How is it possible to die in peace? I think many people assume that when death comes, they will somehow find peace and yet the reality is that most people go through life grasping at control and struggling with fear and anxiety when even one of the things they love are threatened. How could we possibly imagine that we might be ready to lose everything in death when we still haven’t figured out how to live in peace with the ordinary losses of life? In this passage Simeon shows us the secret to dying in peace which, we will find out, also happens to be the secret to a life of peace.
Jesus, the Shepherds and Those Who Feel Like They Don’t Belong
December 24, 2022 • Tim Cain • Luke 2:1–20
Have you ever felt like you just didn’t belong. It’s hard, isn’t it? In this message we will consider what the Christmas story has to say about rejection and our longing to fit in. Specifically we will consider why it is that the only person who got to choose when and how he was born chose to be born in a stable and laid in a manger.
The Giver and His Gifts
December 17, 2022 • Tim Cain • Luke 1:57–80
How do you respond when God says yes? How do we avoid becoming so enamored with his gifts that we allow them to distract us from the giver? Specifically, what does it look like to separate the gift of forgiveness from the God who offers it to us? In order to help us answer some of these questions Zechariah comes to remind us not only what we have been saved from, but what we have been saved for.
From Mystery to Marvel
December 10, 2022 • Wes Van Fleet • Luke 1:39–56
Sometimes we can get so used to the narratives about Jesus coming into the world that we lose our wonder and awe. In Luke 1, Mary and Elizabeth will demonstrate how marveling at who God is and what he has done is intimately intertwined with humility. Listen and hear how the Gospel moves us from mystery to marvel.
Nothing Will Be Impossible with God
December 3, 2022 • Tim Cain • Luke 1:26–38
The reason we often struggle to believe God’s promises isn’t because they aren’t enough to give us hope in the midst of this broken world, our struggle is that they often seem too good to be true and too big to be possible. So what are we supposed to do? How can we learn to trust in promises that clearly exceed anything we could hope to deserve and how are we supposed to believe God’s word when we cannot imagine how he could ever bring it about? These are the questions that Luke comes to answer in tonight’s passage.
Gospel Triumphs Over Doubt
November 26, 2022 • Joshua Moffit • Luke 1:5–25
Oppressive, barren, and silent darkness provides the context for Christmas. In the midst of dark days we can be tempted to doubt the promises of God. Yet, into this darkness the Lord sent his angelic messenger to bring good news of God's faithfulness to fulfill his promised salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the faithful One who never doubted the word of God his Father. Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness, the Word made flesh. He came to tear down the curtain so that doubters like us may enter into his presence now and forever!
