The Christmas message is hope. But it can be hard to be hopeful in a world drenched with cynicism. Bob encourages everyone to bring hope to gatherings during the holidays, so that people can remember the true reason for the season.
Christmas is not intended to be a season of giving gifts, or even receiving them, but instead a season of remembering God's true gift (Eph. 2:8). This gift is received with gratitude. This message considers Jesus's Parable of the Ten Lepers (or, the Grateful Samaritan) as a way to think about our practices of gratitude during the holidays.
All of us feel alone sometimes. And this is not God's plan. The church is God's instrument for community.
We all know the commission..."Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you" but our focus may have landed on the wrong things. Ultimately this is a command to make disciples, which may look a little differently than we think.
Throughout history theologians have asked the question Why Did Jesus Die? What did his death accomplish? In this message, Bob uses Matthew 20:24-28 to show how the atonement of Jesus might speak to those who are leaving faith and the church.
The greatest command is to love God. Sometimes we confuse this with loving our neighbor. We need to cultivate and develop our love for God. We can do this through reading his Word, speaking with him through prayer and making hard/unpopular moral decisions.
Jesus says that the Gates of Hades cannot resist the work of the church. Peter and his confession are the foundation of this church and Peter has the keys to the kingdom. But what does this mean? Bob makes the case that the keys unlock the ministry of the kingdom that is coming to earth---as God's will is done here as it is in heaven.
Jesus invites followers to come to him for rest. We carry so much that our load can often become a burden. Jesus offers an exchange: our heavy load for his light one.
