In the Spotlight
From Villain to Evangelist
One shared experience across all of humanity is the desire to be chosen. It’s built into who we are, whether we own it or not. For this reason, the biblical story of Saul’s encounter with Jesus is both intriguing and attractive. Saul of all people would have never chosen Jesus, but for that reason, Jesus chose him. Watch this sermon from pastoral resident Alan Charnock as we consider how, in Jesus himself being chosen, charged, and changed, we see the blueprint for Saul’s life and for our own.
September 1, 2024 | Watch
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A Changed Relationship to Our Enemies
In a world shaped by outrage and division, it’s easy to believe that revenge is the only path to justice. But the gospel offers a radically different way — one that confronts wrongdoing honestly while refusing to let bitterness have the final word. Through life’s hardest challenges, we’re invited to see how forgiveness can break cycles of hurt and open the door to something unexpected and healing. Watch this sermon as Jason Harris explores what it means to love not only our neighbors, but even our enemies.
May 10, 2026 | Watch
A Changed Relationship to Our Enemies
Purpose To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships To participate in God’s mission to the world Opening Prayer Responsive Prayer — Psalm 35 Lord, you have seen this; do not be silent. Do not be far from me, Lord. Awake, and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord. Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God; Do not let them gloat over me. Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Or say, “We have swallowed him up.” May those who delight in my vindication Shout for joy and gladness; May they always say, “The Lord be exalted, Who delights in the well-being of his servant.” My tongue will proclaim your righteousness, Your praises all day long. Summary We are continuing our sermon series entitled God’s Vision for a New Humanity throughout which we are studying the latter part of the book of Romans. When we are moved by the mercies of God, and when our minds have been renewed to grasp his will, all our relationships become transformed. Having established love as the governing principle of Christian life together (vv. 9-16), Paul now turns to its most demanding application: the posture believers are to hold toward their enemies. Four negative commands structure the passage, if we add verse 14 which anticipated it: do not curse (verse 14), do not repay evil for evil (verse 17), do not take revenge (verse 19), do not be overcome by evil (verse 21). Because the Christian ethic is never merely prohibitive, and the Christian life is not defined by what it refuses but by what it actively pursues, each of the negative commands is paired with a positive counterpart. The cumulative weight of these four couplets, then, can essentially be boiled down to the fact that retaliation, in any form, has no place in the community shaped by the mercies of God. The positive commands deliberately draw on the Old Testament. The prohibition of personal vengeance in verse 19 quotes Deuteronomy 32:35 and situates the Christian's restraint in a theologically grounded deference to divine justice rather than a simple passivity or moral indifference. God is not absent from the moral order but is its guarantor. The exhortation to feed and give drink to one's enemy in verse 20 follows Proverbs 25:21-22a almost verbatim. The reference works on multiple levels. First, it echoes Jesus' own teaching on love for enemies (Matthew 5:43-44; Luke 6:27-35). Second, feeding and giving water to our enemy is similar to the actions Jesus recommended as expressions of this love: turning the other cheek and giving our shirts to those who ask for our coats. And third, such a response to our enemies is a practical way of putting into action our “blessing” of those who persecute us (verse 14). The meaning of the "burning coals" that follow in Proverbs 25:22b remains exegetically ambiguous in both its original context and Paul's application of it. Paul may intend that acts of unexpected kindness expose and deepen the enemy's guilt before God, which can either drive them to repentance or intensify the weight of judgment, should repentance not follow. More likely, he is noting a possible outcome while leaving the moral calculus entirely with God — which is, after all, precisely his point. As mentioned last week, this ethic does not float free of its theological foundation, and our series title points us to anticipate where the passage must finally land. Paul's language throughout Romans 12 is saturated with the pattern of Christ's own self-giving. The living sacrifice discussed in verses 1-2 finds expression here, in the command to absorb harm without retaliation and to actively serve the one who inflicts it. Thankfully, we do not have to do this on our own strength, for who could possibly deny themselves for the sake of their persecutor out of their own selfish willpower. The non-retaliatory suffering of Christ is the redemptive act that makes this posture both possible and intelligible. Peter draws the connection explicitly. Christ "when he suffered did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23). The new humanity God is forming through the gospel is one that bears the pattern of its Lord, not overcoming evil by matching it but by bearing it, and by that bearing, defeating it. Overcoming evil with good is not a simple moral strategy or a nice sentiment. It is a participation in the way of the cross, where the evil of the world was overcome by the sacrificial love of God in Jesus. Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible Share with the group some key phrases or ideas that stood out to you from the passage. 2. Looking at Jesus God himself, in Christ, chose to absorb the evil done against him rather than immediately repay it. In other words, we are the enemies God fed and gave drink to. What does that tell us about how God has dealt with our evil, and how does that change the way we think about the evil done to us? 3. Looking at Our Hearts Focus on verse 18. What does this note of realism tell us about the nature of Christian moral effort? What comfort might it offer in relationships where peace feels out of reach? Retaliation in any form is forbidden here, but our instinct toward getting even runs deep. Where in your own life do you find retaliation showing up in subtle forms? Consider: withdrawing from someone in your community group who wounded you, the tit-for-tat scorecard that is running in the background of a marriage or friendship, the contempt or dismissiveness you might feel when someone’s politics grate on you, etc. 4. Looking at Our World It's almost natural to respond to evil by joining in, matching hostility with hostility, outrage with outrage. Where do you see that pattern most clearly in the culture around us? What would it look like to interrupt it with good instead? Oftentimes we can equate justice and personal vindication, i.e., if I don’t make someone pay, they’ve gotten away with it. How does Paul's assurance that vengeance belongs to God challenge that instinct? Does it feel like a comfort, a threat, or something else? Prayer Pray for each other: Share any prayer requests you have. Pray for those struggling with difficult relationships. Pray for them to see these not only as trials to endure but also as opportunities to glorify Christ.
May 10, 2026 | Read
A Changed Relationship to One Another
The kind of community we long for is real, but it looks nothing like what the world typically offers. When we turn to Scripture, we see a radically different vision of relationships, where love is genuine, self-giving, and strong enough to endure both joy and pain. This vision challenges the way we approach others, inviting us into a deeper, more honest, and more sacrificial way of living together. Watch this sermon as Jason Harris shows how receiving Christ’s love can reshape the way we love one another.
May 3, 2026 | Watch
A Changed Relationship to One Another
Purpose To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships To participate in God’s mission to the world Opening Prayer Responsive Prayer — Psalm 36 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like the great deep; How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, And you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; In your light do we see light. Summary We are continuing our sermon series entitled God’s Vision for a New Humanity throughout which we are studying the latter part of the book of Romans. While much of Romans expounds upon the theology of the gospel message, chapters 12-15 focus on the practical implications of the gospel on the life and relationships of the believer. This week’s passage focuses on our changed relationship to one another. With the transition at verse 9, Paul moves from the discussion of gifts and a changed relationship to ourselves (Romans 12:3-8) to another implication of the renewed mind (Romans 12:1-2). Here love emerges as the governing principle of Christian community, summarized well by one commentator who said that in this passage "all our duty towards one another is summed up in one word, and that a sweet word: love." Up to this point in Romans, references to love have been to the love of God. For example, God’s love demonstrated on the cross (Romans 5:8), poured into our hearts by the Spirit (Romans 5:5), and unfailing in its hold upon us (Romans 8:35, 39). This is characteristic of the book: Paul establishes what God has done before laying out the pattern for the Christian life. The practical flows from the theological. So when he now turns to the love Christians show one another, he is not introducing a new or independent demand; rather, he is describing the necessary outflow of what God has already accomplished. The love of Christians for others is grounded in (and only made possible by) the love of God expressed in the gift of his Son (John 13:34; 1 John 4:9-11). Such love is the mark of the renewed mind. It is not an optional virtue to be cultivated but the natural outflow of a life transformed by the gospel of God’s love (cf. Galatians 5:13-14). Paul unfolds the love we are meant to share in Christian community through a rapid-fire volley of short, sharp injunctions. These are so compressed that in the Greek, most omit finite verbs entirely, lending them an almost breathless urgency. Some commentators have dismissed this section as simply a random collection of miscellaneous instructions, but as English pastor John Stott observed, "each staccato imperative adds a fresh ingredient to the apostle's recipe for love" — multiple ingredients forming a comprehensive and searching portrait of Christian character. The portrait is both comprehensive and coherent. These are not miscellaneous virtues randomly assembled, but they form a unified vision of a community ordered by love at every level: in its inner disposition, its family life, its worship, its suffering, its generosity, and its posture toward the lowest and least. The demanding nature of these exhortations is inseparable from the grace that makes them possible. The renewed mind, transformed by the gospel, now sees others through the eyes of him who first loved us. In this way, the Church becomes what N.T. Wright calls "a small working model of the new creation," a community where love governs all relationships and bears visible witness to the transforming power of the gospel (John 13:35; Westminster Confession of Faith 26.1). Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible Share with the group some key phrases or ideas that stood out to you from the passage. 2. Looking at Jesus Looking at these verses, how has Jesus already done for us the things that are listed? How might remembering that Jesus associated with us, the lowly, while we were still his "persecutors" change these verses from a burden we must carry into a beauty we get to reflect? How has receiving this love from Christ and/or from his people had an impact on your life? 3. Looking at Our Hearts Verse 10 challenges us to outdo one another in showing honor. When you see someone else being praised, what is your immediate internal reaction? 4. Looking at Our World How does contemporary secular culture tend to define love, and in what ways does this passage challenge or correct that definition? What steps can you take to make these expressions of love more apparent in your community group, in the church, and to people around you? Prayer Pray for each other: Share any prayer requests you have. Pray for yourselves and for the other members of your group to be empowered to love others radically.
May 3, 2026 | Read
Is Christianity Escapist?
Christianity somewhat conveniently offers an unbelievable narrative that, if true, literally changes everything. Which raises the question: Is it possible that Christianity is simply wishful thinking — a framework generated by humans who were (and still are) looking to place their hope in a future that’s better than their reality?
April 18, 2025 | More...
Can We be Good Without God?
Throughout human history, both the religious and non-religious have exhibited the capacity for doing good works. But when we turn to the question of universal moral obligations of goodness, does atheism hold up? Without a belief in God, there is a ceiling to how far goodness can reach.
September 30, 2024 | More...
Grace, Then Gratitude
For many of us, the thing that we fear the most is being insignificant. This is why we are so driven and ambitious—we think that we have to do everything we can to prove that we are significant and that our life counts for something. We scramble to find whatever meaning, value, and purpose this world alone can offer. Although it is true that there is no good or fulfilling life without significance, through Jesus we are offered not only significance but grace. While we may be tempted to try and prove our worth to God or others, God relates to us not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of grace. Our life is simply a response to his love. Accepted First God showers his love upon us simply because he loves us—not because of what we have done, will do, or what potential he may or may not see within us. This is what gives us absolute and utter security. If we do not do anything to win God's love, there is nothing that we could ever do to lose it either. Furthermore, grace means there is nothing we could ever do to make God love us more, and there is nothing we could ever do to make God love us less. His love for us is immovable. This is the difference between Christianity and every other religion. Religion requires you to obey before you are accepted. But the message of Christianity is that you are accepted in and through Jesus Christ first, despite all your faults and failures, and therefore, you obey—not in order to try to win God's love or out of obligation, but out of gratitude for the love you have first been shown. Consider the Exodus story. God could have given his people the Ten Commandments while they were living in bondage in Egypt and required them to follow the law before he rescued them. But instead, he rescues his people first. It is only after he delivers them from their bondage that he then gives them the law in order to show them how to live their lives in response to his love. It is not law, then grace. It is grace, then gratitude. Contra-Conditional Love Grace is the most powerful force in the world. And yet, at the very same time, it is the most difficult thing for us to accept because it is an affront to our pride and self-sufficiency. When we accept God’s grace, we acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves. Years ago I had a conversation with a college student who told me, “I hate the very concept of grace because I want God to love me for me. I want God to love me for the things I do for him because then I know what I'm worth. Then I know that I'm valuable.” I tried to help her see that grace is far better. Consider the words of Victor Hugo who said, “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved—loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” God's love is not conditional or even unconditional. His love is contra-conditional. In Jesus Christ, he does not merely love us as we are. He loves us despite who we are and despite what we have done. That is why Pastor Jack Miller used to say, “Cheer up! You're worse than you think! But in Jesus Christ, you are more loved than you could ever imagine.” The House of David In 2 Samuel 7 we read that several decades after God raised David up to be the prince over Israel, David decides to build a house for the Lord. David is living in a luxurious house with paneled walls made out of fine cedar, and he realizes that by contrast, the Ark of the Covenant—the place where God said that he would dwell in the midst of his people—is being kept in a tent. It suddenly dawns on him that his housing is better than God’s! David, understandably, wants to do something for God by building him a permanent house. But rather than allowing David to follow through with his plans, God responds by saying God is going to make a house for David, and David's son, in gratitude, will be the one who builds a house for the Lord. In 2 Samuel 7:16 God says, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” God makes this unconditional promise to David—not because of any merit on David's part but out of sheer grace. This is how God works with all of us. Like David, we might want to go out there and do something great for God as a way to prove our worth or win other’s respect and admiration. But God’s grace always precedes our work. He makes the first move and takes the initiative. His grace comes first. If you continue reading through the Bible, you discover the house of David eventually comes crashing down. The kingdom is plagued by civil war, and eventually, the Babylonians conquer David's kingdom, setting fire to the temple that Solomon builds and carrying away the last kings in the line of David into exile. And yet centuries before, the prophet Isaiah promises that one day a child will be born who will establish and uphold the throne of David with justice and righteousness forever. The promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7 points us forward to Christ, the true son of God, who knows God as Father. That is why Jesus is repeatedly referred to as the Son of David. When Jesus begins his public ministry, he proclaims: “the kingdom of God is at hand.” And when Jesus establishes the kingdom of God, he says that he will build a house for the Lord in the midst of his people, not in a temple made out of human hands. This means that the moment we put our faith in Jesus, we become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Building for the Kingdom After becoming a Christian, we might start talking about bringing the kingdom, building the kingdom, advancing the kingdom, expanding the kingdom. But “bringing the kingdom” is precisely the one thing that we cannot do. Only Jesus can do that. Matthew 6:33 tells us we are called to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” We are called to proclaim the good news of the kingdom, to testify to the kingdom, to inherit the kingdom. The kingdom is not something that we achieve through our own effort but rather something we receive as a gift of grace. But that does not mean that we are supposed to sit back and passively await the coming of the kingdom in its fullness. We may not be able to build the kingdom of God, but we can and must build for the kingdom of God. New Testament scholar N.T. Wright writes, “The final coming together of heaven and earth is, of course, God’s supreme act of new creation, for which the only real prototype—other than the first creation itself—was the resurrection of Jesus. God alone will sum up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. He alone will make the ‘new heavens and new earth.’ It would be the height of folly to think that we could assist in that great work. But what we can and must do in the present, if we are obedient to the gospel, if we are following Jesus, and if we are indwelt, energized, and directed by the Spirit, is to build for the kingdom…You are—strange though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself—accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God’s new world. Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world—all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make. That is the logic of the mission of God.” The kingdom of God is a present reality because the kingdom is present in Jesus. It is a kingdom of grace, which means that it can only be received. That is why Jesus said in Luke 12:32, “‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’” He went on to say that only those who receive the kingdom like a child will ever enter it. How does a child receive the kingdom? With empty hands. Our faith does not add or contribute anything to our rescue. Faith is simply empty hands which receive what Jesus gives. And what Jesus gives us is himself. Wherever Jesus is, there is the kingdom. There is grace. ___ Adapted from David and The Good Life: Grace, a sermon delivered by Jason Harris on October 23, 2022. Listen to the sermon or read the full transcript. Christ and Contemporary Culture is a journal written by Jason Harris which reflects on the intersection between Jesus Christ and our contemporary culture. If you are skeptical or resistant to Christianity, the hope is that you might pause to reflect on your pre-existing ideas about the way things are and perhaps think again. For those who have embraced Christianity, these posts will serve to encourage you in your ability to communicate the gospel in a way that takes our current cultural context seriously. Produced by Mary-Catherine McKee
August 9, 2023 | Read
Beyond Morality: Living a Life of Worship
When most of us think of the “good life,” we are not merely imagining an ethical or moral life but a life that is truly worth living, even in the face of the existential problems with which we must contend. Luc Ferry, a French philosopher and self-proclaimed atheist, offers this interesting thought experiment: Imagine we could wave a magic wand and cause everyone living today to begin treating one another perfectly, with equal dignity and respect. There would be no more war, genocide, racism, or xenophobia. There would be no need for a police force or a standing army. Our judicial system and prisons would eventually disappear. And yet, Ferry suggests that even if we were to wave that magic wand, the most profound existential challenges we face would still not be resolved. This is how he puts it, “Still—and here I have to weigh each one of my words—none (I really mean none) of our most profound existential problems would be resolved if this came to pass. Nothing, even in a perfect realization of the most sublime morality, would prevent us from aging; from witnessing, powerless, the appearance of wrinkles and white hair; from falling sick, dying, and seeing our loved ones die; from worrying about the outcome of our children’s education or from struggling to achieve what we want for them. Even if we were saints, nothing would guarantee us a fulfilled emotional life.” The point is that morality is indispensable to human life. And yet, it is not enough. We read in the story of David in 1 and 2 Samuel about the importance of living a life of worship before God. David is far from perfect, but that is not what matters. What matters is that whether winning a great victory or committing an egregious sin, David lives a life of repentance and faith. Whether in triumph or defeat, hope or despair, David does not run away from God. He runs towards God. And that is what fills his life with enduring meaning, value, and purpose. What Is Worship? The problem with religion is that it leads us to think of God like a genie in a bottle—rub the lamp and out will pop God to grant you your wishes. Religious people tend to think God is there to serve us, to fulfill all our dreams, and to make us feel good about ourselves. We assume that if we are good enough, pious enough, zealous enough, devout enough, if we say all the right prayers, observe all the right rituals, and keep all of the right rules, then God is obligated to bless us and to make our life go well. We are not really interested in God for who he is—we are merely using God to get whatever we want. And if God does not deliver, then we become angry, bitter, and resentful because he did not fulfill our expectations. It is critical to realize that the real God will challenge our dreams, not merely fulfill them. The poet W.H. Auden once wrote that a Christian is someone who says, “I believe because He fulfills none of my dreams, because He is in every respect the opposite of what He would be if I could have made Him in my own image.” God is not here to serve us. We are here to serve him. In fact, in Hebrew the word “worship” and “serve” are the very same word. God is not here to worship us. We are here to worship him. God is not supposed to follow us according to our terms. Rather we are supposed to follow God on his terms. And if we do, then he promises that he will bless us—not out of necessity, but as a pure gift. Christianity offers this unique view of salvation: God relates to us on the basis of sheer grace, which means that a relationship with God is not something that we achieve through our own efforts, but something we can only receive with empty hands. Religion leads us to say, “I obey, and therefore, God accepts me.” But the gospel tells us, “God accepts me, despite my sin, through the substitutionary sacrifice of another, and therefore I obey.” We strive to love, serve, and honor God, not motivated by mere duty or obligation, but motivated by gratitude and joy for what he has first done for us—not as a way to try to win God's love, but in order to demonstrate that we already have it. If we know that God has done absolutely everything that is necessary in order to cover our sin and put us in right relationship with himself, then that will infuse our life with insuppressible joy, regardless of our life circumstances or personal challenges. There is, of course, a rightful place for lament as we mourn those aspects of our lives or within the wider world that are not yet in line with his purposes. Nevertheless, the foundation of a Christian’s’ life must be one of joy. The English author G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul.” Why Worship Matters When Isaiah has a vision of the Lord seated enthroned above the ark of the cherubim in Isaiah 6:5, he immediately says, “‘Woe is me! For I am lost!’” Isaiah acknowledges that he is a sinner and “a man of unclean lips.” But despite Isaiah’s sin, God does not strike him down. Instead, one of the seraphim flies to the altar, the place of the sacrifice, and removes one of the burning coals and places it on the lips of Isaiah saying: “‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’” God has now made Isaiah clean. This, of course, was just a vision. We get something far better. There are only two places in the New Testament where the Greek word for “mercy seat” or “place of atonement” is used—once in Romans 3 and once in Hebrews 9. In both cases, “mercy seat” or “place of atonement” is used not to describe a place but a person. Hebrews 10 tells us that the blood of bulls and goats could never do anything to actually take away people's sin. This is just a symbol meant to prepare us for the ultimate high priest who does not enter the most holy place within a humanly constructed temple, but rather he enters into the presence of the divine being himself. And there he offers not the sacrifice of an animal, but rather the sacrifice of his very own self. He gives himself for us so that our sin might be covered by his blood, and so that God in his mercy might forgive us and cleanse us so that we can enter into his holy presence and live. Jesus is the mercy seat and the place of atonement. He is the true prince of peace and the one who makes it possible for us to approach the throne of grace and live. And the mercy seat is open, still. The gospel tells us that God is so holy and you and I really are so flawed that Jesus had to die. There was no other way for us to be able to enter into God's holy presence and live. And yet, at the same time, God is so loving and you and I are so valuable, that Jesus was willing to die for us. When you take these two truths deep into your heart and into your life, then that is what unlocks the joy. Morality and ethics are essential and important, but they are not sufficient to actually live the “good life.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism, a historic document of faith from the 1600s, begins with this question: What is the chief end of man? In other words, what is the meaning of life? The answer is short: To glorify God and to enjoy him forever. As C.S. Lewis astutely observed, those two commands are actually one and the same. In commanding us to worship him, God is inviting us to enjoy him. The only way in which we truly learn to live the “good life” is through worship, by living our lives before the God of grace. And when we do, it will fill our lives with insuppressible joy. ___ Adapted from David and The Good Life: Worship, a sermon delivered by Jason Harris on October 16, 2022. Listen to the sermon or read the full transcript. "Christ and Contemporary Culture" is a journal written by Jason Harris which reflects on the intersection between Jesus Christ and our contemporary culture. If you are skeptical or resistant to Christianity, the hope is that you might pause to reflect on your pre-existing ideas about the way things are and perhaps think again. For those who have embraced Christianity, these posts will serve to encourage you in your ability to communicate the gospel in a way that takes our current cultural context seriously. Produced by Mary-Catherine McKee
May 18, 2023 | Read