Strong and kind

And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4:41 We recently introduced a song titled “Jesus, Strong and Kind.” The title may not strike you at first, but the words “strong” and “kind”...

Keep spreading the news

“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:20 This past Sunday, we considered Jesus’ parable of the soils. Jesus pictures the word of God as seed that is...

Focus on the families

And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:34-35) Jesus offends a lot of people. There is, ironically, nothing controversial about...

C.S. Lewis on longing

In yesterday’s sermon I shared a quote from C.S. Lewis on the role of longing in the life of a Christian. This is a theme that runs through many of Lewis’ works, including The Chronicles of Narnia and Lewis’ autobiography, Surprised by Joy. While...

Suffering for self vs. suffering for God

This past Sunday we began our Advent series on living with expectant hope in God’s promises. We considered how God equips Christians to live with hope in all seasons of life. Namely, we suffer 1) with our identity and worth secure, 2) with our faith in his word, 3)...