Posts with the category “journey-to-jerusalem”

Pastor Rob explores what it means to live an open-handed life before God. Using the account of the Pharisees and Herodians attempting to trap Jesus with a question about the imperial tax, the sermon unpacks Jesus' famous response to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. The central theological argument is that because God owns everything (Psalm 24:1), human beings are not owners but stewards of all they have been given. The sermon challenges the natural human tendency to grasp and cling to possessions, power, status, and security, and calls believers to surrender those things with open hands, trusting that God will provide. The ultimate motivation for open-handed living is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who gave his life so that others could live, modeling the most complete act of generosity in history.  Read More

Drawing from Mark 11, Pastor Mike examines Jesus' disruption of the temple marketplace and the cursing of the fig tree, showing how Mark deliberately weaves these two events together to deliver a unified message. The temple, like the fig tree, projected the appearance of life and fruitfulness but failed to produce what God always intended: a place where people far from God could draw near and genuinely encounter Him. Jesus' anger was not reckless but calculated and righteous, rooted in zeal for God's purposes. The sermon calls the church to move beyond religious routine and activity toward authentic faith, prayer, and the extension of grace, warning that a lack of forgiveness and bitterness can block others from encountering God just as the temple's misuse blocked the Gentiles. The church, now understood as the gathered people of God indwelt by the Holy Spirit, must bear the fruit of genuine faith and grace so that those who are far off can come near and find what God always intended them to find.  Read More

Drawing from Mark 10:1-12, Pastor Mike addresses one of the most personally charged topics in both culture and the church — marriage and divorce. Rather than sidestepping the tension, he walks through the historical and religious context of the Pharisees' test of Jesus, explaining the competing rabbinic schools of thought that shaped the cultural attitude toward divorce in Jesus' day. He then follows Jesus past the debate entirely, back to the Genesis account of creation, where God himself designed and defined marriage as a covenant union — a fusion of two lives into one new "us." Pastor Mike is careful to acknowledge the complexity and pain that surrounds this topic, affirming that no one in the room is untouched by it. He challenges the congregation to adopt a countercultural, God-centered view of marriage while extending deep grace to those whose stories include divorce, remarriage, or broken relationships. The sermon closes with a strong declaration that because of the cross, no part of anyone's story is beyond the reach of God's grace, and that faithful obedience begins from wherever a person stands today.  Read More