A message from the series “Encountering Jesus.” In Matthew 2:1-12, we see contrasting responses to the news that a Savior had been born in Bethlehem. King Herod felt threatened by the birth of this king. The religious leaders were apathetic. The Wise Men, however, responded with faith that overflowed in action and worship.
A message from the series “Encountering Jesus.” In Luke 2:8-20 we read that God chose to herald the news of the Messiah’s birth to shepherds – to people who were marginalized, considered outcasts and were discriminated against. We learn that people look at status but God looks into souls.
A message from the series “Encountering Jesus.” In John 11, we see the grief and disappointment of Lazarus’s sisters after the death of their brother. They wonder why their friend Jesus arrived “too late.” Based on Jesus’s response, we learn that: (1) God’s delays are not necessarily God’s denials; (2) With God, a waiting season is never a wasted season if you are connected to Him; and (3) Sometimes God wants to do something IN you before He does something FOR you.
A message from the series “Encountering Jesus.” In John 9, Jesus heals a beggar who was born blind. We see through five conversations, that the former beggar’s spiritual eyes are opened as well so that he acknowledges Jesus as not only his healer but as the Messiah.
A message from the series “Encountering Jesus.” Pastor Matthew preaches on John 8:2-11, the story of the woman caught in adultery and her encounter with Jesus. Through this encounter, the tension between unyielding judgment and unmerited grace explodes.