Preacher of Habit

Message          Jan. 20 and 21                        The Kingdoms’ Fall Scripture:   Ezekiel 37: 1-14             Today we continue The Story, a 31-week journey from Creation to the glorious promise that God will one day make all things new. This has been a journey filled with God’s grace, mercy and faithfulness, all of which should inspire us to live with hope. But hope is hard to grasp when you’re standing in the middle of your worst fears. If you have your Bibles…             One of the reasons we gather every week is to keep our eyes focused on God’s activity in our lives. The writers of the Story call this the “Upper Story,” or the divine narrative that God is working out in his good timing. And that’s important to keep in mind because all too often we are fixated on the “Lower Story,” or the day-to-day realities that fill our lives. And if we’re not careful to consider God’s story, we could very easily draw some wrong conclusions about our world and even our fait

Jan. 13 and 14, 2018                         The Story:   The Beginning of the End Scripture: Isaiah 6: 1-13 Today we continue our journey through the Story, and I think for the first time in this series, I’m truly beginning to understand the value of holding this entire divine narrative in our heart. We’ve said all along that this story begins like a beautiful dream, a garden filled with God’s goodness and presence; the type of life our hearts yearn for. And then we watched as that goodness quickly crumbled at the hands of human sin, a web of destruction that continues to trap us. But we know the story doesn’t end there. We know there’s more. We know there’s redemption waiting to happen. And that’s important for us to keep in mind because the question of faith we must wrestle with today is this: How do we follow Jesus when everything’s falling apart? For most of my life, I’ve considered myself to be a pretty positive person. I’m the guy who has trouble simply throwing i

Jan. 6 and 7                The Story: God’s Messengers Scripture: 1 Kings 17: 17-24, 1 Kings 18: 16-39 Well here we are in 2018 and the quest to live differently is fresh in our minds, isn’t it? I don’t know how many of you have resolved to do something differently this year, but I’m guessing you have an idea of how you’d like this year to pan out, which is what makes today’s message so appropriate. Today we’re heading back into a sermon series known as “The Story,” a 31-week journey through God’s Word and we’ve come to a place in Scripture where living differently is the overarching theme. Throughout this sermon series, we’ve seen God call His people Israel and invite them to be His people. That’s what we mean by living differently, and that’s the journey we’re on: Becoming God’s people. If you have your Bibles…   How many of you like going to the doctor? I didn’t think so. I’m the same way. I’m grateful for doctors, but I try to avoid them like the plague, mostly beca