Fast From, Feast On
Following Jesus’ pattern of fasting and feasting, abstaining from food and activities to feast upon the Presence of God, is key to experiencing a flourishing life.
Matthew 4:1-4; Luke 7:33-34
Freedom, Limits, and the Nature of Sin
Sin promises freedom and fulfillment if I will reject God’s limiting commands and design, but this always produces deadly results rather than life, freedom, and flourishing.
Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3
Freedom – Embracing the Limits of Marriage and Sex
Freedom is found in embracing the truth that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman, and it is the only proper context for human sexual activity.
Genesis 1:28; 2:20-25
Freedom: Embracing Feasting and Fasting
True freedom is found in a proper relationship with food, neither despising nor idolizing it, but rather rejoicing in it as God’s good gift which points to our ultimate need for God Himself.
Genesis 1:29-30; Genesis 2:15-17
Freedom – Embracing the Rhythm of Work and Rest
True freedom embraces the rhythm of work and rest, for body and soul, that God built into creation.
Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:1-3; Genesis 2:15
Series Outline for Signs
This 7-week series looks at seven signs found in the Gospel of John – symbolic events that call us to embrace Jesus as the Lord Who has come to redeem His people.
The Lord of Life
Jesus healed the man who was blind from birth to show that He is the Messiah, the Light of the world, Who came to call sinful humans out of the darkness into His glorious light.
John 11
United By Blood
Sin alienated us from God and one another, but Christ’s blood has purchased our unity with God and one another.
Ephesians 2:11-22
The Lord of Light
Jesus healed the man who was blind from birth to show that He is the Messiah, the Light of the world, Who came to call sinful humans out of the darkness into His glorious light.
John 9:1-7
The Lord Who Feeds His People
Jesus fed the multitude as a sign that He is the True Bread of Life, Who came down from heaven so that whoever feeds upon Him through believing in Him would have eternal life.
John 6:1-15 NIV2011
The Lord of the Sabbath
Jesus healed the lame man with His powerful word on the Sabbath to show that He is Lord of the Sabbath because He is One with God the Father and does the works of the Father.
John 5:1-18
The Sovereign King
Jesus is the Sovereign Lord over all Who calls us to embrace Him in humble faith for Who He is, not for what we want Him to do for us.
John 4:43-54
The Lord of the House
Jesus cleansed the Temple as a sign that He is the Lord of God’s House, and the True Temple of God.
John 2:13-25
The Lord of the Wedding Feast
Jesus turned water into wine as a sign that He is the Lord of the New Covenant and its great wedding feast.
John 2:1-11
Lust
Lust is a disordered love that excessively craves my own sexual pleasure, desiring it more than true intimacy with God or others.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
Gluttony
Gluttony is a disordered love that excessively craves food and drink, attempting to fill spiritual hunger with material fare.
John 6:26-29
Greed
Greed is a disordered love that excessively craves created goods and possessions, desiring them more than the Creator Himself.
Hebrews 13:5-6
Sloth
Sloth is a disordered love that that does not desire God, His works, or the vocations He has given me, but finds them boring, refusing the effort to love and serve God and others.
Proverbs 26:13-15
Wrath
Wrath is a disordered love that desires justice to be enacted in my time, manner, and degree rather than in God’s.
James 1:19-20
Envy
Envy is a disordered love that is dissatisfied with the lack or perceived insufficient measure of gifts and vocations given by God, and which resents another person for the presence or greater measure of those same gifts.
Proverbs 14:30
Pride
Pride is a disordered love that seeks to exalt myself above God and His will for my life, refusing to accept my God-given limitations.
Proverbs 16:18
The Seven Root Vices
In our struggle against sin, it is important that we learn to cut the root vices that feed sin, and to practice habits that encourage virtues that feed godly character.
Proverbs 5:21-23
Jesus Is the Resurrection and the Life
Jesus is the resurrection and the life, the One who has conquered death and offers eternal life to everyone who believes in Him.
John 11:21-27
Jesus Is the True Vine
Jesus is the True Vine, bearing fruit where Israel failed, and those who remain in vital union with Him are fruitful to the glory of God.
John 15:1-8
Jesus Is the Way, the Truth, and the Life
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, the only One through whom anyone may come to the Father to find eternal life.
John 14:1-6