Where do we find our place that God has placed us in life?
Jesus tells us He will return and judge the world. What does that really mean? Should we be afraid? As we wrap up “the Future is Here,” Pastor Tim will help us consider these questions.
What does waiting for Jesus’s return look like? Are we just trying to “make it through” until the end? This week we turn to Matthew 25:14-30, looking at the “Parable of the Talents” and what it says to us about what God calls us to do with our lives right now.
Are we satisfied with the way things are? Maintaining the status quo keeps us in the crowd - Jesus calls us out of the crowd into discipleship of crazy faith. When we do this we commit to counting the cost and giving it all over to him.
Generosity starts where sacrifice begins. As challenging as it may be to accept, how we use our money is our reflection of our heart. Jesus asked his disciples to consider the Widow, in Mark 12:41-44, as an example of what crazy generosity looked like. There are opportunities for us also to join God in living out a blessed generous life!
Our culture, tired of injustices, is saying, “Enough prayers. More actions.” While action is always important, the Persistent Widow, in Luke 18:1-8, reminds us that change must always starts with praying like a crazy person. Prayer aligns our heart with Jesus’. Before we jump into action, we need to make sure our hearts are aligned with his.
The wisdom of the world says: “Get ahead at all costs.” In Mark 10:35-45, James and John tried that when they asked Jesus for a promotion: “When you take your throne, can we have thrones on each side of you?”. Jesus confronted their worldly attitudes by teaching them a crazy strategy for success: Instead of “Get ahead at all costs” Jesus told them to “Serve no matter the cost.”
Jesus is inviting us away from worry and into his rest. But we so often allow the things of this world to burden us. When it comes to our money, time and resources do we have a heart of self pleasure or a heart that is seeking God?
Having money isn’t the problem. Instead, we run into trouble when we invest only into earthly accounts and not heavenly ones. Opportunities to invest into heavenly accounts are all around us, both in individual needs & a collective mission. When we make this sacrifice, true joy & desire in our Almighty is found.
We are called every day to pray without ceasing and to rejoice before our God (1 Thess. 5:16-18). In that spirit and in partnership with our friends at other churches via FaithTree, we are part of an online prayer walk happening today, May 14! We are excited to see what God will do through this time!