Follow the King

Not only did 2021 begin last Friday, but a countdown to 2022 started as well. Will we get to the end of this year filled with regret or satisfaction? As we explore Second Timothy 4, we read the last letter ever written by the Apostle Paul, the most influential Christian to ever live—outside of Jesus. As Paul approaches death, what final words will he share with Timothy about how to live? And how do these truths apply to our lives today?

As one author stated, "Satan wants to use your past to define you, but God wants to use your past to refine you."  Many people will be glad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror, but should we simply forget about the past year as we prepare for a new one? What would God want us to do with such a difficult year? Pastor Brian leads us to John 21 to see how Jesus used Peter's past to refine him into a true and bold disciple of Christ.

Knowing Jesus is the King is not enough—we must surrender the throne of our heart to Jesus as King. And why wouldn't we want to serve a King like Jesus? He is a King who obeyed Another, gave up His treasures, went to battle and won the victory for His people—all by laying down His life for His enemies. What a deserving King!

While there are many gods, idols, and saviors to which my heart often turns, only Jesus is the Savior. Pastor Mike opens the Scriptures to remind our heart that God sent His Son Jesus to save His people from their sins.

We know that Christmas is the birth of the Son of God, but do we understand why Jesus came to earth? In today's message, we see God's master plan behind the Christmas story—filling the earth with the glory of God. Jesus not only shows us what living for God's glory looks like, saves us from our failure to live for God's glory, but Jesus shares God's glory with us. Christmas is all about the glory of God.

The red cup of Starbucks invites us all to write our own Christmas story—but it's not our story to write. Instead, it's our story to tell. How different would the Christmas story be if we had been the authors? As we journey to see God re-writing Mary and Joseph's story so long ago, we see their humble response—the same response we should have as God writes our stories today.

In the conclusion on our series through Esther, we see how the day of mourning for the Jews turned into a holiday of celebration and feasting—and many joined the covenant people of God. In a similar way, a day of mourning for the world, the day of death for Jesus Christ, turned into a holiday of celebration we call Good Friday and a feast we call Communion. And because of Good Friday, are all invited into the kingdom of God.

When Esther finally reveals herself as a Jew seeking intercession for her people, divine irony begins to unravel the plans of the kingdom of Satan. In this message, we see a beautiful revelation of the Person of Jesus all throughout a Book that doesn't even mention God. And while we desire for God to change our circumstances, God desires for our circumstances to change us. Will we become more transformed into the image of Christ—or will we resist God's transforming work?

Pastor Brian shares an in-depth look into the life of Haman, the representative of the kingdom of Satan in the Book of Esther. While he seemed to have everything a man could want, Haman spent too much time focused on the one thing he didn't have: worship and praise from Mordecai, the representative of the kingdom of God. Haman prepared a tree to impale Mordecai, but instead paraded Mordecai through the streets of the kingdom calling for others to worship him. One day, every knee--including Satan's--will bow to the true King of the world, Jesus!

As we return to the Book of Esther, Pastor Brian leads us to Esther's self-sacrificing proclamation of "If I perish, I perish." Standing outside the inner court of the king, we see the Christ-like decision of Esther to intercede on behalf of a condemned people.