It is a good thing to seek to be like Christ, and yet first we must simply LIKE Christ. For to be like someone you don’t first like is little more than an exercise in religion. The beautiful paradox for the Christian is this: Once Jesus is utmost in your affections, once He becomes that [...]
There are 2 basins in the story of Christ’s betrayal. The night before, Jesus dips out of one basin in order to wash the feet of 12 men who failed. The next morning, Pilate dips into another basin, not to serve others, but to wash his own hands of responsibility. Each of us will dip [...]
This week we tackle the hotly debated doctrine of the Kenosis, or the “emptying” of Christ found in Philippians Chapter 2. Just what is it that Paul means when He says Christ emptied Himself in the incarnation? What exactly did Christ empty Himself of? You can be assured it was not His deity, there was [...]
In one of the most important verses in all of the Bible, Paul tells us to elevate the needs of others above our own, in order that we might walk in the power of the Gospel. Now God in His brilliant design, creates within humanity a tremendous diversity. Why does he do that? In order [...]
Paul says that for him, “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” In a beautiful irony, the proper theology of death leads to a kind of fullness in life. It is only in having full confidence in the resurrection, that we can live the kind of life that is not only unmoved by [...]
The Apostle Paul calls us to a “love that abounds in real knowledge and all discernment.” In a timely message for our current church culture, we discover that the love God wants us to demonstrate to the world - is not a stupid love. Out love is not to be a flowery kind of empty [...]
In the warmest of the 14 letters we credit to the Apostle Paul, the theme here in Philippians is joy and delight in the absolute centrality and superiority of Christ. In our first study, Paul calls this Church his partners in the Gospel, a profound implication we’ll unpack with every intention of encouraging you as [...]
James lands the plane in the final chapter of his epistle with a spectacular invitation. In the hour we seek to restore a lost brother or sister, understand it is in that hour that we most elegantly imitate Christ. Jesus said He came not to condemn the world, but to seek and save that which [...]
Well it is interesting, following the 4th of July we’re serving up James Chapter 4 on Sunday and Monday, and we would be hard pressed to find a text as explosive as this. Join us for a riveting study as we seek to press into how the half-brother of Jesus himself would have us to [...]
