Reading City Church Reading City Church

We return to the book of Luke for another mini series, this time called "Stand Firm." We're picking up where we left off in Luke 11:33. In this passage, Jesus is instructing us how to share His light with the world and what it looks like to actually be light in the darkness. What does the world see in our eyes?
God's desire is to fill our bodies with His light so that we can live it out in our relationships.

We are concluding this mini-series by focusing on the way of grace. The way of grace is peace in the midst of chaos, peace in unknowing, freedom in the midst of doubt, space in the place of cynicism, invitation in the opening. We give grace to others, but we must also be aware of our own need for grace.

Rescue requires nothing of the one needing to be rescued, it requires only that they keep calling out until they are found. Chasing salvation means that we are continually reaching out for rescue.

The Bible often describes the Holy Spirit as wisdom and mystery. Listening to the voice of God the Father means being attuned to His Spirit. We seek to understand what’s underneath our desires, our knee-jerk reactions, our fears. We aim to stay curious, not judgmental, and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal what needs to be revealed, redeem what needs to be redeemed, prune what needs to be pruned, and heal what needs to be healed.

Conversion is the process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another. One of the greatest measures of how we’re growing in Christ is how we relate to ourselves, to God, and to other people. Our greatest measure of the wealth of the abundant life that God promises, life to the full, is not a measure of our material wealth or possessions, but rather the deepest, love, peace and security at the center of our soul.

We're doing this mini series in May to further explore how God loves the mess out of our lives so that we can experience his fullness and abundance.

The Gospel is the story of Jesus bringing God’s Kingdom to all and the renewing all things. Today we finish the Supernatural series by looking at Heaven, Earth, and Hell and what we can understand about the heart of God by looking at these eternal realities.

The Bible is far less clear about Hell than what you may have grown up hearing. Complex and eternal realities cannot be talked about with complete certainty. Instead, we can approach these topics with great humility and trust that God will bring clarity in the end. Today, we're looking at the historic and cultural references that are often translated to "Hell," and what the Bible says Hell is intended for.

Ultimately, we have never known a time and place in our entire history without God’s presence. No matter what that looks like in reality, the point is to understand God's grace that surrounds and protects us. God does not desire for anyone to experience this kind of existence without Him.