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Archive for the ‘Christ’ Category

A Message Worth Your Time

Posted in Christ on June 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I witnessed a sermon this week that touched me deeply and answered in the best way I have ever seen, some of the most troubling, frequent questions about faith. It covers how God’s sovereignty, man’s freedom, and our prayers all work together.

I determined it needed a larger audience, so I am pointing you directly to it here:

🎥 Watch the Full Message: Community of Faith YouTube Channel

Key Topics Covered:

Why Pray If God Already Knows? Understanding that God ordains both the ends and the means. Prayer isn’t about twisting His arm; it’s a primary vehicle He uses to act, allowing us to align our hearts with His unchangeable grand design.

God is Absolutely Sovereign: How God completely governs history from outside of time, meaning nothing catches Him by surprise (Isaiah 46:9–10, Daniel 4:35).

Humans Are Truly Free: The crucial distinction between autonomy (self-governance apart from God) and free will (our capacity to make real, accountable choices) (Deuteronomy 30:19).

How They Intersect: The mystery of how a sovereign God seamlessly weaves our real, free choices—even our disobedience—into His master plan to accomplish His ultimate good (e.g., Joseph’s story and the Cross).

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When Forgiveness is Impossible

Posted in Christ, Cross, Forgiveness, Holy Spirit, tagged , on May 31, 2026| Leave a Comment »

We’ve all heard the classic lines from the Sermon on the Mount:

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

It sounds straightforward on paper, but life gets messy. What happens when someone burns your life to the ground? What do you do when the hurt runs so deep that looking inside yourself for an ounce of forgiveness yields absolutely nothing? Are you just stuck in a loop of bitterness, locked out of God’s grace because you can’t fake a smile and move on?

Here is the twist: You aren’t supposed to find that power inside yourself.

God Made the First Move

When you are trapped in even justified anger, God doesn’t stand over you demanding you fix your attitude on your own. He already stepped in.

“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:6–10, NKJV)

Notice the timeline here. Christ didn’t wait for us to clean up our act, apologize, or become inherently loving people. He died for us while we were still “without strength,” while we were still sinners, and while we were actively operating as His enemies.

Inside-Out Transformation

If you are stuck in unforgiveness today, stop trying to force a feeling you don’t have. Instead, hand that broken, resentful space over to Jesus.

When you invite Him into those dark corners, He doesn’t just give you a set of rules—He gives you His Spirit. He physically moves into your heart and starts changing your emotions and your will from the inside out in ways you can’t engineer on your own. He provides the love for people you are completely incapable of loving by your own strength.

As Romans 5 points out, God’s love is poured directly into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us in Christ.

You don’t have to muster up the strength to forgive today. You just have to let the One who already forgave you take the wheel.

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The Ultimate Plot Twist: Under New Management

Posted in Christ on May 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Ever feel like the Old Testament’s warnings clash with the grace we preach today? You aren’t imagining it. A fundamental shift happened when Jesus changed the game.

Look at how Scripture addresses breaking out of destructive traps. In the Old Testament, the warnings about falling into reckless living sound final and permanent:

Proverbs 2:19 “None who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life.”

Sounds like game over. But then you flip to the New Testament, and Paul drops this on believers who used to live completely messy lives:

1 Corinthians 6:11 “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

Is it a flat-out contradiction? No. They are simply speaking to entirely different groups of people.

To make sense of the Bible, you must understand who is being addressed. Scripture divides humanity into three distinct groups (1 Cor 10:32):

  1. The Jews (Under the Mosaic Covenant)
  2. The Greeks (Non-Jews)
  3. The Church (Those born again in Christ)

The Law of Moses is holy, but its purpose was to serve as a mirror showing humanity its need for a Savior. Jesus lived under that Law, fulfilled it perfectly, died, and rose again to establish an entirely new covenant.

When you are “In Christ,” you leave the old jurisdiction behind. You aren’t bound by a dead contract; you are empowered by a living presence.

Walk in that freedom today.

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