Reality Santa Barbara (Video‪)‬ Reality

The whole world celebrates holidays surrounding the incarnation (Christmas), death (Good Friday), and resurrection (Easter) of Jesus Christ, but very little attention is given to Jesus’ ascension, even in the Church. But the ascension is kind of a big deal.

Hebrew Scripture prophecies it. The New Testament’s most quoted Old Testament verse is about Jesus’ ascension. Peter’s Pentecost sermon cites the ascension as proof of Jesus as Israel’s exalted messianic king. When we say “Jesus is Lord”, or “Jesus is King” we mean, Jesus has ascended!

But why does the ascension matter to you, right here and right now as a 21st century follower of Jesus? Let’s talk about that.

Guest Speaker Dominic Balli preaches over Psalm 126 and God’s Faithfulness

The Great Commission has catalyzed tens of millions of Jesus followers to share their faith over the centuries. Christians have been compelled to share the good news of Jesus to family members, friends, and coworkers, to people in their communities and beyond, to other cities, states, nations, and continents.
Countless vulnerable, exploited and abused children have been rescued, millions of hungry have been fed, desperately poor communities have been given resources, water wells have been dug, and education has been provided all in the name of Jesus and His command to “go”.
Still, some Christians feel guilt around the idea of “going” (or not going, as it were). Others question some of the unintentional negative consequences of well-meaning Christians whose efforts caused complications or even harm to people in other parts of the world. What’s did Jesus mean when He told His disciples to “go”? What do these words mean to us in 21st century Santa Barbara, California? Let’s talk about the good news of the Great Commission.

Followers of Jesus have an easy time believing God loves the whole world,
but we sometimes struggle to believe that God really does love us.
In this prophecy from Isaiah, God expresses a love so supreme He invokes the strongest
relational metaphor—that of relationship between a mother and her nursing infant—
a love so supreme it transcends a mother’s love.

Stephen Posey shares a short sermon on the pursuit of joy

In the first century a woman’s testimony was only half as credible as a man’s. A woman with a bad reputation would have been less credible still. Regardless of its inclusion, or lack thereof in the canon, the verses in the last half of Mark 16 present a truth that all the gospels agree—Mary Magdalene, a formerly demon-possessed woman, was among the first witnesses of the resurrection. Why would the authors (and most devoted apprentices of Jesus) want us to know that the first person to proclaim the resurrection testimony upon which the entire substance of saving faith derives its credibility, was a woman? What might we learn about belief itself in an age of easy unbelief?