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Do you want to be healed?

Bible Text: John 5:1–15 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Gospel of John

Because God is at work, we must live in hope.

John 5:1-15
[1] After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [2] Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. [3] In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. [5] One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. [6] When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” [7] The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” [8] Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” [9] And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. [10] So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” [11] But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” [12] They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” [13] Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. [14] Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” [15] The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

Feel the Joy; Acknowledge the Darkness

Bible Text: Isaiah 9:2–7 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Advent

Isaiah 9:2–7
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon  his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Gospel as God’s Miracle

Bible Text: Galatians 4:21–5:6 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Galatians: The One and Only Gospel

Because God fulfills his promise miraculously, we must not look to circumstances on the ground, but rather look to him who raises the dead.

Galatians 4:21-31 
[21] Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? [22] For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. [23] But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. [24] Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. [25] Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. [26] But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. [27] For it is written,

“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;

break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than those of the one who has a husband.”

[28] Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. [29] But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. [30] But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” [31] So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

 

Hope in a Hopeless World

Bible Text: Micah 7 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Micah

Because God is faithful and the only means of salvation, we must cultivate confidence in God.
 
Micah 7:1–3, 7–9, 18–20
Woe is me! For I have become
      as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
      as when the grapes have been gleaned:
      there is no cluster to eat,
      no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
      2 The godly has perished from the earth,
      and there is no one upright among mankind;
      they all lie in wait for blood,
      and each hunts the other with a net.
      3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
      the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,
      and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
      thus they weave it together. 

     …

      7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD;
      I will wait for the God of my salvation;
      my God will hear me. 

      8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
      when I fall, I shall rise;
      when I sit in darkness,
      the LORD will be a light to me.
      9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD
      because I have sinned against him,
      until he pleads my cause
      and executes judgment for me.
      He will bring me out to the light;
      I shall look upon his vindication.     

 …

      18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
      and passing over transgression
      for the remnant of his inheritance?
      He does not retain his anger forever,
      because he delights in steadfast love.
      19 He will again have compassion on us;
      he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
      You will cast all our sins
      into the depths of the sea.
      20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
      and steadfast love to Abraham,
      as you have sworn to our fathers
      from the days of old.

The Cry For Justice

Bible Text: Psalm 7 | Preacher: Derek Rishmawy | Series: Psalms

The gospel points us to the justice of God in Christ, which both affirms our heart’s cry for justice, tempers our unjust ways of seeking it, and justifies even unjust sinners such as ourselves.

Psalm 7
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

 O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;

    save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,

lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,

    rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

O Lord my God, if I have done this,

    if there is wrong in my hands,

if I have repaid my friend with evil

    or plundered my enemy without cause,

let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,

    and let him trample my life to the ground

    and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

Arise, O Lord, in your anger;

    lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;

    awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.

Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;

    over it return on high.

The Lord judges the peoples;

    judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness

    and according to the integrity that is in me.

Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,

    and may you establish the righteous—

you who test the minds and hearts,

    O righteous God!

My shield is with God,

    who saves the upright in heart.

God is a righteous judge,

    and a God who feels indignation every day.

If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;

    he has bent and readied his bow;

he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,

    making his arrows fiery shafts.

Behold, the wicked man conceives evil

    and is pregnant with mischief

    and gives birth to lies.

He makes a pit, digging it out,

    and falls into the hole that he has made.

His mischief returns upon his own head,

    and on his own skull his violence descends.

I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,

    and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

 

An Exile’s Hope

Bible Text: 1 Peter 1:3–9 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Living as Exiles

Because God has secured an incomparable salvation for us, we must praise God in all circumstances.

Waiting for New Communion

Bible Text: Revelation 21:1-7 | Preacher: Reed Jolley | Series: Advent: What Are We Waiting For?

Around the holidays we try really hard to make things special for our children and ourselves. Even the most secular person among us wants to feel something bigger than herself. Billionaires fly to space looking for transcendence; the rest of us take up hobbies or consume art. We have a deep longing for transcendence because we were made to be in relationship with God. When Christ returns, we will see our savior face to face. Join us this Sunday as we begin our Advent series “What Are We Waiting For?”

Hope against Hope

Bible Text: Romans 4:16–25 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Easter Sunday

Bad news. The more we look around the world, the more there is reason to doubt that anything good will happen. Yet, the resurrection of Jesus tells us that hope is rooted not in what we see around us, but in the God who sees us, and who brings salvation through his miraculous power.

What is our only hope in life?

Bible Text: Romans 8:35-39 | Preacher: Joshua Burdette | Series: Eternal Questions for Modern Times

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