Life Mission Church

Life Mission Church

by Life Mission Church

Religion & Spirituality

April 26, 2020 - THE GIFT OF ADOPTION

Gospel of John - John 1.6-13 Jobey McGinty God's Word tells us that “flesh and blood” aren’t able to reveal to us that Jesus truly is God.  We can’t simply “see” this on our own, but it must be God who reveals it to us.  Why is this the case?  Spiritually, we are dead and blind, and like how a physically dead man can’t see or understand physical things, a spiritually blind man can’t see or understand spiritual things. A dead man must be raised, and not by his own power, but by an outside power.  Being declared “not guilty” is God’s mercy.  But being called “adopted” and made spiritually alive is His grace. We must understand that the day we are adopted, everything changes.

April 19, 2020 - THE GOD WHO PURSUES

Gospel of John - John 1:1-5,14 Jobey McGinty The opening line of any written work (a book, email, opening arguments of a trial) sets the tone for everything that follows. Sunday, we began a journey into the Gospel of John, and John (an eyewitness and close friend of Jesus') begins with an explosion of declaration from all that he witnessed over three years, and what he maintained as a witness for the next 60+ years until his death: God came to the earth in the Person of Jesus, that you and I could know Him and have true life through Him. He is the Man who is God.  God's very own Word became a human being. In other words, God's heart, desires, character became the exact imprint of God in the Person of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1.3). He did this because He is a God who desires that we would know Him, so that we could have forgiveness and be reconciled with Him forever.  He is, indeed, a God that pursues.

April 12, 2020 - THE HOPE OF THE RESURRECTION

Easter 2020 Jobey McGinty How good is good enough? The vast majority of people who believe in some kind of afterlife believe that the way to make it there, you have to be good enough. But how do we know where the line is, what the standard is? Are we just hoping to make the cut? Or is there a way we can truly know if we are "good enough."    The bad news is that God's Word makes it clear: He is the standard, and all of us fall short of "the cut."  But Easter marks a day that we specifically celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And that resurrection gives us hope for our future, despite the fact that we do not make the cut.

April 5, 2020 - HAVE NO FEAR

Palm Sunday 2020 Jobey McGinty On Palm Sunday we celebrate what we call the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ. It's the day that He rode for the last time into Jerusalem, knowing that His mission would soon be accomplished. He came as a humble servant King, the Prince of Peace, making peace with His enemies as He came to sacrifice Himself for them. Because of this, we know we need not have any fear of our future, because the King of kings has set us apart for His Kingdom and called us to His mission.  If you find yourself gripped with fear or anxiety, you have a Savior who came to rescue you and set you free from that suffocating fear.

March 29, 2020 - BUILDING AND BATTLING

A Life as Liturgy - Nehemiah 4.15-20 Jobey McGinty Last week, we looked "defensively" on how to prepare ourselves, our families, and our church, for uncertain times.  But this week, we have to pivot, turn, and run rather quickly in a new direction, as we prepare ourselves how to look "offensively" as we take these circumstances head on for the sake of others around us. We don't want to simply be preserved in this time, but we want to go into battle for the sake of our neighbors and loved ones.  How do we continue to "build the wall" of our own lives, while also arming ourselves for battle? We need to learn how to effectively multi-task in a time where others around us may be needing us most.

March 22, 2020 - A LITURGY OF LESS

Life as Liturgy - Jeremiah 17.5-10 Jobey McGinty In these past couple weeks, everything changed. Many churches, ours included, were not only trying to figure out WHAT to communicate to their congregation, but even HOW to communicate to them. In a time when we are being forced to have new limitations, how can we actually utilize these limitations and turn them into purposeful limitations?  In this time of forced neglect, there will be many temptations to run to things that we should not run to, yet there are incredible opportunities for us to make the most of it and plant ourselves in a place by the water where we can grow, change, and be a blessing to others.

March 15, 2020 - TRUSTING GOD IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

COVID-19 Response - Matthew 6.25-34 Jobey McGinty In this past week, the world came to a screeching halt. Many churches, ours included, were not only trying to figure out WHAT to communicate to their congregation, but even HOW to communicate to them.   In this first sermon streamed live online but to an empty room (save for 9 people), we look at how to trust God when facing uncertain times and wondering where tomorrow's needs will come from. How do we filter the news that is coming into our minds in a way that it is all being filtered through the Good New?

March 8, 2020 - A LITURGY OF FAILURE

Life as Liturgy - Hebrews 12.7-13 Jobey McGinty Failure is a part of life. A very big part of life.  Every day we fail, and every day we respond to failure, largely by the habits we have built as responses to failure. We need a good and right theology of failure, so that we can know what to do when it comes to us. God uses all hardships, including our failures, to form us, shape us, transform us, and disciple us and discipline us into the image of His Son. Hardships are for our wholeness and healing, not to hurt us.

March 1, 2020 - THE TOOLS OF TRANSFORMATION

Life as Liturgy - 2 Peter 1:3-15 Jobey McGinty A power drill is only as effective as the electricity it is connected to. But that electricity needs a way to get to the drill! As believers, on our own, we can do nothing, but if we are connected to the power of God, abiding in the vine, we can do all things through Him. But what are these "power cords" that connect us, and how do we work them into our lives in order to abide in the power of God?

February 23, 2020 - HOW PEOPLE CHANGE

Life as Liturgy - 1 Corinthians 3.16-18, 4.6 Jobey McGinty How do we change? How can we be freed from sin that so easily and readily entangles us? God's Word makes it clear that not only has the cross of Christ removed the penalty of sin, but also the dominion of sin. It no longer rules us or enslaves us, even if it feels that way. Because we are a new creation, we can be free from the slavery of sin and have power to crucify the flesh. But it starts with believing who we are in Christ and what He has done for us. We must know that His Spirit is the One that works in us and carries out the work of transformation, promising to mold and shape us into His image.

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