March 30th, 2022 | 7:11am
A foggy Wednesday with 45 degree early morning brisk. It's an earlier morning for me with the sound of the dumpster trucks picking up the neighborhood trash competing with the sound of my flickering candle…
This has been an exhausting week for me. Many of you know the struggle I’ve been having lately with my body, but yet this morning there’s a calm and a peace and a centering I have with Jesus. I’m so thankful….
My hope is to record/preach Part 3 tomorrow. (Thursday). We will see how long my body holds up today, but that’s the aim. I’m so energized about this sermon, because it truly does represent the most important sermon of the series. My singular desire alone is to be a faithful teacher and preacher every minute of that sermon. Would you pray for and towards that?
But alas, for us to church, we head towards Part 2 this Sunday. (No skipping steps right!). You know, I’m probably most eager to get together on Sunday because we get the joy of experiencing God’s words together in our garage sanctuary set up. I just love our little set up! Noah will be leading us in communion as Vanessa strums beautiful melodies and we all get to be in God’s presence….together.
And with all the talks of the negative side of technology, I so appreciate it for times like Sunday. Because from every direction we will have cameras on, inviting our beloved Zoom community members into sanctuary that can’t yet be with us. (Raymond, Briana, and Leilani your time is coming though! Hang in there!)
My hope is to record/preach Part 3 tomorrow. (Thursday). We will see how long my body holds up today, but that’s the aim. I’m so energized about this sermon, because it truly does represent the most important sermon of the series. My singular desire alone is to be a faithful teacher and preacher every minute of that sermon. Would you pray for and towards that?
But alas, for us to church, we head towards Part 2 this Sunday. (No skipping steps right!). You know, I’m probably most eager to get together on Sunday because we get the joy of experiencing God’s words together in our garage sanctuary set up. I just love our little set up! Noah will be leading us in communion as Vanessa strums beautiful melodies and we all get to be in God’s presence….together.
And with all the talks of the negative side of technology, I so appreciate it for times like Sunday. Because from every direction we will have cameras on, inviting our beloved Zoom community members into sanctuary that can’t yet be with us. (Raymond, Briana, and Leilani your time is coming though! Hang in there!)
This morning my devotion time took me to Job 37:19-24.
Would you turn there with me for a quick read?
[Do It Now]
Would you turn there with me for a quick read?
[Do It Now]
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OK thanks for reading….
Now these are the closing words from Elihu as we prepare to hear from God in the Book of Job in the next chapter. But as we hear these last words from Elihu, what we see is that he basically refuses to confront God as if he knows better than God and what God is doing. Instead these verses illustrate a picture of God’s Power, majesty, and authority, and sovereignty. It shows us that the only rightful response to God is respect and reverence and amazement and trust in Him and His wisdom; and definitely not our own. In the earlier chapters, we get to see some of the purposes God has in our suffering. It’s not a comfortable read, but it’s an important read for us to understand as Christians. And in those chapters we learn that sometimes God uses suffering to teach us things; so we can learn to rely on Him. And yet we also learned that sometimes God uses suffering to bring us to repentance. These are just two of many learnings you can pull from earlier chapter 30’s. But here in Job 37, I believe we see the ultimate purpose of God using suffering. Namely ~ that God uses suffering to lead us to see Him as the ultimate reward; even beyond the best things this world has to offer. Because Elihu is saying that in the end God will show Himself to be worthy for those who believe in Him. So I want to encourage anyone who is walking through a difficult season…or may be struggling right now to seek God as your reward today OK? Trust God as your reward. He is The One who is worthy of your trust and worthy of your worship. Even when things are falling apart, He is loving and He is great and He specifically cares for you. |
So God we pray for this perspective in our lives. We want to see you as better than the things of this world put together. We want to see you as better than health and wealth and comfort. You are even better than the people we love the most. You are actually infinitely better God. So give us this perspective. Help us to see the reward that is found in You alone. Even when we lose everything on this earth that we love, help us to see You as the eternal gain that is unshakable. We want to join You, Jesus. So teach us in our sufferings and teach us in our sufferings to trust You so that we might persevere. It’s because of You beautiful name displayed in Job 37 that we pray Amen.
Wasn’t that a good time in God’s word?
I’m hoping and praying for something similar in your leadership calls this week. Hopefully some of you get to engage with those conversations today or tomorrow. If you haven’t started your Growth Chart, do it today please. Because we’re four days away from our next corporate encounter with God. And I can’t wait. Until the next time,
Desiring and hoping for the best part of you to thrive in Jesus,
Pastor Brandon
Desiring and hoping for the best part of you to thrive in Jesus,
Pastor Brandon
March 28th, 2022 | 9:00am
A rainy Monday with 52 degree weather and the sounds of my kids in the next room chirping away and my wife leading meetings at The Bible Project...
On January 22nd, I released my first sermon of the new year titled: “The Called Vs. The Crowd.” And ever since then, God has been tugging on my heart for you and the rest of this church…more than you know. You see:
My desire is to see our church grow into a people group who are driven by Jesus’ love and therefore are kingdomly-active because of our love for Jesus in a way that is filled with Christian joy and excitement for the life He has called us to live.
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In addition, this entire season of our church home is an important building block for us towards what I firmly believe God has for the ministry of Redemption City Church. And I believe some…not all…but some of those who attend RCC will feel called to help reestablish RCC into the beautiful Gospel-community it is meant to be. And all of this starts with each individual here making a decision about their relationship with Jesus. You know, The Called vs The Crowd type stuff. And the Redemptive Christianity Series we are in, LITERALLY is the river that I believe we must travel on to get internally where we need to be to do the external ministry God has set before us. And that means we must deal with those moral lenses that plague our hearts in a real way.
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In Part 1 of this series, I introduced the concept of how many Christians approach Christianity from the moral lens as opposed to the redemptive lens. This concept is both huge and damning to more of us than we probably realize. And that’s why we dedicated these past two weeks to discuss it.
And then yesterday, we had our final UGrow Service as we prepare to head into Part 2 of this series this upcoming Sunday, April 3rd. (Don’t miss this date). Therefore, this week is our LAST opportunity to work out our faith surrounding the moral and redemptive lens. So with that being said, here are 2 Key Reasons that you should NOT MISS this Sunday from 10am to 1:30pm:
And then yesterday, we had our final UGrow Service as we prepare to head into Part 2 of this series this upcoming Sunday, April 3rd. (Don’t miss this date). Therefore, this week is our LAST opportunity to work out our faith surrounding the moral and redemptive lens. So with that being said, here are 2 Key Reasons that you should NOT MISS this Sunday from 10am to 1:30pm:
#1 - Because This Is A Staircase Series.
Unlike our DNA Series, this series is building an intentional conversation in a way where each sermon intimately interplays with the sermon behind it and ahead of it. And the goal is to arrive at the “second floor” of your relationship with Jesus that is more freeing and fulfilling than it is burdensome and empty. So skipping or missing a sermon stair really sets you up to greatly stumble along the way. Remember, the intention of the series is to treat us all to be the same; namely ~ as people who are starting with “The Basics” of Christianity. So rather we are beginning a relationship with Jesus or returning to our foundations with Jesus (which may be some people’s true beginning they never had in the first place), we’re all starting with a humble “1st floor” approach to Jesus, faith, authority, life, and beyond. Therefore, this Sunday is the second step on the staircase to a relationship with Jesus that both makes sense and is worth living for.
#2 - Because This Upcoming Sermon Is What You Need
Now, I won’t say this sermon is going to be what everyone wants to hear or explore on Sunday. That would be very naïve of me. However, I am confident that April 3rd is what you need; no matter who you are. Listen, all of our pain points in life and walk with God stem from two key…largely unresolved places in our hearts:
Unresolved Place #1:
What actually drives our Christian life? (faith, shame, sin, LOVE, gratitude, affirmation, fear etc.)
Unresolved Place #2:
What we actually believe and how we operate out of that belief regarding God and The Bible.
In the Part 1, we began a conversation about Unresolved Place #1. This upcoming weekend, we begin our first discussion on Unresolved Place #2. And boy, do we need to have this step. Because for some of you, it will be a conversation about the deep holes in your cup of faith and lack of understanding that needs plugging. For others, it will be a refreshing stabilizer to enhance your strength. And yet, FOR ALL of us, it will be an opportunity to learn our distinctives here at RCC; while simultaneously gaining the internal tools needed to be productive as a disciple of Christ sent out in a world with multitudinous belief systems.
So we will walk up and down these unresolved places of our stairway for a couple more sermons and then bring it all together. After that, we will begin walking up the stairs of the very redemptive foundations our lives need to be tethered to; to not only last as Christians but to actually thrive. (And things are prayer, service, solitude, community, fasting, generosity, rest, and beyond) But none of those stair steps will be “functional” if our staircase has cracks and structural misalignments at its base. And if we’re being honest, some of those stairs won’t even be operational in our lives at all.
So think of Part 2 this Sunday as the next “structural integrity sermon” that will hold up all those incredible stairs that lead us to the 2nd floor of our faith and life with Jesus that I mentioned above in the color teal. This Sunday is literally the sermon that sets us up for Part 3 on May 1st; which will be the MOST IMPORTANT SERMON of the series. And for some of us...it will be the most important sermon of our lives...
Therefore, this upcoming Sunday matters.
3 Final Instructions:
I’ll reach out soon in this format again…
With Genuine Love That Is Unforced,
Pastor Brandon
Unresolved Place #1:
What actually drives our Christian life? (faith, shame, sin, LOVE, gratitude, affirmation, fear etc.)
Unresolved Place #2:
What we actually believe and how we operate out of that belief regarding God and The Bible.
In the Part 1, we began a conversation about Unresolved Place #1. This upcoming weekend, we begin our first discussion on Unresolved Place #2. And boy, do we need to have this step. Because for some of you, it will be a conversation about the deep holes in your cup of faith and lack of understanding that needs plugging. For others, it will be a refreshing stabilizer to enhance your strength. And yet, FOR ALL of us, it will be an opportunity to learn our distinctives here at RCC; while simultaneously gaining the internal tools needed to be productive as a disciple of Christ sent out in a world with multitudinous belief systems.
So we will walk up and down these unresolved places of our stairway for a couple more sermons and then bring it all together. After that, we will begin walking up the stairs of the very redemptive foundations our lives need to be tethered to; to not only last as Christians but to actually thrive. (And things are prayer, service, solitude, community, fasting, generosity, rest, and beyond) But none of those stair steps will be “functional” if our staircase has cracks and structural misalignments at its base. And if we’re being honest, some of those stairs won’t even be operational in our lives at all.
So think of Part 2 this Sunday as the next “structural integrity sermon” that will hold up all those incredible stairs that lead us to the 2nd floor of our faith and life with Jesus that I mentioned above in the color teal. This Sunday is literally the sermon that sets us up for Part 3 on May 1st; which will be the MOST IMPORTANT SERMON of the series. And for some of us...it will be the most important sermon of our lives...
Therefore, this upcoming Sunday matters.
3 Final Instructions:
- Please do your growth chart. We’ve simplified this week’s edition even more. Prioritize it. Here it is: CLICK HERE
- Invest into your phone call meeting. Make it count.
- Come back to this pastoral exhortation page periodically this week to remind your heart…it will do your heart good.
I’ll reach out soon in this format again…
With Genuine Love That Is Unforced,
Pastor Brandon
