When you pray, do you treat God more like a Father or a genie? See, when it comes to prayer, so many people think of God as a genie and prayer as our means to get what we want. An all powerful being that’s on my side, who I tell my wishes to and he has to grant them. What could be better?

Matthew 6:11

Whose kingdom will come, and whose will will be done in your life? Though we are often most concerned with building our own self-centered kingdoms, Jesus teaches us that kingdom prayers are God-centered, not self-centered.

Matthew 6:10

When we love someone, we take our time letting them know why we love them. It should be no different with God. But too often we don’t take the time to acknowledge God’s holiness. How entirely set apart he is. How worthy he is of honor. But if there’s one thing that this phrase “Hallowed be your name” teaches us, it’s that we must treat God with the holiness He is due.

Matthew 6:9b

We tend to leverage prayer to get what we want from God. But God gave us the gift of prayer to be a heartfelt recognition of who God is, and who we are to him.

Matthew 6:7-9a

Doubt fills our hearts when things matter most.

Are we gonna make it through this?

Should I have even taken this course of study?

Which job should I take?

Should I move back home? Or move away from home?

How will I be able to provide for this family?

Will I be a good mother/father?

Is this real?

So, when it comes to faith in God, of course we would doubt. But thankfully, God looks on our weakness and gives us strength. And what we discover as his disciples is that Jesus’ authority gives us confidence and comfort to give our lives to his mission.

Matthew 28:16-20

We wear busyness like a badge of honor. Life pulls us in so many different directions that church oftentimes is not a priority. Many seemingly inconsequential demands on our time cumulatively make our pace unsustainable. There’s so much on our plate that something has to fall off. And oftentimes what falls off is the church. Life pulls us in so many different directions that church oftentimes is not a priority.

But what this text from the book of Acts shows us this morning is that the church grows deep and wide through our devotion to the Word, community, prayer, and generosity.

Acts 2:41-47

Though we live in a sharing culture, society tells us to keep our religion to ourselves. And often, in fear, we obey. To love someone means to share your life with them and the gospel. And to do anything less is not love.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

We all naturally fear confrontation. We worry about what people will say about us. What they’ll think about us. They won’t like what we have to say, or how we say it. But the fact is, that if we are followers of Jesus, we are called to fear God and his truth more than people and confrontation. And with the world watching and the kingdom of God on the line, followers of Jesus must confront one another when the gospel is at stake.

Galatians 2:11-14

Welcome to 2024! Now is the time when most Americans are setting their sights on all they want to be and do in the new year. How should followers of Jesus engage this time? Is it wise to set resolutions knowing the vast majority will fail miserably within the first couple of months?

Philippians 3:7-11

We are all spiritual prostitutes. We know He loves us, and cares for us yet we run to other things. We are stubborn, ungrateful, or indifferent and we pursue other pleasures that only temporarily satisfy. But what the story of Hosea shows us is that God is faithful to the unfaithful. God pursues more than we abandon. God loves us with a love that will never let go.

Hosea 3:1-5

Life can leave you bitter and destitute. But the good news is the bitter and destitute find refuge and redemption under Yahweh’s wings.

Ruth

We all fear abandonment, that we'll be left by the people we care about the most. God lovingly meets these fears of our by adopting us into his eternal family. He will never leave or forsake us.

Exodus 4:22-23; Romans 9:4

It’s exhausting trying to make up for the wrongs you’ve done, but our shame and guilt makes it feel necessary. It's as though we think we have to earn others' forgiveness. But the good news this morning is that in Jesus, God has provided all of the sacrifice your sins require.

Genesis 22:1-18

The currency of the world leaves us spiritually bankrupt. But in humility, we can exchange the bankruptcy of the world for the riches of the kingdom.

2 Kings 5:1-15

Too often, we let our insecurities define us. We reduce our identities to our persistent struggles or the worst things we've done.

But there is good news this morning for people who struggle to look beyond their own failures and insecurities: when we allow them to, God's promises and presence define us!

Judges 6:11-27

Most of us love going up, but not going down. We love the "come-up" when it comes but not seasons of barely getting by and meager beginnings. But what the gospel teaches us, and especially in the story of Esther is that the way up is down.

Esther 4:1-17

Tim Keller said, "Most of our desires for success are actually our efforts to be for ourselves what only Jesus can really be for us." He speaks to a longing in all of our hearts, which is to be the hero of our story. But what the story of David and Goliath will show us this morning is that you are not meant to be the hero of your story; Jesus is.

1 Samuel 17