If God loves us and accepts us by grace, why not live however you want? Anytime the gospel of grace is proclaimed, it will elicit this question. In this passage, Paul takes the question seriously, but essentially shows us that if we’re asking it, we don’t really understand the gospel. To help us, Paul takes us through three steps, from spiritual slavery, to spiritual life, to spiritual transformation.
We continue our series on the vision of CWE Church. In this parable, Jesus shows us the heart of the gospel. The gospel is the most surprising, counterintuitive religion in the world, precisely because it’s unlike every other religion in the world. How? Join us for this week’s episode.
What is the gospel? Obviously, it has something to do with Jesus. But beyond that, answers multiply pretty quickly. A common, popular answer is that Jesus was a great moral teacher who taught us to be good people. His death was an example of selfless love, and if we imitate his love, we’ll make the world a better place. But what if we could ask Jesus himself? In this passage, Jesus explains the gospel by exlaining the meaning of his death. Join us for the first episode of our new vision series!
The “Second Coming” is one of the main teachings of Jesus. What does it mean? And what should be our response? Is it passively waiting for Jesus to destroy the world and carry us away to heaven? Or something else? Jesus shows us the answers in this passage.
One of our biggest fears as human beings is FOBLO: Fear Of Being Left Out. We all want to live in a world where we are welcomed, wanted, and invited in. The question that Jesus is pressing on us, however, is not, “Do you want to live in a world where you are welcomed?” The question is, “Do you want to live in a world that welcomes people you would exclude?” What would such a world look like? How would we create such a world? And how is it even possible? Join us this week as Jesus shows us the surprising answer.
We have a lot of ideas about what true freedom is. The Bible says that freedom is not the absence of power over you, but having the the right power over you. What does this mean, and how does it happen? Join us as we continue our series on discipleship in the gospel of Luke.
In the “Travel Narrative” of Luke’s gospel, Jesus invites his followers on a spiritual journey. That sounds very appealing. What’s not so appealing is the amount of time Jesus spends talking about money. And yet we worry about money all the time. Jesus is showing us that we can’t really follow him on this spiritual journey unless we get honest about the deep spiritual problem we have with money. In this passage, he helps us face the problem and provides the remedy.
This passage offers us two challenges. First, Jesus calls his followers to persuade others to follow him (otherwise known as evangelism, and a definite no-no in our culture). Second, he addresses one of our deepest aspirations as humans: to be real, true, authentic selves. On the surface, those two things appear to have nothing to do with each other. But Jesus says they have everything to do with each other! How? Join us as we continue this series on following Jesus.
In moments of desperation, even the most skeptical people will very often find themselves praying to God for help. But when that desperate moment comes, do we know what to say? If you are going to ask God for help, then you need to know how to pray. In Luke 11, Jesus teaches us how to do just that. Join us as we continue our series on learning discipleship from Jesus.
There’s a difference between believing something is true, and experiencing it as real. For most of us, this world feels more real than anything, especially the daily pressures and demands of life. But Jesus says there’s a world beyond this world that’s infinitely more real. It’s called the Kingdom of God, and compared to it, this world is the dream world. In this passage, Jesus teaches us about the kingdom, and what it means to make the kingdom real to others.
The idea of life as a journey of transformation is one of the most instinctive, enduring, and compelling ideas in in our lives. The middle section of the gospel of Luke (known as “The Travel Narrative” or “Journey to Jerusalem”) is just such a journey. In fact, it is a journey unlike any other. Jesus invites us on a road trip to personally teach us what it means to follow him, and find transformation not just for ourselves, but for the whole world. In this passage, Jesus lays out some basic principles for us. Join him on the road!
We live in a culture that encourages self-determination and self-expression. Nonetheless, joy, fulfillment, and purpose remain elusive desires. Jesus knows our desires for these things, however. He created us with those desires. In this passage, Jesus shows us the true way to lives of deep joy, fulfillment, and purpose. We welcome guest speaker Herman Armstrong to share God’s word with us this week.
“For to us a child is born.” This is one of the most famous passages in the Bible, and rightfully so. It conveys the message of hope and peace we associate with Christmas. But the hope and peace can only come if we also understand the darkness they dispel. Join us for our Christmas Eve message.
Last week we talked about our human desire to be known and loved. But that leads to an even deeper question. If our deepest desire is to be known and loved, then the question arises: loved by whom? Does it even matter? The prologue of John’s gospel shows us that nothing matters more. Human beings don’t just need to be loved in general, but to be caught up in a love that is far bigger than themselves. Our last sermon in this series shows us what that is: the glory of God. What is that? Why is it so important? And how does it come to us? Join us as we conclude this series.
Our greatest longing as human beings is to have significance as persons who matter. Therefore, it’s also our biggest question, and our greatest fear. Am I seen, am I known, am I loved, am I treasured? We want to believe it’s true, but we’re not always so sure. The question is always hanging over our head, and crying out in our heart. This passage gives us the answer and quiets our heart. Because it shows us the way that we can finally have the love our hearts were created for. Join us as we continue through the prologue of John’s gospel.
The gospels all offer us different parts of the origin story of Jesus. But the gospel of John goes back to the beginning of the universe and says that when the world was created, Jesus was already there. He always existed, because he is God. John’s prologue (the first 18 verses of John’s gospel) offer us a dizzying, mind-challenging, but ultimately life-changing origin story, not just on who Jesus is, but who we are, what’s gone wrong with the world, and what God is doing about it. Join us over the next few weeks as we look at it in depth.
Should the church be involved in justice? Many feel the church has lost all relevance precisely because it’s not involved enough. Others feel the church should be purely spiritual. Yet others think the church should only focus on justice, and not get bogged down in primitive doctrines like sin, salvation, and blood atonement. Whatever we may think, Leviticus 25 has a lot to show us about the church and justice. Join us as we finish our study in the book of Leviticus.
We need to know what kind of story we’re in to know how to live in the world. People long to know that there’s a story bigger than themselves. And our fragmented world is increasingly unable to provide one. That’s one of the reason Leviticus is so important. When we learn to read it within the context of the larger Biblical story, we see it’s giving us the true, deeper story we all long for, and showing us how to anchor that story more deeply in our lives.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Few ethical commands are as famous or as widely subscribed to as this one. Fascinatingly, it originally comes to us in one of the most difficult and least read books in the Bible: Leviticus. We all believe we should do this. But what does it mean, and how do we actually go about it? Join us for this week’s episode in our current sermon series.
Sex is a huge issue, not just in our culture, but throughout human experience. What the Bible says about it has always challenged people. But often the most troublesome passages, when we take the time to understand what they’re really saying, can be the most transformative. This passage in particular is difficult for late-modern, Western people. But if we take the time to listen to it, we discover sweet fruit beneath the bitter rind. Join us for this week’s installment in our series on Leviticus.
