Reach Church - Everett

One of the greatest threats to you fulfilling your calling as a disciple is comparing your journey to someone else’s.

Jesus repurposes our brokenness for good and redeploys it to help us live out a better story. A story not defined by our past, but defined by him.

What happens when something no longer fits inside the belief system you use to make sense of world? You doubt. For followers of Jesus, doubt is what occurs when we have experiences that don't intuitively align with what we think we know about God. So where do we go from there?

This Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus together! We took a look at John 20, where we see the progression of what the earliest followers of Jesus experienced as they engaged the tomb - from confusion to clarity to commissioning.

Everything changes if Jesus is really King. Many have chosen avoidance, mockery, or hatred, but what would happen if we really believe this to be truth - if He really is on the throne?

Prone to trade Jesus for the disordered desires of our hearts, we often make bargains for the things we ultimately crave. But the good news is this; he willingly accepted the exchange, dying a rebel's death for our rebellion.

Isn't it fun trying to find music your kids will enjoy? :) What I've come to realize is that what often sticks with my kids is what they find most memorable. After a quick search on YouTube for "Proverbs 16:9 Kids," I found this simple tune created by a family band (That's right - they're out there! Gasperetti's are next...). While the kids appeared to be staring directly into my soul, the song itself got instantly stuck in my head. What I realized is that, by accident, I had memorized Proverbs 16:9! Perhaps this family band is on to something... Hope you catch your kid singing scripture after watching this one a few times. -- From the Scripture Memory Songs 3 CD - a sing-along video version of "The Heart Of Man". (www.SpencerFamilyMusic.com)

A life of following Jesus is one often filled with dissonance. Disparity. Disintegration. Gaps between the things we say we believe and the ways that belief materializes in reality. But Jesus' commitment to us through it all gives us hope.

This week, Pastor Sean closed out our “Take Heart” series with the prayer in John 17 that Jesus prayed in his last 24 hours before the cross. This prayer is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus’ and it communicates the heart of God for his people. In Jesus' final moments, he doesn't go looking to satisfy the flesh. Instead, he prays.

Following Jesus has the tendency to be a sometimes confusing process. Lack of clarity can seem built-in and we're often left asking questions with no convincing answers. But it's in our darkest moments of disorientation, moments that Jesus has already foreseen, that he is working for good in ways that we could never foresee.

Jesus knew the disciples would suffer and experience heartache, especially in his absence. He wanted them to experience joy, and he promised it would be possible despite any circumstance. The same applies to all believers, too.

Jesus may not be present in the flesh, but he’s sent us the Holy Spirit to lead us into truth. Through power and conviction, the Spirit of God is precisely the resource we need to stay faithful and live out the mission God invites us into.

In John 16 Jesus is all the more intentional to equip his disciples for his absence, and for the opposition they will face. He foretells the hardship to come, but makes it clear he will be with them every step of the way. He says the same to us today -- no matter how dark things get.

We’re called into community, but not for community’s sake alone. God’s plan for his people is connected to his mission. What’s the mission? Letting the Good News spill out into every nook and cranny. As a result, broken hearts are restored and God’s family grows.

Are you led more by your head or your heart? Often in following Jesus, we’re prone to prioritizing one over the other. But it’s not either/or. It’s both/and. When it comes to the Christian life, the Gospel should compel us to worship and worship should point us back to the Gospel.

This week, we had the honor of hearing from Curtis Hall who serves on the leadership team at Mercy Fellowship in Marysville. He shared on the topic of faith and how it can change our lives. When we believe the promises God has made to us, it changes how we live in our present circumstances.

This week, Pastor Sean set the tone for the new year by taking us through the three temptations of Jesus - how he was tempted, how he responded, and how we can learn from him as we endeavor to stand firm heading into 2021.

As we conclude a challenging year, several people from Reach share stories of how God has continued to be faithful.

He was given a name upon arrival, a name that would change the course of human history. At Christmas, we gather around the name of Jesus Christ - the Son of God - the Savior of the world.