Posts with the category “daily-faith-challenges”

  Think about a worship song that you really like; one that causes you to turn up the volume or start singing. Why do you connect with that song? Is it the melody? Is it the words? Does it reach your heart, your mind, your body? How does God work within you through that song? ...  Read More

  Communion Reflection: A Table of Grace and Gratitude Dear Church Family, When we come to the Lord’s Table, we are reminded that it is not just bread and cup - it is an invitation to remember, to receive, and to rejoice. In the breaking of the bread, we remember the sacrifice that opened the way for our salvation. In the sharing of the cup, we receive the promise of new life. And in both, we rejo...  Read More

  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  John 15:4On Sunday, Sarah talked about Jesus’ invitation to his disciples to abide in Him.  To stay.  To dwell in Him.  To make Him my home.Yet, we struggle as we spend a majority of our lives abiding in other things.  BusynessExpectations of self and othersTechnol...  Read More

  Gail shared a story of a painful secret her family held for many years. She stated that unwanted things are going to happen in our lives. She also posed several questions and challenges.Reflect on your own life, what unwanted things have happened to you or those around you? How did you and those around you handle them? Was God present during all that occurred?“When you pass through the waters, I...  Read More

  Today, replace one "Lord, if only..." and choose to trust God with the outcome. Allow the Lord to be the Captain of your heart. Pray: "Lord, rescue me from myself. Not my will, but Yours be done." ...  Read More

  Let me finish with this thought that will lead us from Moses to Jesus to you.Moses is sharing this with the people of Israel before they go into the Promised Land.Read Deuteronomy 30:11-20- 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we ...  Read More

  We have been looking at the Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.The two trees are about trusting or taking. That’s why, even going back to the beginning of the passage, God gives us grace by inviting us to eat, eat all that he has given us. But if we believe God is holding out on us, we are going to take. Take what I think I deserve, take what hasn’t been given to me, tak...  Read More

  Read Genesis 2:16-17- 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”Here is a little play on both commands and God getting attention on what he is inviting us into. The phrase, free to eat, some translations have surely or certainly ...  Read More

  Read Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17- 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free...  Read More

  If you haven’t been with us for the last few weeks let me catch you up. If you have been with us, let me refresh you. We are in the middle of our Genesis series, and we have taken the last few weeks to unpack Genesis 2. It was intended to be a two-part series but quickly turned into a 4-part mini-series. Here’s the recap. Creation is about a who, not just a how.Genesis 2 is about Creation’s divi...  Read More

  If we look back to Genesis 2:15 notice what God says. “15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”He gave us a command, it’s actually the second command he gave us, we’ll talk about the first one next week. But he gave us the command to work and take care of the garden. If we look deeper at the meaning of those phrases it relates to serving and...  Read More

  Yesterday we saw that God’s formation at creation was with purpose and for a purpose. Because Adam is an archetype, what we see God do with Adam is a model for us. God’s formation at creation was with purpose and for a purpose.Notice how we see God, the creator forming us throughout scripture. Jot down Psalm 139, “for we are fearfully and wonderfully made.” We are made with purpose, God’s purpos...  Read More

  Have you ever created something with just a few supplies or things or resources?We just celebrated the life of a long-time member, Jim Goostree, this past Wednesday. Jim was a modern-day MacGyver. Granted if you didn’t live in the 1900’s you might not know who that is. But MacGyver, as well as Jim, could take a few supplies (especially duct tape) and make anything. One story of Jim’s was that he...  Read More

  We are going to look at a few passages in Ezekiel. Ezekiel is referred to as a major prophet like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Whereas the minor prophets are like Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah. The reference to major and minor isn’t about importance, it is more about the length of each of the books. Major prophets are longer and minors are shorter in length.Read Ezekiel 36:26-27- 26 I will give you a new h...  Read More

  Last week we jumped back into Genesis 2 and wrestled with how does this ancient text relate to today, much less relate to the creation story in Genesis 1? We dialoged around the beauty and the mystery of not simply reading the text through our 21st century, American eyes, but that when we take the time to dive deeper, we can see that there is more lurking below the surface.We also stated Genesis...  Read More

  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