In Matthew 20:16, within the context of the parable of the workers, Jesus said, “So the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” In Matthew 19:30, after sharing that everyone that leaves anything or anyone for His sake will be rewarded a hundredfold, Jesus said “But many who are first will be...
Author: City of Refuge
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Advent Series: The Word, The Light & The Lamb: John 1:10-13 “The Only Begotten Son”
This Advent we are going to take a close look at Jesus, the incarnate Son of God through John 1. John reveals Jesus as the Word, the Light and the Lamb. In this first message we set up the series by seeing Jesus as the “only begotten Son” of the Father. What exactly does that...
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John 11:17-44 “A King Who Listens”
One of the most difficult things to figure out in a society that never stops talking is who we should actually be listening to. When surrounded by noise listening takes effort, it requires commitment; in what sounds like an oxymoron there is a need to hear less so that we can listen more. It’s not...
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Philippians 2:5-8 “The Mind of Humility”
In Paul’s call to unity through humility in the Philippian church he does something no other gospel writer had done before or would do after, he used Jesus as the example. These few verses that we will study tonight are of incredible importance. In many ways, they are a summation of Paul’s theology, they represent...
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Ezequias Lamarche: John 5:19, 12:49 “Unity and the Call to Love”
This Sunday one of our worship leaders, Ezequias Lamarche shared a message of unity and love with us. The Scriptures reveal to us that Jesus is everything that we were meant to be, that He walked in a pattern of boldness and a sense of meekness, declaring His authority while, at the same time confessing...
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Matthew 5:9 “From Peace Keepers to Peace Makers”
In this beatitude Jesus teaches us that there is an unbreakable connection between our identity as children of God and our willingness to live, not in, but for peace. It doesn’t say “Blessed are the peaceful, for they shall be called the sons of God”, it says the peacemakers will be called the sons of...
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Guest Speaker: Joanne DiLeo Exodus 17:8-13 “Intercession”
This week we had the great joy of having our friend Joanne DiLeo as our guest speaker. Joanne’s heart for prayer and her devotion to and grasp of God’s Word is evident to all who know her. In this message she shares beautifully about God’s desire that we join the Son and the Holy Spirit...
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Blog: The Presence of God’s Desire
Not long ago I was reading an article about how a man, who viewed himself as a “secular Jew”, came to faith in Jesus. While the entire article was quite interesting there was one line in it that has set me to thinking. As he was sharing about the household he grew up in, about...
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Philippians 2:1-4 “Unity Through Humility”
In the last passage we studied Paul gave his first command of the letter to the Philippians, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Paul purposefully used a political phrase to teach the Philippians that being found in Christ was being found out of everything else. When the Bible calls Jesus...
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Mark 9:14-29 “Praying Together for the Mind of God in the Midst of an Election”
This morning we are going to continue our discussion about the nature and purpose of prayer. We have built this discussion on the belief that prayer is not just how we communicate with God it is how God communicates with Himself. Romans 8 tells us that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father...