Jesus calls it the greatest commandment, but we frequently have difficulty grasping it, much less living by it. What is God looking for? What are we afraid of? We shall see.

In the face of uncertainty and disappointment, some are tempted toward despair, while others find comfort in naive optimism. The Christmas story offers us a better way: the way of hope. Because our King took on flesh and dwelt among us, we can embrace hope this Christmas and always.

Your life is like Psalm 110. Your life is a mystery, unfolding chapter by chapter. Psalm 110 can inspire you to enjoy the mystery that is your life.

In some seasons of life, joy is easy to find. In other seasons, joy seems altogether absent. What do we do when we can’t find joy? We wait with hope in our King, who has come and will come again.

As begin an Advent sermon series looking at the messianic psalms, the contrasts within Psalm 8 teach us something important about Jesus. In painting a picture of the tension of humanity, we see hints of the coming Savior. In a world where everyone is asking what it means to be human, Psalm 8 and the advent of Jesus on Christmas day provide a clear and powerful answer.

It is clear from 1 Corinthians 7, not to mention the lives of both Jesus and Paul, that marriage is not the biblically exalted state. In 1 Corinthians 7:25-40, Paul offers some helpful advice to those of us who are single.

It often feels like it would be easy to follow God if only _______ would change. We fill in that blank with all kinds of things: our marital status, our financial status, our job situation, our health, etc. What if we don’t need anything to change in order to follow God? What if we can follow him from right where we are?

The young church in Corinth had written Paul a letter asking specific questions regarding sexuality in the context of marriage. In response to their questions, the apostle Paul addresses four different categories of people: those who are married, widowed, struggling in their marriage, and married to an unbeliever. He gives specific advice in each case, but underlying it all is a rich theology of mutuality in marriage and the importance of encountering Christ in all circumstances.

In both testaments, a male-female relationship in marriage mirrors God’s relationship with his people. God is the husband; we are the wife. Christ is the bridegroom; we are the bride. Practically, what does this mean for us as members of God’s wife, as members of the bride of Christ, both married and single? It has a great deal to do with what we do with our bodies.

After spending several chapters on the issues of divisions within the church, in 1 Corinthians 5, the apostle Paul moves on to the topic of sexual brokenness within the church. His correction of the young church in Corinth can help us to think about how we deal with sexual ethics within our community. Do we actively encourage each other toward sexual health? Do we judge outsiders instead of focusing on ourselves? Do we have blind spots that have gone unnoticed?