Messes come in a lot of different ways. Sometimes they come through a strain in a relationship, a misunderstanding with a family member, a mistake at work or perhaps a financial mistake at home. We all have regrets, failures, temptations, struggles with certain sins and past pain and failures that can trip us up in life. But your story is not done being written by God. Life can be a mess sometimes but through faith in God – God changes our story to a, “Beautiful Mess”.
Glorification has a lot to do with hope. Hope can mean different things to different people but, ultimately, hope allows us to endure and keeps us from giving up (even in the face of despair). He reminds us that death, ultimately, is part of the process of Glorification (where we spend eternity in God’s glory) and hope provides us the security to hold on to God’s promises (because God cannot lie).
Sanctification is about being set apart; not because of how great we are but because of how great God is. It is a process that takes time by letting what happened on the inside through justification be expressed by what’s happening on the outside (highlighting the difference between who we were before Christ and who we are now)
Justification is a free gift by God’s mercy and grace through faith (and the death of his son) which, without any action from us, makes it “just as if you’ve never sinned”.
The book of Colossians is full of concepts of thankfulness. In today’s sermon, Tony reminds us that true, overwhelming gratitude comes from God’s grace and if we are not overflowing with it, we need to reexamine our relationship with God and remember what we have been saved from. We are reminded that, as Christians, we can always overflow with gratitude (regardless of what we do or do not have); we just need to reflect on where our heart is and keep our focus on God.
Sticks and stones may cause immediate, temporary harm to us but, in today’s message, Tony reminds us of the power of words to cause lasting harm. We are shown how sometimes it is the smallest things that can have the most power to incite change (for good or for evil). As we use our tongues to praise God, we are encouraged (and challenged) to also use them to uplift our fellow humans who are created in his image.
Sometimes it’s difficult to cut through the clutter with all the things that demand our attention. We will examine the timeless wisdom of the scriptures as we decipher what is the only thing that counts.
In Ecclesiastes 7, we learn that wisdom is a good thing that is so powerful and universal that it affects everyone in the world. However, we are also reminded wisdom doesn’t involve living in the nostalgia of the past but rather looking ahead and planning for the future while living in the present.
In Luke 14 (15-24), Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a banquet. Banquets require invitation, preparation and attendance. Today, we are reminded that Christ has prepared a great banquet for us. Are you coming? Are you prepared?
In our world of advanced technology, it’s often difficult to determine what is real and what is not. The Bible talks about the importance of speaking the truth to our neighbors. In this vein, we are encouraged to seek the truth and reminded that the greatest truth that matters is what Christ did on the cross.
