Reach Church - Everett

It's easy to get comfortable in our own little kingdoms and neglect those who don't fit into our paradigms. But that's not what Jesus taught or modeled for us. As citizens of his kingdom, our job is to follow in his footsteps, which includes aligning our hearts with his in regards to our neighbor - regardless of who they are or where they're at in life.If you truly love God, then you will see the value of your neighbor and acknowledge that, like you, they were created by God, for God, and in his image. There are zero exceptions.

While it's not effort that saves us, the effort we put into our faith is one of the indicators that we have a genuine faith at all. God is values-driven, which means that his commands are meant to reinforce something of his character and priorities, not just his preferences. What we need to realize is that, for the follower of Jesus, we're being instructed not only to fulfill certain moral obligations, rather to recognize that God is calling us to a high standard of living.

Jesus doesn't have a backup plan when it comes to the salvation of people on earth. He came one time for all time, and then sent his disciples out into the world to make more disciples. Jesus commissioned us to be the "salt of the earth," and "the light of the world." If we're not abiding in Christ and doing what he commands us to do, then we're of no use to his mission or his church.

The Beatitudes are a series of eight statements that speak to a posture of living that Christ says results in the blessing of God.  They summarize Jesus’ kingdom ethic and the character of Christian believers. They are a call for an inward posture that results in an outward blessing.

Growing is inevitable for the disciple who is abiding in Christ. As we grow, we see the results of Christ-likeness, stability, strength, and participation in the Body of Christ.Jim Putnam gives five stages of spiritual growth in his book, "Discipleshift," that helps us evaluate where we are and how we can growth further.

Our identity matters, and how we live from that identity moving forward has the potential to change everything about our stories. Imagine living out of the knowledge that God, the one who is worthy of all praise, opened up heaven, blessed us, set his sights on humanity, and acted in love by adopting us.How would you live differently?

If we want to grow, we've got to see faith as something that goes with us everywhere, not just during those few thousand hours on Sundays that span over the course of our lifetimes. In this message, we explore a few seemingly obvious, but incredibly specific tools God has given us to take our discipleship on the road with us, day in and day out.

For this third week of "Discipleshift," we heard Robert Montgomery's personal testimony about how discipleship shaped his life and drew him closer to God.

The general call of a disciple is good - it’s often the initial step someone takes when they surrender their lives to Jesus and get excited about his mission. But it cannot stop there. Jesus invites us to follow him completely, which means every area of our lives needs to be discipled.

We live in a time where it’s become too easy to simply go to church without having a conviction to BE the Church. The U.S. Christian Church has tried to hard to compete with culture rather than impacting culture. Whether it’s trying too hard to be entertaining, or bending our theology to be more inclusive - the cost of discipleship has virtually been forgotten.Where are we headed? Who are we becoming? What should we be doing? What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?

God is writing an incredible story, and it includes us! The reality of our circumstance without God’s intervention is us walking around spiritually dead in our sin. However, the Bible says that death no longer has the final say for those who are in Christ. God did we couldn't do for ourselves. He defeated death itself. The tomb is empty, Jesus is risen, and the resurrection changes everything. Jesus is someone worth paying attention to, but he’s ultimately the hope we’re looking for in this story we’re living out.

Temptation: the conflict between short-term urges and long-term ideals. Short term, we can pursue self-gratification, self-security, and self-exaltation - but all of those things fall short. We cannot ultimately satisfy these things in ourselves, but we have a savior who denied what felt good for what would produce good. We have a savior who denied his personal security to ensure we could have it eternally. We have a savior who did not shortcut his purpose to avoid the cross, rather endured the cross so we could be freed to discover our true purpose - to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Baptism is a demonstration of a work that God is doing in someone's heart. Something ishappening internally, and baptism paints a beautiful picture of what that is externally. In other words, it's public identification with Christ and the family of God. Today we explore what we can learn from Jesus' baptism as we recall our own or consider being baptized for the first time.

From time to time, passionate voices who call for change rise to the surface and make an impact. In Matthew 3, we see this very quality in a man named John the Baptist. Much like Jesus Christ, who was actually his relative through their respective mother's, John's ministry ushered in an entirely new day in redemptive history. As part of this new day, John called people to start over in their lives and make somesignificant changes.

God has a purpose and plan; he's had one from the very beginning. Sometimes it's hard for us to see when we look at a situation head on, but if we're able to take a moment, sit, and inspect it from a different angle, we might just be able to see his handiwork. Matthew reminds us of this as he tells the story of Jesus' birth and how his life so beautifully fulfills the many prophecies made of a Savior hundreds of years before Jesus was ever born. In doing so, Matthew provides a glimmer of hope as he shows us a new angle on an old story...but the story was only just beginning.

Jesus wants to fill your life with purpose. Yes, he will challenge your authority to establish his own in your life, but when you realize you are being led by the God of the universe, your life takes on a whole new meaning. No amount of power, money, fame, or status can ever satisfy. Nothing in this world could, because what we’re all looking for starts and ends with a child born in humble circumstances, but who will one day return in great power as reigning king over heaven and earth. All of Christianity is simply a response to the coming of a king.

Matthew is a book about some very good news. Matthew's purpose in writing this Gospel is to give an account for the good news about Jesus Christ - how he came to earth, what he did, what he said, and what he accomplished through his death and resurrection. To do that, Matthew had to set us up with the Genealogy of Jesus.

The Kingdom of God is here and is still coming. God says that his Kingdom comes through the Holy Spirit living in us and empowering us to live out our identities as those who have seen, heard, experienced, and now proclaim. A life intentionally lived for the Kingdom gives others glimpses of his Kingdom and his glory. It's reassurance that God still has a plan. It's an indicator that his Kingdom is still here.

Helmet of Salvation is more than just identification, and the Sword of the Spirit more than just a weapon. These two pieces are two parts of a whole. The only way this armor works is by us realizing that every armor piece we put on is also put on by someone else in our faith. We are all on the same team; we do not stand alone.

Faith is complete trust and confidence in something or someone that has proven faithful time and time again. That is why when you stand behind “the shield of faith,” you are literally standing behind the power of Jesus, our faithful God. Whatever battle you’re up against, if you’re a follower of Jesus, your protection AND ability to charge forward are possible through him.