Redeemer Weekend Sermons

Old Testament Faith Faithful God | Week 2 September 6, 2020 | Bill Clark---Genesis 12:1-3 NIVThe Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you." "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse.”Deuteronomy 9:4 NIVThe Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness. No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.Exodus 34:6 NIVThe Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, is slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.Revelation 5:9-10 NIVAnd they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign over the earth."

Economy of MercyFaithful God | Week 1 September 6, 2020 | Daniel Bunn--Jonah 4:1-3 NIV But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Our Mission John | Week 15 August 23, 2020 | Bill Clark--John 20:10–13 NIVThen the disciples went back to where they were staying.Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”John 20:19–22 NIVOn the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.Peace be with you!Matthew 20:20–23 NIVThen the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.“What is it you want?” he asked.She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”“We can,” they answered.Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

Jesus’ Kingdom John | Week 14 August 16, 2020 | Daniel Bunn--John 18:33-38 NIV Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.My kingdom is not of this world.

Complete Unity John | Week 13 August 9, 2020 | Adam Barnett--John 17:3 NIV Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.1 John 5:11-12 NIV And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.“The disciples were now entrusted with a new task. This involves inward purification. This purification is the work of the Holy Spirit. The very message which they are to proclaim will exercise its sanctifying effect on them. That message is the continuation of his message; their mission in the world is the extension of his mission.” // Frederick BruceJohn 17:20–23 NIV My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.Is unity even possible?John 17:24 NIV Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.John 17:25–26 NIVRighteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.“In this unbelieving world...Jesus goes forward. His disciples, soon to be scattered and shaken, would also go forward, infused with the Holy Spirit, united in loyalty, sure of God’s love in Christ, with a gleam of glory in their hearts, and aware of the unfailing presence of the living Christ among them. In them, and upon us as well, the Lord’s own prayer is being constantly fulfilled.” // R. E. White

The Vine & The BranchJohn | Week 12August 2, 2020 | Adam Barnett--John 15:1-8 NIV I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.John 15:1 NIV I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.John 15:2,6 NIV He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.John 6:66 NIV From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.John 15:3 NIV You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.John 15:4-5 NIV Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.John 15:7 NIV If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:8 NIV This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.The first step of Christianity is to become Christ’s disciple; and its summit, to be Christ’s disciple.

Servant ChurchesJohn | Week 11July 26, 2020 | Bill Clark--Week 11 Devotional page 91John 13:1-9 NIV It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”John 13:12–17 NIV When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.John 13 | Jesus' picture of the kind of community God wants us to be.Chapter 13–18 | "love" used 31 times.Jesus wasn't just washing feet; he's giving a lesson to his followers.God wants us to become servant churches.

A Contrast of ValuesJohn | Week 10July 19, 2020 | Adam Barnett--John 11:35 NIV Jesus wept. John 11:44 NIV The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”John 11:57 NIV The chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him.A Contrast of ValuesJohn 12:1–3 NIV Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.John 12:4–6 NIV But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.John 12:7–8 NIV “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”What is Jesus worth to me?Philippians 3:7–8 NIV But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ

The Shepherd's VoiceJohn | Week 9July 12, 2020 | Bill Clark--John 10:1–6 NIV“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.John 10:6 NIVBut they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.How do we hear to the voice of God?

Testing TruthJohn | Week 8July 5, 2020 | Wopsle--Week 8 Devotional Page 67John 8:12 NIV When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”John 8:31b-32 NIV …Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”Criteria for Testing Truth:CorrectionDoes it make you want to correct other’s mistakes?Or do you want to work on yourself?ConvictionDo you feel condemned because you have areas that need work?Or do you feel FREE to run—to go and sin no more?ChallengingDoes it only confirm what you already feel and believe?Or does it challenging some of your thoughts and behaviors?John 8:58-59 NIV “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.John 9:5 NIV “I am the light of the world.”John 8:6b NIV “Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.”John 9:6 NIV Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. John 9:25 NIV He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

The Forgiven WomanJohn | Week 7June 28, 2020 | Adam Barnett --John 8:2-6a NIVAt dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.John 8:6b-8 NIV But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. John 8:9 NIV At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.John 8:10-11 NIV Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”Forgiveness is the chief gift of the New Testament gospel.Jesus' grace empowers holiness.

Spiritual ThirstJohn | Week 6June 21, 2020 | Bill Clark--John 7:16 NIV My teaching is not my own, it comes from him who sent me.Jesus claimed he was speaking for God, not about him.John 7:37-39 NIV On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.Everyone has spiritual thirst—they may just not know it.What if there is a God?

Bread of LifeJohn | Week 5June 14, 2020 | Adam Barnett--John 6:14–15 NIVAfter the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.John 6:26–27 NIVI tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.They saw the sign, but they didn’t see what it signified.John 6:30 NIV“What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?"“Show us something, Jesus. Do one of your cool tricks and we will believe in you.”John 6:31 NIVOur forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’John 6:35–40 NIVThen Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”John 6:43–51 NIV“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”God has designed the entire universe to reveal Jesus!“The Argument from Desire.” C.S. Lewis“Make a meal of me! Enter into me, and I into you, and live forever!”

The Work of JesusJohn | Week 4June 7, 2020 | Daniel BunnJohn 5:1-18 NIV Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.What was the work that Jesus was doing?Jesus performed the work of healingThe central tension of this passage is that Jesus has broken the sabbath and made himself equal with God.The work of overturning unjust systemsFollowing Jesus is not optionalDo we fear, or do we trust?

The Gathering GodJohn | Week 3May 31, 2020 | Bill Clark--John 4:4-26 NIV Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”“I have no husband,” she replied.Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”John 4:10 NIV Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”This is the Gathering God.

Light Brings FreedomJohn | Week 2May 24, 2020 | Wopsle--John 3:19 NIV This is the verdict: Light has come into the world,John 3:19 NIV This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.John 3:20-21 NIV Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.James 5:16 NIV Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.Exposed sin has no power.Freedom is living in the light.What if I don't understand what the light is?———Prayer:Heavenly Father,I believe in the verdict. Light has come into the world! I believe that light came in the form of your Son, Jesus, and He was crucified for my sins, died, and rose from the grave in order to bring me into the light.I know that a great price was paid for me and I receive your love in my heart right now. Please show me how to live a life empowered by the Holy Spirit, living in the light so that my deeds may glorify you.Thank you God. Amen.———If you have made a decision for Christ today, please let us know.

In the Beginning was the WordJohn | Week 1May 17, 2020 | Adam Barnett--John 1:1-5 NIV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.John 1:1 NIV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.When did the story of Jesus begin?Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."John 1:2 NIV He was with God in the beginning.John 1:3 NIV Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.John 1:4-5 NIV In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.Psalm 36:9 NIV “With you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light!”Darkness cannot overcome the light of Christ.John 1:12 NIV Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Enabled to LoveThe Holy Spirit | Week 4May 10, 2020 | Bill Clark--Galatians 5:22-23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Love is a verb, an action; it's something that we do.Galatians 5:13 NIV ...serve one another in love.

Comfort & JoyThe Holy Spirit | Week 3May 3, 2020 | Adam Barnett & Ruben Cenea John 14:1, 16-17, 25-27 AMP Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me.And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.I have told you these things while I am still with you. But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you. Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]Links:Mission of Hope, Haiti

Personal Experiences The Holy Spirit | Week 2April 26, 2020 | Adam Barnett, Bill Clark, and Tami Roach

Peace & ComfortThe Holy Spirit | Week 1April 19, 2020 | Adam Barnett--Rejoice in the ResurrectionRemember your BaptismReturn to Habits of Spiritual FormationReflect on the Birth of the ChurchReceive Gifts of the Holy Spirit]\Luke 24:39-43 NIV Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.“Typical encounters with the recently deceased do not issue in claims about an empty tomb, nor do they lead to the founding of a new religion. And they certainly do not typically eat and drink, and they are not seen by crowds of up to 500 people, I’m sure of it.” // Rudolph BultmahnJohn 14:1 AMP Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me.John 14:16-17 AMP And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.John 14:25-27 AMP I have told you these things while I am still with you. But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you. Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]Is your heart troubled today?Lean into the peace and comfort of the Holy Spirit today.

Jesus is AliveJesus Is | Week 6April 12, 2020 | Bill Clark--John 20:1-18 NIV Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”Jesus said to her, “Mary.”She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them the things that he had said to her.Women were the first witnesses of the empty tomb.Christianity is the only movement that grew after the death of its founder.God has hard-wired us, not just to die, but to have a longing for eternal life.

Jesus is GlorifiedJesus Is | Week 5April 5, 2020 | Adam Barnett--John 12:12-15 NIV The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”John 12:16-19 NIV At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”John 12:20-28 NIV Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”John 12:23 NIV "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”Glorification was accomplished through Jesus’ death on the cross.Glorification is the result of Jesus loving the Father more than His own life.Glorification demands a response from all disciples of Jesus.John 1:12-13 NIVYet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.Prayer of SalvationFather God, I believe with all my heart that Jesus died on the cross for me. I believe He rose from the dead, and that same power makes me a new creation. I renounce my past and ask you to forgive me of my sins. I receive your forgiveness today. I receive new birth in you. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. I long to be with you all of my days here, and for all of eternity. Through the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.If you prayed that prayer today for the first time and accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, please let us know at this form. We would love to connect with you over email or a phone call and celebrate with you!

Jesus is NearJesus Is | Week 4March 29, 2020 | Bill Clark--Matthew 4:1-11 NIVThen Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.Where is God in all of this?God is all powerful, therefore God can prevent suffering. But God apparently does not always prevent suffering. Therefore, God is either not all powerful or not all loving.// JAMES MARTINWe are not called to be dismissive; we are called to help.Experience the nearness of Jesus.Despite the tragedy of all this, this time is really a strange gift to us.Opportunity to be still.Let the ever near Jesus come to you and surprise you with joy.

The Light of the WorldJesus Is | Week 3March 22, 2020 | Adam Barnett--Jesus is the Light of the World, and darkness cannot overcome it!John 8:12 NIV When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."“I am the light of the world.”“Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”Everything looks different in the light of Christ!Matthew 5:14-16 NIV You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.“When he came, there was no light. When he left, there was no darkness.”

Calming the StormJesus Is | Week 2March 15, 2020 | Bill Clark--Mark 4:35-41 NIV That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”"Don’t you care that we are about to die!""Quiet! Be still!"“They were terrified.” The problem was solved—but they were still terrified.“Who is this?”

Jesus is MoreJesus Is | Week 1March 8, 2020 | Tim Mannin--Mark 6:34-37 NIV When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”John 6:7-11 NIV Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.I’m not looking for big people who can do big things. I’m looking for people who know they are small and surrender to me with all that they have, so that I can use them in the biggest of ways.Matthew 10:7-8 NIV As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.John 6:35 NIV Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.Psalm 107:9 NIV for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.Matthew 19:26 NIV Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”--Links | OKC Community Church

Watch the full Unfinished Recap Video--Treasure in HeavenA Generous Life | Week 3March 1, 2020 | Adam Barnett--Luke 16:13 NIVNo servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.Mammon: riches, possessions, property, or treasure.You cannot serve God, but also trust money to provide your internal peace and security.Mark 10:17 NIVAs Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”Mark 10:18-20 NIV“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”Mark 10:21 NIVJesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”Mark 10:22 NIVAt this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.Mark 10:23-27 NIVJesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them & said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

CaretakingA Generous Life | Week 2February 23, 2020 | Daniel Bunn--Deuteronomy 15:7-11 NIV If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.Generous with our money.Be generous with your money because the church needs money to operate.Be generous with your money because generosity is actually good for you.God does NOT want you to be generous with your money.Implies that what we have is ours.the land that the LORD your God is giving you...Leviticus 25:23 NIV The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.Psalm 24:1 NIV The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;Everything is the LORD’S. All human wealth depends ultimately on what God has entrusted to us in the immeasurable riches of the earth’s crust.// Christopher WrightEverything comes from God, everything belongs to God.What is the amount that I can give that will be “enough”?Why would we live our lives seeking the minimum amount that we can do? Motivated by love.What is the most I can do?

StewardshipA Generous Life | Week 1February 16, 2020 | Bill Clark--Growth in Giving2015 General Giving | $2,395,3732019 General Giving | $3,638,726Increase of | $1,243,353NW Tulsa GivingFrom Redeemer & Directed Gifts | $617,000Missions Budget Allocation | $65,000 to dateLuke 6:27-38 NIV But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.Love our enemies.Do good to those who hate us.Bless those who curse us.Pray for those who mistreat us. Lend your money without any expectation of return!Luke 6:38 NIV Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.Don’t Settle

God Cares How I Treat Others2020 | Week 6February 9, 2020 | Adam Barnett--God cares how I treat others.Philippians 2:1-2 NIV Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.So we learn here that our oneness in Christ is based on being encouraged by:Comfort from his love. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit.Tenderness and compassion.We are like-minded.We have the same love.We are one in spirit and purpose.Philippians 2:3 NIV Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,Without exception, I found that every person who was sincerely happy — radiantly alive — was living for the purpose and cause of others. // Abraham MaslowPhilippians 2:4 NIV not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.Our love for others should not just be reactive, but also proactive. We purposely look to sacrifice for others.Philippians 2:5 NIV In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.phroneó: I think; I direct the mind to...

Life Together2020 | Week 5February 2, 2020 | Bill Clark--FellowshipSharing in the life of Christ together; being in community with others who also love Jesus.Philippians 1:3-8 NIVI thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.Philippians 1:4-5 NIV“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…”Fellowship means praying for one another.A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. // Dietrich BonhoefferPhilippians 1:5 NIVBecause of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.The happiest Christians are those who serve others.Philippians 1:6 NIVBeing confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.God will ultimately make us complete.Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet.Philippians 1:8 NIVGod can testify how I long for you with the affection of Christ Jesus.-- Further ResourcesLife Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer | Amazon Link

A Revitalized Prayer Life2020 | Week 4January 26, 2020 | Adam Barnett--Disciplined Prayerintentional and planned communion with God (either individually or corporately).Matthew 6:9-13 NIV“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’Matthew 6:9-13 AMP'Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment]. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIVPray without ceasing.Spontaneous Prayerunintentional, unplanned prayers that erupt from your heart“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Won’t You Love Your Neighbor?2020 | Week 3January 19, 2020 | Adam Barnett--Matthew 22:36-40 NIV“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”Love God holisticallyLove YourselfLove your NeighborFour Basic Features of Evangelism:Embodied communication (in word, deed and life).Addressing the non-Christian world (to whom we proclaim).The Good News of the kingdom and Jesus Christ (what we proclaim).An approach that is consistent with the nature of the gospel (how we proclaim it).Within the walls of the church (where we proclaim it).John 4:7-9 NIVWhen a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)John 4:10-26 NIVJesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”Find your Samaria.Practice HOSTIPITALITY: show hospitality where there could be hostility.

Love Yourself2020 | Week 2January 12, 2020 | Daniel Bunn--Love your neighbor as yourself.You cannot love your neighbor properly until you love yourself properly.Who are you?Dove AdDove Spoof AdWho are we in the eyes of God?Exodus 20:1-17 NIV And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."We might love our potential selves, but not our actual selves. Not because of what they have done, and often in spite of what they have done.NOT Behave/Believe → BelongBUT Belong → Behave/BelieveThe only obstacle to success is my own perspective.In God’s eyes, we are loved.

Essential Focus2020 | Week 1January 5, 2020 | Bill Clark--Revelation 21:1-4 CEV I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared and so had the sea. Then I saw the New Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband. I heard a voice shout from the throne: "God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever."Prayer // Forgiving an Enemy // Comforting the AfflictedPrayerMake the Time - Robert BarronThe Jesus Prayer“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”Forgiving an EnemyComfort the AfflictedPray // Forgive // Comfort the Afflicted

In the Unknown and ImpossibleDecember 29, 2019 | Denise McKinney--Luke 1:30-33 NLT “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”Luke 1:35 NLT The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.Matthew 1:20-21 NLT As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”Luke 2:6-7 NLT And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger...Luke 2:10-11 NLT but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! Luke 2:29-31 NLT Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people.

A Gift For AllAdvent at Redeemer | Week 5December 24, 2019 | Adam Barnett--Matthew 1:18-23 NIV This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).John 3:16-21 NIV 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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.Numbers 21:8-9 NIV The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So, Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.John 3:14-15 NIV Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

The Whole StoryAdvent | Week 4December 22, 2019 | Bill Clark--Isaiah 40:1-5 NIV Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Mark 1:1-4 NIV The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way – a voice of one calling in the desert, “​Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” And so John came…

Compelling PraiseAdvent 2019 | Week 3December 15, 2019 | Adam Barnett--I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses.And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses.And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.And the joy we share, as we tarry there, none other has ever known.Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. His Presence compels our praise.

A Mission of RevolutionAdvent at Redeemer | Week 2December 8, 2019 | Bill Clark--Psalm 72:1-7,15-17 NIVEndow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness. May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor. May he endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations. May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth. In his days may the righteous flourish and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long. May grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway. May the crops flourish like Lebanon and thrive like the grass of the field. May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.King Jesus' ministry was the launch of a revolution of love.If you invite Jesus into your life - into your house - you can expect Him to renovate it.He was out to change the culture.He wants to continue the revolution he started when he walked the earth.I want you to see the invisible people in your community who need care and love – would you do that for me?

For To Us A Child Is BornAdvent at Redeemer | Week 1December 1, 2019 | Adam Barnett--It’s the most wonderful time of the year. With the kids jingle-belling & everyone telling you ‘be of good cheer.’ There’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow.~ Andy Williams, The Most Wonderful Time of the YearThe odds of 1 person fulfilling 8 prophecies: 1 chance in 100 quintillion.The odds of 1 person fulfilling 8 prophecies: 1 chance in 10 to the 157th power.The odds of 1 person fulfilling 300 prophecies: only Jesus.Isaiah 9:1-5 NIV Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.ShalomEverything necessary to wholesome living: good health, a sense of well-being and harmony, good fortune, the cohesiveness of the community, relationship with relatives and their state of being, and anything else deemed necessary for everything to be in order.

How Do We Engage Young PeopleStudent SundayNovember 24, 2019 | Wopsle--Comfort is the enemy of progress. // P.T. BarnumActs 17:16 NIV While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. How do we engage young people?Acts 17:22 NIV Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. We start by SEEING young people.Acts 17:23a NIV For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. We need to WALK AROUND and LOOK at what they engage in.Acts 17:23b NIV So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.We must PROCLAIM the Gospel to the next generations.Acts 17:24-28 NIVThe God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

I Am the Temple of the Holy SpiritFixed Identity | Week 4November 17, 2019 | Adam Barnett--New creations in Christ are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.1 Corinthians 6:12 NIV "I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.What I do or don’t do doesn’t make me a Christian. Jesus makes me a Christian. Freedom isn’t permission to do everything. True freedom is not being enslaved by anything.1 Corinthians 6:13-18 NIV You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. Am I finding my identity in anything that can be taken away from me?Am I merely resisting sin, or do I see myself as the Temple of God purchased by Christ?

Who Are YouFixed Identity | Week 3November 10, 2019 | Bill Clark--Who are you?There is a God.It’s not you or me. You and I are who God says we are.What must I do?"Tell me who you are and then you will know what you must do.”Knowing ourselves is not nearly as important as knowing who made us.1 Peter 2:9-10 NIVBut you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.Exodus 19:5-6 NIVYou will be my special people out of all nations, for the whole earth is mine, but you will be for me a royal priesthood and a holy nation.We CAN choose how we treat other people.We CAN and must respond to injustice that happens around us.What happens next is your choice.My condition wasn't my identity.

Ambassadors in ChristFixed Identity | Week 2November 3, 2019 | Adam Barnett --2 Corinthians 5:14-17 NIV For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! If I am a new creation, I am Christ’s ambassador with the ministry and message of reconciliation.2 Corinthians 5:18-20 NIV All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.Approved • Accepted • Positioned • Instructed • Empowered • AppointedAmbassadors have noteworthy reputation and character.Ambassadors cooperate with people of all religious preferences. Don’t be too "Christian-y" for non-Christians.Ambassadors start with love, not facts.Ambassadors pursue conversation with people of other faiths or religious affiliationsAmbassadors stay ready to share the Story of Jesus.2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

I Am A New Creation In ChristFixed Identity | Week 1October 27, 2019 | Adam Barnett --2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.Galatians 2:20 NIV I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.2 Corinthians 5:16 NIV So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!Newness is not a product of what we do, but whom we pursue.

The Gaps We ShareProverbs | Week 5October 20, 2019 | Bill Clark --We all have gaps between who we may want to be and who we really are.Proverbs 16:2 NIV All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord.Self-DeceptionJeremiah 17:9 NIV The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?Proverbs 16:18 NIV Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.James 1:22 NIV Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.Not only do we know God through Christ alone, but we know ourselves by Christ alone.// Blaise Pascal

Covenantal FriendshipsProverbs | Week 4October 13, 2019 | Adam Barnett--Friends are dependable.Proverbs 17:17 NIV A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.Friends are transparent.Proverbs 28:13 NIV Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.We need to CRUCIFY our IMAGE!Friends are safe and trustworthy.Proverbs 16:28 NIV A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.Friends are willing to tenderly confront.Proverbs 27:17 NIV As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.Friends are an extension of God’s love.Proverbs 19:22 NIV What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.1 Samuel 18:3-4 NIV And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.2 Samuel 1:26 NIV I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.

Choosing WisdomProverbs | Week 3October 6, 2019 | Bill Clark --Wise Peoplethose for whom life's experiences have been a teacher.Foolish PeopleEvil PeopleWhen you have a problem with a wise person and engage in conversation about it, you will make progress and things will improve.When you talk to a foolish person—be graciously direct about the consequences of their actions.If you feel a need to talk with an evil person—don't. It won't help. Find something else to do.Proverbs 12:15 ESV The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise person listens to advice.Proverbs 28:26 ESV Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.Proverbs 15:31,33 ESV The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise...The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.Proverbs 12:1 ESV Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.Proverbs 25:19 ESV Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth.