Jesus is the God that doesn't meet our expectations, but he is doing so much more. The season of Advent addresses our expectations of Jesus and reconnects us with how God moves in our lives.

Advent shows us that as we long for the return of our Savior, we live in the poverty of our own autonomy. In Christ, God also sent us a King.

Advent. The dawn of coming of the Lord. He's coming back for us. Are you ready?

Looking at the story of Esther through the eyes of Jesus

Looking at the story of Esther through the eyes of Jesus

The story of Esther is reaching a boiling point. Esther and Mordecai bide their time waiting for exactly the right time to make their moves. But the story of Esther is connected to the rest of Scripture in a unique way. The only way to understand the significance of this story is to find Jesus in this passage. He's there!

In one of the most epic passages in the Old Testament Esther goes from a complicated bride to a consecrated queen with one simple decision to trust her God. But what does this have to do with Jesus? Or with us for that matter? Well, you live in the palace too. And you have to make a decision to either live the palace life or trust in God.

Looking at the story of Esther through the eyes of Jesus

Esther is one of the most misunderstood characters in the Bible. Most think she is either a victim, a coward, or a sellout. The author of Esther gives us a complicated and compromised view of Esther. But those typical views of Esther look at her in isolation from the rest of the grand story of God. Maybe we should ask what does God think of Esther? In this sermon on Esther 2, we look a little deeper and find the answer to that question and so much more!

Looking at the story of Esther through the eyes of Jesus

The kingdom of God is built with perfectly hewn stones fitting perfectly together crafted by God. And we are the stones. What does this have to do with The Lord's Prayer? The answer is... Everything!

The devil is real, and he's at work. Waiting for just the right moment to attack. He is patient, motivated, personal, and he seeks to devour you. The Lord's Prayer shows us that this life is a battle, and this prayer is how we prepare for that battle!

Jesus teaches us to pray. And He teaches us about ourselves.

Forgiveness is hard. But Jesus' teaching on forgiveness is even harder. Jesus challenges our ideas about forgiveness in these passages, but the question you have to answer is "Is hanging onto that grudge worth your relationship with God"?

The Bread Makes All The Difference

What does it mean to pray for God's kingdom to come in the Lord's Prayer? The kingdom of God can be something mysterious to us, yet Jesus puts it at the very front of our prayer. When we see the gospel in light of the kingdom, it reveals how Jesus was teaching us to pray for the power of the gospel to be at work in our lives, especially when life gets hard and we struggle to know what to pray.

Prayer is the means of leading us into communion and closeness to God. But sometimes the more we pray the more distant we feel from Him. How can prayer make us feel so close and so far from God at the same time? What really is the purpose of prayer? We search deeper into The Lord's Prayer this week in search for the answers!

Where is God? Is God dead? No, He is surely with us. And He is redeeming our world. We continue our Lord's Prayer sermon series and take a deep dive into the first section of the Lord's prayer. "Our Father who art in Heaven"

Prayer is not something we do naturally. It’s difficult to make a regular part of our lives and we often struggle to feel like it does anything. Even the disciples wondered about prayer and asked Jesus to teach them to pray. So at least we know the disciples weren’t chosen because of their amazing prayer life.

"Mea maxima culpa" is traditionally used in a prayer of confession, and is most emphatic expression of guilt. In Luke 18 Jesus reveals what He's really after!