“I think it was very instrumental that God didn’t allow me to know much about the project as I was going into it. Looking back now, I’m able to see how God used my blindness as a benefit; but at the time, I was a little scared about not having enough information,” Matt said.

It was mid-December when Matt first received an invitation to work with Homes of Hope. With an increase in resident population, the organization wanted to start the process of designing and building a new kitchen, skills center, and information center. But they had trouble finding an architect who could put the organization’s needs above his or her own ideas. Mark Roche, founder of Homes of Hope Fiji, contacted Vision Abolition regarding his request.

Vision Abolition is an association of Arizona churches that support Homes of Hope Fiji by providing materials and money to the nonprofit and sending missions teams to Fiji. Brian Crawford, a local church leader affiliated with Vision Abolition, received Roche’s request for an architect.

Brian, a friend of Matt’s, thought Matt might be interested in the opportunity – and he was right. Matt approached the manager of the architecture firm where he was employed at the time with some uncertainty, because of the short notice. But he knew it was in God’s plan when his manager responded to the request with “Go for it.” Two weeks later Matt arrived in Fiji and met with Mark Roche to start drafting the plans for the new buildings.

“I was confident that I could do the job because of my prior experience.”

Earlier in 2010, Matt and eleven other graduate students traveled to Ethiopia under the leadership of Redemption Arcadia member Jack Debartolo III to draw-up the construction documents for the design of a new children’s home.

“Jack showed me through his way of working, a rare and remarkable example of someone who is using architecture to further the Kingdom,” Matt said. “That trip opened my eyes to the needs for design and construction around the world; I saw how my training and talents could be used to help meet those needs.”

Working on a project in east Africa prepared Matt for the south Pacific.

“It is always interesting for me to see different cultures as no two cultures are the same. I don’t want to be too universal, but a lot of architects bring in their ideas based on what they know and this is common in the Western culture,” he said. “I tried going in with an open mind – clearing out every preconceived notion that I had.

During his time in Fiji, Matt worked 15 to 18-hour days performing site analysis, programming, and material research to design three buildings that could meet Mark Roche’s expectations and budget limits. Surprisingly, Matt and Mark found that they agreed on many of the designs ranging from air flow to architecture. The two men decided to continue drafting the building plans even after Matt returned home.

Back in Arizona, Matt decided to seek out the mission opportunities in his own circle of influence.

“Wherever you are at you have a duty to be a light in the world, what that is per individual, I think varies; as for me -it is through my actions, through my conduct, what I do, what I say, how I interact with people – that’s constantly part of who I am,” Matt said. “I think there is a big push to go to third world countries and do missions but I don’t think that it is better or worse than staying here and telling others about God. I encourage people to find the areas that they have been blessed in and share that with others.”

Living by his own words, Matt prayed and felt God leading him in a new direction. Matt recently resigned from his architectural position to start a business that will give him more freedom to serve those in his community and at Homes of Hope.

“I don’t know what I’ll be doing exactly, but I know that this is a step in the right direction.” Based on his recent experience in Fiji, Matt understands that he does not need to know everything; he just needs to trust in the One who does.

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Story by Kelly Van Liere
Photo by Matthew Priestley

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Do you have a story that you would like us to tell? Click on the button below and tell us about it.

The story of Joseph is grand and complex, playing out in multiple contexts over multiple generations. Like all of our lives, Joseph’s is a tapestry of mistakes, lessons, relationships, opportunities and choices, all of which are bound together by a sovereign God who is accomplishing his purposes.

Our study of Joseph will serve as part 1 of series that we’ve titled Faithful; in part 2 we’ll study Daniel.

The title reflects our recognition that Joseph is a man faced with choices, the type of profound choices that set the course of one’s life. Will he choose character and humility even if leads to injustice being done to him? Will he choose reconciliation or revenge when confronted with those who have wronged him?

There is only one perfect hero in scripture and it’s not Joseph, it’s Jesus. Joseph is flawed, as we all are, especially in his youth. But it is our hope that as we study his life together we will learn from his example – both positive and negative – and that we will be inspired to be faithful, courageous men and women that “shine as lights in the world”. (Philippians 2:15)

DOWNLOAD THE ‘FAITHFUL’ STUDY GUIDE HERE
(right-click and save as)

Caroline said:

Our ultimate goal is to build community in our city and that the people we live among would say of us, “We don’t believe like they believe but they do so much good for our community and city that we would hate to have them leave.” To us, this is living out the Gospel and being a redeeming influence on our city.

We believe that the whole of life is to be influenced by our faith and our job as Christians isn’t to convert people, but to live out the Gospel and love them. Love isn’t a feeling, it is a decision. And the Gospel changes us and enables us to serve, live in community with and love all the diverse people of the city of Phoenix that we come in contact with through urban farming .

For more information, go to the Boho Farm website. Caroline’s home will be a part of the Arcadia Edible Garden Tour taking place on Saturday May 12th. For more information click here.

Stacey Poterson is a Gilbert-based photographer who attends Redemption Tempe. More of her photography can be found on Stacey’s website.

Photos by Stacey Poterson
Story by Eugene Scott

(Photo by Timothy Boyd)

An appreciation of art, value of local business and support for downtown Phoenix were the impetus behind Pedal Craft, an event celebrating the Valley’s growing urban bike community.

The event held in April in downtown Phoenix was the brainchild of Redemption Arcadia members Jon Ashcroft (far left in above picture) and Jonce Walker (center in above picture). Jon is heavily involved in the Valley’s design community and is also the Creative Director for Redemption Church. Jonce works in sustainability and focuses on making downtown Phoenix more bike-friendly. Pedalcraft was simply a natural continuation of their existing interests.

“People constantly ask us if we put on this event to advocate for some all encompassing message or raise funds for a terminal disease. They can’t wrap their heads around the idea that we put so much hard work in so that people could come together for a couple of hours and have a good time celebrating a few common interests,” Jon said.

The Pedalcraft organizers believe that meaningful community exists beyond Sunday mornings. The desire to create an environment for people to do life together while highlighting the arts, loving on their city and celebrating relationships is rooted in their belief that Jesus places a high value on community.

“Jesus was all about community and helping people. Pedal Craft is all about community and joy. My personal work focuses around making places better for people and Pedal Craft is just an extension of that,” Jonce said.

To keep up with future Pedal Craft events, go to http://www.facebook.com/PedalCraft.

Also, you can see (and purchase!) the Pedal Craft posters at http://pedalcraft.bigcartel.com.

Photos by David Blakeman (unless noted)
Story by Eugene Scott

That’s a tragedy. Because God is at work and when we fail to acknowledge it we miss out on opportunities to worship him, as well as opportunities to be encouraged and challenged.

It’s for this reason that we’ve formed a team of people who are focusing on telling stories. They are writers, copy-editors, photographers, and videographers, working to reveal what God is doing in, through, and around Redemption.

In the coming weeks you’ll be seeing more stories. Moving forward it will be a central part of our communication efforts. This isn’t about celebrating ourselves, it’s about revealing the movement of God in our midst and equipping and encouraging one another to honor him.

Now, if you’re interested, allow me to paint a bigger picture as to why we believe this so important.

NO ONE IS AN ISLAND

English poet and priest John Donne famously said, “No man is an island…”

Donne understood that all of our lives are interconnected. You may think of yourself as autonomous, above influence, and/or invisible, but the reality is that your life has impact on others and is impacted by others. You can’t escape that truth, even by withdrawing.

What’s interesting about Donne’s statement is that it comes in the context of a meditation about the nature of the church. He references the Apostle Paul’s metaphor of the church as a body (1 Cor 12; Eph 4:16; Col 2:19) and makes the logical connection that if he’s a part of a body then the burdens of any member of that body are his burdens and the victories of any member are his victories. He says:

The church is catholic, [which means] universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all.  When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head, which is my head too, and ingraffed into that body, whereof I am a member.  And when she buries a man, that action concerns me…

…No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

The bell that he speaks of in that last sentence is the bell that rings from the cathedral and calls people to pray for those who are sick. Donne adds, “If we understand aright the dignity of this bell…we would be glad to make it ours… The bell doth toll for him, that thinks it doth.” In other words, if we embraced the beauty and wisdom of our connectedness, we would gladly allow ourselves to be impacted – even inconvenienced – by others.

The reason Donne was so willing to make the afflictions of others his own is because he considered them to be “gold”. It’s not that he thought he could make a financial profit off of them. Rather, he knew that when God worked in others, even through tragedy, it had a profound shaping effect on him as well. “Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it,” said Donne, “but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it.” (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4) Often the treasure goes hidden or ignored. But in bearing the burdens of others, said Donne, “this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me.”

In short, Donne’s primary concern was not comfort or self-protection; it was growing closer to his Lord. And he knew that the challenges, passions, questions, and blessings of the other members of the body were God-sent means to draw him close and grow him into maturity.

A DIVERSITY OF IMPACT

If you’ve ever sat beside a faithful believer on their deathbed or visited a family dealing with the loss or illness of a child, you know Donne’s words are true. God uses these things to shape the afflicted individuals, but also the communities around them. These types of shared burdens pull us out of our superficial patterns, get us past our filtered, well-crafted personas and profiles and help us engage with God and with one another in honesty. That level of honesty and transparency is a rare jewel and you know it when you find it.

But it’s not just the times of struggle or sadness that have this shaping effect. Honest, transparent testimonies are equally as powerful. They remind us that God is actually at work, saving people and redeeming his creation. In times of personal struggle and/or dryness a personal testimony can be the encouragement that we desperately need. In times of celebration they can add wind to our sails.

It’s also important to note that the shaping influence of others comes in more forms and in more places than the dramatic. In fact, it’s found most often in the mundane. Because God works in the miraculous but he also works on Tuesday mornings when we’re trying to get the kids to take a nap. Sometimes the most shaping influences we can have are those that give us a picture of real people working out their faith in the context of real life.

TELLING STORIES

Simply put, we need to tell stories because there is gold all around us, buried gold that God wants to use to shape and mature his church.

Of course nothing will ever replace genuine, personal relationship; that will always be plans A, B, and C for how we can have a positive shaping influence on one another. So pursue one another, care for one another, and learn from one another where you have opportunity.

Then tell your story to one another in your Redemption Communities and around your dinner tables. We’ll do what we can to make some of those stories widely available. We’ve already found that there are more stories than we can possibly tell, which shouldn’t surprise us.

Some of the stories we’ll be telling will be dramatic and miraculous and some will just honest portraits of real life. We will be telling you about events, but mostly about people. Not every story will have full resolution and we can’t wrap a neat bow on them all because, well, reality is in process.

We’re excited to present these stories to you. We pray that God will be glorified and that you will be challenged, encouraged, and inspired.

Stay tuned…

“You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.” (Psalm 40:5)

When East Valley Bible Church, Praxis Church, and Second Mile Church became Redemption Church in early 2011, we stated that our vision was:

…to saturate the State of Arizona with Gospel-centered, Reformed, Missional churches through campuses and church plants. We see thousands of people worshiping Jesus and living out the Gospel all over Arizona, equipped every Sunday with the same message and living out the same values everyday.

Our vision, in large part, remains the same today. We believe strongly that as a unified body we can serve as a resourcing church where leaders are trained, sent, and supported to plant healthy, thriving churches. Our conviction has always been that some of those new churches would function as Redemption Congregations, alongside Arcadia, Gateway, Gilbert, and Tempe. Some of them would simply be independent churches that have strong relational ties to Redemption. Where it makes sense to plant Redemption Congregations we would do that. Where is makes sense to send leaders to plant non-Redemption churches we would do that. Our heart is not to saturate Arizona and beyond with the Redemption brand, but rather with the Gospel, with disciples, and with healthy church communities.

We shared this vision with you all a year ago. We can, of course, have wonderful vision statements and well-constructed plans and God can choose to take us places we haven’t anticipated. He can shift our priorities and give us unexpected challenges to focus on. He does that often in fact. So we need to pursue our goals with passion but hold those goals loosely enough to allow God’s leading to be put first.

With all of that said, as we have sought God the past year, we believe he has confirmed the vision he originally gave us. And because it’s good to be accountable to your expressed goals, we want to give you an update on the state of Redemption Church’s efforts to see Gospel-centered, Reformed, Missional churches planted throughout Arizona and beyond.

SOME TERMS

Briefly, let’s define some terms for the sake of clarity. Think of a church plant as a congregation in seed form. A plant becomes recognized as a congregation once it reaches a certain level of participation, order, and stability.

Why make a distinction? Planting a church is missionary, entrepreneurial work that is done in faith. Sometimes God has different plans for the people and leaders who stepped out to plant and a thriving congregation never emerges. That’s not always a bad thing. But it’s helpful and good to make a distinction between the early season of tilling the soil and the point where new growth emerges in the form of a fully functioning body.

REDEMPTION WEST MESA PLANT

Under the leadership of Pastors Chris Amaro, Joel Chaira, and Josue Lopez, this plant is underway and thriving. Serving the largely Hispanic population of West Mesa and the Broadway Corridor they gather for bi-lingual Sunday worship services at 10:30am at Longfellow Elementary School (345 South Hall Mesa). Pastor Chris Amaro gives this update:

“…We are trying to create a place for the Gospel to go into families, equip men to lead, and have a worship service that serves the diversity in our community. Also what we are seeing is the Gospel breaking down cultural, ethnic, and language barriers and forming us into one body as people learn both Spanish and English.

If you came on a typical Sunday you would see a very diverse crowd. Every Sunday we average about 50 adults and around 25 kids. The majority of persons are Chicanos (Mexican Americans), who speak English. You will see a handful of Mexicans who only speak Spanish, whites, who are the second largest group, and we have a handful of African Americans. We also have diversity in age range with both singles and married. We have a good amount of young men that we are discipling right now and have more single young men than single young women. Currently we have 35 people who I would consider part of our core group. These are people that are serving, attending weekly, giving, and are in a Redemption community…”

• Click here to view a video highlighting Redemption West Mesa’s efforts in the Broadway Corridor
• Follow Redemption West Mesa on their Facebook Page here
• Email Pastor Chris Amaro at chrisamaro@redemptionaz.com
• Give by clicking here and selecting West Mesa Church Plant

REDEMPTION SAN FRANCISCO PLANT

Perhaps our most-publicized plant for obvious reasons, Redemption San Francisco is in the phase of building a team, making connections, and raising support. Pastor Justin Anderson and his family have now left to get established in the city. C.J. Bergmen and his family have already moved to the area and Pastor Ryan Eland and his family are looking to follow soon. Pastor Justin gives this update:

“We are spending most of our time fund raising right now and while we are making good progress, we have a long ways still to go. San Francisco is the second most expensive large city in America and we are all feeling the weight of that. Please be praying that God would bring all the necessary funds and that we would find places to live in the coming weeks.”

• Click here to view the Redemption San Francisco Prospectus
• Follow Redemption San Francisco on their Facebook Page here
• Follow Redemption San Francisco on Twitter here
• Email Pastor Justin Anderson at Justin@redemptionsf.com
• Give by clicking here and selecting San Francisco Church Plant

REDEMPTION AHWATUKEE PLANT

In mid-2011 we brought in a leader with church-planting experience to pursue a plant in the Ahwatukee area. As is sometimes the case, God showed us that he had different plans than the ones we laid out for both Redemption and the leader we brought in. We have learned lessons in this process and while we are not ruling out future efforts in this particular area of Phoenix, this plant is no longer happening.

REDEMPTION FLAGSTAFF PLANT

Pastor Vince Garvey has been called to plant a church in Flagstaff and is being sent with the full support of Redemption. Vince has served faithfully in a number of roles in Praxis/Redemption. He and his wife will be joined in their move by a team, some of whom have already secured jobs in Flagstaff. Pastor Vince gives this update:

“There is much work to still be done, but all is moving quite well for the Redemption Flagstaff plant. We are currently working on a scheduled “partnership blast” which will include a 6-month prayer guide, new website, prospectus, and vision video to be sent out sometime in April. One of our core couples is already up north and the rest of our core team, now at 14 people, will be moving the first week of June. Please continue to pray for unity, and good housing options for our team. Although, it’s not San Francisco, life in the mountains is more expensive. Our hope is that God would stir hearts to partner with Redemption Flagstaff in 4 ways: Pray, Give, Share, and Join.”

• Follow Redemption Flagstaff on their Facebook Page here
• Follow Redemption Flagstaff on Twitter here
• Email Pastor Vince Garvey at vincegarvey@redemptionaz.com
• Give by clicking here and selecting Flagstaff Church Plant

CHURCH PLANTING COHORT

We have a number of young leaders who are exploring the possibility of planting churches. They serve different leadership roles within the church and in the community in order to gain experience. They meet together regularly under the guidance of Redemption pastors and go through material to help equip them in theology and practical leadership. Healthy church plants come from God calling healthy, capable leaders. We want to do our part to prepare those leaders for whatever God has for them.

JOIN US

If you call Redemption Church your home you are very much a part of our church planting efforts. We are sending members of our own family out and, as a result, our family is growing. These leaders need your support in prayer, finances, word of mouth, etc. Please come alongside them as the Lord leads.

At Redemption Church, we believe that all of life is all for Jesus. Therefore, it’s crucial that we know who Jesus is and what he is about.

Throughout the Gospels, those who encounter Jesus have difficulty processing what they are experiencing. In their confusion, amazement, and awe, they are often left asking the question, “Who is this?”

The question usually comes after Jesus has done something truly incredible, like forgive a person’s sin, bend the laws of nature, or challenge the religious establishment. The people know they have just come in contact with an extraordinary, even supernatural, individual and they simply have no categories to place him in.

Today, we often have nice, neat categories for Jesus. He remains a popular figure, but most people understand only a caricature of him, one that is formed by pop culture and/or past experiences. The awe, intrigue, and bewilderment that is justifiably present in those who walked with him, touched him, and ate with him, gets replaced by lukewarm acceptance of a man viewed simply as an interesting historical figure.

But general apathy toward Jesus is not an option. He leaves no room for it. His life demands questions and reactions.

If your friend, whom you thought you knew, raised your deceased relative from the dead, you could not simply go on as normal. If you were bracing for death in the midst of a storm, only to have a stranger calm the ocean with his words, you would not cease asking questions. How? Why? What does this mean? You couldn’t let it rest, could you?

In this teaching series, we look to encounter the Jesus of Scripture. We seek to understand who he truly is, what he really said and why he said it. We seek to understand why he died and the impact his death has on us today.

The sermons will be laid out as follows:

Good Friday / Who is this…who died on the cross?

Easter Sunday / Week 1 / Who is this…who rose from the dead?

April 15th / Week 2 / Who is this…who exposes darkness?

April 22nd / Week 3 / Who is this…who knew no sin?

April 29th / Week 4 / Who is this…who takes away the sin of the world?

May 6th / Week 5 / Who is this…God, Savior, King?

We invite you to follow along with the study guide that we’ve created for the series. Download a free .pdf version of the guide below. Or, if you’d prefer a printed copy, they will be available for a small cost at each of the Redemption Campuses this weekend.

Download the guide here.

Here’s what we need to be clear on: religion is not the enemy of grace. Self-righteousness and works-based salvation are the enemies of grace. To be sure, formalized religion is a natural vehicle for self-righteousness and its practices can easily be confused as the means of salvation. But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Religion isn’t the issue. Your heart is the issue.

I understand the sentiment of “I hate religion, but love Jesus” and “It’s not a religion it’s a relationship.” I’ve waved that flag, especially in college when I was reading certain authors who will remain nameless. But I think that sentiment really is more about a spirit of rebellion than it is about truth. And for that reason we need to realize that the problem of self-righteousness doesn’t get eliminated with a rejection of religion. Sometimes, what you think is a crusade for grace can really be about your pride. I’m not accusing Bethke of that. But to everyone who has their adrenaline rise up while watching the video, be careful.

In his poetry, Bethke places “religion” in opposition to Christ in no uncertain terms. But he doesn’t really define what he means by the term, and therein lies the problem. “Religion says do, Jesus says done. Religion says slave, Jesus says son. Religion makes you blind…” you get the idea. So what is religion and is it such an enemy of Christ? Did Jesus come to “abolish religion”, as Bethke says? The simple answer is, no.

The truth is, I think Bethke is really speaking against something else and that religion is just a poor word choice – albeit a common poor choice – to represent a superficial attitude and culture that plagues the church . We can’t treat the linguistics of it fully, but for the sake of clarification, let’s get a definition that we can hang something on. Any modern definition we find of the term “religion” will include some combination of these formalized, shared elements: 1) a set of beliefs 2) ritual observances or practices 3) a set of ethics or morals.

Now, here’s the question: did Jesus come to abolish religion as it’s defined here? Do these things rob Christ of his glory and hinder salvation?

While we may argue that crystalized doctrine has caused division and pride in history – and it has – firm, articulated beliefs are in no way in opposition to Christ. Look no further than “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) A people that share this common truth and rally around it automatically become a community or faith-group. If you confess Jesus is Lord and Savior, you are a part of this faith-group, with all of its strengths and weaknesses. You are a Christian and Christianity is…a religion, with core beliefs. Doctrine is not opposed to Christ.

Let’s add ritual practices to the discussion. Did Jesus want to abolish those? We’ve got to remember that it was Jesus who instituted the Lord’s Supper and it was Jesus who went out to John in the wilderness and asked to be baptized. It was Jesus who repeatedly went off by himself to spend time in prayer. All of these are religious rituals, that is they’re formalized practices based on the core beliefs. Our Sunday services and – I hope – our personal lives as believers are filled with religious rituals. Jesus railed against the Pharisees and their rituals not because the rituals were evil, but because of the self-righteousness with which they practiced them and condemned others. When Jesus chose to go against the Sabbath law (Matthew 12), it’s not as a commentary on the wickedness of having a Sabbath. Rather, he has an opportunity to heal a man. The ritual is simply lesser than the opportunity to administer grace in that moment.

See, our rituals can serve as shared means for believers to receive, reenact, remember, celebrate, and pass on grace. But it is grace that gives them life; they hold no power on their own. Rituals aren’t bad, but when they get disconnected from their meaning and have no tether to the heart of the individual or group practicing them, they become hollow. Hollow rituals either need their life recaptured, with grace breathed in, or they need to be rejected. But we would do well to not throw ritual out across the board. They have tremendous value for the health of our spiritual lives. What’s more, rituals can connect us to the great witness of believers throughout the centuries that have shared our love for Christ. That’s a powerful thing and helps us break out of any self-focused, narrow perspective that we might slip into.

How about ethics and morals? Are we supposed to live a certain way and embrace a certain standard of right and wrong? Of course! Thankfully we have God’s word and the Holy Spirit to guide us in this. And let’s make this clear: obedience to Christ is not legalism. Similar to rituals, legalism happens when rules get disconnected from the heart. We are all for grace and we do not believe that our works save us. We can’t say that enough. Our works do not save us; that’s what the book of Galatians is all about. But a desire to be obedient to Christ is not in opposition to Christ. Jesus didn’t set you free through grace to do what you want. He set you free to follow him and live as you were intended to live, fully human according to God’s will. (1 John 5:2)

Again, I think that the heart behind what this Bethke is saying is true and good. He makes some great points like equating someone who claims to follow Christ because of superficial realities to some who claims to “play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey.” I love what he says about wanting the church to be a place where people don’t have to hide their sin out of the need to project a certain image.

But Bethke, unfortunately, overstates his case with some poorly chosen language. Religion doesn’t “start wars”, wicked people do. Religion doesn’t “fail to feed the poor”, ambivalent people do. Jesus didn’t come to “abolish religion”, he came to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) Because he did fulfill it, our beliefs, practices, and ethics are not our hope of salvation but an acknowledgement and response to grace. There is richness in them that can stir our affections as God moves in our hearts.

My plea is simply this: don’t reject everything outright that is crystalized or formalized, whether doctrine or practice, as being in opposition to Jesus. There is such a thing as pure and undefiled religion (James 1:26-27) that is valuable and good. Know the difference between law and grace, obedience to God and legalism, and religion and self-righteousness.

For more on this, here’s another helpful post by Jared C. Wilson.

And if you like to read, here’s a one from Kevin DeYoung.

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Jefferson Bethke has responded to the criticism of his video in a way that should serve as a lesson for us all. In his passion to glorify Jesus he took a bold stance. I applaud his boldness, but his actions lacked some wisdom. Truth is, we can all point to moments where our actions lacked wisdom. What’s encouraging is that Bethke has enough humility to receive correction and learn from it instead of going on the defensive. Let’s all learn with him and from him.

Read his response to Kevin DeYoung here.

The phrase you keep hearing around Redemption Church is “Gospel Centered / Outward Focused.” This slogan has powerfully shaped who we are and who we are becoming across all of our congregations.

At the heart of the gospel is the grace of God—free, unmerited favor and blessing from God. Though grace is a gift, people have always tried to earn it to get it or repay it once they have it. This is not a new problem, but one that Christians have always had to fight against. A whole book of the Bible—Galatians—is devoted to helping Christians fight their legalism and embrace grace. That’s why we’ve given our study of Galatians the title, “Fighting for Grace.”

It’s a strange concept, isn’t it? Fighting for grace? Almost seems like a contradiction.

But we know that for the grace of the gospel to sink in deep, we must fight for it. This is why Martin Luther, in his influential commentary on Galatians, writes that the doctrine of the gospel of grace “can never be taught, urged, and repeated enough.” Through this series, we will fight to understand, experience, and delight in the grace of the gospel of God.

This study guide, designed for individual study, for use in Redemption Communities, or in other smaller group environments, is intended to help us dive deeper into the Scripture and apply what we learn. Each week’s study contains the following sections:

Study the Text – questions primarily for individual Bible study

For Deeper Reflection – powerful articles challenging you to think seriously about the truth

Discussion Questions – questions for use in group environments

Sermon Notes – space to take notes as you listen to the series’ sermons

As we study this book across all of our congregations, our prayer is that the gospel of grace would electrify us and that God would give us power by his Spirit to more richly understand the gospel and live out its implications.