Most likely you have heard some version of the saying, “You are what you…(fill in the blank).” The idea behind many of these sayings is that it’s foolish to assume that there is no connection between our behavior and our being; that we can’t eat, think, read or do something over and over, and not expect it to affect who we are in some way. But somehow when it comes to the gospel—the good news that God can once again dwell with us because Jesus paid for our sin on the cross and rose again on the third day bringing resurrection life with Him—we often think of it as something we merely believe without it somehow affecting our being and behavior, who we are in our nature. We are starting a new series this morning going through the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians in the New Testament. And what strikes Paul and his companions when they are writing these letters to the church in Thessalonica is that they not only believed the gospel, but upon believing it they so allowed the Holy Spirit to work in them that they started to become the gospel as well—embodying the love of Jesus in their very life as a church. They began to live out the gospel message in power and conviction so much that it wasn’t just their belief in a dying and rising Savior that identified them as followers of Jesus to the Roman world around them, but the power of God flowing through their very lives in how they worked, labored, lived, loved and suffered. Throughout these two letters, we will see that believing the gospel is just the beginning of God’s plan to shape us into becoming the message of the gospel itself. And that happens not through positive thinking, but through a person; through the Spirit of the living God willing and working in all those who believe.

Our lives are full of relationships. Maybe one of your relationships is going through a rough time right now. Or maybe you simply want to connect more deeply with those around you. This morning I want specifically to look at how the gospel, how the work of the Spirit through Christ in us, can deepen and transform our relationships this summer and throughout our lives, even the most difficult and seemingly hopeless ones. To do that we are going to tackle an entire book of the Bible this morning together, the book of Philemon. The apostle Paul wrote the letter of Philemon from a prison cell most likely in Rome. But if Paul is in prison, how was he able to get this letter to Philemon and the church that met in their home? It turns out that the identity of the letter carrier would be the first big test in the friendship between Paul and Philemon. Let’s see what God’s Word has to say about our relationships.

Jesus’ disciples wrestled greatly with their expectations of greatness and the purpose of Jesus’ ministry. On one of their journeys to Capernaum, Jesus asked them what they had been discussing on the way. Ashamed to answer, they had been arguing among themselves as to who was the greatest among them. Jesus’ response is surprising; whoever would be the greatest must in fact be the very least. Join us this Sunday as we discover that greatness in the kingdom of God is measured in terms of service rather than stature (ft. Wes Calton, Campus Minister of RUF at Colorado State University).

We are in the middle of a series looking at how to have a truly restful and purposeful summer. Last week we looked at all the anxiety we feel around money, and the same truths about how we spend our money apply to how we spend our time. Our Father doesn’t ask us to give so He can have more of our money, but so that He can have more of us, more of our heart. As we look at what the Bible has to say about rest, we see God’s same heart. God Himself doesn’t need to rest, but He chooses to set the example of rest in His creation. Long before God mandates rest, He models rest. Looking at Genesis 2, God doesn’t need to rest and He certainly needs neither our work nor our rest; and yet, He puts the command for us to rest into His moral law. If God doesn’t need rest, what does our He actually want with our rest?

Summer is a chance for a new rhythm, a chance to switch up how we will recreate; a time for vacations perhaps. But often in the suburbs we become activity-holics or leisure-holics who fill the summer up with so much stuff that it becomes draining, purposeless and the opposite of restful. And then we hit August more exhausted than ever and wonder where our summer went. So, for the next three Sundays we will look at a couple of ways to make our summer different than the suburban norm; to have a summer full of purpose, rest and connection in Christ. This morning we will look at what the Bible has to say about one of the things that causes us the most anxiety and personal drain over the summer: our money. Money can be hard and awkward to talk about in churches, but as the church we must constantly adjust our attitudes about money from ungodly to godly because money is one of the things that Jesus Himself spoke most often about during His earthly ministry. So let’s look at one of Jesus’ most well known passages on money in Luke 12.

This Sunday morning we draw our sermon series in Daniel to a close. Last Sunday, in chapter 11, we went through about 300 years of history in 40-some verses. We saw how God calls the future His “truth” because it is His and He is sovereign over it. And somewhere around the end of chapter 11, the vision that the angel is giving Daniel switches from events to come in Ancient Near Eastern history to events to come in the very last days of history; that is what chapter 12 continues. And the question the text is going to ask of us in chapter 12 is the same question it has been asking throughout the book of Daniel: how do we follow God in challenging times? And how do we continue to live godly lives, and lives of hope, when the times get worse tomorrow than they already are today?

In one sense, we live in two very different worlds: first, we live in a broken world. A world of corruption, sadness, violence and evil. A world that is harsh; a world where disease and death is real. A world where tragedy happens, and there doesn’t always seem to be a good answer. A world that can make us suspicious of God and doubt God’s goodness; this is the world that we inherited from Genesis 3. But thankfully the Bible doesn’t begin there; if so we’d be missing so much. But there’s another world that we must be reminded of: the world of Genesis 1-2. In Genesis 1-2, the gate opens to a perfectly pristine and glorious world. And here’s why it’s important to be reminded of the world of Genesis 1-2; the created world tells us a lot about the character and goodness of the Creator. What we find in Genesis 1-2 is that it was perfectly glorious, because it reflected the glory of God (ft. Chad Donohoe, Pastor of Community Life at Deer Creek Church).

We are going through the book of Daniel as a church and today we are in Daniel 11. And it is a break-neck race through the past and into the future; God is going to show Daniel 400 years of history in 40-or-so verses. In Daniel 11, God refers to the future as His inscribed, unchangeable truth. And He calls it His truth precisely because as crazy as the future might get, the future is not up for grabs. God has already worked it out and has already written it down. What does it mean for us that our future is God’s inscribed truth; that it is already written by Him? Let’s read God’s Word together and see what it says.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Join us this Sunday as we discover the kind of fellowship God has in mind for those He calls: Gospel Partnership (ft. Brandon Addison).

I hate getting my blood drawn. I don’t really mind anything else medical, but I dread blood tests. And I don’t dread the actual test, but simply the thought of it; I can’t stop thinking about it. I actually had this thought that I wish a blood tech would just show up at my door unannounced while I am eating dinner or watching TV and just draw my blood. That way I wouldn’t have to anticipate it. That would be far less traumatic for me than to anticipate it all week. Now imagine if we knew all of the unavoidable trials that are to come in our life and exactly what they would look like. It would be hard to live life every day. We are closing out our series on Daniel over the next few Sundays, and this morning we are in Daniel 10, and God has been doing just that. For some reason, God needs Daniel to know all of the trials that will come to His people in the ages to come, even beyond his lifetime. And it is filling Daniel with crippling fear. So, what is the one thing God tells Daniel to help him to be able to stand up again even in the face of these trials that are yet to come? And could it also help you as you face trials today and trials that you know are coming? Let’s find out together in Daniel 10.

When we pray, what do we pray about? Studies show that prayer is by far the most common spiritual practice among Americans; just about half of Americans pray regularly. The good news is that the highest percentage of what Americans pray for is other people; for family, friends, and their community. This is what the Bible calls prayers of intercession, going before God on behalf of the needs of others. And almost half of those who pray also pray for their own sins, or what the Bible calls prayers of confession. As we are going through the book of Daniel together, Daniel 9 is almost entirely a prayer of confession and intercession. Daniel 9 teaches us how to intercede for people in our lives, and specifically to confess on behalf of and pray for those who aren’t praying or for those who need help. Let’s see what Daniel 9 can teach us this morning about the importance of confession and intercession.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. It’s a unique chance to spend a week thinking about the death and resurrection of Jesus and all that it means. Just like any other holiday, it’s easy for the meaning and wonder of Easter to be lost. I don’t think we mean to forget the impact and depth of what Easter means; it just happens. I think it partially happens because Easter is about resurrection. And it is easy to think of resurrection as something that only happened to Jesus, or to think of resurrection only as something that changes our life at the very end of it. I think we treat Easter as a memorial service for the past deeds of Jesus, rather than a celebration service of the ongoing work of Jesus in our lives! There is a saying out there that you may have heard, “live with the end in mind.” And the idea is that if you do that you will seize the day, live better, be kinder and all of that. And usually that saying means to live each day as though life has a final ending. But what if it doesn’t? Does that change how we live today? In order to live with the end in mind, we need to make sure we know the right ending! The Bible says that the ending is not finality but resurrection. And if that is true, then how do we live with resurrection in mind not just this week but all year round?

Today is the Sunday that we call Palm Sunday, when we remember the day that Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem as King by crowds waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna! We read in John 12 that the crowds were there because they had seen the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus. So how is it that this same crowd that proclaims Jesus as the King who is able to raise the dead is clamoring for His death only several days later? We are in Daniel 8 this morning, and what we find here will help us understand why the crowds crowned Jesus on Sunday and crucified Him on Friday.

The first six chapters of Daniel are narrative history; the following six are a type of biblical writing called apocalyptic prophecy. There are some keys to understanding apocalyptic prophecy in the Bible. First, apocalyptic writing isn’t an attempt to give us some hidden meaning that only the clever or spiritual can understand; apocalyptic writing is intended as Biblical mystery. In fact, the entire New Testament’s ideas on mystery, revelation, and fulfillment of prophecy come from what God reveals to Daniel in Daniel 7 specifically, and also in Daniel 8-12. Daniel 7 sets the stage for how Jesus speaks about Himself and His return, for how John writes about the end times in Revelation, and about how the Jewish people understood the end times. Apocalyptic books are not given for us to sleuth out some new mysterious truth on our own but to know that God is in control and that He reveals exactly what He wants us to understand in the current age and keeps the rest a mystery until its proper time. The goal of apocalyptic prophecy is to give us hope, but to also make us humble before God and to drive us to pray in our helplessness to change the future. So, let’s get into the details and history as best we can of these amazing chapters of Scripture!

“Desire haunts us. In its deepest sense, it is a God-given dimension of human identity. Desire is what powers all human spirituality. At the heart of Christian spirituality is the sense that humanity is both cursed and blessed with restlessness and longing that can only ultimately be satisfied in God.” Desire forms your moments of greatest joy and darkest grief. Desire will cause you to submit to the King or set yourself up as king. Desire can cause you to fight for freedom or can be the very thing that causes you to be addicted. Desire is your biggest problem and one of God’s sweetest graces. There is one thing for sure: your life is always shaped by desire. Join us this morning in Mark 10 as we see Jesus ask one of the most important questions, “What do you want?” (ft. Brandon Addison).

The first six chapters of Daniel are narrative history; the following six are a type of biblical writing called apocalyptic prophecy. There are some keys to understanding apocalyptic prophecy in the Bible. First, apocalyptic writing isn’t an attempt to give us some hidden meaning that only the clever or spiritual can understand; apocalyptic writing is intended as Biblical mystery. In fact, the entire New Testament’s ideas on mystery, revelation, and fulfillment of prophecy come from what God reveals to Daniel in Daniel 7 specifically, and also in Daniel 8-12. Daniel 7 sets the stage for how Jesus speaks about Himself and His return, for how John writes about the end times in Revelation, and about how the Jewish people understood the end times. Apocalyptic books are not given for us to sleuth out some new mysterious truth on our own but to know that God is in control and that He reveals exactly what He wants us to understand in the current age and keeps the rest a mystery until its proper time. The goal of apocalyptic prophecy is to give us hope, but to also make us humble before God and to drive us to pray in our helplessness to change the future. So, let’s get into the details and history as best we can of these amazing chapters of Scripture!

No matter how familiar you are with the Bible, Daniel and the Lion’s Den is one of those stories that almost everyone in our culture has heard. We often think of it as just a children’s story. If a Bible story contains animals, it’s almost guaranteed to be in a Children’s Bible. An Oklahoma newspaper interviewed some kids about the lesson of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. Elizabeth, age 11, said, “The lesson for the lions is to keep your mouth shut and to trust in God in every way and every day.” Adrian, age 9, said, "Sometimes, God will not answer your prayers, but that does not mean He does not love you. He just doesn’t think it is time to do what you ask sometimes.” Jenny, age 7, said, "The king learned that he needs to learn a big lesson and a good one.” Whether kid or adult, let’s find out what we have to learn from this story.

Have you ever been able to “see the writing on the wall?” Maybe you saw the coming of a drop in stock price or impending doom at your job. The phrase, “the writing on the wall” has become a much used idiom in our culture. It has come to mean someone who is able to see the signs of something bad that is coming, presumably in order to avoid it. The idiom comes from our chapter in Daniel this morning, but our current use of it actually misses the point of what God was trying to tell the original king who saw the writing on the wall. Unlike the idiom, King Belshazzar saw the writing on the wall, but without God’s help, without the witness of one of God’s people, he would never have known what it meant. God uses His people to show the world His writing on the wall. Written plainly in His Word and in His creation. Let’s read the Word of God this morning.