Finding the Elusive Jesus
December 31, 2023 • Pastor Peter Damaska • Luke 2:41–52
Seeking Jesus is an incredible gift from God. Along the way, it means dealing with questions and frustrations. It could even mean we will overlook Him from time to time. That’s not surprising knowing our own shortcomings. But what if it is Jesus who is being elusive? What then? Will we be motived to seek and find Him even when it is difficult?
A Savior Has Been Born
December 24, 2023 • Pastor Tim Veenstra • Luke 4:18–19, Luke 19:10, Luke 2:1–20
A first-century pagan named Epictetus once wrote, “While the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, grief, and envy; he cannot give peace of heart, for which man yearns for more than even outward peace.” Today, we all are still searching for that peace. Who is able to offer mankind the peace that they are seeking?
Discovering How God is at Work
December 17, 2023 • Pastor Peter Damaska • Luke 2:21–40
Two simultaneously stunning aspects are true of God. First, He is involved in our lives. How sweet that is! Second, we don’t automatically see His involvement. Ugh! However, as we continue seeking Jesus, we discover how God is at work. Through the snapshot of two individuals in the Scriptures, we see how God is at work in, through, and for us.
We Find Meaning in the Middle
December 3, 2023 • Pastor Peter Damaska • Luke 1:1–25
Do you ever feel like the middle has no meaning? The middle of the road trip, the middle of the line, the middle child, the middle of my education/career/life… The middle can leave us wondering, "What’s the point of all this?" The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth helps us know what to do and what to expect as we continue seeking Jesus, even in the middle.
Our Best — What Seems Like Nothing Could Really Be Something
November 19, 2023 • Pastor Peter Damaska • Mark 12:40–44, Luke 15:11–32
What comes to mind when someone says, “Give God your best”? Do you start acting better, giving extra, trying harder, attending more? Perhaps it’s opposite — you back away feeling like you don’t have much to offer. The Bible repeatedly expresses to us that God’s best is revealed out of the people and places where nothing good seems possible.
Live... Really Live
July 23, 2023 • Pastor Tim Veenstra • Luke 10:25–37
Jesus shares this profound parable in response to a teacher of the law’s two questions. Jesus flips the script, and instead of being challenged by the teacher of the Law, He becomes the one who does the challenging. Jesus offers us insight into what the Kingdom of God is like and how we can experience His Kingdom.
The Sender
May 28, 2023 • Pastor Tim Veenstra • Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4–8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you….” It is wild that Jesus told His disciples that it was better that He leave them, so that He could send the Advocate. This Advocate must be pretty amazing for it to be better than having Christ in the flesh. An encounter with Jesus leads to an encounter with the Holy Spirit.
The Stranger
April 16, 2023 • Pastor Tim Veenstra • Luke 24:13–35
The road to Emmaus is an incredible story that only Luke shares at the end of his gospel. It serves as the perfect parallel to all our walks of faith. Coming to know Christ is walking down a path. Understanding Scripture is a life-long process. And communing with Christ is a gift of sight. May we be people of the path, the book, and the table.
Watching and Waiting
November 27, 2022 • Dr. Keith Koteskey • Luke 2:25–38
Few of us like waiting for something. We live in an “instant everything” culture. And yet, could it be that waiting serves a very important purpose? For those who serve a promise-making, promise-keeping God, waiting for God to act helps direct their attention toward a future in which that faithful God redeems a problem-ridden world. Today we look at two biblical characters who were characterized by their anticipatory waiting. Their story inspires us to be a people who are always watching and waiting.
Yes, But it is No Longer I
November 20, 2022 • Pastor Tim Veenstra • Luke 17:11–19
God has done such a beautiful work for us. Hear the words from 1 John 3:1—“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” So, what is our response to such a great work of love? The story of the ten lepers offers some powerful insight.
What did Jesus talk about?
January 30, 2022 • Pastor Tim Veenstra, Pastor Lindsay Fisher, Pastor Wycliff and Staci Keter • Luke 9:35, John 18:36, John 9, Luke 18:9–14
We tend to talk about the things that we are passionate about. What do you find yourself talking about most frequently? Your family? Food? Sports? A TV show that you are watching? As we read through the accounts of the Gospels, it begins to become apparent that Jesus talked a lot about things He was passionate about. He spoke frequently of the kingdom of God, challenging dead religion, the seriousness of sin, belief, forgiveness, and other themes. If Jesus spoke the most about such things, maybe we should follow suit.
What did Jesus come to do?
January 16, 2022 • Pastor Tim Veenstra • Luke 4:17–21
Jesus had resolve. He held unflinchingly tight to the plans and purposes of the Father. He was intentional and mission-focused. What about you? What are you here to do in this life? What mission did Jesus model for us? And what would happen if we, too, became like Jesus—intentional and mission-focused?
Jesus is the Fulfillment of the Past
December 5, 2021 • Pastor Tim Veenstra • Luke 24:44, Luke 1:1–2, Luke 4:18–21
Augustine once said, “The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed.” The Scriptures are not isolated, disconnected thoughts or stories. Everything in human history has been pointing to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Everything has been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Do you have eyes to see?
Life With God...Yeah, But How?
October 10, 2021 • Pastor Tim Veenstra • Luke 10:38–42, Revelation 2—3, 1 Samuel 3:8–10
It is one thing to know something, but it is a whole different thing to put that knowledge into practice. We now know that doing life WITH God is the better way to relate to God, but how do we practically live out that knowledge? The Word of God lays out a very simple path to the posture of WITHNESS, but one that takes a high level of intentionality.
Life For God
October 3, 2021 • Pastor Tim Veenstra • Luke 15:25–32, Matthew 7:21–23, Luke 10:38–42
Life for God sounds like a great posture to take in our relationship with God, but is it the best? Could it be that in such a posture our motivations may be distorted, as well-intentioned as they may be? A life for God posture can quickly place the mission over the Master, significance over salvation and performance over presence. May we reorient our hearts to choose what is better, like Mary did in the presence of Jesus.