494 results for tag: blog

What Is Prayer All About? – Greg Albrecht

Question: I know that praying is not really about us, but for the purpose of helping us draw closer to God.  But I have also heard that prayer for others, even when they have no idea we are praying for them, is important for and to them.  How is that possible?  I'm not clear how it necessarily helps the person we're praying for in cases where that person is never aware we are praying for them.  My (flawed?) premise is that God is Perfect Love and already knows the perfect solution or course of action and will not be persuaded to change His will by my prayer.  So again, I ask...how does my prayer specifically for ...

Let the Party Begin – by Greg Albrecht

  WHEN JESUS WANTED PEOPLE TO  UNDERSTAND GOD'S KINGDOM PRESENCE,  HE USED PARTIES AS A PICTURE     Key Text: The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11)   The very idea of any kind of party, any kind of laughter, feasting, light-heartedness and yes, even enjoyment of life itself, is suspect in some religious environments. Our keynote passage does more than just record history, it is inviting you and me to a party, a party that is already in progress! There's important teaching in this passage.    You may have heard one of the take-offs on our passage, which goes something like this: Jesus turned water into wine almost ...

Contentment – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from October 2022 If you are like me, you have had the experience of seeing an old friend your own age, whom you have not seen in “forever,” and thinking how old they have become since you last saw them!Meanwhile, we fail to remember we have been seeing our own aging reflection in the bathroom mirror every day. No one likes to get older. Surgical procedures, injections, creams, lotions and diets are sold, promising to restore what has long since gone down the river of life. Sam went to a new dentist, and as he was in the waiting-room he saw a diploma on the wall —it seemed his new dentist had attended the ...

Q&R: “Let there be light!” Brad Jersak

Question I have had this nagging question. God said, "Let there be light." But it wasn't the physical light. Somehow, the world was already in a state of darkness & needed Light. I know Light can mean Truth, but what is your understanding?  I just want to grasp a God who Loves versus the god I learned through my church, who hates me for imperfection.  Response What an excellent question! Let's start with verse 1 - "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." John 1:1 reads this verse through the gospel. IN CHRIST, God created... We read in John 1 and Colossians 1 that all of creation came to be ...

The Center of the Gospel – Greg Albrecht

Christianity WITHOUT the religion defines Christ-less religion as any systematic method used to either earn or gain favor with God initially, or to improve and maintain one’s ongoing standing with God on the basis of deeds, involvement, attendance, performances, rituals and ceremonies. One of my favorite authors, Richard Rohr, speaks of the “performance principle” as the absolute foundation of all religion.The “performance principle” is the myth that leads humans to live lives defined by achievement—it is a myth that is rooted in and driven by fear. Fear is the foundational building block of Christ-less religion. The “perfor...

It’s All About Grace – by Greg Albrecht

Keynote Passages: Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. —Romans 3:31 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. —Romans 4:4-5 This is the third message in our three-part series discovering what the introductory chapters of this great book of Romans tell us about God’s amazing grace. The first sermon, In Need of Grace, discussed the fact that we are spiritually sunk without God’s grace. We reflected on Romans 1:16-17, as well as the ...

Who is God and What is He Like? – Greg Albrecht

BREAKING NEWS: God is who he is, not who we think he is because of what we have been taught. If you have created God in your own image, or wittingly or unwittingly allowed someone to help you do that then God will probably be a member of your church and denomination. He will keep and observe all your religious ceremonies, holidays and holy days, all your rules and regulations and all your rituals. • God created in your image will hate the people you hate. • God created in your image will vote for the person you vote for. • God created in your image will be a member of your race, nationality and perhaps even your gender. When God ...

Under Reconstruction: Crazy Characters, Unreliable Narrators and the Divine Architect – Brad Jersak

    After Deconstruction The last years have seen a grand deconstruction of Scripture reading and interpretation—some would say of Scripture itself. Of course, this has been an ongoing centuries-long project, but two unique elements dominate the past decade: first, the ‘New Atheists’ are actually reading the Bible—carefully and, unlike liberal scholars, they have read it literally with a view to destroying faith. “The Bible says it; I reject it; and that settles it.” And second, their dance partners in this deconstruction have been evangelicals who are finally questioning the modernist lingo of ...

Grace Alone – by Greg Albrecht

Keynote Passage: But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just ...

CWR Video – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – by Greg Albrecht

In Need of Grace – by Greg Albrecht

Keynote Passage: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.”—Romans 1:16-17 This week we are beginning a three-part series on God’s amazing grace—based on the first few chapters of the book of Romans. This week our sermon is titled In Need of Grace, based on Romans 1:16-17, and on the larger passage that follows, Romans 2:1-3:20. Next week we will discuss Grace ...

God Save the King – by Greg Albrecht

When her health declined, Queen Elizabeth (1926-2022) travelled from London to her beloved family home in Balmoral, Scotland, perhaps because it was there, amidst treasured memories and traditions, she wished to die.   On Thursday, September 8, when news of the Queen’s deteriorating health became known, crowds gathered around Buckingham Palace in London.  When the sobering, staggering news of her death swept across the throng, without prompting, many started to sing the national anthem, only with slight lyrical adaptations, gender specific words changed to reflect the new king.  In that moment, God Save the Queen became ...