City Church Houston

John the Baptist called for people to repent, but repentance isn’t about groveling. It’s about becoming a new person. God’s kindness leads us to repentance. When we look through the window that John is for us, we see the otherworldly kindness of Jesus.

The Bible is a book of windows that open to the world beyond us—full of breathtaking beauty, outrageous love, and eternal hope. By lifting the blinds and gazing through these windows, we’ll develop a transcendent perspective that will help us find spiritual equilibrium.

Jude tells Christians to ground themselves in the love of God. The only way to remain faithful in a world of falsehood is to anchor our lives in the truth of God’s love.

It is the extravagant love of God that animates us from first to last. Our lives are to be characterized by love, and that love fills us with life.

Jesus challenges Nicodemus to doubt his doubts, and Jesus also shows Nicodemus the extravagant love of God.

James shares about persevering in the face of trials. Because life is often difficult, lived amidst a broken world at odds with God, our posture should be one of patient endurance. Those who follow Jesus are called to be a people of prayer and praise.

Prideful self-reliance is a vain attempt to control your life. Instead, humbly trust God with your life.

The cause and the cure for all our fighting involves every single part of us.

James wants to get to the heart of wisdom.

You can learn a lot about someone's life by observing how they use their words.

For James, the vital sign of our belief in God is our behavior toward others. What will we do with the challenge James gives us in this passage?

How can we withhold love from others when Christ pours out his love to us?

James is concerned about how Christians present themselves to the world, a world that is sometimes confused by how Christian beliefs differ from Christian actions.

Oscar Wilde famously quipped, "I can resist everything except temptation." James is sympathetic and teaches us the solution.

James has the feel of ancient wisdom literature, like Proverbs. It’s practical, and begins by inviting us to deal with a relevant problem: pain. How can we persevere during these times? Christ’s victory came through suffering. He persevered through the grave and crushed our final enemy death, and welcomes us forward into his presence. This not only gives us strength to endure, but grows our love for Christ.

Jesus’ first sermon he ever preached came from a passage in Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, to set the oppressed free.” God not only speaks against injustice from his throne in heaven, but he came to earth to deal with injustice head on, in person, and pay the cost of it for us with the blood of his son. Jesus, the only perfectly pure one, took our pain and bore our suffering. By his wounds, we are healed.

Suffering is the valley of soul making. God’s people in exile felt cut off from life, and you might feel that way too. But there is one who was cut off from the land of the living for us— Jesus experienced the ultimate cosmic exile on our behalf. Jesus went all the way into the valley of death for us.

We don’t know the widow’s name in this story. Jesus sees a face of affliction and moves toward her. Jesus never uses anyone for his own benefit. On the cross, he will be used and abused for our benefit.

Do not grow weary and lose heart. How do we have a growing and sustaining faith that lifts us when you fall, and gives deep joy even when we hurt? Jesus bore our shortcomings and brokenness not with anger, but with joy—for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. Jesus will guide us and saves us each step of the way. He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion.

In this passage are two sisters interacting with Jesus and dealing with the loss of their brother. They show us the multidimensional nature of affliction, and at each point, they show us something that we need. Something about loss, something about love, and something about life. Jesus says he is the resurrection and the life—and he backs it up by overcoming our greatest enemy and obstacle, death. As you confront the free-floating grief of this tough time, come just as you are to the feet of the one who loves you, who weeps with you, and who overcame death for you.