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.

Fellowship is a good church word. We don’t hear it in other parts of the world, but in church we use it routinely. We have a fellowship ministry. We have a fellowship hall. We talk about the fellowship of the body. But what does it mean? And why is it significant to the life and practice of the church and the believers in the church? It is these questions and more that we turn to today as we hear the Word of the Lord about “Our Fellowship.”

We’re on the sixth week of Better Together, and today we’re talking about Worship. Worship is an essential part of every life, Christian and non-Christian. We all worship something, whether we realize it or not. If it is not God that we worship, then it’s probably self, or money, or power, or some other object in the universe. And this is one of the reasons why Sunday morning is vital to the Christian life. Weekly, corporate worship reorients our heart’s desires. It trains us. It reminds us that the true object of our worship is God, Let us worship together this morning.

We are now in week five of our Better Together series, and our topic is Our Sanctuary. In my estimation, this value is one of the more “colorful” values that has the potential not only to tell us what is important to us, but to give direction and focus to our efforts. May we be a place of sanctuary and a sanctuary people, may we create a sanctuary in time, and may we be ever restless for the rest that is only found in our Creator.

We are heading into week four of our series, Better Together, and there is nothing that says “Together” quite like “Family.” As a church, one of our core values is “Our Family: We are part of one vine with many branches.” Today, we explore this theme and recognize both the joys and struggles of family life. It takes work to make a family happen. And it requires a loyalty that is often missing in our individualistic world, especially when the family is one you have chosen and are not born into. But family also should come with a sense of belonging that is essential for life.

Today is the third week of our series, Better Together. We are looking at our church’s core values, and today we will be exploring “Our Mission.” The three values of “Grounding”, “Discipleship”, and “Mission” are inextricably tied together, one growing out of the next, much like the soil and tree analogy we have been using. Our Grounding in Christ leads to the need for Discipleship which produces the fruit of the Mission. The mission we participate in is the same mission God has been on throughout history — the redemption and reconciliation of the world. God has called us and sends us to participate in that mission with Him.

Continuing our series on regathering and reconnecting as a church, we turn our focus to the second of our core values: Our Discipleship. If Christianity begins with being rooted in Christ, the next step is to cultivate that which Christ is growing within us. We believe that the best context for such cultivation, perhaps the only context, is within and among a body of believers who offer space for pruning and training and flourishing. Discipleship is not just “better together,” it requires togetherness, and we at South Run believe this sits at the heart of why we exist.

Today begins a new series titled Better Together where we will explore the importance of gathering as a church body. The first five weeks will cover our church’s core values. The core values represent those things that we hold dear and the things that define us. They represent both who we are and what we strive to be. They are descriptive and aspirational. Today we begin with the primary value, the one that we hold nearest to our core: that all we do and all we are is rooted in the person and work of Christ.

The story of Anna in Luke 2 is the second half of the story we read last week about Simeon. We learned that Simeon’s name means “He has heard,” and Simeon indeed heard God and listened to God’s call on his life. And through Simeon’s faithfulness, he encountered the baby Jesus in the temple and witnessed the one who would bring salvation to the world. Anna’s name, on the other hand, means “grace or favor.” Or more simply yet, “gift.” Anna, because of her patience and willingness to wait on God, was able to see what others were not able to see. Where everyone else at the temple saw a baby, Anna, like Simeon, saw the one who would bring redemption to Jerusalem and beyond.

Today’s passage from Luke 2 contains a litany of themes in a very short passage. Here, Simeon has been awaiting the Messiah. He speaks of the consolation of Israel. He recognizes in Jesus the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. He talks of salvation, revelation, and glory. And as we have been talking about for weeks now, he requests peace. This beautiful passage that tells of the very beginning of Jesus’ life is like a symphony of themes about what we can expect from Jesus’ life. And if you know your gospel, you know that Jesus delivers.

Just prior to Jesus’ birth, a mass of angels appeared over the fields of Bethlehem, giving the shepherds a concert they would never forget. The angels, in unison, offer glory to God and promise peace on earth. But what kind of peace? And how does God’s glory fit into that promise? And what does all of this mean for us?

Today is the second Sunday of Advent. In our New Testament reading for today, John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, offers a word of hope and a promise of redemption that surely resonates as much today as it did way back when. The conclusion of the proclamation is that the road lit with the light of heaven is a road that leads to peace. As Jesus himself teaches us to pray, may it be on earth as it is in heaven.

As we approach Christmas, we might be tempted to believe that Christ’s birth took place in a perfectly preserved state of peace, because that’s what we all hope our Christmas’s will look like. This, however, is a fiction. The chaos surrounding Jesus’ birth is almost unspeakable. Every last person near to him was affected by the chaos. It seemed to follow him wherever he went. No, Jesus was not born into a world of peace. If was going to embody the Prince of Peace promised in Isaiah, he had a lot of work to do.

This week we celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. It is an appropriate time of year to focus on gratitude and giving thanks. The benefits of being grateful are many. Thankfulness is connected to joy, peace, awe, and wonder, and so there is good reason to be thankful people. More important than the benefits, however, is that the proper response to the gospel is gratitude. Grace and gratitude are interwoven, and in the face of the overwhelming grace of Christ, are hearts are to be full of thanks.

If you’re like 48% of families in the United States, then you say grace before meals. And if you do, it might include a thanksgiving or a blessing of some kind. You might be surprised to find that Jesus and Paul said prayers before their meals too. There is almost a rhythm to it in Scripture. Taking bread, giving thanks, breaking it, and sharing. Today I want to stop and think about the humble practice of praying before meals. And, more importantly, I want to reflect on giving thanks.