series: Thawing
title: Disappointment
teacher: Jacob Bender
date: January 29, 2017
scriptures: Matthew 11:2-11, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Romans 5:5, Isaiah 61, Matthew 11
This message was given on our first fruit Sunday at Courage Church, a time when we plant a seed together for our church and the new year.
series: Cultivate the Romance
title: Why are we afraid?
date: January 3, 2016
teacher: Jacob Bender
scriptures: 1 John 4:18-19, Psalm 2:7-8, Psalm 27:1, Philippians 2:3-4, Luke 1:28, Isaiah 9:2
Fear is an incredibly motivating factor in our world right now, and I have watched over the last several months especially, how fear has actually dictated the way that people treat one another. The way that they accept one another and welcome one another.
The bible has a lot to say about fear, because the reality is, nothing can possibly keep you from being what you are supposed to be in Christ, and nothing can possibly keep you from loving people the way you are supposed to love them in Christ, and nothing can possibly keep you from doing the thing which God has put on your heart to accomplish, more than fear. It has infected my brain in the deepest ways, has already caused some of my vision to flutter, it has gotten in the way of my love.
And if there is one thing that I am determined to do differently as your Pastor here at Courage Church this year, it is this, I am not going to let fear have a voice at the table. I am not going to let fear stop me from trying anything. I would rather strike out swinging, than by watching a home run pitch fly by me while I stand idle, knowing that was the one that had the potential to go over the fence. That had the potential to be the home run.
And I would encourage you to join me this year as you set your goals and you pray about your dreams and the God sized vision for your life, to believe that in Christ, we can do anything.
series: The narrative of Grace
title: Grace in Exile
teacher: Jacob Bender
date: December 6, 2015
scriptures: Matthew 1, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 41:41, Jeremiah 29:11, Jeremiah 29:4-6, Leviticus 25:3-4, 2 Chronicles 36:18-21, Jeremiah 29:7, 1 Corinthians 9:22, Jeremiah 29:8-10, Jeremiah 29:11-14
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
This is one of the most quoted verses in the entire bible. Everybody makes this verse their own.
They speak it over their life every time things get hard and suddenly the certain things begin to feel uncertain. They speak it over their friends every time someone feels like they are in a rut, or not where they should be, or not understanding why things are they way that they are in their life. So they say “I know the plans that I have for you…”
“maybe you don’t understand your circumstances, but God has a plan, and its good.”
That is the idea. And it is true. You should speak Jeremiah 29:11 over your life, but you should speak Jeremiah 29:4-10 over your life too. And you should speak Jeremiah 29:12-14 over your life too.
Because one verse sandwiched in the middle of an amazing set of scriptures says something incredible, but everything that it is nestled between is your guide for how you get verse 11. It is how you actually see that hope and that future that God has laid out for you.
It is your guide for how you, as a citizen of Detroit but ultimately as a citizen of the city of God, can claim your inheritance as an heir of the King.
But it may be different than you think.
