way of growing his kingdom isn’t what we may expect from a king. In fact, many times he flips our expectations completely upside down. In a conversation with the Pharisees in Luke 14, Jesus demonstrates this beautiful uniqueness and reveals the impact it can have on how we relate to each other in our everyday activities. Read More
A “bottom feeder” is a type of fish that eats just about anything it finds at the bottom of a body of water. Greg uses this term to represent a way of living where a person attempts to get life from things outside of themselves. Even church leaders can fall into a religious type of “bottom feeding” where they get life from the people they serve. In Luke 6:39-42, Jesus talks about just this type of thing when he speaks about the blindness and hypocrisy of some of the religious leaders. Greg describes an alternative to “bottom feeding”–“leading with a limp”, where we humbly take our own weaknesses into account as we lead others. Read More
This weekend, we started our 6 week church-wide adventure entitled “The Beautiful Mess.” The title may seem a little different, but it’s very representative of how the Kingdom of God interacts with our lives. When a new way of living begins to reveal itself, it can bring beauty into our “normal” messes of life by actually “messing up” our so-called … Read More
Jesus desires to be a part of every area in our lives. Following God is not a spiritual exercise or ritual that is relegated only to church. Rather, it is a relationship that consists of giving to God everything about us, and being obedient to God’s calling and direction in our lives.
God’s kingdom is paradoxical. The paradox is displayed in how God uses our weaknesses to make us strong. In spite of our weaknesses, God uses us to bring about His kingdom. The things in our lives that we see as weaknesses or stumbling blocks are actually opportunities for God to reveal to us his power and strength in us and through us. Read More