January 31, 2012
"The gospel, applied to our hearts every day, frees us to be brutally honest with ourselves and with God. The assurance of His total forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ means we don't have to play defensive games anymore. We don't have to rationalize and excuse our sins. We can say we told a lie instead of saying we exaggerated a bit. We can admit an unforgiving spirit instead of continuing to blame our parents for our emotional distress. We can call sin exactly what it is, regardless of how ugly and shameful it may be, because we know that Jesus bore that sin in His body on the cross. With the assurance of total forgiveness through Christ, we have no reason to hide from our sins anymore."...
January 6, 2012
I'm at a season of life where it seems like it's time to slow down. Nothing is working quite right anymore. I need glasses for aging eyes and anti-inflammtories for aging joints. I forget names and what commonly used household gadgets are called. Solitude invites me to steal away (which I enjoy doing at times!) while a growing family and new church lovingly require me to get even busier than ever. The commercials say Benny and I should be anticipating retirement after all the years of being in the throes of parenting and pastoring. Sometimes I envy those who can....
December 21, 2014 | Category: Church Values | Tags: Redeemer Church, lake Nona, Lake Nona Church, Redeemer Church at Lake Nona, empathy, Ferguson, Michael Brown, incarnation, Christmas, Advent, Immanuel, Hands Up Don't Shoot
We are posting the opening of Jesse's sermon today, "The Empathy of the Incarnation." It drew on recent events to set up the notion that the only way to achieve true peace with friend or foe is through empathy, perfectly modeled for us by He who did not count equality with God something to be grasped. ...
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