In the movie Barbie, Barbie briefly ruins a party when she abruptly asks everyone dancing with her: "Do you guys ever think about dying?"  We might be tempted to think about the book of Ecclesiastes like that. This book shows up, and some are wondering if it's here to bring us all down. But there is something much more glorious and life-altering happening for those with ears to hear and eyes to see what is within the book of Ecclesiastes. Life is full of frustrations. The more things change, the more they stay the same. We get stuck in ruts. Pain does not always equal gain. No food or entertainment seems to truly satisfy. Worse, when we acknowledge this, we're tempted to just shuffle through one unsatisfying "fix" after another.  The book of Ecclesiastes causes us to ask ourselves "What am I truly living for?" Is our highest hope in what people will say about us when we're gone?  Are we just hoping to eat, drink, & be merry, for tomorrow we die?  All we, like sheep who have gone astray, are being called by the one Shepherd to follow Him.  This Sunday we'll answer the questions: what is Ecclesiastes about, why should you care, and what's it got to do with Jesus Christ?

I’m listening to a book about Napoleon. It’s fascinating to read about all the influences that shaped him. His father, Carlo Buonaparte, living on the isle of Corsica, compromised with the French invaders, and was elevated into French politics. This gave Napoleon a love-hate relationship with his father and France. His father died at the age of 35, having fathered 13 children, only eight of which survived infancy. His father died of stomach cancer, and Napoleon seemed to know and often alluded to his expectation of a short lifespan for himself. He too, died of stomach cancer at the age of 51. As a child he was a voracious reader, spending his whole day locked in an upper chamber, devouring the writings of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Rousseau, and others, often committing whole sections to memory. He enlisted in the French military at 16 and was commissioned in the artillery division. This would be impactful as canon technology was advancing, and Napoleon would use this to his advantage in his military campaigns. All of these and more influences shaped his life and made him the man he would become.

As believers, we hold to the teaching of providence. This teaching states, “God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence…as the providence of God does, in general, reach to all creatures; so, after a most special manner, it takes care of his church, and disposes all things to the good thereof.” WCF 5:1,7 This means that everything that went into shaping Napoleon and enabling him to rise to power was under the providential hand of God. Even Napoleon’s disdain for the church and religion was providential, and God used it for the development of his church in France.

Our text explains two more encouragements for believers as they suffer, following Jesus as his disciples. The first is the presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit. The second is the promise that God has the power to use all our suffering for our good according to his purpose. Join us Sunday as we worship the One who moves behind the pages of history.

This Sunday we hit pause on the Romans series because Tim is away on vacation, and our Executive Director will be preaching. Ever feel the pressure to keep up, to accomplish as much as possible, to check things off your list? I am sure you answered yes because that is the cultural age we live in. Our world says the more you do, the more you will feel full and satisfied, but then why do we often feel drained, anxious and depressed? Perhaps it's because we have lost touch with the sacred, with others, with ourselves, and with our relationship with God.  This week we will see what James has to say about making plans without considering God and how to get connected to the life-giving vitality that God designed us to have by being present in the moment, connected with others, and connected with God.

This week, our nation celebrates Juneteenth, a day that marks the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation to the last remaining slaves in the United States in Galveston, Texas, June 19, 1865. Lincoln had announced the Emancipation proclamation in January of 1863. Then in January of 1865, the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution was signed by President Abraham Lincoln, eliminating slavery in the states. It took over two years for the 250,000 slaves in Texas to receive their liberation, but the fight against slavery wasn’t over. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, “except as punishment for a crime.” That language opened a loophole to allow states to re-enslave those marked as criminals. Unfortunately, many were arrested under false accusations or for petty crimes and purchased from the state to work in the fields. Thankfully, this abuse has ended, and this loophole closed.

Our passage this week has this tone of liberation. We live under the “no condemnation clause” of the gospel (Romans 8:1). We have been liberated from the reign of sin (Romans 6) and the condemnation of God’s Law (Romans 7). One day, we will be liberated from the presence of sin and all its painful affects in our lives and culture. One day, we along with the creation, will experience the full liberation of Christ. That day gives us hope as we suffer, struggling against sin today. Join us Sunday as we worship our Liberator and hope in the day of full, uninhibited freedom.

If you have read the book or seen the play, Les Misérables, then you know the story of Jean Valjean. Victor Hugo presents the lives of those who suffer in a tumultuous time of the French state. We follow the story of orphans, convicts, revolutionary youths, thieves, scoundrels, law enforcement, and the servants of religion. Each of their stories reveal different levels of hardship, suffering, and pain, hence the meaning of the title, the miserable ones.

Paul ends Romans 8:17 saying this, “provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” What suffering is Paul referring to? Is it the struggle against sin in our lives? Is it suffering with the presence of evil in the world? Is it suffering from the world for what we believe? Sunday, we’ll look into the text and allow Paul to define the suffering and consider the basis for confidence in our suffering. Join us Sunday as we worship the One who entered our suffering, suffered for us, and ministers to us as we suffer with him.

In our text from the past Sunday, we read, “but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live,” Romans 8:13. It’s clear from Paul that mortifying (killing) sin within us is not something that we can do, but something we need the Spirit to do for us. The good news is that the Spirit, present with us, is not only able to do this, but desires to do this. But this picture of sanctification goes against our natural inclination of fixing ourselves or what Paul calls the flesh.

Let me illustrate. If we want to get into shape, we map out how we’re going to get where we want to be. We map out our diet; we plan our exercise; we rid the pantry of carbs; we see a nutritionist, etc. In a few months, if we’re consistent, we see great improvement. We put in the work and we get an outcome. When we see sin in our lives, we often follow the same approach. But the Apostle has already told us, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God,” Romans 8:8.

Bottom line, the flesh can’t fix the flesh. We will not get the outcome of pleasing God by applying discipline, systems, programs, etc. What we are engaged in is spiritual and dependent on the Spirit. But have you ever stopped to consider what Paul means by putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit? Join us Sunday as we go back and consider this teaching.

Have you ever considered what often drives our performance? Consider the parent who wants their child to get good grades. The parent lays out what good grades provide the child: preferred colleges, better jobs, good career with increased income, etc. The parent doesn’t necessarily need to explain the negatives of bad grades, the child understands they will miss out on these benefits if they don’t do well in school. What motive enters the child’s heart? We might think, “success”, but along with that comes fear of failure.

Fear creates the tyranny of performance. This is the perspective, the worldview of the flesh. It says, If I don’t work hard to be a good person, God won’t accept me. Or, maybe, if I work to be a good person, keeping God’s law, I’ll get the benefits. The spirit of fear is the perspective of the flesh.

In our text, the Apostle is going to explain two different perspectives: the Spirit vs. the flesh. One is rooted in fear, while the other is rooted in our adoption. Join us Sunday as we worship the One who has brought us into his family and cast out the reasons for fear.

Has your company ever made a technology change? You used a program for keeping track of your expenses, and they switched to a different program. Now, you’re forced to learn the new program and go through the pain of change. Imagine an employee who refuses to make the shift to the new software. They submit all their expenses using the old program and stand before their boss defending their performance.

In essence, this is Paul’s argument. We were under the covenant of works in Adam where full obedience to the law was required of us for eternal life. But as believers, we’re under the covenant of grace. In the covenant of grace, the Holy Spirit has applied the work of Christ, justifying us, and is now at work in our lives, sanctifying us.

We can’t use the old program as members of the new one. Join us as we consider this revolutionary thought and worship the One who set us free!

In the story of Jean Valjean, the bishop purchases him from darkness to light, from evil to good. From then on, Valjean becomes a servant of good, according to the author. But is he? The author, Victor Hugo, a socialist, defines Valjean’s goodness in terms of socialist values (worker pay, alms to the poor, etc.), but Valjean still breaks the law. His whole persona, created in the city of Montreuil-sur-Mer, which made him mayor, was fake. He escaped the condemnation of his criminal passport by lying about himself. He doesn’t worship God; he doesn’t submit to French law; and he remains deeply conflicted as a character. While he has changed as a character, he has not become holy!

In our text, the apostle is adamant, we do not have the ability, even as believers, to obey God apart from grace. Acquitted from the law (justification), having died to sin and the flesh, we still lack the ability to obey God. Paul says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out,” Romans 7:18. How will we ever become obedient children of God?

Enter the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the great actor on the scene who transforms us into law keepers! Join us Sunday as we begin to consider life in the Spirit!

Each of the past few weeks I’ve asked a version of this question, “What would it be like to live as someone justified before God?” I dare say that none of us have thoroughly processed the answer to that question. We know this truth intellectually, but we still relate to ourselves, God, and others, based on our performance. We love control, we’re addicted to duty, order, our rights, and our outward performance. We gossip, complain, defend ourselves, boast, and criticize others. All of these are efforts to build and defend our own self-righteousness. (Thoughts taken from Jack Miller’s Sonship series.)

Since chapter one of Romans, the apostle has presented the reality of our sinfulness and God’s just condemnation; there are none who are righteous. As members of Adam’s dynasty, we are bound to sin, judgment, and death; we cannot produce or make ourselves righteous. Then, in chapter three, Paul presents God’s righteousness provided in Christ, and now, in chapter eight, presents the relief of grace in the precious words, “no condemnation.” What relief! Join us Sunday, as we worship our Savior and rejoice in divine acquittal.