Revealed
Why Behind the Wait
December 4, 2022 • Scott Stevens • Malachi 4:6, Matthew 1:1, Galatians 4:4–5
Waiting can be difficult. Whether you’re waiting for a place, pace, problem, or a person, you can start to lose hope easily. You might find yourself asking, “God, where are you?” Throughout the Old Testament we see a lot of waiting. God promised a savior and messiah to His people and then another 400 years passed. But just at the perfect time, God sent His son. While God’s people were waiting, He was working. While we are waiting on something in our lives today, God is working. At the perfect time He will reveal provision, reconciliation, redemption, or restore peace. Just because God feels silent doesn’t mean He is absent.
What Are You Holding Onto?
November 27, 2022 • John Reilly • Malachi 2:5–8, John 6:68, Malachi 2:11, 1 Kings 11:1–4, Malachi 1:1–8
When life isn’t going well, do you find yourself trying to grab onto something thinking it will give you hope in that moment or a feeling of wholeness? We all have that temptation to grasp onto lesser things that only bring temporary healing. When God’s love is small in our eyes, the response to His love will be small in our lives. We start to respond with small sacrifices, turn to small leaders, and gravitate to only small connections. We try to set up borders when it comes to God’s love. But just because we can’t see it, doesn’t mean He can’t do it. God’s love goes beyond what we can see! Throughout God’s word, He reveals how much he loves us and encourages us to let go of the lesser things and grab onto Him.
4 Places of Authority
November 20, 2022 • Dave D'Angelo
Priests, judges, kings, and prophets were the primary leadership roles in the Old Testament. This leadership system was not replaced by Jesus but redeemed by Him in the New Testament. Jesus showed us what it really meant to be a priest by representing the people to God. Instead of living off the offerings of the people, Jesus offered Himself to God for the people. He is the perfect High Priest. He showed us throughout scripture that He’s also the perfect Judge, King, and Prophet. Jesus models for us what these roles were designed to look like from the very beginning. He makes them relevant and precious in our lives today. When we are willing to step into these roles, and obey God, His presence goes with us.
God's Idea of Love
November 13, 2022 • Dave D'Angelo • Ruth, Psalm 91, John 15:13, Ephesians 2:10
What’s your idea of love today? Is it fueled from God or from our culture? Our culture has taken the idea of love and warped it. We have forgotten that God is love and instead we have made love our god. When this happens, we take love and make it according to our preferences and stay away from unconditional commitment. In the book of Ruth, she gives us a picture of love that’s not based on how we feel inside but based on who God truly is. Biblical love is not an emotion we feel. It’s a path we travel. As the children of God, we are called to walk in a committed, other-first love that is defined by God’s truth not our feelings.
Provision and Presence
November 6, 2022 • Dave Buehring • Exodus 33:10–16, Exodus 19:5–6, Exodus 16:11–15, Exodus 15:22–25, Exodus 17:1–7
We often make judgements of who God is based on our circumstances or what’s going on in the world. But when we dive into the scriptures, we see the truth revealed in His word. Just as God provided and was fully present for the people of Israel, He provides for and is present with us today. Do you recognize God as your source? When we give our life over to Jesus, it’s just the beginning of a beautiful spiritual journey in which we must allow God’s presence to transform us.
Jesus Revealed in the Passover
October 30, 2022 • Vince Giordano • Exodus 12
God wants us to experience Him fully and know His son Jesus. When we look at the Passover in Exodus, we see how Jesus is revealed throughout scripture. Just as the lamb was sacrificed for the Jewish people, Jesus is the perfect, unblemished, sacrificial lamb offered for our sins. God was establishing the new covenant, His new promise with humanity, fulfilling the prophecy. Putting our faith and trust completely into God, will give us confidence in forgiveness and confidence that He has a plan for our lives.
Wrestling with Belief
October 23, 2022 • Paul Hunter • John 13:3–5, Mark 8:27–29, Genesis 32:24–32
Why is this happening to me? Where are you God? We’ve all asked ourselves these questions at some point in our lives. Often the wrestling in our lives is with belief. Jacob wrestles with God but in the end comes out spiritually stronger. From his story we learn that there is healing from brokenness and when we tighten our grip on God, we loosen our grip on ourselves. Holding on with both hands involves declaring what’s true even when it’s difficult to believe.
God's Reliable Promises
October 16, 2022 • John Reilly • Genesis 12, Genesis 20, Genesis 26, Joshua 21:43–45, Exodus 34:6–7
As we continue to study the Old Testament, a consistent thread emerges. There are no circumstances that can prevent God’s redemptive and reliable promises. When we look at the story of Abram in Genesis, we see that his journey isn’t perfect. We see him trying to take control away from God, using others, and lying about it. But God uses the obedience of imperfect people to carry out His perfect plan. The reliability of a promise hinges on the promise giver. God’s promises are reliable because he has proven himself again and again to be reliable!
Change in Perspective
October 9, 2022 • Dave D'Angelo • Genesis 11
The Tower of Babel seems wonderful on the surface, but in reality, it was the start of idolatry, mistreatment of the Imago Dei, and direct disobedience of God. Noah’s decedents were trying to make a name for themselves while striving for acceptance, security, and significance without God. They also disobeyed God’s command to be fruitful and multiply by staying in one place. The story of Babel is the story of us. In what ways do we strive for acceptance and significance? How do we disobey God’s commands? It’s also a call to not settle for anything less than God himself in terms of our worship. To see God for who He is, compared to who we’ve made Him out to be, it requires our willingness to shift our perspective and to consider things a little differently.
Chaos to Order
October 2, 2022 • John Reilly • Genesis 1:1–3, Genesis 3:1–15, Matthew 4:5–6
In the beginning, God created and moved things from chaos to order. To separate His creation of man from the rest of creation, God created man in His own image to bring order, stability, and peace. However, as we see in Genesis 3, Satan wanted to reintroduce chaos into the world. He belittled and twisted what God revealed in the garden. Satan tries to bring chaos and sin into our lives today. He is aware of the power God’s word can have over us and that’s why he attacks. As we continue this series, we will see the consequences of the fall and how it still effects our lives today. But we will also see hope throughout scripture that points to our savior Jesus!
Jesus Revealed
September 25, 2022 • Dave D'Angelo • Luke 24:13–32, John 5:39, 2 Corinthians 3:10–11, 2 Corinthians 3:15–18
This is the first week of our new fall series, Revealed! Pastor Dave introduces how the Old Testament points to Jesus. When we see Jesus in the Old Testament, it fully opens the scriptures to us and allows us to know Him better. It also prevents us from misperceiving God and frees us from performance driven religion. Understanding the Old Testament law that Jesus fulfilled, reveals just how amazing Jesus truly is.