We live in a culture that encourages self-determination and self-expression. Nonetheless, joy, fulfillment, and purpose remain elusive desires. Jesus knows our desires for these things, however. He created us with those desires. In this passage, Jesus shows us the true way to lives of deep joy, fulfillment, and purpose. We welcome guest speaker Herman Armstrong to share God’s word with us this week.
“For to us a child is born.” This is one of the most famous passages in the Bible, and rightfully so. It conveys the message of hope and peace we associate with Christmas. But the hope and peace can only come if we also understand the darkness they dispel. Join us for our Christmas Eve message.
Last week we talked about our human desire to be known and loved. But that leads to an even deeper question. If our deepest desire is to be known and loved, then the question arises: loved by whom? Does it even matter? The prologue of John’s gospel shows us that nothing matters more. Human beings don’t just need to be loved in general, but to be caught up in a love that is far bigger than themselves. Our last sermon in this series shows us what that is: the glory of God. What is that? Why is it so important? And how does it come to us? Join us as we conclude this series.
Our greatest longing as human beings is to have significance as persons who matter. Therefore, it’s also our biggest question, and our greatest fear. Am I seen, am I known, am I loved, am I treasured? We want to believe it’s true, but we’re not always so sure. The question is always hanging over our head, and crying out in our heart. This passage gives us the answer and quiets our heart. Because it shows us the way that we can finally have the love our hearts were created for. Join us as we continue through the prologue of John’s gospel.
The gospels all offer us different parts of the origin story of Jesus. But the gospel of John goes back to the beginning of the universe and says that when the world was created, Jesus was already there. He always existed, because he is God. John’s prologue (the first 18 verses of John’s gospel) offer us a dizzying, mind-challenging, but ultimately life-changing origin story, not just on who Jesus is, but who we are, what’s gone wrong with the world, and what God is doing about it. Join us over the next few weeks as we look at it in depth.
Should the church be involved in justice? Many feel the church has lost all relevance precisely because it’s not involved enough. Others feel the church should be purely spiritual. Yet others think the church should only focus on justice, and not get bogged down in primitive doctrines like sin, salvation, and blood atonement. Whatever we may think, Leviticus 25 has a lot to show us about the church and justice. Join us as we finish our study in the book of Leviticus.
We need to know what kind of story we’re in to know how to live in the world. People long to know that there’s a story bigger than themselves. And our fragmented world is increasingly unable to provide one. That’s one of the reason Leviticus is so important. When we learn to read it within the context of the larger Biblical story, we see it’s giving us the true, deeper story we all long for, and showing us how to anchor that story more deeply in our lives.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Few ethical commands are as famous or as widely subscribed to as this one. Fascinatingly, it originally comes to us in one of the most difficult and least read books in the Bible: Leviticus. We all believe we should do this. But what does it mean, and how do we actually go about it? Join us for this week’s episode in our current sermon series.
Sex is a huge issue, not just in our culture, but throughout human experience. What the Bible says about it has always challenged people. But often the most troublesome passages, when we take the time to understand what they’re really saying, can be the most transformative. This passage in particular is difficult for late-modern, Western people. But if we take the time to listen to it, we discover sweet fruit beneath the bitter rind. Join us for this week’s installment in our series on Leviticus.
Two of the most powerful and destructive forces in human life are also two that, by their nature, compel us to deny they even exist: guilt and shame. Modern, enlightened people are supposed to be beyond this now. But even if we do acknowledge them, the answer is thought to be a loving God, not a God of blood. The Day of Atonement passage, however, invites us deeper into the heart of God to find out what the blood truly has to say to us, and how it is truly the only thing capable of dealing with these enduring afflictions of humanity.
Are you at all concerned about the state of the world we live in? This is one of the most pressing issues in our lives today. At first glance, the “clean laws” of Leviticus 11-15 appear to have absolutely nothing to do with this. On closer look, however, they have everything to do with it. It’s all wrapped up in what it means to distinguish “between the unclean and the clean.” What does that mean? Join us as we find out.
Every human hungers for meaning and transcendence. Even though belief in God and formal religious participation is declining in the West, that hunger has not gone away. We simply transfer it to other things (romance, politics, sports, partying, etc). But if God really exists, and if we’re really meant for connection to him, how does that happen? Or if you already believe, how does that connection deepen, and what does it mean for your life? Join us this week as we continue our journey through Leviticus.
Have you ever witnessed a relationship rupture? A spouse cheats, a friend gossips, a coworker betrays to protect their own career; there are countless examples of violations that will rip a relationship apart. Have YOU ever experienced a ruptured relationship in your life? When that happens, we are often left wondering if there is anyway to go back. Is there anyway for this relationship that has been blown apart to be put back together again? According to the book of Leviticus, there is a way to heal ruptured relationships, but the cost is high and the process is bloody. Join us as we continue our study in the book of Leviticus, this week looking at the Guilt Offering.
Christianity offends people for many reasons. But one of the biggest is the message that says, “You’re a sinner in need of salvation.” Few things in our culture are considered as offensive, primitive, and negative as the idea of sin. And yet how can we make sense of a world full of evil, injustice, cruelty, darkness, and oppression if we have no way of thinking about those things within ourselves? This passage, which is all about the fourth offering in the book of Leviticus (the “sin offering”), offers great help to us in understanding sin and how to deal with it.
Three of the biggest struggles in our world are 1) personal identity and worth; 2) social fragmentation; 3) hope for the world. The third offering/sacrifice in the book of Leviticus (known as the shalamim) is a direct answer to each of those struggles. On the surface, it’s difficult to see how a seemingly primitive, bloody, barbaric ritual such as animal sacrifice could possibly address these things. But when we understand what it means and put it into practice, we see it does exactly that.
We all long for joy. But one of the biggest obstacles to deep, lasting joy is materialism and greed. Put starkly, money has the power to rot our hearts. Enter the book of Leviticus. Although known as a “rulebook,” Leviticus is really about how God wants to transform people and the world. This week, we look at the second offering described: the minhah (or “gift”). When we understand this offering and practice what it shows us, it has the power to transform the rot into joy.
Leviticus is all about a transformation process. One of the main ways it takes place is through a series of offerings, most of which are blood sacrifices. We’re tempted in our culture to say, “Haven’t we left this behind?” But we should make sure we understand what’s actually happening before we simply move on. This first offering, the “burnt offering,” helps us to do that. There’s more transformation here than we might expect.
Leviticus is infamous for being a very difficult, and also very weird, book. And yet, for all the weirdness it contains (“Why can’t we eat shellfish?”), it addresses most of the problems that occupy our attention today: immigration, caring for our environment, poverty, violence, relationships with neighbors. This week, as we introduce the book, we see that even though Leviticus sees all those things as problems, it shows us that they are symptoms of a much bigger, much deeper problem. What is that? Join us as we begin our exploration of this amazing book.
The Bible has been the most powerful, transforming book in all of human history. It has radically changed countless cultures all over the globe, and it has been the driving force behind some of the biggest social changes in history. When coming to the Bible, we should expect that it can and will change us... but how does that work exactly? How does the Bible actually do that? How is it that the Bible has brought such radical change to so many people and places, throughout world history? Join us as we wrap up our sermon series, "The Book," and as we seek to answer the question: What can we expect from God's word? You might be surprised.
In our world, there is a growing loss of confidence and hope in anything we can really rely on. If we can’t rely on the survival of democracy, or historical institutions, or truth, or even our planet, is there anything we can really on? The Bible presents itself to us as the unchanging, eternal word of God. But getting the most out of it depends on learning how to read it. Psalm 119 offers us help on just how to do that. Join us for this week’s installment of The Book.