Refuge Church - Lynnwood, WA

Jesus REX: Pastor James looks at Christ's provocative, declarative adult ministry and how it underscores the imperative nature of the gospel and the absolute monarchy of God.

How do we practically love Jesus, who did everything for - and needs nothing from - us? We find a key expression in Jesus' restorative conversation with Peter: to love the HEAD of the church, we must love His BODY.

Pastor James examines how John the Baptist relates to Jesus, and how at Jesus' baptism we see an amazing glimpse of the Trinity, opening the door to a conversation about what and who God IS and ISN'T.

Lights or Lit... Pastor James looks at the jarring entry of John the Baptist in scripture and what it tells us about the gospel message, God's Kingdom, and our attitude toward "Turn or Burn" preaching.

In our year-long series through the Book of Matthew, Pastor James looks at scripture and Shakespeare… how Macbeth and Herod share some ugly traits, and yet God sovereignly uses everything to fulfill his loving promises. Also, we're not as far...

The birth of Jesus in Matthew shows us an historical event grounded in reality and marked by faithfulness. The visit of the Magi also demonstrates our proper response of prostration before our Lord and Savior.

As we begin our year-long series through the Book of Matthew, Pastor James invites us to consider why genealogies in the Bible are actually extremely teachable moments about how God works, interacts with his people, and how we can trust Him.

In 1 Peter 4:8-11 Pastor James calls attention to Peter's practical, tangible, actionable definition of "love"... from our hospitality to our words and deeds. Are we going to live these out in 2022?

Pastor James finishes our Advent series showing how scripture reforms our view of "soul" and "strength" in terms of how we're called to love and live for Jesus.

What does LOVE actually mean according the Word of God? What did "heart" mean to the Jewish hearer in Deuteronomy 6? In our third week of Advent, Ben Keller expands on these keywords in what it means to love our LORD with all our heart.

In our second Advent Sermon on the Shema, we look at the term "LORD" and how it's special meaning impacts the manger and magnitude of what happened Christmas Day.

All Shema For Christmas part one: Shema means hear... but what does it truly mean to HEAR? Pastor James looks at the Nativity - and our lives today - through God's great and timeless commandment.

Paul instructs Titus that loving Christ's people sometimes means cutting ties with toxic persons (as Jesus taught and cautioned). We finish with chapter 3's exhortation and rebuke, wrapped around good news for all who hear and believe.

Titus 2 - wherein we look at how our conduct as different demographics of believers directly impacts the world's view of our "doctrine"... a word that sometimes has a strange reception and connotation - even amongst Christians - for which we may...

High Calling, Holy Warning - we begin Paul's letter to Titus with a crash course in what it means to be a Christian, a church leader, and how out greatest threat is not from "the world" so much as those within distorting and claiming a false...

We come to an END of our series in Exodus on the Tabernacle, with the crowning application of God's glory and a look at how he fills and fulfills in Christ the needs of His people for the purposes of His glory.

The Big Setup - wherein we see how a moment of space tourism might parallel the gospel, and how the Lord's Servant sets up and accomplishes God's plan for dwelling with his people.

Meticulous Tent(s) - wherein we look at the precision and care in which God's people worked on his tabernacle of old, and how that may apply to our work on God's "tent" - or tents? - today. What IS God's tent anyway?

"You Have Your Orders" - we transition from tabernacle instructions to what God commands and asks from His people, then and now. Some things - like God - never change!

We take a break from our journey through the tabernacle design in Exodus to look at creating our own false version of god: both by God's people in Moses' time and a VERY imminent distortion we face in 2021.

God knows our name, has our number, knows what we can do, and has plans for us. Pastor James explores the specific and broad points of being God's crafted craftsmen.

Member/guest preacher Jonathan Schultz shares his personal testimony, and then examines how this passage illuminates a God of order, specificity, provision and more.

The Bronze Basin: Ben Keller reflects on the purpose of symbols - and cymbals - as we understand the significance of being cleansed before a holy and righteous God.

This Sunday we paused to take spiritual inventory of our prayer lives and see how God would have us grow in this vital Christian discipline.

Pastor James looks at how what seems like a census and an offering in Exodus tie into deep themes of redemption and worship for the people of God.

Pastor James explains how God predates our attempts at multi-sensory learning experience by using all the senses - including smell - in the Book of Exodus to teach important things about how we approach and interact with our Creator and Lord.

From Smelling to Dwelling: Elder Ben Keller looks at the daily offerings detailed for the people of Israel and what it symbolized for them, and us, and should regularly remind us of in terms of our God and salvation.

There Will Be Blood: Pastor James addresses our "bloody Bible" and how we need to understand Old Testament practices, how they point to Jesus, and why we must not downplay the "messy" parts of the Bible

We look at what God's High Priests (and priests) wore, with some reflection on CHRIST and what WE wear!

Pastor James talks about how just two short verses and a little thing like olive oil can have rich significance for God's people in relation to God, Jesus, and who we are in Him.

The Problem with #PRIDE Pastor James takes a long, hard look at the biblical problem of building a month, a movement or ANYTHING positive on a foundation of PRIDE, regardless of application, as it stands antithetical to God's Word and the gospel...

Instead of a winking "santa-god" who exists to be nice to us, the altar of the tabernacle depicts the stark reality that we are separated from God and in danger of unending fire... apart from a substitute for the penalty of death hanging over our...

God's Courtyard: in which we discuss the symbolic significance of the Tabernacle Courtyard, and how in Christ God's courtyard has even wider dimensions and sweeping ramifications under the covenant of grace.

Curtains for You: Where we look at the tabernacle tent itself and how it's construction shows us a microcosm of the kingdom and how God dwells with and relates to His people.

The Tabernacle Lampstand The lampstand shed literal light in the otherwise dark tabernacle tent, but shed even more important figurative light on the identity and work and mission of Israel's future Messiah.

Bread of the Presence: in which we look at a table design and a bread recipe that points to God's saving work in Jesus Christ and the sacrament we partake of in remembrance.

The Over/Under: God's design of the Ark of the Covenant visually illustrates what grace will look like when our Savior comes, and precisely where and how... and yet before and after Christ, we keep placing our bets above and below that perfect place...

The Shape of Things to Come: we begin our study of The Tabernacle in Exodus, looking at how it foreshadows the Savior we love, and in this first passage how God's people - then and now - are called to radical generosity.

Pastor James looks at myths, metaphors, and mistakes when it comes to understanding the biblical reality of "Christ Alone".

More than one famous Christian has tried to earn their salvation. Ben Keller explains why their efforts failed in his explanation of Sola Gratia - salvation by grace alone.

Why is it important that faith is alone? Pastor James explores how God is both the just, and the justifier, in our salvation.

Pastor James shares how a courtroom drama, the Protestant Reformation, or a fictional hero's journey can help us understand why we need Holy Scripture as our foundation, but that ultimately how and why we rely on it comes from the fact that God's...

In our Easter message, we back up to the Passover meal and see what was on Jesus' plate, both in terms of Exodus symbolism but how it fed meaning into what Christ did for us that glorious weekend.

A timely discussion for the Church (and our church) as we emerge from the last year of pandemic dread, and escalating fears of talking and living like a Christian.

What Fears, False Identities, dividing lines, earthly entanglements and sin are keeping you from growth in Christ and godly transformation? As we emerge from a year of pandemic, it's time to assess and renew.

Holy, Holy, Holy: what do a wedding, Y2K, and a blockbuster movie have to do with our Lord's reign? And when we say God is "set apart" what does that mean? Set apart from what exactly? And what does that mean for us? We finish our Psalms series by...

Choral Commands and Poetic Postulates... in which we see God's desire for his people to sing, and how this psalm inspired one of my most-sung joy-filled hymns in the world.

1997 serves up a hot plate of molten, mountainous imagery that bears careful consideration because, as we learn from Psalm 97: it really happened.

Ark De Triumph - this uplifting psalm connects us to a triumphal entry and the corresponding, undeniable public passion that should be part of a believer's life.

Not only is this psalm strange to our poetic senses by going from good to worse, its content directs us back into Old Testament history and then pulls us forward to see New Testament repercussions: it's an incredible journey one song takes us across...

Whatabout Jesus? In an era of dismissive debate tactics in everything from politics to personal relationships, Christians must be careful not to jump on bandwagon terms and outright denunciations. Pastor James looks at "whataboutism" and how we...