Passing Time Devotional

Invalid for 38 years, Jesus approaches a man who has been waiting around to be healed, but seemingly keeps missing the opportunity. When Jesus presents him with an opportunity to be made whole, the man instead replies with an excuse. How often do we look Jesus' promise right in the eye and instead of offering surrender, offer excuses?

Jesus displays the power of the gospel and our potential impact as disciples spreading that word in the world. Calling his first disciples Jesus beckons them (and us) to be fishers of men, but that comes at a cost. The disciples walked away from their livelihoods, their families, and their comfort zones to follow Jesus, trusting God to provide the whole time. If we are to be true disciples of His word, we too must lay down all we have for him and make Jesus our first priority.

Sometimes we approach Jesus not really looking for an answer, but instead just want to be commended with how we're living our life. This encounter with Jesus goes along those lines - an encounter with Jesus is a radical life experience, leaving ones priorities completely flipped upside down, that is unless it doesn't. Unwilling to put Jesus above the things that the rich young man has deemed so important he leaves this encounter with Christ sad, when instead he could have left fulfilled and changed forever. Is your approach to Jesus the same?

She was ostracized in society, and went out of her way to avoid the crowd. Jesus see's through the social climate, and speaks to her heart. There is so much happening in this passage that crescendos to Jesus revealing that He indeed is the Messiah.

Jesus responds to acts of faith no matter of big or small. Today we see a story of two people who encounter Jesus and see him respond to their acts of faith. Jesus, and only Jesus is the one to turn to in their respective situations - which begs the question do we respond to life the same way? Do we seek encounters with Jesus filled with faith in our hearts or just long shots of hope?

Is media a blessing or a curse? How easy is it to become distracted by the numerous ways to entertain ourselves? Is your time being spent on the things that really matter? David writes in the Psalms that to gain wisdom one must number their days. As we wrap our series on media consumption we explore how much of our time is devoted to media, and if that time is well spent and worth it.

The internet truly has ushered in a new age of information. All the knowledge in the world is at our fingertips. But what can also be a wonderful place of data, information, and the trade of wisdom and knowledge can breed misinformation. In a environment where opinions often trumps facts, and a platform for just about anyone to have a voice (regardless if that voice is qualified, competent, or even correct) our digital landscape is potentially filled with pitfalls.

Music is a very powerful media in society. There are so many different genres, interpretations, and ways for us to consume music. Entire decades can be defined by the style of music that was popular at that time. Even in our Christian community music can be a powerful experience, and also divide congregations. So how do we as Christians approach music as we encounter it in our daily lives? Is the Christian music industry a great vessel for the gospel, or just in it for profits? zer discuss all that and more as we continue our series navigating media.

Today we continue our conversation on screen time and media consumption. Where as Christians do we draw the line? Is there even a line at all? How does Netflix, TV programming, and movies fit into the Christian life? We'll discuss all that and more.

Today we're starting a new series taking a look at media intake, and entertainment options for Christians. How do we navigate our media choices? What are the Christian options compared to the secular options, and do they even compare in quality and value? We'll be leaning on Connor's movie "expertise" as we talk movies and screen time today in part one of our discussion on screen time.

How can death be considered a gain, a good thing? Paul's famous words from Philippians can seem almost extreme for some people. Is he really only suggesting that the only real reason for living is Jesus and we actually gain more in death? Today we'll explore Paul's words in our conclusion of the "Stuff Paul Said" series.

God is more interested in saving humanity than he is in showering us with material blessings. Paul warns Timothy of these false teachers in his church, who are preaching an easy gospel and have their eyes fixed on profit. But this warning doesn't just apply to Timothy, but extends to us as well.

Being a follower of Christ has it's privileges, and it's not just to ensure where we go when we die. God's love is so powerful that it impacts our lives on earth as well! This also means that there is nothing powerful enough to separate us from that love.

Being thankful, no matter the circumstance isn't just a suggestion God makes to us. It his His will in our life that we maintain a thankful attitude. This is obviously easier said than done, but is essential to our daily Christian walk. So today we'll look to Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and talk how we can live a life of thankfulness.

Do you consider yourself a masterpiece? You should! Today we'll dive into Paul's words in the second chapter Ephesians Paul says because of Christ Jesus we are indeed a masterpiece. Sometimes we undervalue ourselves, and often don't think ourselves worthy to carry such a title. Today we discuss exactly why we truly are a masterpiece.

Are you a people pleaser? What other people think of us can often have a very profound effect on our behavior. When we seek to please people and mold our identity to what people expect of us, we run the real risk of living a life displeasing to God. Are you more concerned of fitting in with the world around you or fitting into the life God calls us to live? We’ll dive into Galatians 1:10 as we explore these words of Paul.

In Romans 5:8 Paul tells us that Jesus died while we were still sinners. So often we find the need to sort of clean ourselves up before we come to Christ. Or we try to strike things out on our own and convince ourselves that what we do on our own is good enough. This couldn't be further from the truth. No matter what we do we fall short of God's expectations. There is a clear need for someone to intervene and save us from our ways.

The apostle Paul had some pretty important things to say. Responsible for almost half of the New Testament, Paul is arguably the most important voice for the Christian faith next to Jesus. From ruthless persecutor of Christians to one of the most outspoken proponents, Paul's word are nothing short of revolutionary.

Weather we like to admit it or not, we're all conforming to some sort of standard in our life. Weather it's to belong to a organization, social circle, or maintain an image we adhere to the unwritten rules to belong. Paul cautions us not to conform to the world, but instead be transformed by Gods word. So the question we must ask, am I conforming to what the world wants, or to what God wants?

Grief, whatever the source is an inevitability in our life. So how do we as Christians handle grief? Is it ok for us to mourn? How does God feel when we experience grief? We'll explore scriptures to answer these questions and compare how Christians experience grief versus how the world does.

Pride goes before the fall. Today we look at how pride can impact our lives and what truths scripture speaks to it. We'll take a look at how it may have impacted one of the most infamous individuals in the bible, and what insights God's word provides us to avoid it's pitfalls.

Have you, or someone you know ever been prone to "flying off the handle?" How are we as Christians suppose to handle anger when we encounter it in our lives? On one hand we're told to be meek and mild, to be slow to anger and to watch our tongue. But throughout scripture we can see examples of God showing his anger, and Jesus doing things like overturning the money changers tables in the temple. Whats a believer to do when we feel anger in our lives?

Joy is a crucial part of the Christian experience, and sometimes it can be overlooked. It can often be easy to fixate on our own brokenness and our desire to have God fix it and restore us. But that ends up putting all of the focus on us, and not God. Joy is evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and is something that should be central to our state of being.

Apathy is easy, it's indifference and doesn't require much from the person. No need to take a stand or put your neck out on the line. It's also toxic for our faith. We'll turn to Jesus' word in Revelation where he rebukes a church for their apathy. But if we find ourselves in a place of apathy how do we fight it? Where do we turn and how can we break the cycle?

Anxiety and worry have seemingly reached epidemic levels. Basically everyone has experienced anxiety to a certain level - including Jesus. Today we'll take a look at the Garden in Gethsemane where we get the chance to see Jesus' human side. We'll talk our experiences, and how the word speaks to this emotion.

Have you ever been frustrated with yourself or even God? It might be safe to say that all of us have been there, and we're not alone. At some point in our faith walk we might find ourselves sort of spinning our tires, stuck somewhere, or just not getting the answers or discernment we feel that we need. In 2nd Corinthians Paul pleads with God three times to remove what He described as a "thorn in his side" - but God doesn't respond in the way Paul asks. So how should we respond to frustration when we're just not seeing what we want to see?

Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham. But for a good portion of His life that didn't seem to be the case. God made a promise with Abraham and then seemingly took his sweet time to deliver. How do you respond when you become impatient with God? Despite Abraham's short comings God was still faithful to him, and followed through on His promise. We might not be a person of the same magnitude as an Abraham, or any of these "big time" biblical people. But God's character is the same for us as it was for them. Despite our shortcomings, impatience, and rebellion God is true to His word and true to us.

Joseph was the favorite son and His Father gave him one heck of a robe to show it. Joseph found himself in some pretty rough situations. From his brothers considering murdering him, eventually selling him into slavery, winding up in jail, and remarkably in the service of Pharaoh. Regardless of his situation Joseph trusted fully in God.

The Israelite's have crossed into the promise land, but there is a problem. Someone else is already there. The first imposing task is attacking the fortified city of Jericho. There they would find help from an unlikely source, encounter a commander of God's army (with whose alliances they are unsure about) and execute a very unconventional battle plan.

King David is arguably one of the most popular characters in the Old Testament, and therefore is covered pretty strongly in Sunday School. this story however isn't exactly the best for little ears, but it's a turning point in his life. David's encounter with Bathsheba is the perfect picture of how sin works in our life. The more we dive into it, the number we become.

The little shepherd boy versus the Philistine giant. For many the story of David and Goliath is the quintessential Sunday school story. Today we're taking a look at the life of young David, anointed by God to become King. David trusted God, and put him first in all things. A man after God's own heart it was his faith that enabled him to slay the giant. But was it quite the underdog story that we we've come to know it as?

God uses broken people. That's one of the amazing things about who he is. We don't need to be perfect for him to use us. Samson is easily a very broken person, and yet God still uses him to complete his will. Today we'll be looking at the story of the old testament strong man, in all of his weakness, and all of God's glory

Exiled from his homeland as a teen, forced to serve a foreign king, living in a land of pagans and idols. Daniel stays true to his faith while faithfully serving and excelling in his vocation. Daniel in the lions den is a "classic" Sunday school bible lesson, we can still see the felt board story unfold. But beneath all that felt and smiling, happy lions is a rich and challenging story. How would you respond in Daniels situation?

A wee little man was he, climbed a sycamore tree to see what he could see. The story of Zacchaeus is one that tends to remain in the world of "sunday school story". It's got a cute song, and some comedic flair with the stature of the small chief tax collector. But the interaction between Zacchaeus and Jesus is profound and deep. It can challenges us not only to check our priorities, but to also reflect on our, and t he churches reaction to broken an lost people; like Zaccaeus in our lives.

We're headed back to Sunday School! The book of Jonah is often taught in Sunday School class rooms with a lot of focus placed on the whale. But what are we missing? Though it's a short book in the bible, Jonah is a very deep piece of scripture. We'll dive into the themes, the mind of Jonah, and some history behind the story. Turns out its way more than a story about some dude that stays in a fish for three days...

We're going old school (kind of). We've come a long way since the contemporary revival of the 70's and 80's. To close out our series "That's My Jam" we're taking a look at the Matt Redmond Song "The Heart Of Worship". Worship isn't about us, even though we can often treat it that way. Sometimes it can morph into a consumer experience, instead of being what God wants it to be. The Heart Of Worship challenges us to check our heart and our priorities when we come to God in worship.

How do we respond to brokenness and dust in our lives? God promises to take our brokenness and make us whole, which is what the Song “Beautiful Things” explores. When we findouselves in a place darkness and brokenness, God’s promises restoration and healing. We explore the lyrics and background of this song and talk about our own experiences of seeing God make beautiful things from our dust.

Part one of back to back Connor picks! Tenth Avenue North heavily influenced both Shawn and Connor when they first began listening to contemporary Christian music. By Your Side is a song for people who feel like "mess ups", and like they might not be enough. It's sung from the perspective of Jesus to speak truth and life into our lives.

God loved us even when we were still sinners. Even when we considered him our enemy, he loved us. You Loved Me Anyway, written by Sidewalk Prophets explores God's amazing, undeserving love for us. Some may not want to turn to God because they feel the need to "clean themselves us first", or that "God can't love me after the things I've done." But as this song expresses not only does God love us at our very worst, there is simply nothing we can do that can separate his love from us.

Today we're discussing a song that has shot up the Christian song charts since it's Debut. Reckless Love, written by Cory Asbury is a powerful song of the lengths God is willing to go to show his love for mankind. There has been some kickback as to weather the word "reckless" should be used to describe anything about God, and some congregations will not play the song in worship services.

This week we're continuing or discussion of our favorite Christian songs with Connor's first pick of the series. Jon Foreman is the lead singer of the band Switchfoot and also does his own solo work. Jon wrote a song called "Your Love Is Strong" on an EP called "Spring". We discuss what the song means to us, how scripture speaks through it and some of our insights of the lyrics.

We're starting a new series! We love music, and it plays such a vital role in our worship and lives that we felt compelled to share our favorite worship and Christian songs with you. This episode we'll be discussing All Sons and Daughters song "All The Poor And Powerless".

We're wrapping up our Dear Church series with the letter to Laodicea. Laodicea was the wealthiest of the seven churches who received letters. They were the banking capitol of the area, had a booming garment trade, and manufactured a high sought after eye salve. But for all their wealth and comfort they had a few serious problems. Their water supply was disgusting, and unpalatable. Jesus  uses these circumstances to speak truth to the lukewarm congregation.

The city of brotherly love, but not the one your thinking of. Today we're continuing our Dear Church series as we progress through the letters Jesus wrote to the seven churches in Asia minor. As we look into the letter we'll discuss the meaning behind it, community as a body of believers, and what it means to be weak.

As we continue our look at the seven letters written to the churches of Asia Minor we find ourselves with a bit of a "walking dead" situation. Sardis was a church perched high atop an acropolis that had good deeds and felt safe, but Jesus has other things to say.  How do we speak truth in our world today, and how does this letter apply to the modern church?

In addition to butchering the pronunciation of the city, today we'll discuss the letter to Thyatira. Thyatira was a working class city that most of us could relate to, but it posed a problem for Christians living and working in the city. A familiar, infamous name from the Old Testament makes an appearance, and we talk about if the lessons learned from this letter can even apply to us today.

False teachings, the throne of Satan, a double edge sword, and some interesting historical twists. We continue our "Dear Church" series with the letter written to the church of Pergamum. We'll be discussing what all this means and if any of it is relevant to the church today.

Today we continue our "Dear Church" series with the letter addressed to the Church of Smyrna. Smyrna is unique in that there is no correction or rebuke as with the other churches who received letters (with one exception). We'll look into the circumstances surrounding the church and talk about persecution and how it affects us today.

Today we start a new series called "Dear Church". We'll be looking at the letters that Jesus wrote (during John's Revelation) to seven churches in Asia Minor. Today we look at the first letter written to the Church of Ephesus. Jesus commends the church for their hard work and perseverance, but rebukes them for forgetting that the church was their "first love". We discuss what it means to make the church your first love, and how we as Christians should examine the world  through the lens of Christ first, before anything else.

In the series finale of FAQs we discuss the question "How is Christianity different from other religions?" This topic will tie in much of what we talked about throughout our series.  Is there really that big of a difference? Don't all religions just lead eventually to God? We talk about all these things and more.

Out with the old and in with the new, right? What is the point of reading the Old Testament if we have a new one? Is the Old Testament even relevant in our modern lives? As we continue our discussion of frequently asked questions that are encountered in Christianity we turn our attention to the first thirty nine books of the bible and talk about the relevance is has in our lives.