“But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.” – Acts 3:18

There is profound meaning, power, and comfort in this reality that Jesus the Christ suffered. Though He was fully God, He took on a human body and human nature. As both God and man, He suffered physically and spiritually as He hung on the cross to atone for our sins. He bore our guilt, our shame, and God’s wrath. And He died in physical agony after betrayal, humiliation, injustice, and torture.

We have a Savior Who knows exactly what it means to suffer, to be in agony, to be abandoned, and to experience God’s wrath. When we put our faith in Christ, we are joined with Him, filled with His Spirit, and assured of His continuous presence with us in good times and bad.

When we suffer physically, spiritually, emotionally, whether from disease, disability, deprivation, persecution, abuse, abandonment, or injustice we are accompanied, comforted, transformed, and strengthened in our pain by our Savior who completely understands. As Christians, we’re never alone in suffering – Christ is always with us (even when our feelings lie and claim He’s far away) and He understands.

He hears our cries and our prayers and He’s right there with us and in us. If we lean on Him, He will carry us through every season of suffering, no matter how long or intense, for He is the Christ Who suffered!

#FOLLOWJESUS

NOTE: While Pastor Brian is on sabbatical, we offer this devotional which was originally published on June 5, 2020.

“And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.” – Leviticus 9:23

What an incredible moment! After all the construction and preparation, after the commitment and ordination of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, and after the sacrifices made to atone for the sin of the people and of the priests, everyone got to see the glory of the Lord for themselves!

We really can’t even begin to imagine what that must have been like: to experience the outshining radiance of all the power, beauty, strength, wisdom, knowledge, goodness, holiness, righteousness, justice, mercy, kindness, and grace of God. Words fail and so do imaginations. We certainly could (and should) wish to have such an experience of God’s presence.

And we will! For all who are in Christ, He has made atonement for our sins. By the grace and mercy of God, all who believe in Jesus will one day live in the presence of the glory of God forever in the new heaven and new earth. What was a momentary experience for Israel so long ago is the forever future of all who follow Jesus. We have something wonderful to look forward to!

#FOLLOWJESUS

NOTE: While Pastor Brian is on sabbatical, we offer this devotional which was originally published on March 2, 2020.

“Then he shall offer the second for a burnt offering according to the rule. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.” – Leviticus 5:10

The overwhelming message of the book of Leviticus is that forgiveness of sin comes at a terrible price. God is pure, perfect, holy, and righteous. He is all good and in Him is no shadow of darkness, evil, or sin. Thus when we sin – and we all do – we create a separation between us and Him bigger than the Grand Canyon!

The only way to remove that sin and close that separation is for something innocent to die. It sounds horrible to our modern sensibilities, but that’s because we don’t appreciate how horrible our sin is, whether we think it’s a “big” sin or a “little” sin. Sin is sin and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) – either for ourselves or for something innocent that atones for our sin.

The ancient system of sacrifice with all its blood and gore was intended to teach us that single lesson. That system could never truly save anyone in itself because after the sacrifice people just sinned again. The system existed to point us to an infinitely greater sacrifice that could cover all our sin, past, present, and future.

That sacrifice was made by the eternal, holy, righteous, perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ. He lived the life free of sin that we can’t and He died as an atoning sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. By His death and resurrection, all who put their faith in Him receive forgiveness and new birth into eternal life.

“He Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” – 1 Peter 2:24

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NOTE: While Pastor Brian is on sabbatical, we offer this devotional which was originally published on February 28, 2020.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Acts 1:8

Christian, wherever you go, near or far, you have a job to do: be a witness for Jesus Christ. It’s a deceptively simple task: speak the truth of what you know from Scripture and have seen in your own life. A witness tells facts without speculation, truth without opinion or preference. A witness stays focused on his or her responsibility.

This, of course, is where the challenge comes in. To be a faithful witness, we need to know the truth we’re speaking about – so we’re called to a lifetime of studying God’s Word, so that we may continually grow as witnesses. In an unreflective age, we’re called to reflect on what we’ve seen of God’s work in our lives so that we can share our eyewitness testimony. To be a faithful witness we must be willing to table whatever we want to talk about so we can talk about what Jesus asked us to talk about.

It’s increasingly hard to be a witness in our world. The noise level and hostility are increasing and it seems nobody “wants” to hear what we have to say. This is good, because it reminds us that we aren’t witnesses by our own strength, charming personality, wit, or wisdom. Our power to witness impactfully comes only from the Holy Spirit.

While there are things we should do to be more faithful witnesses (practice, prepare, read, and pray among them), it’s ultimately God’s Spirit Who empowers us, and we must learn to let Him, because this broken world needs to hear our testimony of the Living Christ!

#FOLLOWJESUS

NOTE: While Pastor Brian is on sabbatical, we offer this devotional which was originally published on June 2, 2020.

“God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’’” – Exodus 3:14

God is the great I AM. He is. We need not doubt. He is eternally present. His existence depends on nothing and no one else. He isn’t a relic of the past, nor dependent on the approval of the present. Though He may feel distant at times, He is never distant. He is.

He is present at all times and in all places. He is simultaneously astride time and present in each moment. He is unshakable and sovereign, creating and sustaining a universe of order and beauty. His nature never changes – He is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. He is forgiving AND just. He is the I AM.

Praise Him! Praise Him today, praise Him tomorrow, praise Him everyday!

Revelation 4:11:

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”

#FOLLOWJESUS

NOTE: While Pastor Brian is on sabbatical, we offer this devotional which was originally published on February 8, 2021.