Posts with the tag “god-s-work”

What if the greatest relief in the Christian life is discovering that the weight of saving souls was never ours to carry? In this message rooted in 1 Corinthians 3, we are drawn into a profound truth about God's providence: He is the one who plants, waters, and gives the growth. We are not the source of transformation in others' lives, and we are not even the source of our own spiritual maturation. That power belongs entirely to God. Yet here is the beautiful paradox at the heart of this message: because God does all of this, we are freed to participate joyfully rather than striving anxiously. Like children who pull up a stool beside a parent in the kitchen, we are invited into the work not because we make it better, but because a good Father delights in having us near. The story of Thomas Jefferson Bowen, who spent just five years planting the first Baptist church in Nigeria only to see 9 million Baptists and 12,000 churches emerge 175 years later, stands as a breathtaking testimony to what God's providence accomplishes through faithful, ordinary people. This message calls us to stop staring at the sky and fix our eyes on the work in front of us, whether that work is happening across the ocean or in the next aisle at the grocery store.  Read More

This study takes us to one of the most poignant moments in biblical history—Moses' final ascent up Mount Nebo, where he would see the Promised Land but never enter it. Yet this isn't ultimately a story about Moses' disappointment or God's harshness. Instead, it reveals three unshakeable truths that anchor our faith in both life and death: God's Word endures forever, His work always gets finished, and His will always prevails. We discover that Moses' exclusion from the land wasn't arbitrary cruelty but purposeful wisdom, pointing forward to the reality that no human leader—not even Moses—could provide the ultimate rest God's people needed. Only Jesus could do that. The passage reminds us that our mountaintop experiences with God aren't about our significance but about encountering the God who is significant. When we grasp that God's will is greater than our desires, wiser than our understanding, and not thwarted by our faithlessness, we can finally stop trying to shape God's will to fit our plans and instead shape our desires to align with His purposes. The most stunning revelation comes when we realize Moses does eventually stand in the Promised Land—centuries later on the Mount of Transfiguration, alongside Jesus, discussing the exodus Christ would accomplish. Our hope isn't in our perfection or our ability to finish what we start; our hope is in the God who completes what He begins.  Read More