Midtown Church Austin

Luke 6:39-40. Jesus invites his followers to become like him, and it's something that we really can do. We can become like him. To become like Jesus, we need to be aware of the unintentional ways the world is influencing us and give ourselves to the practices of Jesus that keep us rooted in him.

John 15:1-8. To become like Jesus, we first must be with him and remain in him. To be with Jesus, we must adopt the lifestyle of Jesus.

Mark 8:34-37. When Jesus called his disciples to follow him, it was a call to be with him, to become like him, and to do what he did. His call is the same for us today. When we become more like Jesus, Austin will become a lot more like heaven.

Colossians 3:15-17. We worship God so we can experience God personally and so we can experience God together. When the church gathers for worship, there is a vertical element unto God and a horizontal element unto each other.

Romans 12:1-2 and Luke 7:36-50. Adoration of God begins with a revelation of our need for mercy. We experience the mercy of God to the degree we believe that we need it.

Psalm 147. We worship because God is worthy, and it's fitting to honor the one who created the entire world yet loves and cares for us.

Psalm 67. God calls all of us to live heroic lives. He calls us out of our ordinary lives into a life of adventure requiring selflessness and sacrifice.

Proverbs 18:21. Our words have power. They can bring life or death. The wise learn how to use their words to bring life.

Proverbs 5 and 7. A loving father helps his son by showing him what is promised in sexual temptation, what it costs to compromise, and what to do to resist temptation.

Proverbs 13:20. Our emotions cloud our decision-making, which is why we need wise friends to make wise decisions. We need to have wise friends, and we need to listen to their advice.

Proverbs 6:6-11. Wise people invest their time, while fools waste their time. Small amounts of time invested accumulate, creating positive results. Small amounts of time wasted accumulate, creating negative results.

Proverbs 30:7-9. Wealth seduces our hearts with its deceptions. It overpromises and under-delivers. That's why Jesus told us not to be foolish by hoarding wealth for ourselves but instead to be rich toward God.

Proverbs 3:1-8. Wisdom is found in God alone, but what's the way to find God's wisdom? The way to wisdom is knowing God's faithful love for you, trusting in the God who loves you, and seeking wisdom from others who trust God.

Ephesians 5:15-17 and Proverbs 1:7. There's one question we can ask ourselves that allows us to grow in wisdom. The question is: "In light of my past experience, current circumstances, and desired future, what is the wise thing for me to do?

Ephesians 6:10-20. Whether we believe it or not, we are in a spiritual battle. Our battle is not with people but with spiritual forces that sneak up on us and tell us lies. To stand against these forces of evil, we must put on the armor of God, arm ourselves with God's word, and call to him for help.

Ephesians 6:5-9. The gospel radically changed the relationships and power dynamics within the workplace in Ephesus, as Christians began to see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, whether slave or master, and accountable to God for their work and how they treated each other.

Ephesians 6:1-4. Parents have a specific role and goal in raising their children. Their role is one of stewardship and servanthood. Their goal is to engage their kids' hearts and train them to be disciples of Jesus.

Ephesians 5:21-33. We're commanded in scripture to submit ourselves to everyone in the family of God, but there are unique ways that husbands and wives are to submit to one another within marriage. When husbands and wives submit to each other in these unique ways, marriages flourish.

I Timothy 5:1-2. The Bible does not speak specifically about dating, but we can find principles for Christian relationships that help us know God's purpose and process in dating, who we should date, and how we should date.

Matthew 19:8-12. The world and even the church (sometimes) teach that others can fully meet our core needs in marriage or that sexual intimacy is the height of human love. Jesus, however, taught something very different, giving love and purpose to those who are single as he was.

II Peter 1:3-9. Jesus changes our character, attitudes, and behaviors as we rely on what he has already given us. We fail to change when we forget what he has already given us.

John 21. The resurrection of Jesus sparked the beginning of the restoration of all things. God restores all things by first restoring people. Then he invites them to partner with him in his restoring work in the world.

Various Scriptures. Jesus' disciple, Peter, learned to trust Jesus more and more as he spent time with him. His life was one of faith followed by failure, but by God's grace he continued to trust Jesus.

Ephesians 5:1-21. Sometimes the most obvious and important realities are the hardest to see and talk about. In this teaching, we learn about how to be aware of, and responsive to, the presence, power, and prompting of God through the reality of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:25-32. The basis of a changed life leads to the behaviors of a changed life. The basis for a changed life is what Jesus has done for us.

Ephesians 4:17-24. How do Christians change? How are we made new? By believing in Jesus and the work he has already done by making us new in God's eyes and living in light of that truth by putting off our old self and putting on our new self.

Matthew 9:35-38. What would Jesus do if he came to Austin as he did to cities in his day? He would see people's needs, feel people's needs, and meet people's needs. Jesus is in Austin today, doing the same through his Body, the Church.

Romans 12:9-18. Christian love is meant to be sincere and without hypocrisy. This sincere love can be practiced in many tangible ways, as described in this passage.

Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus speaks only once about what his heart is like. He says his heart is gentle and lowly. Seeing Jesus as he described himself will move us to draw near to him, who welcomes us with open arms.

The narrative scriptures in the Bible give us four reasons to fast. We fast when we need answered prayers and spiritual breakthrough, when we need to confess and repent of sin when we need discernment and direction, and as a regular spiritual practice to draw near to God.

I Peter 1:3-9. The reality is that in this world, we will suffer, but there is a reason for our suffering. Trials purify our faith and result in praise to God. Knowing this, we're able to both grieve and rejoice in our suffering.

Revelation 7:9,10. We hope for racial unity because God gave John this revelation of racial unity in heaven under Jesus. While this is our certain hope, it's also a view of heaven that we should aim to create on earth by acknowledging our family history, asking God to search our hearts, acting in humility, and attaching in love.

I Corinthians 1 and 8. Is there hope for civil discourse in 2021? There is if we believe that agreement is more important than our disagreements and love is more important than knowledge.

Matthew 5:1-16. Our hope starts with God's promise to restore the world and make all things new. Jesus sets forth a vision of what this kind of world looks like, the unexpected people who are welcome there, and the pivotal role they play in making this world a reality.

Series: Christian Title: Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?