Seasons of change turn our lives upside down. Old habits die and new ones are formed.

Routines are only routines until they are interrupted – then we are often forced to reset, reevaluate, & reengage in a completely different manner.

How do we ensure we progress, rather than regress, during these seasons of upheaval?

God interrupts the inevitable.

• God never changes.

• Upon His return & new reign, there will be no more suffering.

• Death was overcome on Calvary.

• And when He paid it all, we gained the right to be called ‘sons and daughters’.

Foretold centuries before it happened, fulfilling >300+ prophecies in the process, Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection were the penultimate inevitability, the culmination of God’s plan to redeem and restore His people to Himself.

Can the inevitability of tax season teach us anything useful?

There’s most certainly a lesson about being subject to authorities and being a faithful citizen… or, we could reflect on people like Daniel and Esther who were trapped in citizenship situations that violated their consciences.

We could dive into the very real human need to be part of a community; highlighting situations and problems that can only successfully be addressed by pooling resources and talents… or, we can address the very real pattern of governments to grow so corrupt that the pooling of resources tends to further human oppression rather than alleviating it.

And can we ignore the ever popular, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's’ quote? Or do we throw a curve ball and remind ourselves that ‘make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth’ is included in the same scriptures?

Many areas of life feel out of our control - inevitable. However, maybe things like ‘Death and Taxes’ can teach us something deeper? How should we cope with serious concerns like our impending death?

Many areas of life feel out of our control - inevitable. Rather than focusing on our powerlessness, what if embracing the inevitable could be an act of Grace?

Many areas of life feel out of our control - inevitable. Rather than focusing on our powerlessness, what if embracing the inevitable could be an act of Grace?

While we hope holiday’s like Valentine’s Day, anniversaries & those special days of the year are an intimate touch point for married couples, the reality for many is that these days often raise some difficult questions. Sometimes these moments raise challenges about the quality & quantity of a couple’s intimate experiences. We can find ourselves asking, ‘How can we make this better?’

Is ‘love’ overblown, oversold? Did the marketing engines just get to us & convince us that anniversaries & Valentine’s Day was something important? Should we just abstain, not participate, because it’s not pure, authentic & spontaneous? Or do these types of holidays matter?

In this week’s installment of ‘On Topic: Love’, we discuss whether we go too high, or too low, in our view of love on these culturally highlighted dates.

The Nicene Creed is the Christian Church’s first unified statement of belief in history. What is the Creed and why is it important?

Pastor Luke Simmons shares a few of his favorite things from 2022