Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE |  Habakkuk 3:16-19

The message of Habakkuk ends with the paradox of faith: even when everything is lost, the prophet can rejoice because he still has God. God cannot be lost. In this way Habakkuk is particularly helpful to persons going through suffering. The source of hope is not in the reversal of difficult circumstances, but an ever-increasing awareness of the God who is with you in the midst of them. Even when all is lost, God remains. Therein you may rejoice.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE |  Habakkuk 3:1-15

In the midst of life’s hardest moments and in the midst of suffering, one of the resources that God’s people need is the cultivation of spiritual memory. Habakkuk is standing in awe of God’s deeds, God’s past work. The word deeds is an important word in the Old Testament. God’s deeds refer to his specific acts of deliverance on behalf of God’s people in time past. Habakkuk was living in a dark time for the people of God: but this wasn’t the first dark time they had had. Habakkuk knows that in dark times before, God delivered his people. He came to their rescue. And his deep awareness of God’s deeds in the past fortifies his faith and hope in the present.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Habakkuk 2

After asking his hard questions, Habakkuk gets a response from God, even if not a satisfactory answer. God doesn’t explain all of his ways to Habakkuk, but he does remind Habakkuk of his glory: “The Lord is in his holy temple” (v. 20). In other words, God responds to Habakkuk’s hard questions by giving him a bigger vision of his glory. Therefore, as Habakkuk learns, “The righteous person will live by faithfulness” (v. 4). It’s trust in God, even when you don’t understand all that he’s up to, that anchors someone in the midst of suffering.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Habakkuk 1

Habakkuk 1 describes a man asking God hard, uncomfortable questions, and being unsettled by the answers God gives. We need to start here—with hard questions—because experiences of suffering always raise hard questions. We need to encourage honesty in wrestling with a God whose ways are often confusing and frustrating. If we don’t help people know that it’s safe, even encouraged, to bring their hard questions to God, they’ll be more prone to deconstruct their faith when they experience suffering (in their own lives or the lives of those around them). What’s more, as Habakkuk brings his hard questions to God, he finds God to be so patient, gracious, and tender. By asking hard questions we experience a particular kind of intimacy with God, the kind of intimacy that mirrors Christ in Gethsemane: “Take this cup away from; nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Ephesians 1:15-23

This sermon explores the historical foundation and the life-transforming power of the greatest news ever told: Jesus was raised on the third day.

Given by Rev. Andrew Field. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Matthew 21:1-11

Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as a true king, and a truly humble king. The triumphal entry reveals the upside-down nature of his kingdom and how followers of this humble king should use their power in the world.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Luke 18:9-14 

To round out our series on repentance, we’ll consider humility. Humility is both the foundation for and a fruit of repentance. Pride will keep us from truly repenting. And if a person truly repents, they are filled with gospel-humility, not less of themselves, but thinking of themselves less, and thinking much more of Jesus and his grace.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10

As Thomas Watson points out, godly repentance is that which starts in the heart and bursts forth into a change in life. This sermon explores how repentance is a turning from “sin”, or idols, and is a turning to God. This turn manifests in actions, deeds, behavior, etc. (cf Acts 26:20).

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Psalm 32:1-11

Another essential ingredient in gospel repentance is the confession of sin. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament highlight the importance of confession as a regular practice for the people of God. In this passage, we learn something about what real confession is and why confession is such an essential part of the Christian life, both for individuals and for a church family.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | 2 Corinthians 7:8-12

In the March 9 sermon, we considered repentance generally. The upcoming three sermons dive more specifically into the aspects of repentance. One ingredient of biblical repentance is experiencing godly sorrow for sin. Paul, in 2 Corinthians, distinguishes godly sorrow from worldly sorrow, and shows us how godly sorrow is not only good, but is a fruit of the gospel’s work in our life.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Mark 1:14-20

In his famous 95 Theses, Martin Luther remarked that the entirety of the Christian life is one of repentance. This is fitting, for when Jesus’ begins his public ministry and announces his kingdom, the invitation Jesus gives is one of repentance. In this sermon we’ll be exploring what repentance is (and isn’t!), and why repentance is for all of life.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Mark 2:1-12

In Mark 2, we see someone whose life was radically and holistically healed by Jesus. But he would not have experienced healing from Jesus if it were not for his friends who brought him to Jesus. Because this man’s friends brought him to Jesus, his life was forever changed. We want to be a church where people meet Jesus and experience his holistic healing, his shalom.  This sermon will explore the motivations and the practices of people who bring their friends to Jesus.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Ephesians 2:19-22

In his book, Side by Side, Ed Welch describes church as a place where every person is both needy and needed. Using the imagery of “temple” to describe the church, Paul is reminding Christians that they need the church and the church needs them. One way we promote shalom in our city is by fostering a community where it’s safe to be needy and where everyone is contributing to ministry.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Ephesians 2:11-18

In these verses, Paul provides a theological foundation for the kind of reconciliation that we see depicted in Acts 10: The same gospel that reconciles people to God also reconciles people to each other. The gospel can tear down any ways erected between peoples today. 

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Acts 10

Acts 10 records a kind of conversion story, but not in the way you expect. Peter, who was an apostle and the leader of the church, experiences a kind of conversion when he experiences that the good news of Jesus really is for all peoples. Peter understands the gospel in a new and deeper way as he begins to grasp that the same gospel which reconciles people to God also reconciles those people to other people, across racial, ethnic, and cultural lines.

Given by Rev. Andrew Field.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Acts 6:1-7

As we saw last week, the first Christians were committed to serving their city in word and deed ministry. In Acts 6, God invites his people to serve one another practically inside the church. The revolutionary idea of spiritual gifts releases every Christian to serve in God-designed and God-empowered ways.

Given by Rev. Bijan Mirtolooi. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Acts 3:1-16 

While Peter and John were making their way to the temple to pray, they encountered a man with tremendous physical need. Instead of offering a smile and walking by, Peter and John stop, engage the man, and pronounce healing in the name of Jesus. Here, we see a sign of the church alive: Christians being used by God to relieve suffering in their city. After the healing, Peter explains to the crowd how this happened: By faith in the name of Jesus. Here in Acts 3, we see the gospel in the city, the gospel as both word and deed that changes lives and changes the city.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Jeremiah 29:4-14  

For the people of God, “exile” is their current but not their ultimate status. While they are to seek the shalom of their cities (be it Babylon or NYC), they must not forget that their “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3v20). God promises his people in exile that he won’t forget about them, and that he will bring them home. Only when we live with hope in our true home, God’s future city, can we live faithfully as exiles in our current cities.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Jeremiah 29:1-9 

God tells his people in Babylon to seek the shalom of their city (29v7). One of our values at RWS is pursuing and promoting a flourishing city. This sermon explores not only what shalom is, but some of the ways that God calls us, his people, to pursue shalom.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | Jeremiah 29:1-9 

An “exile” is someone who’s been displaced from their homeland, having undergone an experience of disruption/disorientation. The theme of “exile” runs throughout the Bible. The apostle Peter describes the church as “foreigners and exiles” (1 Pet 2v18). Here in Jeremiah 29, we see God’s people in exile, and God reminds them that he is the one who sent them there (v4). This sermon will explore exile as a part of the human condition and how understanding “exile” can help God’s people rightly relate to their earthly city as they look forward to the heavenly city.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | John 1:19-28 

What does it mean to live in light of Christmas? Christians, like John the Baptist, are called to use their “voice” to proclaim the “Word”. Jesus must increase, we must decrease.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | John 1:14-18  

In our polarized and polarizing society, people who live with both grace and truth are rare and beautiful. As FD Bruner points out, at Christmas, we celebrate the incarnation of deep grace and deep truth — the very glory of the eternal God, now clothed in flesh. The more we’re shaped by the reality of Christmas, the more we’ll be able to embody grace and truth in our city. 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | John 1:14  

In Eugene Peterson’s The Message, he paraphrased this verse by saying, “The word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.” The more the message of Christmas grabs our hearts and changes our life, the more we’ll move into our neighborhood as representatives of Jesus’ kingdom.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | John 1:6-13  

The Advent season is a remarkable promise: Jesus was born of Mary so that all who receive him can be born of God—can become part of God’s family. This sermon can explore the reality of what the new birth is, as well as how those who experience the new birth invite others into it, too.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE | John 1:1-5 

Christ’s incarnation reminds us that what Jesus did for us what he now calls us — in his power — to do for others: move towards brokenness with good news of grace and healing. Jesus, the Word, didn’t remain distant and aloof, but came into our darkness and brought light, at great cost to himself.