Refuge Church

Welcome to the 28th sermon in our series on the book of Mark. (28 of 60)

There are many people, not just Christians, who would put Jesus at the top of a list of most influential people in the world. If you were to also make a list of people who have claimed to be God, Jesus would be the only person on both lists. Everyone else who has claimed to be God has been dismissed by history as false. We are going to spend this sermon series looking at how Jesus was presented in the gospel of Mark. Mark is very to the point. He leaves very little doubt as to who Jesus is. Mark presents Jesus as King and then leaves us to deal with that truth.

Welcome to the 11th sermon in our series on the book of Mark. (11 of 60)

There are many people, not just Christians, who would put Jesus at the top of a list of most influential people in the world. If you were to also make a list of people who have claimed to be God, Jesus would be the only person on both lists. Everyone else who has claimed to be God has been dismissed by history as false. We are going to spend this sermon series looking at how Jesus was presented in the gospel of Mark. Mark is very to the point. He leaves very little doubt as to who Jesus is. Mark presents Jesus as King and then leaves us to deal with that truth.

Welcome to the 10th sermon in our series on the book of Mark. (10 of 60)

There are many people, not just Christians, who would put Jesus at the top of a list of most influential people in the world. If you were to also make a list of people who have claimed to be God, Jesus would be the only person on both lists. Everyone else who has claimed to be God has been dismissed by history as false. We are going to spend this sermon series looking at how Jesus was presented in the gospel of Mark. Mark is very to the point. He leaves very little doubt as to who Jesus is. Mark presents Jesus as King and then leaves us to deal with that truth.

Welcome to the 4th sermon in our series on the book of Mark. (4 of 60)

There are many people, not just Christians, who would put Jesus at the top of a list of most influential people in the world. If you were to also make a list of people who have claimed to be God, Jesus would be the only person on both lists. Everyone else who has claimed to be God has been dismissed by history as false. We are going to spend this sermon series looking at how Jesus was presented in the gospel of Mark. Mark is very to the point. He leaves very little doubt as to who Jesus is. Mark presents Jesus as King and then leaves us to deal with that truth.

Welcome to the 6th sermon in our series on Christian mission. (6 of 6)

Have you ever started telling a story and then gotten halfway through it and completely and totally forgotten the point of the story you were telling? When it comes to the idea of Christian mission, it is easy for us to forget the point of the story. We often start substituting our own preferences and using Christian language to support our own goals. In this series we are going to look at what it should look like to be on mission as a Christian. A mission is basically showing and telling a story. As followers of Jesus we have a beautiful, new, better story. But it is critical that we remember the point of the story, remember our place in the story, and not get caught up in competing narratives. The mission of a Christian is about telling God’s story. That somehow, some way, miraculously we have gotten caught up into His story.

Welcome to the 5th sermon in our series on what we should worship. (5 of 5)

Human beings are designed to be filled with awe. We are designed as worshipers. Think of the sense of amazement and peace that comes from standing on top of a mountain range or watching the sun set over the ocean. We are created and designed to worship God as he is, as he has revealed himself through what he has done in time and history. We are designed for a relationship with God that is fulfilled through us, as his creation, worshiping and standing in awe of him.

The biggest problem throughout Scripture, literally from the garden, is when people in general, but especially the people of God, turn away from him and start worshiping something other than God as god. When we place our trust in anything less than God himself, this is called idolatry. In this series on the Idols of the Heart we are going to be looking at where we all too often misplace our worship and refocus on what we are created and designed to do: to worship and be in awe of God himself.

Welcome to the 3rd sermon in our series on some of our favorite Psalms. (3 of 7)

The book of Psalms is a huge collection of poetry, of wisdom, of prayers, and of hymns written by a whole bunch of different people in the life of Israel. It’s people that are wrestling with the truths of God and wrestling with the brokenness that they find in the world. They are trying in to understand and come to grips with what is going on. Throughout the Psalms you see lots of different emotions being expressed: happiness, joy, sorrow, shame, guilt, despair, hope, excitement, wonder, longing, brokenness, and a slew of other emotions. It is the place in the Bible where feelings are more present that events. Singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken explains, “Psalms give us words when we have none. They prompt us to sing a new song when we cannot find our own voice.” Join us as we learn not only how to read the Psalms, but take time to soak them in.

Welcome to the 2nd sermon in our series on some of our favorite Psalms. (2 of 7)

The book of Psalms is a huge collection of poetry, of wisdom, of prayers, and of hymns written by a whole bunch of different people in the life of Israel. It’s people that are wrestling with the truths of God and wrestling with the brokenness that they find in the world. They are trying in to understand and come to grips with what is going on. Throughout the Psalms you see lots of different emotions being expressed: happiness, joy, sorrow, shame, guilt, despair, hope, excitement, wonder, longing, brokenness, and a slew of other emotions. It is the place in the Bible where feelings are more present that events. Singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken explains, “Psalms give us words when we have none. They prompt us to sing a new song when we cannot find our own voice.” Join us as we learn not only how to read the Psalms, but take time to soak them in.

Welcome to the 5th sermon in our series on the book of Ruth. (5 of 12)

Many of us know the book of Ruth as a love story, but we forget that it took place during the time of the Judges when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 19:25). Ruth lived in a twisted world without much hope, much like our own world. We know what it is to carry the hurt and shame of things we have done and to carry the hurt and pain of things that have been done to us. We have all asked God: How could you let this happen? Where are you in our pain?

The book of Ruth shows God working in the least likely of ways with the least likely of people to disrupt a broken world with true love, hesed love. The Hebrew word hesed is a combination of commitment and sacrifice. It is one-way love. Love without an exit strategy, binding oneself to another person no matter how they respond. This is the love in the story of Ruth, the love that God shows to Israel, the love God show to us. The book of Ruth shows us that though we are in a situation far worse than we could ever imagine, at the very same time we are loved far more than we could ever dare hope.

Welcome to the 1st sermon in our series on the book of Ruth. (1 of 12)

Many of us know the book of Ruth as a love story, but we forget that it took place during the time of the Judges when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 19:25). Ruth lived in a twisted world without much hope, much like our own world. We know what it is to carry the hurt and shame of things we have done and to carry the hurt and pain of things that have been done to us. We have all asked God: How could you let this happen? Where are you in our pain?

The book of Ruth shows God working in the least likely of ways with the least likely of people to disrupt a broken world with true love, hesed love. The Hebrew word hesed is a combination of commitment and sacrifice. It is one-way love. Love without an exit strategy, binding oneself to another person no matter how they respond. This is the love in the story of Ruth, the love that God shows to Israel, the love God show to us. The book of Ruth shows us that though we are in a situation far worse than we could ever imagine, at the very same time we are loved far more than we could ever dare hope.