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Grace saves us—we don’t deserve it, can’t earn it, and have no grounds to boast about it, as Paul makes plain in Ephesians 2:8–9—so what does it look like when a community of undeserving people actually lives that out together as the church God is building?
Most of us know what it feels like to start strong in our faith and then quietly fizzle out from that initial strength — and the churches in Revelation 2–3 knew that feeling, too. As Jesus responds to them with a reward for the one who “conquers,” what does conquering look like for ordinary, fizzle-prone people like us?
We like life easy, so when following Jesus brings bumps instead of the smoother path we expected, we wonder what went wrong. Luke 9 reminds us that Jesus never promised following him would meet that expectation.
Rather than seeking to be known as impressive or indispensable, Christians are called to be known as servants of Jesus. Every person is made in the image of God, and the only credential that truly matters on our “resume” before Him is knowing Him.
We know a lot about God’s truth and what He calls us to do. But, do we do it towards those around us with love?
When life feels unpredictable, we reach for security blankets of money, health, and plans that promise safety. Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount by telling us we’re seeking security in the wrong places: _Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven._
Most of us carry a ready answer to “I’ll be happy if…”—the promotion, the healed relationship, the life that finally settles into place. That hunger is exactly what Jesus addresses when he sits down on a hillside in Matthew 5 and declares blessed the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, and the persecuted—people whose lives look nothing like what we’d put in that blank.
As we wrap up our series tonight, we look at two faithful colleagues of Paul and how their lives point us to what God calls us to show in our own as part of the Church.
How do we empower more and more people to serve in the church? How do we do God’s work with trust? Pastor Tim looks at that in tonight’s journey in Philippians.
We are all called to pour into others, even when we don’t have all the answers, but as you are becoming like Jesus, naturally, you will help others encounter Him.
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