Playlist for the Heart
Playlist for the Heart 9: Joy in the Midst of Suffering
August 28, 2022
When tough times happen, it is natural for us to consider an easy way out. But sometimes the easy way is not the way of faith. When that is the case, we remember that Jesus has already paid the full cost for a great ending for all creation. Confident in his saving love, we welcome trials because they help us persevere toward the amazing ending Jesus has for us and all creation. (Based on James 1:1-12.)
Playlist for the Heart 8: Encouraging One Another to Keep Drawing Near to God
August 21, 2022
Rae-Anna Hedlin shares a report from the Church in Japan. "We have been worshipping together daily, being changed by God's Word, and sharing meals and life together. People are being freed from shame, being freed to thrive in unhindered fellowship with God and other believers." (Based on Hebrews 10:19-25)
Playlist for the Heart 7: In the Headwind: Anxiety or Trust?
August 14, 2022
When the wind blows from the opposite direction you’re going in, do you have anxiety or trust? If your tendency is toward anxiety, how do you handle it? Let’s explore what the Lord Jesus tells us about how to handle the anxiety that we experience. (Based on Matthew 6:25-34; 7:7-11).)
Playlist for the Heart 6: God is With Us & For Us
August 7, 2022
When we are overwhelmed by great challenges in life, we often don't even know what to do and our usual sources of information cannot help us. Jesus is inviting us to live in a new way, where we fully trust in God's wise and loving action in this world to make all things work out for good in the end. (Based on Proverbs 3:1-14.)
Playlist for the Heart 5: Focusing on Higher Things
July 31, 2022
All of us need salvation of our souls, but our human efforts to save our own soul will never work. Thankfully, by going to the cross, dying and rising again, Jesus has opened the door for our soul to be saved. We walk through that door by dying to the things of this world and transferring our trust to Jesus. It is through losing our life for Jesus that we find our true life with him. (Based on Matthew 16:21-28.)
Playlist for the Heart 4: Our Good Shepherd
July 24, 2022
It is easy for us humans to think that we are all on our own in this world and we need to control everything we can to make all things work out well. But doing so is a hopeless quest because, as the finite and broken creatures that we are, our efforts to control don't work and, worse yet, we hurt ourselves & others in the process. Like a shepherd that lovingly cares for their sheep, Jesus had laid down his life for us to bring us into God's flock where we have his providing and protecting care. Therefore we fully trust in Jesus as our Good Shepherd and follow him wherever he leads us. (Based on Psalm 23.)
Playlist for the Heart 3: Faith and Doubt
July 17, 2022
We sometimes think of faith as a magic power that enables us to do things we could not otherwise do or make things work out in a way that we desire. With such thinking, doubt is seen as a weakness that diminishes faith and makes it less likely to reach our goals. But Jesus paints for us a much more hopeful, life-giving understanding of faith and doubt. Faith is resting our entire life—including our doubts and all our other faults and flaws—in Jesus’ love. In Jesus, all our weaknesses become imbued with his strength for he is living his life in and through us. (Based on Mark 9:14-29.)
Playlist for the Heart 2: God Wants to Give Us Hope
July 10, 2022
All of us, at various points throughout our lives, will make plans and those plans may or may not work out as we hoped. But what do we do when our plans fail, and life seems to spiral out of control? We remember that God has a plan that is far greater than ours and his plan is to give us a hope and a future that is far better than anything we could ever imagine. (Based on Jeremiah 29:1-14.)
Playlist for the Heart 1: No Fear of Dying
July 3, 2022
As much as we want to ignore it, death is a future reality for all of us. How can we face our own mortality and have a settled peace about it? By knowing who God is and who we are in relation to him. For God is not only our Creator, he is also our Redeemer and Savior. God the Son, Jesus Christ, came into this world and paid the cost to bring us into life with him. With him carrying us in his loving arms, we are on the pathway of life, even as we pass through death. (Based on Isaiah 43:1-13.)