Seven Mile Road

Has your world ever flipped upside down in a moment? Have your hopes and dreams that seemed so close seemingly come crashing down unexpectedly?_

If so, you’ll understand the predicament of Jesus’ disciples on the Sunday after his crucifixion. They expected so much, but now are left with an empty tomb they can’t explain ... until a man they don’t recognize walks alongside them on a road out of Jerusale...

What do we do when our hopes and dreams die? How should we respond when the projects or the home or the family we wanted we don’t get?

Everything around us tells us that if we work hard, if we apply the right methods or know the right processes or make the right connections, then all of our dreams, all of our ways, will come true.

But the scriptures tell us something different. Unless the Lord builds, protects, ...

Our world is increasingly moving toward providing a life that allows and instructs us to get what we want, when we want it. We are subtly and not-so-subtly taught that waiting is something to be avoided at all costs. But what happens when there is no option other than to wait for something we can't control? What does it look like to live a life filled with hope while we wait for God? This Sunday, we will see that Psalm 130 shows us...

Have you ever wondered what God is doing right now and how your life might be connected to His greater mission? Psalm 110, the most-quoted psalm in the New Testament, is cited by Jesus and His apostles and prophetically foretold that God the Father would place His Son at His right hand and then actively extend His kingdom by overcoming His enemies. This missional psalm is a call for us to reflect: Are we helping to expand the kingd...

When we feel crushed by life, faint, and alone, who do we run to? What does our soul thirst for when we are in despair? Do we run from God, hide from Him, or ignore Him? Psalm 143 was written by David in a time of great despair. David recognizes that he cannot stand before God and earn His favor. Instead, he pleads with God according to His steadfast love. David's soul thirsts for God because the LORD is his true refuge — and...

Give thanks to the Lord. We’ve heard it said. We know it’s a good idea. We’ve read it in the scriptures. We may not even object, but pressure mounts, business overwhelms, and discontent can rise up. But only so long as we don’t remember who God is and only so long as we don’t remember what he’s done.  This Sunday, we’ll be reminded to give thanks to the Lord and why our Creator, our Re...

Psalm 121

For generations, God's people would travel to Jerusalem for the great festivals, singing as they walked the long and often treacherous road. Among the songs on their lips was Psalm 121 — the cry of a weary pilgrim who, somewhere along the journey, may have begun to wonder where his help would come from. This Sunday, as we kick off our summer series in the Psalms, we'll see the psalm's answer to that question:...

Every Sunday, we gather at the table to share this simple meal of bread and wine as Christ’s people. It reminds us not only a meal about what Christ has accomplished in the past but also of His promises for the future. This meal serves as a preview of the future realities we will experience with Him. That means Christ’s meal helps us right now focus our hearts and minds on God’s coming kingdom, filling us with hop...

1 Corinthians 10.16-17

Each Sunday, as we come to Jesus' table, we do so together. Not alone but as a family. In fact, as we share the cup and bread, we testify that though we are many, God has made us one body in Christ, bound together in a community of his own, bought with his blood. Jesus' table is both essentially Christian and essentially corporate. This Sunday, we’ll see: at the table, we identify as Jesus’...

Each year, generation after generation of God's people would celebrate the Passover, remembering what God had done in freeing his people from Egypt. On the night before his death, Jesus and his disciples gathered and celebrated the Passover meal, but this time the focus would shift from the death of the Lamb to the death of Jesus. In fact, the Apostle Paul would later write, "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

1 Corinthians 11.26

While instructing the Corinthian church on the Lord’s Supper, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV). It is not too difficult to read that and then shake our heads up and down, acknowledging that we understand what Paul is saying. _Yes, Paul, I get it._ But do we?