As we continue to hear encouraging words from the Word, this week we turn our attention to the last verses of Isaiah 40. It is another popular passage, this time because of the imagery supplied by the verse—namely, that of an eagle soaring over the heights, escaping whatever trouble and storm that may lay below, and flying effortlessly to its destination. Oh that God may renew our strength that we too may mount up with wings like eagles.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This is one of the most famous passages in all of Scripture, in part because of the hope that it holds out. Paul says that it is Christ’s strength that gets him through the lows and the highs of life, through plenty and hunger, abundance and need. This morning we fix our eyes on the truth of Christ’s strength for any and all circumstances.

What is a passage of Scripture that encourages you and lights your way forward? A week or so ago, a friend passed along today’s passage, Psalm 20, as a form of encouragement. I found it deeply meaningful, and I hope you do too. In the weeks to come, I plan to preach through passages that inspire us and guide us. Whether in times of peace or in times of difficulty, these are passages that you have found fill your soul and act as a compass. As you feel comfortable, please share such passages with me that I might be able to encourage others as you have been encouraged.

Today’s message is about the edges of hope. Not the hope we have when all is well, but the hope we cling to with white knuckles when life is not going how we think it should. Paul certainly shows us the way when he describes his own life as a frail, clay jar. He says that he is afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down, but in all of this, the imperishable life of Christ shines forth all the more. Christ’s presence and life sustains Paul in his dark hours. Let us cling together to the hope we have in Christ our Lord.

It is indisputable that we live in a hurried world, and it is easy to be swept up in it. We are frequently rewarded for keeping up with the hurry, though often with more tasks and requests and needs that cause even more hurry. Such a life, however, is at odds with the pace of life Jesus seemed to live at. His pace was of a walking sort. It lacked the anxiety and pressure that seem to mark our age. So if Jesus, God-incarnate, was able to live at a slow pace and trust that what will get done will be enough, what’s our rush?

Prayer is perhaps the most essential of spiritual disciplines. In Scripture, Jesus is said to pray regularly. He goes off to pray alone. Some of his prayers are even captured by the gospel authors (e.g. John 17). In today’s passage he is even asked to teach the disciples how to pray. The result is a rendition of the Lord’s prayer, a reflection on why we pray, and perhaps most importantly, it is a reminder of the goodness of the God to whom we pray. God is the Father who loves to give good gifts.

This week we return to the story from two weeks ago, the story of the man possessed by a legion of demons in Luke 8. The passage is not done with us yet as there is still gold to be mined. In it, a man is enslaved in mind, body, and spirit, and Jesus is there to set him free. The freedom Jesus offers, however, is not exactly the surprising part of the story. What is surprising is the man’s response. Initially, he pushes Jesus away. He tells Jesus, “Do not torment me,” when in reality it is not Jesus who torments, it is our sin, our anxiety, our fears, our doubts. These are the instruments of evil, and Jesus is here to set us free.

In today’s gospel reading Jesus meets a man who is enslaved within his own mind. He is trapped by an army, a legion, who will not release him nor allow him to be fully human. The man is an outsider in his home town. He lives not in a house but among the tombs. He is not in his right mind. But his encounter with Jesus changes everything. In a word, he is given freedom.

Today is Trinity Sunday on the church calendar. The day is less celebrated than other days of the church year, perhaps because it feels too “theological.” You might even be asking, Does the Trinity matter anymore? I believe it does, and here’s why. God’s triune nature tells us a host of things about God, our world, and about our very selves. As Timothy Keller says, “if this world was made by a triune God, relationships of love are what life is really all about.” So today we talk about what “life is really all about.”

Today is the day of Pentecost. It is a day where the Holy Spirit shows up in mighty and powerful ways in the lives of the first church members. It is a day of excitement and mystery. It is a day with tongues of fire and the rushing of wind. On this day we celebrate that not only is Jesus our Lord sitting at the right hand of God, but today the Spirit of God dwells in us through the outpouring of the Spirit. The Spirit is calling out to you. What will you say?

We have reached the final week of Easter and the end of 1 Corinthians 15. The chapter has been a slow crescendo to the declaration of the death of death, the truest and most important meaning of Jesus’ resurrection and Easter Sunday. Death is indeed swallowed up in victory. Its stinger has been removed. And thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Today we talk about a passage in which Paul explains the resurrection body. He walks right up to the place where angels dare not tread and puts his foot on the line. Paul, just chapters before, reminds us that he is looking into a dim mirror as he talks about that which is to come. However, here, he speaks about what he is able to glimpse and what we are able to know about the resurrection. As we continue our exploration of 1 Corinthians 15, let us be mindful that there are many things we still do not know, and yet there is much hope to be found in what we do know.

In our reading today from 1 Corinthians 15, Paul situates the gospel in the larger story of the whole of Scripture—and even more importantly—in the whole span of history. The resurrection is an event that the world has been longing for since the day the Garden of Eden was closed. Christ’s death and resurrection is an answer to the most fundamental problems of the world. The problem of evil, sin, destruction, abuse of power, illness, and so much more, the rotten fruit of which is death. As Paul puts it, this is the last enemy to be destroyed.

Today we are continuing our Easter resurrection series on 1 Corinthians 15. In verses 12-20, Paul asks the Corinthians why some of them are doubting the general resurrection of the dead if they believe that Christ was resurrected from the dead. It appears that they believe in the gospel basics—Christ’s death and resurrection—but they have not understood the implications of it. Today we explore the implications.

Today we begin a five-week trip through 1 Corinthians 15, a critical chapter with 58 verses dedicated to the topic of resurrection. This is easily Paul’s lengthiest defense of Christ’s resurrection and our future resurrection in all his epistles. It’s an appropriate chapter to study during the season of Easter as we continue to give glory to God for the death and resurrection of Christ, through whom we are saved and in whom we find our very being.

Psalm 129 is about the wounds of our enemies and the Lord’s desire and ability to defeat our foes. But who is my enemy and what is the victory? The New Testament answers this clearly when Paul says that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness in this world, the very thing God comes to destroy through the cross. As we journey toward the cross during the Lenten season, let us remind ourselves of the victory found in it.

The journey continues. The psalmist is reflecting on his future. On Israel’s future. As he does so, he reminds himself and those singing this song of an important fact: All of our strivings and efforts in this life are temporary and fleeting unless God is in them. This is not just spiritualized mumbo jumbo, it’s a hard fact of life. We are mortal and God is immortal. Whether it is 100 years from now or 1000 years from now, the earth will forget us. However, the immortal one to whom we look for life and purpose is able to give our strivings immortal worth and value. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

Today, our journey continues with Psalm 124. It’s a psalm about answered prayers, which is important because answered prayer is often too quickly overlooked and under-celebrated. Sure, we might find some relief or even short-lived joy at the news of an answered prayer. But how quickly are we back to, “God, what have you done for me lately?” Today, the psalmist teaches us how to celebrate the answered prayers of life. We all have much to learn.

The season of Lent is many things. It is a season of preparation, preparing our hearts for Easter. It is a season of repentance, bringing to the cross our sin and shame. It is a season of introspection, searching the depths of our hearts that we might root out all that keeps us from union with God. And while there are many ways to talk about these 40 days on the church calendar, we know that they are a journey that leads us to kneel before the cross of Christ on Good Friday, it leads us to an empty tomb on Easter Sunday, and it leads us into a world where resurrections are routine and the death of death is a reality and where all things are possible. Let us walk this journey together.

In our final week of “Better Together,” we are talking about “Our Service.” In my years at South Run Baptist Church, the servant’s heart of this congregation has gripped me more than just about anything else I have experienced here. In this congregation, I have met some of the most amazing people who are willing to do just about anything in service of God and in service of one another. So as we approach this topic today, I come humbly. I come as someone who has not only learned much from the Word of God, but also as someone who has learned from the Word made flesh through you.