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Building On The Rock

2013-05-17T20:59:25Z

This week we are going to look at the teachings that close out Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” and Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain.” We won’t reconcile whether Jesus said it on the mount or the plain. But we will seek to understand why these were the capstone teachings of his larger message. These are some of the strongest warnings Jesus ever gives. Some people won’t enter the Kingdom! Some people will suffer life-encompassing disaster! Read Matthew 7:21-27. Come ready to explore how Jesus intends for us to avoid these frightening things. SPOILER ALERT: Jesus’ plan for avoiding catastrophe is the same as his plan for an abundant life.

See you Sunday,

Mike Malony

key texts: Matthew 7:21-27; James 1:21-25 (NKJV)

Sabbath Stories (Part 2)

2013-05-09T21:33:35Z

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6

This passage has been haunting me for weeks now. If you joined us at Grace last week or caught the podcast, you know that I “wrapped up” with way more questions than answers. What does it mean that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath? What does it mean that the Sabbath was made for us? What does it mean that we are equal to or greater than the priest? What does it mean that the Kingdom and the Church are greater than the Temple? Add to those, what does it mean to do mercy and acknowledge God more than make sacrifice?

All this was based on the assertion that we won’t be right until we get Sabbath right and we won’t get the Sabbath right until we get Jesus right.

Let me put that another way, If we don’t get Jesus right, we don’t get anything right.

But how? Let’s see what we find out this week.

Can’t wait “til Sunday,

key texts: Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11 (All NIV)

Sabbath Stories (Part 1)

2013-05-03T14:55:18Z

As a kid growing up in Texas, I clearly remember the frustration that my parents felt when they needed something on a Sunday but couldn’t buy it because of “the blue laws”, laws that prohibited the sale of certain things on Sundays. To me it seemed so random that we could walk in a store (if we could even find one open on a Sunday, that it) and buy this thing, but not that thing. It wasn’t a big deal, it was just part of life. Looking back now I see realize something that I didn’t then that is a much bigger deal, Sundays felt different. They were slower, (as a kid much more boring) they marked a true break in the week. The next two Sundays we are going to be digging into text that talk a lot about Sabbath. But this is no nostalgic look back “to the good old days”. Neither is it an attempt be Jesus to dismiss the practice as unnecessary. Instead, He is both restoring Sabbath to it’s proper meaning and using this confrontation to say some very important things about himself, his followers and us.

Let’s find out what this is all about.

Can’t wait ‘til Sunday,

J.Ray

key texts: Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5 (All NIV)

Hungry For God

2013-04-26T21:48:25Z

Have you ever felt hungry? Now, I’m not talking about that miniscule hunger pang you get when you accidently skip breakfast. I’m talking about REAL hunger, like the type of hunger you feel after you have just gone on a long hike and your body is crying out for some calories to replenish and sustain you. I’m talking about longing, deep desire for something to fill you and restore you. Too often in our lives we look to other things to fill us but Jesus wants to be our source of life. This week we week we will be studying Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees and the followers of John the Baptist as they question Him about fasting. Jesus continues to “change the narrative” and reminds us that fasting is physical reminder of the internal longing of hearts for Jesus as our source of life. Come ready to get hungry…

key texts: Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39 (NIV)

Friends In Low Places

2013-04-18T16:30:04Z

Have you ever felt like you were doing everything right, but nothing seemed to be “working”? That you had given your best to do what was expected and ended up losing, being overlooked, undervalued, tapped out? This week we study the calling of Levi, or Matthew as he comes to be known. And many of us are familiar with the story told in a way that emphasizes the compassion of Jesus to include a “tax collector” into His company and how no one is “disqualified” to follow Jesus. True no doubt, but I think there is something else much more significant going on in this story. Something much more pertinent to those of us who aren’t sitting in the tax collector booth. I think Jesus might really be talking to us.

This week let’s find out what He is saying.

Grace and peace, y’all,

Can’t wait “til Sunday

key texts: Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32 (All passages NIV)

What Does It Mean To Forgive?

2013-04-12T14:09:36Z

“While imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Simon Wiesenthal was taken one day from his work detail to the bedside of a dying member of the SS. Haunted by the crimes in which he had participated, the soldier wanted to confess to--and obtain absolution from--a Jew. Faced with the choice between compassion and justice, silence and truth, Wiesenthal said nothing. But even years after the way had ended, he wondered: Had he done the right thing? What would you have done in his place?”

- From a description of the book The Sunflower by Simon Wiesnthal.

The first half of the book relates the story described above, and the second half is a compilation of the responses of a number of eminent persons responding to his question. These responses raise a variety of issues and observations about what it means to forgive, who can forgive and who can be forgiven.

This week we dive into a story with forgiveness at its center. If we don’t take time to seriously grapple with these questions about forgiveness ourselves, the story loses its meaning, its impact, its power. But these are not easy question and the answers we come up with have far reaching implications.

Please take time this week to read through the text. Listen to Matt Mooney’s teaching from last week as it provides a great starting point for our discussion as well. More than anything, take time to pray about, discuss, ask these important questions.

Grace and Peace y’all.

Can’t wait ‘til Sunday

J.Ray

key texts: Matthew 9:1-8 (NIV); Mark 2:1-12 (NIV); Luke 5:17-26 (NIV)

I Will: Jesus & the Leper

2013-04-05T21:45:17Z

Jesus comes down from the mountain after delivering His sermon on the mount and begins a ministry of miracles starting with a man who was “full of leprosy”. We have much to learn from the leper and a Lord who bucked tradition to touch one that was considered untouchable.

Join us this Sunday as we look at the story of a leper made whole, taught by guest teacher Matt Mooney.

key text: Matthew 8:1-4 (ESV)

He is Risen! The Calling of a Resurrected Savior

2013-03-28T21:13:03Z

He is risen! This Sunday we celebrate the ultimate testimony of the Father regarding Jesus, bringing Him back from the grave! ALIVE! Alive and perfect, glorified and exalted! But Jesus has one last testimony to give to us of His purpose and power for our lives, one last miracle to demonstrate what He has intended for us to be about all along. Do you know what it is? Come Sunday and find out.

Can’t wait “til Easter,

J.Ray

Key Texts: Matthew 28:1-10, 16-20; John 21:1-11

Jesus Testifies To His Disciples

2013-03-22T20:56:30Z

This Sunday kicks off Holy Week with our Palm Sunday service and special Sunday evening Lenten Vespers gathering. When I was a kid, Easter was all about eggs and baskets (yea!), a new set of “church clothes” (yuck!) and Honeybaked Ham for lunch (yum!). Then came the “earnest, zealous” years of trying to to strip away all that and get to the “real meaning” of Easter. This often meant rejecting any organized gathering and attempting to work up what I felt was the appropriate emotional sentiment. Only recently am I beginning to understand the importance of approaching this season of remembrance with the humility that leans into community; the community of the Church I now participate in and the community of the “Church historic”. For centuries Christians have wrestled with how to appropriately remember and celebrate this, the defining act of our incarnate God, in way that allows for His glory to be known and for us to be transformed by it. We have much to learn from them.

With this in mind I am inviting all of you to “lean in” with me. We have three special occasions for us to gather together as a community this week. The first is Sunday afternoon at 5:00 when we will hold a Lenten Vespers service. The second will be a time to reflect on Good Friday and the third is a church-wide fast on Saturday that we will break together on Sunday morning before our Easter celebration.

Really, really, can’t wait ‘til Sunday,

J.Ray

The Outcast Woman and Her Testimony

2013-03-15T20:01:03Z

When a spiritual revolution breaks out there, is always someone willing to testify to a powerful encounter with the Savior. When a spiritual revolution breaks out in the MOST UNLIKELY PLACE, there’s something really unusual about that testimony. We see the difference in the Samaritan town of Sychar coming from a testifying outcast - not the testimony from Jesus’ inside circle. Probably only Jesus saw that coming. Let’s talk Sunday about the barriers between herself and Jesus that this woman at a well had to overcome before she could testify to the good news. Maybe you and I have some of the same barriers? We’ll find out Sunday.

Can’t wait to see everybody on Saint Patrick’s Day!

Mike Malony

key text: John 4:4-42