Current Series:
The Gospel of Matthew is the life-story of Jesus through the eyes of a Roman tax collector. Matthew had spent his life-time carefully carving out a place for himself on earth. He accomplished that through selfish ambition, personal compromise, and political flexibility. He was loyal to Caesar even at the expense of his own people. Now he understands that he has been serving the wrong king and he wants to convince his Jewish brothers that Jesus is “Messiah” after all; their only hope for eternal life. His gospel emphasizes Jesus’ kingly rule and divine authority. It provides a bridge between the testaments of the Bible and it points to God’s unchanging commitment to populate his kingdom with citizens from among every people group on earth.
Previous Series:
“Identity” is a study of 1 Corinthians that will occupy us until the end of July. It is a rich section of Scripture that promises to change the way we think about each other, about the church and its mission in the world, and about the privilege and responsibility we have as “Jesus people;” those identified with Jesus Christ.
“Eyes to See” is a sermon series based on Micah 6:8 and focused toward demonstrating the love of God in such way that the world “outside” will see and take notice. God has shown us what is good and what he requires of us; that we love mercy, that we do justice, and that we walk in humility with our God. These are the values that we will celebrate this season at ChangePoint, and may God affect our lives so that his love for all people is evident to anyone on the outside looking in.
When asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He then went on to answer the question “Who is my neighbor?” by telling the story of the Good Samaritan. The lesson in that story is that we are to think of ourselves as the neighbor. We don’t have to travel the world to touch the world because God often puts the people of the world right in our path. This series is designed to help us recognize and care for the different kinds of people that God has already put in our path. Anchorage is a multicultural city and if we will embrace Christ’s challenge to constantly “be the neighbor,” we can demonstrate his love to many cultures just by loving the world at our door.
For followers of Jesus, living generously means allowing God to use every aspect of our lives for his purposes. It is to live a life poured out on behalf of others so that they might come to know and experience life in Christ. Generous living is more often a measure of our passion and our soul than our resources. It reveals a firm conviction that whatever we have must be strategically leveraged for the betterment of others and for the advancement of the gospel. To live generously is to live as Jesus lived; in submission to the Holy Spirit and in partnership with God. Its reward is abundance in life. Over the next few weeks we will explore how living from a generous heart promises to lead us into life that is life indeed.