Come worship with us on Easter Sunday! On Sunday, April 5, our service times will be 8:30, 10, and 11:30 a.m. There will be an Easter Egg Hunt for children between the 10 and 11:30 a.m. services. (Note that there will be no 5 p.m. service on Easter.) We look forward to celebrating the resurrection with you! Check out our full Holy Week schedule here.
In the Spotlight
The Promised King
Our instinct is often to prove ourselves by doing something impressive for God, but Scripture reveals a God who interrupts our plans with a far greater promise of grace. In God’s covenant with David, we see that his kingdom is not built on human effort or merit but on divine initiative and unshakable love. That promise reaches its fulfillment in Jesus — the true King who rules not from a palace but from a cross. Watch this sermon as Jason Harris invites us to behold the promised King who brings us into his kingdom by grace and calls for our wholehearted allegiance.
December 21, 2025 | Watch
Latest Resources
The Day Jesus Cursed a Tree
March 29, 2026 | Watch
The Day Jesus Fed Thousands
When thousands gather with nothing to eat, Jesus responds with compassion for a people in need of a shepherd. With just a few loaves and fish, he reveals both his power and his purpose — to restore and provide. He also invites his followers into the impossible, showing how God works through our weakness. Watch this sermon as Andrew Smith unpacks how Jesus, the compassionate Shepherd, meets our deepest needs and calls us to trust him with what little we have.
March 22, 2026 | Watch
The Day Jesus Fed Thousands
Purpose To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships To participate in God’s mission to the world Opening Prayer Responsive Prayer — Isaiah 25 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, A banquet of aged wine - the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, The sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. So we say: “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” Summary This week we continue our Lenten series entitled A Day in the Life of Jesus during which we are exploring brief vignettes from the Gospels seeking a realistic glimpse into a typical day in Jesus’ earthly ministry. The feeding of the five thousand, covered in this week’s passage, is uniquely significant as the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. That all four evangelists saw fit to preserve this account is no accident. It provides a picture of Jesus as a messiah who meets physical need with divine abundance and points beyond the sign itself to the fact that there is something far greater in store for a hungry world in need. The narrative opens with the return of the Twelve from their mission to the Galilean villages, weary and in need of rest, yet immediately confronted by persistent crowds who pursue them even into the wilderness. Mark sandwiches the account of Herod’s feast (Mark 6:14-28) between the sending and returning of the Twelve, essentially juxtaposing the lavish festivities of the Herodian court with the simple circumstances through which Jesus satisfies the needs of the people. Where Herod’s banquet ends in death, Jesus’ provision in the wilderness results in life, revealing a kingdom of an altogether different character than that of the earthly powers. The setting and imagery of this passage have several important connections to Moses and Israel’s wilderness generation. Most obviously, the events explicitly take place in a wilderness setting. There is also the miraculous provision of bread, like the manna from heaven (Exodus 16). Yet Jesus is shown to be greater than Moses as the direct supplier of this bread rather than a simple mediator of provision (John 6:32-35; Hebrews 3:1-6). Additionally, the description of the crowd as “sheep without a shepherd” (verse 34) is a direct reference to passages such as Numbers 27 and Ezekiel 34 where the wilderness generation is portrayed as scattered and leaderless. In the Ezekiel passage, God promises the coming of a faithful shepherd, “my servant David” (Ezekiel 34:23), who will establish a covenant of peace, causing the people to “dwell securely in the wilderness” (Ezekiel 34:25). Here, that promise begins to take visible form. Jesus teaches the people, feeding them spiritually, and then provides for their physical needs, embodying the role of the true Shepherd (cf. Psalm 23:1-2; John 10:11). In this, he acts as the mediator who perfectly executes the offices of prophet, priest, and king for the salvation of his people (Westminster Larger Catechism 42). The miracle itself unfolds with a deliberate emphasis on both insufficiency and abundance, and in so doing, it reveals the inbreaking of the kingdom of God and a foretaste of its consummation. The disciples, calculating the cost of two hundred denarii (nearly a year’s wages), see only scarcity. Jesus commands them to organize the people, and, after blessing the loaves and fish, he distributes the goods so that all eat and are completely satisfied. The manner of the multiplication is not explained, nor is it Mark’s point. Rather, the focus is on the revelation of divine provision. As in the days of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17:7-16; 2 Kings 4:42-44), God provides for his people in unexpected ways, yet the scale here is far greater. Mark specifically makes mention of the superabundance. Not only are the five thousand men fed, but twelve baskets of leftovers remain (verses 42-44), displaying the open-handed generosity of God who “satisfies the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:16). The miracle shows that the kingdom of God has indeed arrived (Mark 1:15), and its firstfruits are manifesting themselves. These fruits are seen not only in the laying waste of Satan’s house, in the freeing of the demonized (Mark 3:20-30; 5:1-20), in the healing of the sick, and in the dead being raised, but also here in the shepherding of Israel, as Christ feeds his people both spiritually through his teaching (verse 34) and physically through his provision (verses 37-44). The kingdom of God has come, and already the messianic banquet is being tasted. Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible Share with the group some key phrases or ideas that stood out to you from the passage. 2. Looking at Jesus Given that the initial purpose of this journey was for the disciples to rest, what does it suggest about Jesus’ character that he abandons this goal upon seeing the crowd? Jesus responds to the disciples by telling them to give the people something to eat (verse 37). Rather than problem-solving for them, Jesus invites them into the solution. What might this tell us about how Jesus works with and through his people? 3. Looking at Our Hearts The disciples decided to focus on earthly means (denarii) rather than heavenly ones (God’s power). How might you be tempted to do the same in your own life? In moments where it seems you’ve met your limitations, what would it look like to trust in God’s power the way that Jesus did here? 4. Looking at Our World We live in a culture that increasingly prizes self-care and personal rest, things that are not wrong. But Jesus here sets them aside when he encounters real human need. How do we discern the difference between rest that restores us for mission and withdrawal that insulates us from it? The gospel says that in Jesus, the true Shepherd has come to seek, teach, feed, and care for people who are lost and leaderless. How should that shape the way we engage with people around us who are spiritually adrift? Prayer Pray for each other: Share any prayer requests you have. Pray for God to give you eyes to see moments that call for compassion, even at inopportune times.
March 22, 2026 | Read
The Day Jesus Raised the Dead
Purpose To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships To participate in God’s mission to the world Opening Prayer Responsive Prayer — Psalm 91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, And under his wings you will find refuge; You will not fear the terror of the night, Nor the arrow that flies by day, Nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. Summary This week we continue our Lenten series entitled A Day in the Life of Jesus during which we are exploring brief vignettes from the Gospels seeking a realistic glimpse into a typical day in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Our passage this week picks up where we left off, at the end of a Christological triad. Having already shown Jesus as Lord over the natural (Mark 4:35-41) and spiritual (Mark 5:1-20) realms, Mark now displays him as Lord over illness and the final enemy of death itself. Mark employs one of his signature literary constructions in this passage — what some scholars have referred to as a “Markan sandwich” — in which one account is embedded into another in order to better explain it. The story of Jairus’ daughter is interrupted by the healing of a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. Both stories contain women in helpless situations (verses 25-26 and 23, 35, 38-40); an explicit mention of the number “twelve” (verses 25 and 42); a reference to faith (verses 33 and 36); the presence of fear (verses 33 and 36); an original situation of ritual impunity (a bleeding woman and a dead body); a reference to touching (verses 28, 30, and 41); a desire for “salvation” or healing (verses 28 and 23, 34); falling at Jesus’ feet (verses 33 and 22); and the person healed being called a daughter (verses 34 and 23). The first miracle centers on a woman whose life has been defined by suffering and social exclusion. According to the law (Leviticus 15:25-33), her condition rendered her perpetually unclean, meaning that she would have been avoided by others and barred from ordinary participation in communal and religious life. Despite her uncleanness, in desperate faith she presses through the crowd and reaches out to touch Jesus’ garment, convinced that even this contact would be sufficient to heal her. Mark’s statement that Jesus perceived “power” going out from him is unusual, appearing only here in Mark’s Gospel, but it reflects the broader biblical understanding that the saving power of God operates through his appointed servant (cf. Luke 5:17; Acts 10:38). The healing occurs because God sovereignly honors the woman’s faith, bringing together the two realities of her trust and the divine power present in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; cf. Westminster Confession of Faith 14.2). When she finally reveals herself, she does so “with fear and trembling” (verse 33). This should not be read as a fear that arises out of shame but rather out of awe before the holy power she has encountered. Jesus responds with affirmation, addressing her tenderly as “daughter” and declaring that her faith has made her well. She has been restored physically, but also socially and spiritually to the covenant community (Psalm 103:2-4). The delay caused by this encounter proves devastating for Jairus, for during it messengers arrive announcing that his daughter has died. Jesus immediately counters their despair with a command: “Do not fear, only believe” (verse 36). Jairus had already shown faith by seeking Jesus in the first place, and he had just witnessed the healing of the woman, which clearly illustrated the relationship between faith and divine help. Now he is called to trust even in the face of death itself. When Jesus arrives at the house and takes the girl by the hand, he speaks the simple command, “arise.” At once she rises and walks. The scene recalls the consistent biblical testimony that God alone has authority over life and death (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6) and anticipates the broader promise that the Son will one day summon the dead from their graves (John 5:28-26; 1 Corinthians 15; Westminster Larger Catechism 52). This action clearly demonstrates that the power of the living God is present and active in Jesus, not just in his touch, but also in his words. Death, which entered the world through sin and stands as humanity’s final enemy (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:26) proves no obstacle to the authority of Christ who has come to destroy the power of death and deliver those enslaved by its fear (Hebrews 2:14-15). Mark concludes this section with Jesus instructing that the girl be given something to eat, emphasizing not only that the girl is truly alive and not some sort of phantom spirit, but also that the mighty Son of God is both Lord over nature, demons, illness, and death, and also cares for the physical needs of his people. Throughout these episodes we have been looking at in Mark 4-5, the evangelist has displayed the comprehensive authority of Christ over nature, the demonic realm, disease, and death itself. At the same time, he has repeatedly been building a case for the necessity of faith. The disciples were rebuked for their fear and lack of faith (Mark 4:40); the demoniac shows faith by coming to Jesus (Mark 5:6); the woman was commended for her faith (verse 34); and Jairus was exhorted not to abandon it (verse 36). Such faith rests in the greatness of the one in whom it is placed, for the salvation Christ accomplishes is received through faith alone and results in new obedience (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16). If this Jesus is Lord over nature, demons, illness, and death, then those who belong to him have no ultimate cause for fear, but every reason to trust in the power and mercy of the Son of God. Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible Share with the group some key phrases or ideas that stood out to you from the passage. 2. Looking at Jesus What can we learn about Jesus’ character given that he stops for the bleeding woman even while a little girl is dying? Jesus heals the woman through touch and the girl through a spoken word. Why do you think Mark emphasizes how Jesus heals, not just that he heals? 3. Looking at Our Hearts Both the woman and Jairus had to keep trusting when circumstances got worse before they got better. Where in your own life do you find it hardest to trust Jesus when things aren’t resolving the way you hoped? 4. Looking at Our World The bleeding woman was socially excluded and written off by everyone who had tried to help her. Who are the people in our culture who might get treated as “too far gone,” and how does Jesus’ response to this woman challenge that? Jesus doesn’t just heal these two women; he calls the bleeding woman “daughter” and makes sure the girl is fed. What does it say about the gospel that Jesus is concerned not just with rescue but with belonging and ongoing care? Prayer Pray for each other: Share any prayer requests you have. Some members of your group may have struggles they’ve been dealing with for years. Take some time to pray for them in the midst of this.
March 15, 2026 | Read
Is Christianity Escapist?
Christianity somewhat conveniently offers an unbelievable narrative that, if true, literally changes everything. Which raises the question: Is it possible that Christianity is simply wishful thinking — a framework generated by humans who were (and still are) looking to place their hope in a future that’s better than their reality?
April 18, 2025 | More...
Can We be Good Without God?
Throughout human history, both the religious and non-religious have exhibited the capacity for doing good works. But when we turn to the question of universal moral obligations of goodness, does atheism hold up? Without a belief in God, there is a ceiling to how far goodness can reach.
September 30, 2024 | More...
Grace, Then Gratitude
For many of us, the thing that we fear the most is being insignificant. This is why we are so driven and ambitious—we think that we have to do everything we can to prove that we are significant and that our life counts for something. We scramble to find whatever meaning, value, and purpose this world alone can offer. Although it is true that there is no good or fulfilling life without significance, through Jesus we are offered not only significance but grace. While we may be tempted to try and prove our worth to God or others, God relates to us not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of grace. Our life is simply a response to his love. Accepted First God showers his love upon us simply because he loves us—not because of what we have done, will do, or what potential he may or may not see within us. This is what gives us absolute and utter security. If we do not do anything to win God's love, there is nothing that we could ever do to lose it either. Furthermore, grace means there is nothing we could ever do to make God love us more, and there is nothing we could ever do to make God love us less. His love for us is immovable. This is the difference between Christianity and every other religion. Religion requires you to obey before you are accepted. But the message of Christianity is that you are accepted in and through Jesus Christ first, despite all your faults and failures, and therefore, you obey—not in order to try to win God's love or out of obligation, but out of gratitude for the love you have first been shown. Consider the Exodus story. God could have given his people the Ten Commandments while they were living in bondage in Egypt and required them to follow the law before he rescued them. But instead, he rescues his people first. It is only after he delivers them from their bondage that he then gives them the law in order to show them how to live their lives in response to his love. It is not law, then grace. It is grace, then gratitude. Contra-Conditional Love Grace is the most powerful force in the world. And yet, at the very same time, it is the most difficult thing for us to accept because it is an affront to our pride and self-sufficiency. When we accept God’s grace, we acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves. Years ago I had a conversation with a college student who told me, “I hate the very concept of grace because I want God to love me for me. I want God to love me for the things I do for him because then I know what I'm worth. Then I know that I'm valuable.” I tried to help her see that grace is far better. Consider the words of Victor Hugo who said, “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved—loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” God's love is not conditional or even unconditional. His love is contra-conditional. In Jesus Christ, he does not merely love us as we are. He loves us despite who we are and despite what we have done. That is why Pastor Jack Miller used to say, “Cheer up! You're worse than you think! But in Jesus Christ, you are more loved than you could ever imagine.” The House of David In 2 Samuel 7 we read that several decades after God raised David up to be the prince over Israel, David decides to build a house for the Lord. David is living in a luxurious house with paneled walls made out of fine cedar, and he realizes that by contrast, the Ark of the Covenant—the place where God said that he would dwell in the midst of his people—is being kept in a tent. It suddenly dawns on him that his housing is better than God’s! David, understandably, wants to do something for God by building him a permanent house. But rather than allowing David to follow through with his plans, God responds by saying God is going to make a house for David, and David's son, in gratitude, will be the one who builds a house for the Lord. In 2 Samuel 7:16 God says, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” God makes this unconditional promise to David—not because of any merit on David's part but out of sheer grace. This is how God works with all of us. Like David, we might want to go out there and do something great for God as a way to prove our worth or win other’s respect and admiration. But God’s grace always precedes our work. He makes the first move and takes the initiative. His grace comes first. If you continue reading through the Bible, you discover the house of David eventually comes crashing down. The kingdom is plagued by civil war, and eventually, the Babylonians conquer David's kingdom, setting fire to the temple that Solomon builds and carrying away the last kings in the line of David into exile. And yet centuries before, the prophet Isaiah promises that one day a child will be born who will establish and uphold the throne of David with justice and righteousness forever. The promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7 points us forward to Christ, the true son of God, who knows God as Father. That is why Jesus is repeatedly referred to as the Son of David. When Jesus begins his public ministry, he proclaims: “the kingdom of God is at hand.” And when Jesus establishes the kingdom of God, he says that he will build a house for the Lord in the midst of his people, not in a temple made out of human hands. This means that the moment we put our faith in Jesus, we become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Building for the Kingdom After becoming a Christian, we might start talking about bringing the kingdom, building the kingdom, advancing the kingdom, expanding the kingdom. But “bringing the kingdom” is precisely the one thing that we cannot do. Only Jesus can do that. Matthew 6:33 tells us we are called to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” We are called to proclaim the good news of the kingdom, to testify to the kingdom, to inherit the kingdom. The kingdom is not something that we achieve through our own effort but rather something we receive as a gift of grace. But that does not mean that we are supposed to sit back and passively await the coming of the kingdom in its fullness. We may not be able to build the kingdom of God, but we can and must build for the kingdom of God. New Testament scholar N.T. Wright writes, “The final coming together of heaven and earth is, of course, God’s supreme act of new creation, for which the only real prototype—other than the first creation itself—was the resurrection of Jesus. God alone will sum up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. He alone will make the ‘new heavens and new earth.’ It would be the height of folly to think that we could assist in that great work. But what we can and must do in the present, if we are obedient to the gospel, if we are following Jesus, and if we are indwelt, energized, and directed by the Spirit, is to build for the kingdom…You are—strange though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself—accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God’s new world. Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world—all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make. That is the logic of the mission of God.” The kingdom of God is a present reality because the kingdom is present in Jesus. It is a kingdom of grace, which means that it can only be received. That is why Jesus said in Luke 12:32, “‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’” He went on to say that only those who receive the kingdom like a child will ever enter it. How does a child receive the kingdom? With empty hands. Our faith does not add or contribute anything to our rescue. Faith is simply empty hands which receive what Jesus gives. And what Jesus gives us is himself. Wherever Jesus is, there is the kingdom. There is grace. ___ Adapted from David and The Good Life: Grace, a sermon delivered by Jason Harris on October 23, 2022. Listen to the sermon or read the full transcript. Christ and Contemporary Culture is a journal written by Jason Harris which reflects on the intersection between Jesus Christ and our contemporary culture. If you are skeptical or resistant to Christianity, the hope is that you might pause to reflect on your pre-existing ideas about the way things are and perhaps think again. For those who have embraced Christianity, these posts will serve to encourage you in your ability to communicate the gospel in a way that takes our current cultural context seriously. Produced by Mary-Catherine McKee
August 9, 2023 | Read
Beyond Morality: Living a Life of Worship
When most of us think of the “good life,” we are not merely imagining an ethical or moral life but a life that is truly worth living, even in the face of the existential problems with which we must contend. Luc Ferry, a French philosopher and self-proclaimed atheist, offers this interesting thought experiment: Imagine we could wave a magic wand and cause everyone living today to begin treating one another perfectly, with equal dignity and respect. There would be no more war, genocide, racism, or xenophobia. There would be no need for a police force or a standing army. Our judicial system and prisons would eventually disappear. And yet, Ferry suggests that even if we were to wave that magic wand, the most profound existential challenges we face would still not be resolved. This is how he puts it, “Still—and here I have to weigh each one of my words—none (I really mean none) of our most profound existential problems would be resolved if this came to pass. Nothing, even in a perfect realization of the most sublime morality, would prevent us from aging; from witnessing, powerless, the appearance of wrinkles and white hair; from falling sick, dying, and seeing our loved ones die; from worrying about the outcome of our children’s education or from struggling to achieve what we want for them. Even if we were saints, nothing would guarantee us a fulfilled emotional life.” The point is that morality is indispensable to human life. And yet, it is not enough. We read in the story of David in 1 and 2 Samuel about the importance of living a life of worship before God. David is far from perfect, but that is not what matters. What matters is that whether winning a great victory or committing an egregious sin, David lives a life of repentance and faith. Whether in triumph or defeat, hope or despair, David does not run away from God. He runs towards God. And that is what fills his life with enduring meaning, value, and purpose. What Is Worship? The problem with religion is that it leads us to think of God like a genie in a bottle—rub the lamp and out will pop God to grant you your wishes. Religious people tend to think God is there to serve us, to fulfill all our dreams, and to make us feel good about ourselves. We assume that if we are good enough, pious enough, zealous enough, devout enough, if we say all the right prayers, observe all the right rituals, and keep all of the right rules, then God is obligated to bless us and to make our life go well. We are not really interested in God for who he is—we are merely using God to get whatever we want. And if God does not deliver, then we become angry, bitter, and resentful because he did not fulfill our expectations. It is critical to realize that the real God will challenge our dreams, not merely fulfill them. The poet W.H. Auden once wrote that a Christian is someone who says, “I believe because He fulfills none of my dreams, because He is in every respect the opposite of what He would be if I could have made Him in my own image.” God is not here to serve us. We are here to serve him. In fact, in Hebrew the word “worship” and “serve” are the very same word. God is not here to worship us. We are here to worship him. God is not supposed to follow us according to our terms. Rather we are supposed to follow God on his terms. And if we do, then he promises that he will bless us—not out of necessity, but as a pure gift. Christianity offers this unique view of salvation: God relates to us on the basis of sheer grace, which means that a relationship with God is not something that we achieve through our own efforts, but something we can only receive with empty hands. Religion leads us to say, “I obey, and therefore, God accepts me.” But the gospel tells us, “God accepts me, despite my sin, through the substitutionary sacrifice of another, and therefore I obey.” We strive to love, serve, and honor God, not motivated by mere duty or obligation, but motivated by gratitude and joy for what he has first done for us—not as a way to try to win God's love, but in order to demonstrate that we already have it. If we know that God has done absolutely everything that is necessary in order to cover our sin and put us in right relationship with himself, then that will infuse our life with insuppressible joy, regardless of our life circumstances or personal challenges. There is, of course, a rightful place for lament as we mourn those aspects of our lives or within the wider world that are not yet in line with his purposes. Nevertheless, the foundation of a Christian’s’ life must be one of joy. The English author G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul.” Why Worship Matters When Isaiah has a vision of the Lord seated enthroned above the ark of the cherubim in Isaiah 6:5, he immediately says, “‘Woe is me! For I am lost!’” Isaiah acknowledges that he is a sinner and “a man of unclean lips.” But despite Isaiah’s sin, God does not strike him down. Instead, one of the seraphim flies to the altar, the place of the sacrifice, and removes one of the burning coals and places it on the lips of Isaiah saying: “‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’” God has now made Isaiah clean. This, of course, was just a vision. We get something far better. There are only two places in the New Testament where the Greek word for “mercy seat” or “place of atonement” is used—once in Romans 3 and once in Hebrews 9. In both cases, “mercy seat” or “place of atonement” is used not to describe a place but a person. Hebrews 10 tells us that the blood of bulls and goats could never do anything to actually take away people's sin. This is just a symbol meant to prepare us for the ultimate high priest who does not enter the most holy place within a humanly constructed temple, but rather he enters into the presence of the divine being himself. And there he offers not the sacrifice of an animal, but rather the sacrifice of his very own self. He gives himself for us so that our sin might be covered by his blood, and so that God in his mercy might forgive us and cleanse us so that we can enter into his holy presence and live. Jesus is the mercy seat and the place of atonement. He is the true prince of peace and the one who makes it possible for us to approach the throne of grace and live. And the mercy seat is open, still. The gospel tells us that God is so holy and you and I really are so flawed that Jesus had to die. There was no other way for us to be able to enter into God's holy presence and live. And yet, at the same time, God is so loving and you and I are so valuable, that Jesus was willing to die for us. When you take these two truths deep into your heart and into your life, then that is what unlocks the joy. Morality and ethics are essential and important, but they are not sufficient to actually live the “good life.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism, a historic document of faith from the 1600s, begins with this question: What is the chief end of man? In other words, what is the meaning of life? The answer is short: To glorify God and to enjoy him forever. As C.S. Lewis astutely observed, those two commands are actually one and the same. In commanding us to worship him, God is inviting us to enjoy him. The only way in which we truly learn to live the “good life” is through worship, by living our lives before the God of grace. And when we do, it will fill our lives with insuppressible joy. ___ Adapted from David and The Good Life: Worship, a sermon delivered by Jason Harris on October 16, 2022. Listen to the sermon or read the full transcript. "Christ and Contemporary Culture" is a journal written by Jason Harris which reflects on the intersection between Jesus Christ and our contemporary culture. If you are skeptical or resistant to Christianity, the hope is that you might pause to reflect on your pre-existing ideas about the way things are and perhaps think again. For those who have embraced Christianity, these posts will serve to encourage you in your ability to communicate the gospel in a way that takes our current cultural context seriously. Produced by Mary-Catherine McKee
May 18, 2023 | Read