Driving Question: What does it mean that Jesus is our Healer—and how do we participate in His healing work today?

1. God’s Deep Desire for Healing

From Genesis to Revelation, the story of Scripture is the story of a God who heals what sin has broken. 

Ezekiel 47 gives us a vision of a river flowing from the temple—the river of life—bringing healing wherever it goes. This river represents God’s presence, His heart to restore His world.

But why is there so much to heal? When sin and death entered the world, everything fractured—our relationship with God, with each other, and even with ourselves. The Hebrew word shabar (Isaiah 61) means “to be broken beyond repair.” Only God can heal that kind of brokenness.

Healing is not a side project of Jesus—it is central to His mission. God desired healing so deeply that He sent His Son to bind up the brokenhearted and restore what was lost.

2. How Jesus Heals

Jesus healed in miraculous ways—He made the blind see, the lame walk, and the sick whole. These healings weren’t just ancient stories; they are still available for us today through the Spirit’s power.

But Jesus also healed in quieter, deeper ways—through His loving presence.

He ate with sinners, welcomed the outcasts, called Zacchaeus by name, and restored Peter after his failure. He healed through compassion, through relationship, and through time spent with those others avoided.

Jesus didn’t just save us and leave us broken—He saved us and began healing us.

Even today, many of us still live out of unhealed places. We strive, perform, and carry the broken patterns of generations before us—whether through survival, comparison, or self-protection. But Jesus is still healing those internal wounds. He is forming us into people who are safe for others, breaking cycles of fear and striving so that His peace can flow through us.

3. Our Hope for Healing

Our hope begins and ends in God’s faithfulness. He will go to great lengths to heal you.

Revelation 21 gives us the ultimate promise: a day when there will be no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain, no more death. That is God’s final plan—and we can trust that He will finish what He started.

Right now, we live in the messy middle. Jesus has come and begun the healing process, and God will one day complete it. Healing takes time and often feels painful, but as Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

And not only is He healing us—He’s inviting us to join Him. We don’t do the healing; Christ does. But His presence and love in us can bring healing to others. Healed people heal people. Every act of grace, listening, and compassion becomes a small river of life flowing through us.

Pray
Lord Jesus, thank You that You did not merely save us but you are also actively healing us. Help us to trust Your process when it feels slow or painful. Make us people whose presence brings healing to others, and help our church become a place where Your river of life flows freely. Heal us, Lord, and make us healers through Your Spirit. Amen.

Driving Question:
Do you need saving? As you reflect on your life—in your actions, your presence in the world, your work, your city—do you truly feel like you need a Savior? And if so, do you want one?

1. The Reason We Are Always Exhausted

Many of us functionally depend on ourselves to be our own savior. We try to manage life, fix our problems, and carry our burdens alone. This self-reliance can leave us anxious, exhausted, and restless. Like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable, we trust in our own performance and sense of “enoughness.” The problem is that this posture closes our hearts to mercy. When we think we are fine on our own, we miss out on the experience of Jesus as Savior.

2. Two Choices for Approaching God

In Luke 18, Jesus contrasts two men praying at the temple:

• The Pharisee: Self-satisfied, confident, and blind to his own need for rescue. He is fine in his own eyes and misses the doorway to salvation.
• The Tax Collector: Standing far off, unable to even look up, acknowledging his weakness, and saying, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

The tax collector’s posture—humble, desperate, and fully aware of his need—is the picture of someone ready to call out for divine intervention. Weakness, not strength, becomes the gateway to transformation. When life is overwhelming and painful, it’s tempting to escape, numb, control, or fight. Jesus suggests a different first step: simply stand before the only one who can save you and say, “Lord, have mercy on me.”

3. “God, you are my only hope”

To say, “Jesus is Savior,” is to live in dependence rather than control. It’s to acknowledge: God, You are my only hope. This posture isn’t just an occasional prayer—it’s the organizing principle of Scripture and life. No matter the circumstances, no matter the depth of our pain, the goal is to repeatedly return to this truth: God is my only hope.True freedom isn’t about being self-sufficient; it’s about trusting that Jesus has already done what matters most. It’s about experiencing the mercy that meets us in our weakness and learning to live from it daily.

Pray: Lord, teach me to depend on You as my only hope. Thank You for mercy that meets me in my weakness and makes me whole. Let my life reflect the freedom that comes from knowing I am already loved and already Yours. Amen.

Driving Question:
Why do we fight for truth? Because Jesus says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). But what kind of freedom does He mean?

1. The Power and Danger of Freedom
Freedom is one of the most powerful words in our imagination. In art, media, and culture, the moment freedom is mentioned is the moment of breakthrough. But if we don’t know what it means, we are at risk of being manipulated. If we settle for pop culture’s definition—“happiness comes from doing whatever I want without limits”—we miss the freedom Jesus actually offers. Instead of being free, we end up more bound.

2. The Freedom Jesus Offers

Biblical freedom is not unlimited choice but restored relationship. In Eden, humanity’s freedom was connection with the Father, but we ran from home. That’s why we still ache for something greater—Eden is written in our hearts. Jesus came to reconnect us to the Father. Eternal life is this: not just saber/alam (knowing facts) but conocer/kilala (knowing a person).

Like the prodigal son in Luke 15, freedom apart from the Father only led to slavery. True freedom is the invitation to come home—life with the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit.

3. Living in This Freedom

To be serious about freedom is to ask daily: How do I stay connected to the Father? Freedom is not being unbound from everything, but being bound to the right Someone—Jesus and His people. He came so that we could know God deeply and live life to the full, both now and Forever.

Pray
 Lord, free me from chasing counterfeit versions of freedom. Thank You that Jesus came to bring me home and reconnect me to You. Help me to live each day bound to You, secure in Your love, and make our church a place where many discover the freedom of knowing the Father through the Son, in the Spirit. Amen.

Driving Questions: We fight lies with Truth. But what is the nature of Truth in Scripture? Why is it so hard to experience the power of Truth?

What is the nature of Biblical Truth? Truth is Relational

• Scripture shows that truth is not just abstract facts in a container or arguments to be won—it is relational truth. 
• Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” To pursue truth is to pursue a relationship with Jesus, grounded in His hesed love—a never stopping, never giving up, always and forever love. 

Why is it so hard to experience the power of Truth? Our Fears.

• In John 11:45–53, even after seeing Jesus raise Lazarus, the leaders could not experience TRUTH because fear was animating their hearts.
• Religious leaders could not “see” Jesus because they worried about what could be “taken away” - their place and their nation.
• Reflect: What are you afraid can be/will be taken from you?

Jesus shows up to “take away” our sins - which is the actual barrier that keeps us from experiencing the “life to the full” promised by Jesus.

• At the center of the gospel is this: Jesus takes away that which threatens the connection we long to experience. John calls Him “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”—the very barrier that keeps us from the Father. Sin and separation are removed so we can come home.

Summary: From this passage we see that freedom comes as we: 1) name the fears that animate our lies, 2) trust Jesus as the Lamb who takes away both sin and the ultimate threat, and 3) live together as a community that helps one another walk into relational truth.

PRAY

(Pray for freedom from fear) Lord, reveal the fears that quietly shape my life and feed the lies I believe. Thank You that Jesus has taken away sin, and with it, the threat of losing what matters most—our place with You. Teach me to pursue truth not as facts but as relationship with You. Make our church a community that helps one another uproot lies, confront fear, and live secure in Your never-ending love. Amen.

Link For Slides

• Lies are not always obvious falsehoods; often they’re subtle distortions that sound familiar and even reasonable. For Jean, one of the lies she has carried is: “I don’t belong, I’m not wanted.”
  
  
• Genesis 3 shows the serpent’s strategy: he questions God’s Word, contradicts it, attacks God’s character, and offers an alternative authority. That same pattern is still at work today.
  
  
• These lies disintegrate us—from ourselves (through shame), from others (through isolation), and from God (through mistrust). Guilt says, “I did something wrong.” Shame says, “I am something wrong.” Lies work like weeds—invasive, spreading, choking out life.
  
  
• So how do we uproot them?
  1. Notice the disintegration – pay attention to patterns of withdrawal, defensiveness, or spiritual numbness.
  2. Identify the lie – what story is it telling you about your worth, your place, your future?
  3. Trace it back – often there’s a memory at the root.
  4. Forgive – yourself, others, even the people who planted it.
  5. Replace with truth – Scripture crowds out the lie with God’s reality.

• In Matthew 4, Jesus shows us how to respond. When confronted with lies, He didn’t argue—He declared God’s Word. Scripture is our primary weapon, and identity truths must be planted before the attack comes.
  
  
• From this passage we see that freedom comes as we: 1) notice and name the lies, 2) replace them with the truth of Scripture, and 3) trust God to redeem even the deepest lie into something beautiful for His purpose.

Pray

(Pray for truth to take root) Father, I confess the lies I’ve believed about myself—that  (name the lies). Thank You that in Christ those lies are uprooted and replaced with Your truth. Teach me to notice disintegration, to forgive, and to plant Your Word deep in my heart. Redeem what the enemy meant for harm, and turn it into something beautiful for Your glory. Amen.

• Jesus longs for you to experience supernatural freedom. Galatians 5 says: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” But something stands in the way—and it is the reality of an opportunistic Enemy that preys upon the broken places of our soul.
  
  
• Three foundational questions help us see this clearly:
  
  
  • Is there an enemy? — Luke 22: Satan is real. He demanded Peter by name, wanting to sift him like wheat. The enemy’s desire is always your destruction.
  • What is he made of? — John 8: “When he lies, he speaks his native tongue, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” The devil’s entire character is deception.
  • How does he operate? — By whispering lies into your soul: “You’re not sincere enough… You’ll never hold on… You’re beyond grace.” These aren’t harmless thoughts—they’re lies we begin to live in, shaping our identity and stealing our joy.
• But Jesus does not leave us defenseless. He gives us things we can stand in:
  
  
  • Stand in His prayers – “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” Even in weakness, you are upheld.
  • Stand in His words – “If you abide in my word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” His truth dismantles lies.
  • Stand in His community – “When you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Freedom is sustained when we walk in truth together.
• From this passage we see that freedom comes as: 1) naming the enemy’s lies, 2) standing in what Jesus has already given us, and 3) refusing to fight alone.

Pray

(Pray for freedom and strength) Lord, I confess that I have lived in lies that keep me bound. Thank You that You pray for me, that Your Word speaks truth, and that Your people surround me with grace. Strengthen me to resist deception and to walk in the freedom You purchased for me. Amen.

• Romans 8 confronts us with two ways of living: according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. Living by the flesh produces rotten fruit—stress, fear, striving, and a constant sense of debt. But living by the Spirit brings life and peace.
  
  
• Paul says we are no longer under a spirit of slavery (v. 15). That old way feels familiar—always measuring worth, always striving to earn freedom, always driven by fear. But in Christ, we are redeemed and no longer debtors to the flesh.
  
  
• From this passage we see that life in the Spirit means:
  
  
  1. A new source — no longer poisoned roots of fear and striving, but the Spirit of adoption, drawing us into security and love.
     
     
  2. A new identity — not slaves but beloved children, fully known and fully loved by the Father (Tim Keller).
     
     
  3. A new hope — though we still “live in the orphanage” (v. 23) and face suffering, we have an eternal home prepared by Christ and an abundant life of rest and security now.
• The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (v. 16). Adoption means we belong forever, secure in love. Even as we struggle with old habits of fear and death, the Father is reshaping us into people of hope, peace, and intimacy with Him.

Pray

• (Pray for adoption identity) Father, thank You that in Christ I am no longer a slave to fear but Your child. Forgive me for drawing from poisoned sources of fear and striving. Spirit of adoption, root me deeply in Your love, teach me to live secure in who I am, and remind me of the eternal home You are preparing. May I walk each day with confidence, intimacy, and hope as Your beloved child.

Revelation 22.1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing (therapein) of the nations/peoples (ethnos). 3 No longer will there be any curse.The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.

• Over these weeks we’ve been tracing the Bible’s image of trees—Jeremiah 17: a tree rooted in water, healthy even in high heat; Psalm 1: the introductory vision of the Psalms, a tree delighting in God’s word. And now, Revelation 22: the tree of life at the end of history.
  
  
• Revelation calls us to read with the end in mind—to see where the story is headed, and to live today with that hope.
  
  
• John’s vision gives us three big questions:
  1. What is there?
     • A tree, planted on each side of the river of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding every month.
     • Its leaves are “for the healing (therapia) of the nations”—healing for all peoples.
     • Even when we only glimpse healing here and now, Revelation promises that the tree exists. One day, every longing for restoration will be met in full.
  2. What is not there?
     • “No longer will there be any curse.”
     • From Genesis 3 onward, humanity lived under curse: first, that life is always fractured; second, that even good things are fragile and can be lost.
     • But in the new creation, the curse is gone forever.
  3. How is it not there?
     • Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). On the tree of the cross, He bore our curse and traded it for His Spirit.
     • This is the true prosperity gospel—not wealth or ease, but the priceless gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence with us. Like Frodo carrying a treasure he didn’t realize he had, we often miss the value of the Spirit already within us.
• This vision matters because it speaks to a suffering world. Nations are fractured, people are broken, and creation groans. But God sees it all, and promises: healing is coming.

From this passage we see that hope comes as: 1) faith that the tree of healing truly exists, 2) freedom from the curse through Christ’s cross, and 3) the Spirit’s presence now as the foretaste of God’s final restoration.

Pray - For Awareness of the Holy Spirit: Holy Spirit, give us eyes to see the treasure we already have in You. Remind us that in Christ, the curse is broken, and healing is promised. Plant us by Your living waters, make us a community rooted in Your presence, and let us taste the happy of God even now as we wait for the tree of life at the end of history. Amen.

Link to Photos Mentioned 

• Psalm 1 opens with the word “Blessed”—literally, happy. The Psalmist offers a vision of life as a tree—rooted, nourished, fruitful—set against the world’s competing vision of life as a race—relentless forward progress, competition, and comparison.
  
  
• If life is a race, then falling behind feels inevitable—and resentment toward God and others grows. But if life is a tree, the goal is not forward motion but strength in the present—growing deeper roots, wider branches, and steadier fruit in every season.
  
  
• The “happy of God” is available to us. It’s not easy, but it is simple. Psalm 1 shows how to receive it:
  
  
  1. The company you keep matters – Crowds and chaotic voices can immobilize you. Choosing God-centered company means leaving behind the “chorus of chaos” and its shallow measures of worth.
     
     
  2. The story you treasure matters – “The law” here means God’s instruction, His story. The happy of God grows in those who are immersed in His words—meditating on them until they shape our desires and direction.
     
     
  3. The One who keeps your company matters most – Verse 6 promises: “The Lord watches over the way of the righteous.” God sees, knows, and safeguards His people. Jesus Himself endured ultimate loneliness at the cross so our loneliness would have limits, and our connection to God would be limitless.
     
     

From this passage we see that blessing comes as: 1) rejecting the race paradigm for the tree paradigm, 2) rooting ourselves in God’s instruction and story, and 3) resting in the God who knows, keeps, and cultivates His people.

Pray
 Father, rescue me from the false paradigm of life as a race. Make me a tree—rooted in Your Word, surrounded by Your people, and kept in Your care. Thank You that Jesus endured the loneliest place so I could know the deepest connection. Let me find my happiness in You alone. Amen.

• In a culture obsessed with moving forward, Jeremiah 17:5–8 invites us to a different kind of flourishing—not about speed, success, or performance, but about being rooted, nourished, and fruitful right where we are.
  
  
• Many of us feel stuck, like we’re falling behind, even as everyone else seems to move forward. But Scripture says: you can be blessed—happy—even when life feels slow or dry.
  
  
• The passage paints a vivid contrast between shrubs and trees:
   Shrubs are scorched, isolated, rootless.
   Trees are anchored, interconnected, and fruitful—even in drought.
  
  
• This "tree life" isn’t earned by perfection—it grows through deep trust in God. Your happiness doesn’t depend on circumstances improving—it depends on your rootedness in the source of living water.

From this passage we see that blessing (true happiness) comes through: 1) surrendering the pressure to constantly “move forward,” 2) rooting our identity and hope in God alone, and 3) learning to trust Him deeply, especially in heat and drought.

Pray

(Pray a whole-life invitation)
 Father, I confess that I often chase forward progress instead of rooted presence. But you say blessing comes when I trust you. Make me a tree—anchored in your Spirit, unshaken by the heat, fruitful even in drought. Teach me to draw my hope, identity, and joy from you alone. Amen.

We've been on a months-long journey exploring two questions: How has the world been pulled apart? And how is it brought back together? Scripture shows us that at the core of the unraveling is our alienation from God, which then ripples out into alienation from self, others, and even creation.

Into this brokenness, the God of the universe is actively restoring all things—and what’s more, he is inviting us to participate in that restoration. In a city overflowing with opportunity, what's often missing is a meaningful invitation, and Jesus offers one: “Let’s do something together.”

But then comes the tension: Why is this mission so impossible? Two words—All Nations. Jesus calls a small, unqualified group to world transformation, not just across countries, but across all ethnic groups. And he does this without giving them the credentials we’d expect.

If you were Jesus, building a world-shaping team, who would you pick? Jesus picks those who have nothing on paper:

• They were uneducated, common, “idiotes” (Acts 4:13).
  
  
• They had no formal training and a terrible track record—the ones who deserted him when he needed them most.
  
  
• And yet he chooses them. They had been with Jesus, and that’s what mattered.
• What about those of us who do have credentials? Jesus still uses us—but it might require more unlearning. Think of Paul, who had the pedigree, the passion, the track record. But God had to blind and prune him so he could learn that confidence for mission cannot come from natural advantage.

In Philippians 3, Paul reflects: “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss... that I may gain Christ.” He teaches us that resumes don’t move the needle in the kingdom—knowing Jesus and being filled with His power does.

So whether you feel inadequate or overqualified, the call is the same: divest your confidence in yourself, and place it fully in Christ. The way of the Kingdom is not the way of the world.

What did the disciples have that mattered? A promise. Luke 24:48–49 – “You are witnesses... stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

The metaphor of being “clothed” is deeply biblical. It shows up in Genesis 3 when God covers Adam and Eve in grace. It shows up in the Sermon on the Mount as a symbol of care and security. And now Jesus uses it to describe being covered in the Holy Spirit—our protection, identity, and confidence.

Acts 1:4, 8 echoes the same idea: wait for the promise from the Father, and you will receive power. The only thing that made the early church different was this: the power of the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

So deepen your yearning—not only for more training—but for a power outside of yourself. Because the only confidence we carry is this, the power of the living God, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, has clothed us.

Pray

• (Pray a whole-life invitation) Father, I confess that I often rely on my qualifications or feel paralyzed by my limitations. Today, I surrender both. Clothe me with the power of your Spirit. Let my confidence be rooted not in what I bring, but in the fact that I have been with Jesus. Make me your witness—not by strength, but by your Spirit. Amen.

• Luke 24 mirrors Matthew 28’s Great Commission—Jesus extends a meaningful invitation not just to do something, but to join Him in the greatest work: the restoration of all things. In a world full of options, what we truly crave is meaningful inclusion, and Jesus offers it.
  
  
• This is a genius mission—to you, through you, and with you. First, we are recipients: God is healing the deep places in us marked by shame, pain, and unmet longing. This mission doesn’t begin with output but with inner transformation. Then it flows through us to others. And finally, it happens with us—through the power of the Spirit.
  
  
• We focused on the second piece of this mission, from Luke 24:47, Jesus calls us to be Heralds and Healers. He says: “Repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.”Heralds proclaim something significant, and the truth is—we already are heralds. We naturally share things that move us. Maybe the issue isn’t heralding but discomfort in heralding this message. But here’s the good news: Jesus’ call to proclaim repentance and forgiveness is a call to announce that you can come home, no matter what you’ve done.
  
  
• This echoes the return-from-exile theme in the Old Testament. Forgiveness wasn’t just a legal clean slate—it meant a way back home. Jesus expresses this powerfully through the parable of the Prodigal Son: one son experiences exile of the body (he ran), the other, exile of the heart (he stayed but didn’t know the Father). Yet the Father’s invitation stands for both: come home.
  
  
• We herald when we share our stories—moments of surrender, moments on the brink when God came through. These are more than testimonies; they are healing announcements that God restores, forgives, and brings us back into His embrace.

For the summary for this sermon and others - click here!

• Will Smith observed that those who experience life at “cliff top” face the same abyss experienced by those on “rock bottom.” It is a honest and vulnerable admission that proves Jesus’ right that a common problem we face is that we do not know “the things that make for peace.”
• Luke records Jesus making his assertion in the moments following his arrival in Jerusalem. And this assertion helps modern readers to see how the event of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem (as well as the following events of Holy Week) bring peace.
• From this passage we see that peace comes as 1) an alien arrival, 2) a welcome into our constructed strongholds, and 3) an invitation into the center of our self-understandings (our identities!).

Pray

• (Pray a whole-life invitation) Father, I invite your presence into every corner of my life. I invite you to center of my self-understanding—may your good and loving presence be the lens that allows me to see every part of my life.

For the summary for this sermon and others - click here!

• In Genesis 3.17-19, we see a fourth layer of alienation w/ nature, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life” It is an unraveling that impacts that sits at the intersection of how we worship (Lord), how we work (labor), and how we live in God’s creation (land).
• Our post-fall predicament is that we have lost the experience of abundance, security, and resource-fullness of Eden. Instead our work lives, even in the backdrop of materially wealthy global city, are marked by scarcity, severity, and insecurity.
• What we are facing is (at-least) two-fold: 1) scarcity of soul/inner world, and 2) scarcity of resources. This dual-scarcity leads to work-creep, where work and longing for security moves to the center of our existence. And, this experience of scarcity leads to overwork (for ourselves) and overuse (exploitation of God’s creation).
• In a world reeling from an alienation from nature, God prescribed for his people a Sabbath rest for us (every week) and for the land (every seven years). Yet, his people did not adhere to God’s invitation for Sabbath rest.
• Therefore, what is the hope for us in a world marked by scarcity? Scripture says the hope is found in our adoption. We are adopted by a King and we are adopted into the Kingdom! Our adoption by a King infuses us with a new identity that transforms the scarcity of our inner world. Our adoption into the Kingdom places us within Jesus’ Church. And, when the Holy Spirit falls on the Church in Acts 2, the Church receives a capacity for generosity that stands as a counter-cultural example of supernatural abundance.

For the summary for this sermon and others - click here!

• In Genesis 3 and 4, we see the third layer of alienation—a social alienation that pulls us apart from each other. This alienation and unraveling leads to the active conflict we observe in our world, as well as the apathy we can possess towards the material needs of those around us.
• In response to the widening dysfunction and violence multiplying in the world, God chooses a nation to embody a different way. This different way can be seen in passages such as Deuteronomy 15.
• In Isaiah 58, we see glimpse of God’s desire for a spirituality—a “life with God”—in a world marked by conflict and apathy. It is a spirituality that 1) has eyes for others, 2) is rooted in continuous intimacy with the Father, and 3) delights in grace!
• We can often miss God’s desire in two directions: 1) a religious direction and 2) an irreligious direction. We err in the religious direction when we focus on the rituals of spirituality without allowing our love for God translate into active love and concern for others (Isaiah 58.1-5). We can also err in an irreligious direction, where we seek justice for others but discount the necessity of life with God. We desire to remedy alienation #3—social alienation—but do not address alienation #1—alienation from God.
• Jesus embodies a potent spirituality that both 1) challenges a spirituality that ignores the material plight of others (Mt. 23.23) and also 2) prioritizes connection to the Father. A Jesus-Church*,* following after the way of Jesus, gets to experience and embody the same!

Pray

• Father, gives me eyes to see the needs around me; grant me to experience the power of life with you; and fill me with a delight to remember that no matter how often I fall short, you provide incomparable grace.

For the summary for this sermon and others - click here!

• In Scripture, shame has both an passive and and an active component. The passive component is what we are familiar with — the visceral reactions we’ve experienced that stem from feeling exposed and insufficient. Genesis 3 explains that it is our human way of experiencing the world now that we have experienced the disconnection from God once available to humanity at Eden.
• A Scriptural understanding of shame also requires understanding shame’s active component. In Psalm 25.1-3, the psalmist declares that those who put their trust in God are not put to shame. And, this is a recurring idea in Scripture—biblical authors speak of shame as resulting from our misplaced trust.
• The redemptive power of shame, as argued by Allender and Longman, centers on shame’s ability to expose our misplaced trusts—the deep idols of our heart. We feel shame, because the things we depend on for identity and sense of security—such as the respect and admiration of others, the financial stability our jobs provides, the affection of loved ones—cannot provide what we long for.
• Shame exposes our misplaced trusts, which can lead us to repentance and worship!