Dear Redeeming Grace, As we continued our series in Nehemiah last week, we thought about ways to exercise faith over fear. I would suspect you've had some times this week where fear tempted or affected you. I'm led to think that because fear is such a common emotion. In fact it's so common that the most often repeated command in all of scripture is some form of "Fear not...

Dear Redeeming Grace, I wonder if your thoughts have turned to heaven a little more this week in light of the message from Colossians to seek and set our minds on the things above. Often times in our fast paced world, we miss out on the gift of just sitting and thinking about heaven. I'm often challenged by the Psalmists when I read of their desire for the presence of th...

Dear Redeeming Grace, We hope this week has found you savoring grace and finding it sweeter than usual. We thought last weekend of how bitter and serious our sin really is and how we need God's help to see it in light of the cross that we might have an appropriate sorrow. But thank God that sorrow isn't the end of the road. An appropriate sorrow will lead us to repentanc...

Dear Redeeming Grace, We've been thinking together for the last couple months about building our lives around the Lord. We've looked at God's working in and through the people of Israel in the book of Ezra and have considered the necessity of building our own lives with things like perseverance, joy, courage and devotion. As we focused in last week on devotion, I was dra...

Dear Redeeming Grace, We hope this week you've experienced God's grace in ways that reminded you of what we looked at this past Sunday; the reality that God is sovereignly in control of our lives, provides for all we need and is faithful to every promise. Because these things are true we have reason to build our lives on him with joy! But what is it about all of these th...

Dear Redeeming Grace, Last week in this newsletter we thought about faith as a shield that helps us fight against our enemy. This past Sunday, Dave reminded us that it is God who initiates, oversees and protects his work, so we can build our lives on him with confident perseverance. As I was thinking about perseverance in the Christian life, I was reminded of a great pas...

Dear Redeeming Grace, In his message on building opposition awareness, Jason reminded us of the sobering reality that Satan is at work all around us to deceive us. Lies are his nature. In 1 Peter 5:8-11, Peter calls him our adversary and likens him to a lion. Blood-thirsty and on the prowl. Ready to devour. But notice what Peter's instruction to us is because of that fac...

Dear Redeeming Grace, One of the ways we build our lives around the Lord is to be united in the mission of Jesus. He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He came that his people might have life abundantly (John 10:10). Dave encouraged us last week that there is great joy when we strive together for the mission of God. That led me to remember Paul's words to the ch...

Dear Redeeming Grace, As we began our new sermon series in Ezra-Nehemiah last week, we considered this question, "How do we build our lives around God's purposes?" And, we saw that the two purposes reflected in these books are the worship of God and the people of God. You might say that God's plan of redemption has always included a "worshiping community." By God's grace...

Dear Redeeming Grace, Last week as we looked at Lamentations 3 we were encouraged that in our misery we can find true hope when we remember God's mercy. There was a helpful illustration from the fine art world that has stuck with us this week -- "the optimal viewing distance." Just as a painting needs to be seen in its totality for it to be appreciated, so we must look o...