Last Sunday, we looked at the exhortation Paul gives to the church to walk wisely with the time we have, as our priority is now being under the Lordship of Jesus, not the pattern of the world.

As we continued in Ephesians 5 last Sunday, we saw that God can use the light of your life to not only expose the works of darkness, but also transform darkness to light. What if the way you lived in purity and holiness could transform the lives of the people around you?
 

Last Sunday we continued in the theme of holiness, as Jesus doesn't just make us a little bit more moral and compliant, but he transforms our motivations and actions completely. When it comes to following Jesus, there is no middle ground. Either we commit fully to the life of Jesus, or we wallow in apathy and complacency.

The last few years of my life have proven to be excruciatingly painful, not because all the sudden one particular thing happened, but more so because I had to face all the awful things that had been going on for a really long time. God, in His overwhelming grace, brought me to a place where I could no longer cover up and hide...

Last Sunday’s scripture is pretty significant and challenging for us as a contrast community.  And if we are to be fully alive in Christ, we must understand the nature of our sexuality.

Our church has been rather obsessed with the enneagram lately (thanks Kalle). I just got back from the women’s retreat, and a lot of it incorporated the enneagram as a way to understand each other. It also helps us to understand how different people relate to God. Of course, there is a range within each enneagram number, and each individual has a unique makeup of each number, but there are some general truths that can apply to each number. Since Bobby wrote about his “twoness”, I thought I would write about my “fourness”.

On Easter Sunday, we looked at a reminder from Ephesian 2:5, that God has made us alive in Christ and what that means for life after the resurrection.

Paul continues his emphatic message to the church in Ephesus, not to guilt and shame, but instead to remind the believers of their true identity as Christians. Repentance is coming in to reality and rejecting falsehood; believing our identity is truly and only in Christ.

Let go of the "try harder" mentality - that isn't what Christ taught us. Instead may we turn and believe God in our minds and hearts that we are exactly who He says we are. Until we do that, we're in danger of living in denial of our new and true identity.

“What Jericho roads do you walk, but choose not to repave?” 

It was a piercing question, no doubt. But the beauty of it is that it makes you stop and think. It demands a response. It may even result in a next step.

Last week we talked about the unity of the church. This week we will look at the diversity of the gifts, that when working in unison, create a healthy and thriving community.