The Daunting Call
The nation of Judah was under the pump. Left isolated and vulnerable by Assyria’s decimation of the larger northern kingdom she felt the external pressure of the Assyrians to the north and the Egyptians to the south. But internally she was sick as well. She had endured a long reign of the evil King Manasseh who driven the nation into idol worship and all kinds of abhorred practices that went along with it… even the priests gave up on Yahweh…
Ultimate Treasure
The parables of “The Hidden Treasure” and “The Pearl of Great Price” remind us not only that Jesus is a great treasure worth our giving up everything for, but also of the good news that he first sought and purchased us at great cost to himself. The dire warning of “The Parable of the Net”, however, encourages us to put ourselves to the test: do we really know the treasure that Jesus is, or do we simply try to use…
Reckless Devotion
Being sensible is highly valued in our culture and it also seems to be valued in the scriptures in terms of practical wisdom, sober-mindedness and self-control. But we all know of followers of Jesus who have made decisions that our world considers reckless like missionaries heading to persecuted countries to preach an illegal gospel. So what happens when following Jesus looks more reckless than sensible? Pastor Joe examines one encounter when a woman displays reckless devotion to Jesus and what…
The God Who Serves
Deep down inside all of us want to be known as self-made men and women. Our immediate thought is to take on life by ourselves without ever wanting to ask for help so that we might be able to take all the credit for it, so that others might think of us as impressive. But when it comes to our relationship with God our self-determination can actually push us further away from Him rather than impress Him. Pastor Joe looks…
A Prayer for Restoration
We are rightfully wary of any theology that turns God into a wish granting genie who exists just to please us… but we cannot let this scepticism hide the reality that God guarantees to hear and answer our prayers. In fact we can have every confidence that whatever we ask for according to His will is ours. This morning Pastor Joe looks at what it means to pray in God’s will and what God longs for us to do with…