What if, after all the debate about tongues and prophesies and miracles, we discovered that we're asking the wrong questions about the Holy Spirit? Either he's a personal or church assistant (who may or may not be giving special "words") OR he's the Third Person of the Trinity, every bit GOD as much as the Father and the Son. If we start there, his grand entrance in Acts 2 takes a whole different tone. Meet the Spirit, as if for the first time.
Read MoreActs 1 opens with Jesus Christ giving a clear command to his followers to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, and then floating into the sky. Floating into the sky? What is going on here?
Read MoreThe Gospel is absolutely central to the Christian life and to the vision of LCC. But what IS the gospel?
Read More1 John tells us that "God is Light." This is both encouraging and troubling when we consider the overwhelming darkness of life as we know it. This sermon is an invitation to consider darkness in a totally new way as we prepare for the birth of Christ.
Read MoreGiven the task of 1 John's letter, to give guidance about genuine faith to a wavering church, we may expect that the conclusion of the letter would summarize his main points that true belief begins with the incarnate Son, or that a true believer can be recognized through obedience to Christ or love for a brother and sister. Instead, John gives two unexpected applications: prayer and the avoidance of idols.
Read MoreIn this passage John speaks three different times about "conquering the world." Sounds great, until we realize how big the world is and how difficult it is to even conquer ourselves! How is this world conquest possible?
Read MoreIn the middle of John's great meditation on love, we discover the power for true love not in our own hearts, but in the Holy Spirit. How does the Spirit empower us?
Read MoreJohn's contrast between genuine and spurious faith in 1 John 3 is so stark that, at first reading, it's devastating to the honest reader. But is there a way the impossible righteousness described here is possible?
Read MoreJohn's famous challenge to his readers, "do not love the world or the things in the world," is one of the great calls to turn from idolatry in all the Bible. But without turning to something, it is an impossible challenge. What we need, when departing from the "desires of the flesh," the "desires of the eyes," and the "boasting in life," is not the absence of desire, but rather a new affection.
Read More