Me First! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Matthew 5:1-4 This Sunday, we celebrate All Saints' Day and wrestle with how to grieve and yet remain hopeful in the resurrection to come. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to com…

Blessedness --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Reformation is a celebration of what Christ accomplished for us but it is also an invitation to be faithful and live fully the life that Christ gives. Shame and guilt leads us into holy spaces and places with Christ. John 8:31-36 (ESV) So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will…

Reformation Sunday - But I Have Grace --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Competition is meant to be fun. It can be motivating and encouraging. The ways we compete in sports, academics, music etc. is holy. It speaks to the parts of our soul that desire maybe a bit of what has been lost to sin. We love to see people move and perform in the beautiful ways in which they were created. We love to win. There is also the compet…

The Obstacle To Life --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Job 12:7-10 and John 1:1-3 Some of the most holy moments are in a sunrise or in the night sky. Sometimes we are so detached from the natural world that we miss God shouting at us all through the gift of this earth and all the creatures that dwell in it. We pause to reflect on God’s creation and how he has called us to be creative within it. Job 12:…

Law and Gospel - sell and follow --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Every Moment Holy- Vacation & Sabbath- 11:00 AM There is built into the world a natural rhythm that has seasons of activity and growth and seasons of rest. It is all too easy to ignore how important time off and sabbath is for not only our mental and emotional health but also our spiritual well being. Mark 2:23-28 (ESV) 23 One Sabbath he was going …

What is your Book value? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Parenting can feel like death by a thousand papercuts. Just when you think you have it figured out there is a curve ball thrown your way. Children go against their parents, parents do not do right by their children. In the middle of the chaos sometimes it can feel far from holy. It can feel tedious with little thanks. However, each little conversat…

A Cup Of Water --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Where we work we are called to do it to the glory of God. To let our light shine, serve those we are called to serve, and do the very best that we can. Being holy isn’t about working in a church God uses you where you are. Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. L…

Power In The Name of God --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

We all continue to learn from Christ but sometimes we make the mistake and limit what Christ is teaching us to things in Sunday school, a sermon. It is greater than just what happens in church. All knowledge is God’s knowledge. Being a student is about being a student of God’s creation and God’s wisdom as it permeates all of creation. This never en…

Sometimes we forget that the service shown to others in keeping house…being domestic in Christ can be holy and honoring. A home is an extension of the body of Christ and the hospitality we are to show. Cleaning feet was a service and about keeping house. Cleaning the toilets, doing the dishes, all these things are little acts that serve others. Joh…

I believe, BUT... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Restoration --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

God’s blessing had been given to people who time and time again chose to reject it. Later in the story, after Israel had been exiled from the promised land, God sent the true Israelite, the only one who could faithfully walk in God’s blessing and truly unleash it for all people. Join us as we conclude our end-of-summer series as we see how Jesus is…

Go In Peace --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

After the first humans’ rebellion, God chose a new couple to bless so that God’s blessing may extend to all nations through them. Later, God’s people are offered a choice to choose life or death, to receive God’s blessing or to reject it. Join us as we continue to see how God is always inviting us into his larger story to partner with him in his re…

Do This In Remembrance --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

The human story begins with God blessing the first two humans, but something goes tragically wrong shortly after the initial blessing. The first two humans reject God’s blessing for something they think will be better, but instead of greater blessings comes a curse, which has skewed the human experience ever since. Join us as we unpack why being a …

For The Bread Which You Have Broken --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

The first time the word bless/blessed appears in the Bible is at the start of Genesis. This one tiny word has amazing and beautiful ramifications on what it means to be human and shows us how God continues to invite us to partner with him on his mission in the world. Genesis 1:26-31 (ESV) Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our like…

This is the day the Lord has made --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Where does your help come from? Your bank account? Capitol Hill? Your career? Psalm 121 lifts our eyes from these things that are sure to fail us and fixes our gaze on Yahweh, who is the maker of heaven and earth. Join us as we wrap up our series as we learn to pray prayers of trust. Psalm 121 (ESV) A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills…

Your Word Is Truth --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

God’s way often seems foolish to the world, and to surrender our will to God’s will often seems very foolish to those around us who don’t know God. The Psalms give us language to come to grips with what true wisdom is, even when it feels like foolishness. Psalm 14 (ESV) To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” Th…

Why Do We Do this --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Psalms scholar Dr. Saleska writes, “Psalm 2 puts us in the middle of a power dispute. Who has power and who does not? What does power look like? Who gets to exercise it? Whose side are you on?” Sound familiar?! As followers of Jesus, these ancient words can help form our prayers as we wrestle with the same questions. Psalm 2 (ESV) Why do the nation…

What does this mean? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Jesus got angry. So, is such a thing as righteous anger? What do we do when we become angry? How do we express that anger? How do we process that anger? The Psalms give us words to help us process this universal emotion. Psalm 137 (ESV) By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up ou…

It's That Easy --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

It is easy to look around and let our hearts grow cold and numb because of the brokenness all around us. The Psalms give us language to express the lament we experience. But the Psalms also teach us how to pray prayers of thanksgiving as a form of protest against the evil in this world. What does it mean to bring a sacrifice of praise to the LORD? …

Strong in broken places --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

What do you do when you feel as though God has deserted you? Jesus experienced this and he used the words of Psalm 22 to give voice to what he was experiencing as he was dying on the cross. Join us as we explore how to pray when we are overcome with grief, sorrow, and lament and when God seems to remain silent. Psalm 22 My God, my God, why have you…

Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray!” Jesus gave them what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. However, as a Jewish man Jesus’ prayer life would have been formed by the prayers in The Book of Psalms. Join us Pastor Jake introduces this beautiful book and how Jesus desires to teach us to pray as we learn how to Pray the Psalms. Psalm 1 …

As we wrap up our series of Meeting Jesus in John’s Gospel, we will see how Jesus meets us in our fears, doubts, and confusion but he doesn’t leave us there. Jesus invites us to follow him as he breathes his peace upon us, even when things don’t make sense and seem unclear. Only by His Spirit can we truly see and believe. John 20:1-29 (ESV) Now on …

Just one tiny seed --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

“What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Following Jesus is often unclear and scary. As Jesus was preparing to leave his disciples they had lots of questions about what was next. Jesus didn’t give them a step-by-step plan to follow. Rather he gave them an example of what it meant to be his disciple, of what it…

Use your CSP --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

In this story we see Jesus’ humanity and divinity come together as he and his friends stare death in the face. But Jesus is not too quick to “save the day.” Instead, he sits with Mary and Martha in their heartbreak. Sometimes it feels like Jesus has let us down. What can we learn about pain and disappointment from Jesus’ meeting with Mary, Martha, …

Free Sabbath or Sabbath-free --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Jesus meets a man born blind and miraculously heals him. The man is later interrogated about who had done this act on the Sabbath. The man could only answer by saying, “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” The man’s answer infuriated the religious leaders and they began a debate about who Jesus was. Jesus quickly revealed that …

Who me? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Forty days after Easter the church celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which Jesus promised would happen back in John 15 and 16. Join us as we celebrate Pentecost Sunday and as we exigence the Spirit-led life. Acts 2:1–21 (ESV) When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sou…

Dem Dry Bones --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blcwarren/support

Jesus’ words are often difficult to receive. Jesus’ words often revealed people’s true motives and allegiances. But Jesus was ok with people not following him. He didn’t hedge on the truth or beg people to follow him. How do Jesus’ words challenge our motives and allegiances when we meet him in our real lives?…