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This week David preached from Zephaniah 3:14-20. The focus of this text is on the hope and promise of the coming Messiah in the context of the inevitable judgment that will be brought by our righteous God (listen online).  

We easily forget the story of God’s redemption, as it has been revealed through Christ’s coming, when we get caught up in the story of how we fit into that. The monumentally amazing truth of the Bible is that the God of the universe sent His Son to be with us, to save us (Zeph 3:15), to walk among us, to be in reach of human hands and yet be crucified by those same hands… And in that same redemptive story what’s not over is God remaining with us through His powerful Spirit, until He restores everything and calls His children home. We so often forget or take lightly the CRESCENDO of God’s story, the coming of His son, when we neglect or don’t remember the groaning felt by those who were originally longing for it.  

May we embrace and remember the significance of our sent Savior, and wait in eager expectation for His victorious return!

--Austin Lambert - C3 Member

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Last week, Pastor David focused on the Old Testament passage Malachi 2:17 – 3:5, with the intent of allowing the Old Testament to inform us how to worship Christ and to prepare us for his second coming. This passage teaches that Christ has come to save us from sin and will come again to judge. God is speaking through Malachi to Israel, who has learned very little from captivity. On the outside they have changed but their hearts still stray from God.  

They have continued to do evil, and when they find they have no consequences for their actions they start to think “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” (verse 17). God takes his reputation very seriously, and he lets the Israelites know that justice will be served – but not in the way they might think. There was a need for a Messiah’s intervention! Now our position before God has changed because of Jesus – God looks at us and sees his perfect Son.  

David poses a question: “Do you work hard to project a well-ordered life in order to hide the chaos within?” I think this is something we all do and is in fact something I myself struggle with, because I want people to think well of me. I like to appear as if I have all my ducks in a row while in reality I’m lost and confused and in desperate need of Christ’s constant saving grace. Instead of working to perfect an outward image, we should work to change our inmost hearts to reflect Christ’s love so that the fruit in our lives will be a glorious reflection of Him. In Jeremiah 31:31-34 God promises to write his law on our hearts so that we might know him fully. He will take what is outside of us and put it inside! Verse 34b, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”  
Praise God!  

--Caroline Carlson - C3 Member

Sermon Reflection::Jeremiah33:14-16

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Last week, David preached from Jeremiah 33:14-16 (listen online). The text is one of many in the Old Testament that prophesies about the coming Christ. Just as the people of the OT eagerly awaited and anticipated the arrival of their Messiah, this side of the cross, we ought to eagerly await and anticipate Christ’s second coming.  

As we enter the Advent season, we can see that this time of year is marked by anticipation and expectation. For the culture, that anticipation and expectation is applied to things like giving and receiving presents, spending time with friends and family, or enjoying time away from school or work. For the believer, the anticipation and expectation ought to be for Christ’s return. Our expectations for his second arrival should be grounded in our confidence in a God who has already kept his promises.  

Too often I get caught up in the world’s enjoyments and swept away by its expectations. Especially during this season, it’s so easy for me just to echo the culture’s values and paste God on the end. I need to be rescued from that mindset. My prayer is that during this Christmas season, my life would be a testament to the true reason we celebrate, and that I would proclaim with everything I have in me that “Christ has died and Christ is risen and Christ will come again!”  


--Catherine Canzoneri - C3 Member