Can your upbringing change the way you read the Bible? Is there a “right” way to read the Bible? Is there a right or wrong translation? What’s the closest to the original text? What should be my “go-to” translation? Can’t I just sit and read? Why does context matter?

Pastor Evan Savage unmasks some of the mystery of how to read the Bible.

God is here and he is far. He is big and he is small. This means that we must expand our understanding of god beyond what we think we should. 

• Often, our idea of what God is remains infantile. We were never asked to believe something greater...

In Matthew 18:21-35 (the parable of the unforgiving debtor), forgiving doesn't mean ignoring people's mistakes and failures and pretending they don't exist. Forgiving is choosing to see the need for God's grace in others' hearts and as an expression of God's grace.  It is not just a moment of pain, it is a moment of grace.

Evan Savage talks about just that as he kicks off the new series "ASK (Because Questions Matter)" by giving a brief synopsis of the bible.

Radical Hospitality means welcoming others, being kind and generous toward them, investing in and encouraging them while shifting our focus away from our own self-centeredness and toward the needs and lives of other people.

This week we learn about believing in others as an expression of radical hospitality. Believing in people when no one else will (including themselves), or when they’re different/marginalized/etc. Believing in people under these circumstances because God believes in us and because of the goodness He has inherently created in all of us.

In the fourth and final week of this series, Matt Nyberg teaches about leaving a broken legacy and God’s redemptive plan.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

In the third week of this series, Tiffany Staman teaches about success and blessings in our life, and the important role making exceptions in our lives has when it comes to sin.

Do you ever stop and wonder why you are the way you are or what drives you to respond to things the way you do?

Tiffany Staman examines the "Head Triad" of the Enneagram. The Enneagram is widely viewed as one of the most powerful and insightful tools for understanding ourselves and others.

God acts in amazing ways. Sometimes it's something HUGE and sometimes it's something small. Even so, it's so easy to get sucked into everyday life that we often forget those moments when God really shows up.

Matt Nyberg discusses the importance of telling those stories and being verbal about God's movement in our lives.

SCRIPTURE | Joshua 3:14-4:24

1.     In order to experience oneness and trust with someone we love, we have to first enter into oneness with God through trusting Him.
 

2.     Trust grows through vulnerability.

“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage.” Brene Brown
 

3.     A relationship of trust, rooted in God, has the power to heal our souls and bless the world.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

James 1:27
²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 2:1-4
My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. ² Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.

³ If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” ⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

James 2:14-19
¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.’ ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

Tiffany Staman talks about a close friend who lived a full life, bursting with unmistakable light from God. Dave left behind a contagious light that will burn brighter and longer than he ever imagined.

The truth that regardless of how much you have remembered God, that He is always remembering you, and that He is always at work in your life even when you aren’t aware or don’t remember. And he is telling you every time you touch the rock that He is at work and that He is very pleased to have you as his child.

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” ^26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ^27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” ^28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” ^29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Personal pain often precedes seasons of doubt.

Doubts and questions thrive in isolation.

Be open to the evidence.

Sometimes our questions are never answered.

Sometimes our perspective is changed.

^31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. ^32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; ^33 they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”

Jesus wants people to understand Easter

Luke 18:34

^34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

John 20: 11-15

^11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ^12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. ^13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ^14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.^15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ^2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³Â If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’” ^4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵ some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.⁷ When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ^9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
^10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

A procession, a donkey, a crowd

The procession is about POWER

The detail is the donkey.

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Why was the crowd of Palm Sunday so big, and the crowd on Good Friday so small?

When people thought Jesus was coming to fulfill their agenda, he gathered huge crowds. 

When people realized Jesus had a different agenda, the crowds disappeared. Positional authority needs to be defended, often through violence. 

Spiritual authority needs to be shared, always through love.

Are you a FAN or a FOLLOWER?

Matthew 17:1-10

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² There he ?was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. ³ Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. ⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them. â€œGet up,” he said. â€œDon’t be afraid.” ⁸ When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. ⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, â€œDon’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” ¹⁰ The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must ?come first?”

We want to turn Mountaintops into Motels.

Matthew 16:21-23

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. ²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said.  “This shall never happen to you!” ²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter,  “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Video:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpRhcD8r6tA

Matthew 2:1-6

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Assumption:  God was going to move through political power

Kinds of Authority

• Positional

• Expertise

• Relational

• Moral

• Spiritual

Positional authority needs to be defended, often through violence.  Spiritual authority needs to be shared, always through love.

Jesus did not come to transform the kingdom of Rome; he came to invite people into the kingdom of God.