Christmas Eve: God as a Baby \\ Zephaniah 3:14-17
Zack McCoy Zack McCoy

Christmas Eve: God as a Baby \\ Zephaniah 3:14-17

Centering Ourselves in the Coming Messiah| Advent IV \\ Isaiah 61:1-4 & John 1:6-8, 19-28

In our desperation for all that is broken to be restored, we are tempted to grasp for control and try to bring about this restoration ourselves. When we let go and center ourselves instead in Jesus our coming Messiah, we can experience the love and the safety we so desperately long for, even now as we wait.

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Centering Ourselves in the Coming Messiah| Advent IV \\ Isaiah 61:1-4 & John 1:6-8, 19-28
Todd Parish Todd Parish

Centering Ourselves in the Coming Messiah| Advent IV \\ Isaiah 61:1-4 & John 1:6-8, 19-28

Centering Ourselves in the Coming Messiah| Advent IV \\ Isaiah 61:1-4 & John 1:6-8, 19-28

In our desperation for all that is broken to be restored, we are tempted to grasp for control and try to bring about this restoration ourselves. When we let go and center ourselves instead in Jesus our coming Messiah, we can experience the love and the safety we so desperately long for, even now as we wait.

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The Paradoxical Christian Life | Advent III | Isaiah 40:1-11
Jordan Rhea Jordan Rhea

The Paradoxical Christian Life | Advent III | Isaiah 40:1-11

The Paradoxical Christian Life | Advent III | Isaiah 40:1-11

The Christian life is one of great paradoxes, and the Advent season is a time that draws us into this very reality. We are a people that simultaneously hold a life of waiting and longing with a life of laboring and preparing. We are fully rooted in the present while also pointing ourselves towards the coming Kingdom of God. The Israelite people have much to speak into our lives regarding this theological paradox.

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The Weary World in the Shadow of Death | Isaiah 25
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

The Weary World in the Shadow of Death | Isaiah 25

The Weary World in the Shadow of Death | Isaiah 25

We live in the dark veil of death. Advent is about watching and waiting for God and all that comes with Him, Justice, peace, and finally the end of death.

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The Table is Crossed Shaped | Luke 9:23-27
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

The Table is Crossed Shaped | Luke 9:23-27

The Table is Crossed Shaped | Luke 9:23-27

Jesus table is cross-shaped. And those seated at His table are invited to participate in cross-shaped living. What seems like death, actually offers life.

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The Table: Busyness // Luke 10:38-42
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

The Table: Busyness // Luke 10:38-42

The Table: Life with God | John 15:1-11

Enjoying God is not meant to be a human luxury, but the heart of what it means to be human. Jesus has some thoughts on how we might begin to experience this enjoyment here and now, even in the busy, broken, places of our lives

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The Table: Life with God | John 15:1-11
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

The Table: Life with God | John 15:1-11

The Table: Life with God | John 15:1-11

Enjoying God is not meant to be a human luxury, but the heart of what it means to be human. Jesus has some thoughts on how we might begin to experience this enjoyment here and now, even in the busy, broken, places of our lives

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The Table: Distraction| 1 Peter 1:3-9
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

The Table: Distraction| 1 Peter 1:3-9

The Table: Distraction | 1 Peter 1:3-9

What does it mean to live a Jesus centered life in a world of distraction? I think Jesus' answer is as compelling as it is radical.

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The Table : Be Real | Luke 18:9-17
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

The Table : Be Real | Luke 18:9-17

The Table: Be Real | Luke 18:9-17

Confession is the birthplace of communion. Like most of what Jesus' teaches, the counterintuitive reality of coming to terms with our human limitations can be scary, but in it we find liberation and redemption

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An Invitation to Jesus' Table
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

An Invitation to Jesus' Table

An Invitation to Jesus' Table

Jesus invites us into our full humanity, into life. But the invitation comes with some caveats.

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We Are Exiles | Isaiah 50:1-11
Mark Brandon Alred Mark Brandon Alred

We Are Exiles | Isaiah 50:1-11

We Are Exiles | Isaiah 50:1-11

We often wonder why God is so silent, so distant, and why life feels so heavy and hard at times. Yet Isaiah offers us surprising hope in the midst of the desert. More than that, he shows a God who enters the desert with us.

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The Central Thing | 1 & 2 Kings
Mark Brandon Alred Mark Brandon Alred

The Central Thing | 1 & 2 Kings

The Central Thing | 1 & 2 Kings

The narrative story of Israel's Kings is largely a story of failure. But the narrator invites to see behind the scenes and find a God of life at work in a history of death. There is a central invitation to us here.

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Losing my Religion | Jonah
Mark Brandon Alred Mark Brandon Alred

Losing my Religion | Jonah

Losing my Religion | Jonah

Religion has wounded, disillusioned, and 'othered' so many of us. The prophet Jonah helps us see how, and to explore the invitation of the God who is bigger than our religion. Where will we go from here?

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