Under Construction
Critical Circumstances
May 1, 2016 • Daniel Knutson
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. John 11 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. 11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” 38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Providential Relationships
April 24, 2016
1 Samuel 14:1 One day Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “[Come on, let’s go] over to where the Philistines have their outpost.” But Jonathan did not tell his father what he was doing. 1 Samuel 14:4-6 to reach the Philistine outpost, Jonathan had to go down between two rocky cliffs that were called Bozez and Seneh. The cliff on the north was in front of Micmash, and the one on the south was in front of Geba. “Let’s go across to the outpost of the pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “[Perhaps the Lord] well help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few.” 1 Samuel 14:7 “Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely whatever you decide.” 1 Corinthians 15:33 Don’t be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.
Build Faith
April 17, 2016 • Michael Curl
The way our lives interact with God directly depends on our faith. Faith is holding onto what we believe now even though we do not see it yet. And everyone is on this journey! As our faith continues to be built, it’s important to remember that we are all UNDER CONSTRUCTION. We are in process and a direct message from God while in process is this: It is impossible to please him without faith in him. God is most pleased and honored when our faith is large. If that’s the case, how do we build our faith? What if we had a faith that changed the way we go through hard and good times, temptations and blessings? What if we walked through every day knowing that God was part of the construction process in our lives? What if we had a faith that would be seen as amazing to God? In this series, UNDER CONSTRUCTION we will look at specific areas that build our faith. It is possible to be intentional about building faith. We will focus on five areas that direct us towards large faith. We are UNDER CONSTRUCTION.