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Overflowing with Hope

Hope can feel hard to find when differences seem to pull people further apart. A closer look at Romans 15 reveals how God’s faithfulness, Christ’s victory, and the Spirit’s power create a community where people who would otherwise remain divided are welcomed into one family. Far from being wishful thinking, Christian hope is rooted in the certainty of what God has done in Christ and what he has promised to do in the future. Watch this sermon as Rev. N.T. Wright explores how a church united across its differences becomes a powerful sign of God’s coming new creation.

May 31, 2026 | Watch

Sermon

An Invitation to Rest

We live in a culture that promises rest at every turn, yet so many of us remain exhausted, anxious, and overwhelmed. Drawing from Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11, this message reveals that true rest is not found in escaping life’s burdens but in bringing them to Christ and learning to carry his yoke instead. Through humility, repentance, and a deeper knowledge of who Jesus is, we discover a rest that reaches far beyond a day off or a temporary break. Watch this sermon as Rev. Michael Davis explores Christ’s invitation to weary souls and the freedom found in resting in him.

May 31, 2026 | Watch

Study Guide

Overflowing with Hope

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 — Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, Knowing that suffering produces endurance, And endurance produces character, and character produces hope, And hope does not put us to shame, Because God's love has been poured into our hearts Through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Summary As part of our ongoing series God’s Vision for a New Humanity, we were privileged this week to hear Bp. N.T. Wright preach on Romans 15:7-13. To understand what Paul is doing in verse 7, it helps to know that we are picking up a thread that he first laid down in 14:1. There, Paul opened a lengthy pastoral discussion about the “weak” and the “strong” within the Roman church, two groups with differing convictions about diet and calendar observance. Having worked through the theological and relational dimensions of that specific conflict, Paul now returns to where he started, though with a much broader focus. While both the command in 14:1 and the text here in verse 7 are addressed to the whole congregation, the first urges the church to welcome the weaker brother, and the second urges all church members to welcome each other. Paul grounds both of these in a similar theological basis: The weak brother is to be accepted because “God has welcomed him” (14:3), and Christians are also to accept each other just “as Christ has welcomed you” (verse 7). The entire credit for the reconciliation of the Roman community belongs to the one who took the initiative to bring them together (2 Corinthians 5:18-19), and it is on that ground alone that Paul builds his appeal. This leads Paul into one of the more carefully constructed Christological statements in the letter. Christ’s ministry, he argues in verse 8, serves a twofold purpose: first, to confirm God’s faithfulness to the covenant promises made to Israel through the patriarchs; and second, to extend God’s mercy to the Gentiles. Christ’s ministry to the Jews (“the circumcised,” verse 8) was a matter of covenant obligation — the fulfillment of promises God had bound himself by oath to keep. By contrast, his ministry to the Gentiles was pure mercy. While the Old Testament certainly contains promises of the future inclusion of Gentiles among God’s people — and indeed the promise to Abraham was that the nations would be blessed through his offspring — God had made no formal covenant with the Gentiles comparable to his covenant with Israel. Further, Paul does not use the past tense here. He says Christ “has become” rather than Christ “became.” His ministry to both groups is not confined to his earthly life or sacrificial death, but continues as its benefits are received by Jew and Gentile alike (cf. Westminster Confession of Faith 8.8). If Christ has welcomed and continues to welcome both groups at such extraordinary cost, even if on different grounds, then the strong and the weak can hardly justify refusing to welcome each other. Paul then reaches back into the Old Testament to demonstrate that the joint inclusion of Jew and Gentile in the worship of God was never a late revision to the divine plan. He brings together four quotations drawn deliberately across the canon: one from the Pentateuch, one from the Prophets, and two from the Writings, representing all three divisions of the Hebrew Bible. Each quotation holds two elements together: the Gentiles and the worship of God. In the first, David announces his intention to praise God among the Gentiles (Psalm 18:49). In the second, Moses summons the Gentiles to participate in the worship of God (Deuteronomy 32:43). In the third, the Psalmist calls all nations to praise the Lord (Psalm 117:1). Then, in the fourth and final verse, the prophet Isaiah predicts the rise of the Messiah, descended from David, Jesse’s son, who will rise to rule the Gentiles and in whom the nations will hope (Isaiah 11:10). These four verses paint the picture of a new humanity that God is forming in Christ — one in which Jews and Gentiles glorify him together, and one that is the destination toward which the whole of Scripture has been moving (Luke 24:44-45). The passage, and the entire weak/strong exhortation which started back in 14:1, closes with a prayer that gathers up everything Paul has been arguing. He addresses God as the "God of hope," drawing the title directly from the Isaiah quotation that has just preceded it (verses 12, 13). Paul asks that the God of hope would fill the Roman community — the weak and strong, Jew and Gentile — with the joy and peace that belong to those who believe so that they might overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 14:17). What began as a pastoral dispute about food and calendar observance has been set within the grand narrative of God's purpose for the nations. The resolution Paul envisions is nothing less than a community so saturated with joy, peace, and hope that it becomes a living foretaste of the new creation, the firstfruits of restored humanity in which every tribe, tongue, and nation will glorify God together (Revelation 7:9-10). The root of Jesse is simultaneously the hope of the nations as well as the only ground on which a divided congregation can learn to receive one another. 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 Look at the four Old Testament passages Paul quotes in verses 9-12. What is the common theme across each of them? What might this tell us about God’s plans? In the ancient world, being conquered and ruled by a foreign king often meant oppression and fear, and yet the Isaiah quotation in verse 12 says that when the root of Jesse arises to rule the nations, they will find hope in him. How does Jesus’ style of kingship flip the worldly definition of ruling completely on its head? 3. Looking at Our Hearts Paul prays for the Church to be filled with “all joy and peace in believing” (verse 13) so that they may abound in hope. When we face conflict in our everyday lives, which of those three things (joy, peace, hope) usually disappears first? Why? 4. Looking at Our World Think about the people in our culture who represent the opposite of your political, lifestyle, or cultural preferences. What would it cost your pride, your comfort, and/or your convictions to truly welcome someone like that into your life? Prayer Pray for each other: Share any prayer requests you have. Pray for Central to continue to grow as a church where people from all backgrounds can love each other faithfully.

May 31, 2026 | Read

Study Guide

A Changed Relationship to the Law

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 — Acts 2:1-8, 11 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, And it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? —We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 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. This week we will focus on how the gospel transforms our relationship with the law. Paul spends much of Romans describing how our once hostile relationship with the law has reached a place of fulfillment thanks to Christ’s death on the cross. Here he describes what it looks like to live out that fulfillment through a familiar command: that we love our neighbors as ourselves.  Last week’s passage concluded with a note about paying that which is owed, and Paul continues that theme here. While Christians are meant to repay their debts expediently, there is one debt that they will never be able to repay, and that is the love they owe their neighbor. John Stott writes, “we can never stop loving somebody and say ‘I have loved enough.’” The fact that our debt to love can never be satisfied is not meant to discourage us; instead it offers us perspective. Through the gospel, we receive a love from God so great that it surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19), and as a people loved in such a way, we should always strive to love our neighbor regardless of circumstance.  This leads to the focus of this week’s sermon: The idea that by loving each other, we fulfill the law. At first glance, this idea may seem like a bit of a head-scratcher, as much of Romans is focused on man’s inability to fulfill the law. This adds great importance to the passage’s first point, as our inability to “pay our love debt” also reminds us of our inability to fulfill the law on our own. Paul addresses this in Romans 8 by pointing to Christ’s death in our place, as he “fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Having fulfilled the law by satisfying its need to condemn our sin, Jesus has now enabled us to live out its true purpose — loving communion with our neighbor.  Throughout the New Testament, both Jesus and Paul affirm the point made here, that the law can be summed up simply by the phrase “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39, Galatians 5:14). He illustrates the point here by citing the second half of the Ten Commandments, all of which serve to prove that love does no harm to a neighbor. While the law and love are often presented as being at odds with each other, nothing could be further from the truth. In doing our best to keep the law (despite our inability to do so), we step into the type of transformed relationships that Christ longs to see in his church. 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 Read Ephesians 3:14-21. How should the knowledge that we are so loved by Jesus inspire us to love each other in a radical way? 3. Looking at Our Hearts We sometimes think of law as being harsh and unyielding, while we see love as soft and flexible. Yet here, Paul speaks of both law and love in the same paragraph. What connections do you see between love and the commandments? 4. Looking at Our World Some theologians have noted that we never needed a commandment to love ourselves because we already do it so naturally. Where do you see that playing out in the culture around you? Think back to the difficult neighbor question from earlier. What are some specific ways you could have loved them as you love yourself? How can this reflection impact the way you respond to the “difficult people” in your life today? Prayer Pray for each other: Share any prayer requests you have. Pray for yourself and the members of your group to live out the law by faithfully loving your neighbors (both good and bad) well.

May 24, 2026 | Read

Post

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

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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

Resources

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The Promised King

Latest Resources

Overflowing with Hope

An Invitation to Rest

Overflowing with Hope

A Changed Relationship to the Law

Is Christianity Escapist?

Can We be Good Without God?

Grace, Then Gratitude

Beyond Morality: Living a Life of Worship

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