Psalm 100 | Thanking God

Let’s be Psalm 100 people who see what God has done, and respond. Let’s enter his gates with thanksgiving—not because we’ve somehow worked up enough gratitude, but because we’ve seen so much of God that we can’t help it.

Mark 11:12-25 | The Lesson of the Fig Tree

Throughout the Old Testament, the fig tree held spiritual value as a symbol for Israel, serving as a metaphor for their standing with God. And like Adam and Eve after the fall, this fig tree, though full in leaf, was useful only to cover nakedness. The temple in Jerusalem was much the same. What appeared full of life was actually lifeless. Jesus wants his disciples to see this. Why? It is possible to be outwardly religious and inwardly dead. But we need reality with Jesus, not the appearance of reality with him. We need the real thing. We need intimacy. We need fruit. We need life.

Mark 10:17-31 | The Rich Young Man

With you it is impossible. But not with God. Not with Jesus. Why not lay down all we have built up—all our monuments of righteousness, all our grand obedience and good deeds, our wealth and possessions, and let Jesus tear deep. It might feel like you’ve entered hell, but he’s giving you heaven.

Romans 3:21-26 | Refuge Values: Gospel

We’re here not to make ourselves better bit by bit through some sort of vague spirituality. We’re here to rejoice in our salvation in Christ and to offer that to as many as we can. All God’s asking us to do to be a gospel-centered church is simply to never get over the fact that we’re saved.

Mark 4:1-20 | The Parable of the Sower

For all the questions we ask of the Bible, the Bible also asks questions of us. And it is the questions the Bible asks of us that should claim our attention before anything else. Yes, we can ask God whatever we need to, but our questions don’t come first. Until we’ve placed ourselves under God’s microscope, we’ve failed to take him seriously. Until we’ve allowed God to question us, we have no right to question him. After all, it was not Adam who after sinning littered God with questions. It was God who came looking for Adam asking, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). It was not Job’s insistence that God answer him that changed his heart during his suffering. It was God’s question of him that turned the tide (Job 38:3). This parable, then, is not merely a story of a sower sowing seed. It is a question from God to us all. When the sower sows his seed, what will the seed find to rest on? What kind of soil is our heart made of?

Mark 1:21-28 | The Authority of Jesus

We may fear the authority of others, but if we come to him, we have nothing to fear in the authority of Jesus. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him, and what does he do with it? He uses it for our good. He goes to the cross. He died on our behalf. He saves our soul! And with that same authority, he rises again, bringing many sons to glory!

Meaningful Church Membership

Church membership is more than scrolling down and hitting “Agree” on the pop-up screen to proceed. Church membership is a considered step toward Christ and his people. It is a full-hearted agreement with his call to community and a full-bodied involvement with his people.

Jonah 1:7-17 | When Sin Finds You Out

The storm forced out of Jonah more than an inward consideration of his failings. It forced his failings to his mouth before many witnesses. Jonah thought he ran from God’s presence. He thought his sin was his own personal issue. But his sin found him out.