About the Series

Life. That’s not what typically comes to mind for modern readers of Leviticus. This is that book filled with animal sacrifices. Life with God might sound even more out of touch. The many laws in this book may give us the impression that the Lord intends to keep his distance. Yet Leviticus is not about distance but nearness. The story of Exodus closed out with a problem: the Lord came to his tabernacle but Moses could not enter. How then can any of us get back to Eden? In Leviticus, the Lord answers that question. Yet the tabernacle and its laws are not the end of the story, but a shadow. Together they are a model of the entire cosmos, God’s heavenly dwelling, and the way to fullness of life with God.

About the Series

Missions exists because worship doesn’t. That memorable line gets to the heart of God’s purpose in the church’s global mission, namely his own glory. In this short series, guest preacher, Andy Naselli, leads us to explore God’s supremacy in all he does and the enemy of God’s glory, the ancient serpent. When God’s motive for his glory is our motive for the nations, we will sacrifice and send, and we will give and we will go for the sake of his name.

About the Series

“O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel; That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.” Lonely exile. That’s one way to describe life east of Eden. The Lord drove us out of the garden because we were intent on driving him out of our lives. There is no way back to that place, but there is a way forward. The Lord Jesus has come to ransom us from our lonely exile here. In this short series we work through the Bible’s story in five stops, working from Eden to the New Creation, from our original home to a greater home still.

About the Series

Peter addresses his letter to “elect exiles.” That includes us today. Everything he has to say to us flows from this basic two-part descriptor. We are exiles here, reviled, spoken evil of, and persecuted, just as Christ was. Yet we are not mere exiles, but elect exiles. We are rejected here but specially chosen by God, just as Christ is God’s chosen. We have a living hope because we have a living Lord. More than this, we are born of a living Word for a new and beautiful way of life—a way of life that declares his praise so that people see and believe. We may be tempted to live a double life in order to avoid suffering, but Jesus calls us to a different kind of double life, to stand firm in grace and truth in an unfriendly time and place, and to do so for his praise and the advance of his name.

About the Series

When the Lord saved his people from Egyptian slavery, they sang on the beach. When David’s life came to a close, he sang of God’s mighty works. When Mary received news of God’s purpose for her to bear a child, she magnified the Lord with a song. In this series we intend to grow in our love for our Redeemer by meditating on the Bible’s songs of redemption.

About the Series

Colossians is a letter which Paul wrote to a little church 2,000 years ago—a little church which was being told that they needed to experience something in addition to Jesus. That kind of message continues to crop up today: “You need something else. You’re deficient unless you’ve done [fill in the blank].” As the Colossians needed to hear Paul’s answer, we need to hear it as well.

At the beginning of his sermon, Pastor Abe Stratton will recite the book of Colossians by memory, something he does for us from time to time.