Posts with the category “daily-faith-challenges”

  Remember, Genesis 1 waters and the Genesis 2 waters form a combined statement of Yahweh as the master of the chaos waters, the one who can turn them into a source of life. Which means, when any story happens at a well or a spring it is a connect to creation, where God brings divine life.Let’s go a little deeper under the surface of Scripture. What do we see with Jesus and the woman at the well? ...  Read More

  Read Genesis 2:4-7- 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 The...  Read More

  Read Genesis 2:4-7- 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 The...  Read More

  Monday Read Genesis 2:4-15- 4 This is the account  of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the grou...  Read More

  Good Morning,As we bring this week’s daily faith challenges on Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief to a close - I just want to encourage you with a worship song. Play it loudly. Play it repeatedly.Let the words tend to your heart. Let the words stand in the gap. The gap between what you currently may be feeling, and where you know the truth is. That gap is not too big for God.Let the ...  Read More

  Good Morning, This week, we continue to talk about Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief.Yesterday, we looked at needing attunement to our SELF in order to grieve well. And the next thing needed to grieve well is God - DRAWING NEAR TO GOD. We need to know that if we allow ourselves to feel the grief - that it will be tended to by our heavenly father. We can trust and have assurance that...  Read More

  Good Morning, This week, we continue to talk about Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief.Yesterday, we looked at needing attunement to our SELF in order to grieve well. And the next thing needed to grieve well is God - DRAWING NEAR TO GOD. We need to know that if we allow ourselves to feel the grief - that it will be tended to by our heavenly father. We can trust and have assurance that...  Read More

  Good Morning!This week, we are talking about Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief.God GAVE us grief in the same way he GAVE us celebration - and I love thinking about it that way - he GAVE it to us. And our good father gives good gifts! We have been given a gift, but do we know what to do with it? Do we know how to grieve well?In order to grieve well - we need three things. SELFGODOTHE...  Read More

  Good Morning,This week, we are talking about Holding Space for Both - Celebration and GriefCan two things be true at the same time? Can we hold space for two things? Can we feel celebration and rejoicing while also acknowledging and feeling sorrow and sadness - grief? Does God want us to ignore one over the other? I don’t believe so. But…how many times do we skirt past the grief and focus on the...  Read More

  The other reality that we need to rest in is in the power of the cross and what Christ did on that cross. I wonder, how much of your restlessness is about the “sin that so easilyentangles us.” That we feel beaten down, we feel we are our sin, versus sinners saved by grace.Notice Colossians 2:13-15- 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive wit...  Read More

  The last word I want us to take time with is rest. Last week we talked about rest as experiencing God’s presence, goodness, and trusting in our Creator-King. We do this by setting time apart with a new rhythm of stopping and delighting. It’s more than just a day, it’s a mindset.The first rest piece I want us to look at is a tease into our next section of Genesis 2. Genesis 2:7- 7 Then the Lord G...  Read More

  The next focus piece that I want us to reflect on this week is image. If you could pause for a moment, how would you define your image? Maybe it’s what you reflect, what you stand for? Maybe it’s what takes up your time or attention? We can be moms and dads, we can be spouses that’s what we are related to. Our image can be what we do? We can be technicians, craftsmen, teachers, accountants, admi...  Read More

  We are looking at God as our Creator King. Take a moment with Isaiah 40:9-14,21-22, 25-26, 28-31 (take your time with each section, highlighting along the way.)“Here is your God!” 10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and ...  Read More

  This week I want to give you space. Besides, it’s Memorial Day, which should give us the opportunity to pause, to reflect, to slow down just enough to remember, and give our attention to what should be important within our life and at times, what we don’t give space for.I want to give space for three different things that we have discussed within the first chapter plus of Genesis. I want to paus...  Read More

  Rest is experiencing God’s presence, goodness, and trusting in our Creator-King. We do this by setting time apart with a new rhythm of stopping and delighting.This can happen throughout the day, this can begin to form in you a rhythm of taking a day, a Sabbath. Where do you need to start shifting from restlessness to God rest?Hebrews 4:9-11- 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people o...  Read More

  Finally, we see within this seventh day of rest a mimicking within creation, we see a rhythm. Rhythm is our third element of rest according to the biblical worldview. Every seventh day to stop, delight, set-apart from the other days. God built rhythm into creation, including the last day of rest.I appreciate this longer quote from Wayne Muller in his book Sabbath. "In the relentless busyness of ...  Read More

  Next biblical worldview of rest is the statement, 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy… Where else do we see God bless creation? Day five and six, with animals and humanity. He created the animals and said to humanity, “God blessed and said, ‘be fruitful and multiple.”The intention here is to be life giving. Which means, in God blessing the seventh day, his intention is for it to ...  Read More

  Based upon Genesis 2, I want to give you a Biblical worldview of rest. Hear me, there is so much on this topic. In my preparing I came across one podcast series by Bible Project that was fourteen episodes, which is over 15 hours of insight about rest within scripture. I listened to a podcast from John Mark Comer and Practicing the Way where he did a four-week series just on rest. I don’t have th...  Read More

  I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of person that likes to push the limit with my gas gauge. My Father-in-law on the other hand, if it is below a ½ of tank, he’s filling up. Whereas I love the fact that it gives you the number of miles, it thinks you have until you run out of gas.I wonder though, how that also parallels to life? How many of us are running on fumes? Or we push the limit in ...  Read More

  Our daily “faith challenge” is an opportunity to go deeper into Sunday’s message. A time to meet with God. Begin with prayer. Ask God to speak to you from His Word, by His Spirit.“Speak Lord your servant is listening” 1 Samuel 3:9“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” Romans 3:25Jesus, innocent of all sin died in our place, ...  Read More

  Our daily “faith challenge” is an opportunity to go deeper into Sunday’s message. A time to meet with God. Begin with prayer. Ask God to speak to you from His Word, by His Spirit.“Speak Lord your servant is listening” 1 Samuel 3:9We have a dilemma and there are two facets to our dilemmaWe have something we don’t want- a sin problem. Because of our sin we experience guilt, shame, pain, and separa...  Read More

  Our daily “faith challenge” is an opportunity to go deeper into Sunday’s message. A time to meet with God. Begin with prayer. Ask God to speak to you from His Word, by His Spirit.“Speak Lord your servant is listening” 1 Samuel 3:9“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins... 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when w...  Read More

  Our daily “faith challenge” is an opportunity to go deeper into Sunday’s message. A time to meet with God. Begin with prayer. Ask God to speak to you from His Word, by His Spirit.“Speak Lord your servant is listening” 1 Samuel 3:9“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into...  Read More

  Our daily “faith challenge” is an opportunity to go deeper into Sunday’s message. A time to meet with God. Begin with prayer. Ask God to speak to you from His Word, by His Spirit.“Speak Lord your servant is listening” 1 Samuel 3:9This week we’re going to soak in some Either Or statements from God’s Word. These Either or contrasts are relevant to each of us.“…they have not believed the testimony ...  Read More

  Today's passages i want you to see how Paul is getting our attention with representing the image of God.Galatians 5:22-25- 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we liv...  Read More

   Yesterday’s question landed us here, If God created us, in his image, as an idol to represent him to the world, through his creative order and generosity, how are you living out that image? I get it though, Genesis 3 happened, sin came in, not only separated us from God and from one another, but it distorted what that image and intention was to be. That’s another reason why God had to send a ne...  Read More

  If you want a brief overview of the Image of God discussion, take a look at this video by Bible Project. Image of God by Bible Project: Okay, we need to look at what we are supposed to be doing with the image of God that was given to us within creation. Again what do we see in the creation story? 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over ......  Read More

  Ok, we need to get to the main course…. What do you think of when you think of the image of God? When you think image or even the Greek word, eikon (icon), the icon or image of God, what do you think of? Like the golden arches, when you see the golden arches do you think McDonald’s, big mac, filet fish, quarter pounder, French fries? Or when you see the swoosh, you think of Nike and basketball s...  Read More

  Let’s jump into it, Genesis 1:26-2:1, this is the rest of Day six in creation. Remember, we are looking at the Spirit-inspired ancient text, where the authors are sharing with us the creation story, depicting God’s (Yahweh’s) creative work. Where Yahweh, creates order out of disorder, forms and fills, Creator-King who creates a good kingdom. Now humanity arrives on the scene. Genesis 1:26-2:1- 2...  Read More

  Last observation, day one God separated light and darkness and day four he filled the heavens with light to govern. Where do we see Jesus separate light and darkness? Where do we see him separate rule?With a word, he took care of darkness forever and stepped into ultimate rule. “It is finished.” And he breathed his last breath.If you want to jot down a few passages where we see God’s victory ove...  Read More

  Remember, this week we are looking at God’s forming and filling of creation and then how do we see that through the lens of Jesus?Day two was separating the waters, water and sky and day five was filling with sea creatures and birds.Mark 4:35-41- 35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as ...  Read More

  I want to go back the question I raised last week. Do we see Jesus do something similar in his life, that we see at creation?Obviously, if I’m asking the question, it is a yes. I want to show you three stories where we see Jesus, with a word speak into the chaos of the wilderness, water, and darkness and bring order.I’m going to go backwards in the days of creation and Jesus’ life. Day three and...  Read More

  Read Genesis 1:20-23- 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and ...  Read More

  If you have not had a chance to listen to the message on April 19th or 26th, I encourage you to go back and take a listen. This all builds on each other.My intention last week, wasn’t to land on one specific way creation took place, but to throw out the challenge to all opinions of creation because I believe the declaration of the creation story, of Genesis 1 and 2 isn’t about the HOW of creatio...  Read More

  The Psalmist does a beautiful job of summarizing what we’ve talked about. I share it because this is how the ancients would have understood the creation story. Psalm 33:6-9- 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the p...  Read More

  We mentioned on Tuesday about how Jesus’ name may not be on the pages of Genesis, but because God is revealed in Genesis, we can affirm that Jesus was as well. Take a moment and read John 1:1-5, 9- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made....  Read More

  Let’s read Genesis 1:1-13. What do you notice, what gets your attention? What is created on each day? How is it created? What do you notice about the repetition of words?Genesis 1:1-13- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let ...  Read More

  Let’s read Genesis 1:1-13. What do you notice, what gets your attention? What is created on each day? How is it created? What do you notice about the repetition of words?Genesis 1:1-13- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let ...  Read More

  Last week we introduced our new series on Genesis- back to the beginning, seeing how God establishes life through creation, fall, redemption and repeat. This week we are kicking off the specific verses, going from Genesis 1 to Genesis 50.If you are familiar with Genesis 1 or remember how it started from last week, this is what we read: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Whic...  Read More

  Genesis, origins, the beginning is the story of God, not just history, and it’s not just their story, the origins of Israel, it’s our story. John Walton says, “It expresses God’s love for the people he created and his intention to bless them in spite of rebellion and sin. The picture of love, mercy, and compassion thus portrayed by means of blessing stands in stark contrast to the self-protectio...  Read More