Sunday’s coming, and we GET to gather with our faith family and worship our resurrected King, “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:14)!
I had started writing this but something changed. It sounded, well, less than genuine. The truth is I am not always excited or upbeat (crazy, I know). This extends to looking forward to gatherings, even gatherings with my faith family. I imagine you identify with that idea, that sometimes you are weary or anxious or depressed. Sometimes we grieve. Sometimes we just feel melancholy and gloomy.
But that melancholy does not extinguish the JOY that comes from being in Christ. The good news of the gospel is still good when the bad news or tough realities of the world set in. You see, all things bad have a gospel expiration date because one day, as the Jesus Storybook Bible puts it, all the sad things will come untrue.
Isn’t that a beautiful thought? The sad and bad of this world will simply end when we find ourselves dwelling with God as His people and Him with us as our God (Revelation 21:3)! The last tear on our face will be wiped by His nail-scarred hand, and mourning, crying, pain, and death will be done with forever and ever (Revelation 21:4)!
For now, though, tears exist. Mourning exists. Pain exists. Death exists. But GOD….
There are two passages on my heart that hold promises that carry me when that melancholy sets in.
I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
This is part of Jesus’s last conversation with His disciples on the night before He was crucified. He told them that the time He had prophesied — the time of His death — was at hand. He promised them the Holy Spirit would come and comfort them. He told them of the tribulation and hatred the world would bring upon His people because of Him. He told them one of them would betray Him and that another would deny Him. He washed their feet, ate with them, and prayed for them. In the context of John 16:33, He had just told them that all of the sorrow that was coming in the next twenty-four hours and for the rest of their lives (and ours until He returns) would turn to joy.
Jesus promises two things in John 16:33. The first promise is tribulation. As the disciples noted in John 16:29, Jesus was no longer using any “figurative speech” with them but telling them straight up: “you will have tribulation”. No one wants that, but that terror comes untrue in the second promise: those who are His can “have peace” — they can “take heart” because He has already “overcome the world”!
Trouble comes. Trials come. Tribulation is a reality for His people. But Jesus had already overcome the world before He even died on the cross! Now, He has died and has risen, just as He promised.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus told His disciples to “take heart” on the night before His crucifixion. Here, we can see our resurrected Lord tell us to “take heart” in a different way. He has ascended and is on His throne, but He has not left us alone — lo, He is with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20)!
When troubles come and trials abound, even when melancholy clouds our joy, we can approach Jesus’s throne with the confidence that He has the grace we need — timely grace — and will mercifully help us in our time of need. We can run to Him with the same confidence of a little child scared in the night can approach their parents’ bed. No other king or leader is that approachable, but our King is!
So, even though my excitement wanes, my joy does not. My mood and my circumstances change, but my God does not (James 1:17)! The realities of the bad make the good news that much better.
We just have to remember in the midst of that that He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23)!
That’s who we will be singing about and to this Sunday at Christ Community. We will have the opportunity to read from His Word and have His Word preached to us. We will GET to gather and hear our brothers and sisters lift their voices — not all happy but joyful nonetheless — and be lifted up and reminded of that glorious day when we stand before our King — our “great God and Savior Jesus Christ”, our “blessed hope” who “gave Himself for us to redeem us” (Titus 2:13-14)!.
And if we need to approach the throne of grace in prayer, there is time for that, too, and brothers or sisters who will approach with you because you are not alone!
15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might 20that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
1O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens. 2Out of the mouth of babies and infants, You have established strength because of Your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
3When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, 4what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5Yet You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Have you ever heard someone ask: Do you want the good news or the bad news? Most of us have.
Sometimes people ask this question because there is simply just some good news and some bad news, and they want to offer folks the opportunity to choose which one they hear first. Most of the time, it offers the view that the good news could potentially cover up the bad news, almost like the perspective from the good news can lift us up from the bad news.
The news that “Sunday’s coming!” is kind of like that. We know that at the very least we are announcing that the day of the week when Jesus’s church gathers to celebrate His resurrection and worship Him, but part of that day of worship, part of meeting and worshiping together is to acknowledge that “the Day [of Jesus’s return is] drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25)! So, “Sunday’s coming!” for Christians is really an announcement that JESUS is COMING!
So, do you want the good news or the bad news?
This question has jogged my memory all the way back to when I was in third grade (an undisclosed amount of time ago). I, being the quirky and nerdy, geeky sort of guy that I am was of a similar sort back then, and it got me a certain amount of attention from larger stronger folks who thought that was weird. There was a certain amount of glasses-breaking beat-down sort of attention that happened fairly regularly, especially on the school bus. This garnered the attention of my principal at the time.
I remember one particular day after a rough and painful bus ride to school where I got called to the principal’s office. Naive as I was, I thought I was being called in to be given some relief — either to make the guys chill out on the beat downs for a while or to maybe at least put some distance between us for a beat down vacation. This wasn’t that. He wanted to know what I was doing to make these guys beat me down and wasn’t buying the story that my mere existence made them angry or that they found it entertaining to beat up on the littler guy.
He gave me a classic good news/bad news situation. He told me that he had called my daddy and that he was coming. It came as bad news that day because Daddy was working night shift and was not to be woken during the day. Waking him would surely mean trouble, especially since, as the principal told me, he had been called because he was sure I was stirring up trouble.
I remember being so scared that Daddy was currently on his way to the school. As the principal kept pressing for what he felt was the real untold story, he kept saying, “Your daddy is coming.” I was reminded of all of Daddy’s promises that getting in trouble at school would mean getting the same or worse trouble at home. I was reminded of all of the lessons on how to act and how to carry myself at school. My daddy loved me, and I had just about been convinced that his showing up at school that day was about the worst news I had heard at that point in my life.
Eventually, there was a knock on the office door, and the secretary ushered Daddy in. His facial expression was perturbed to say the least. He sat in the chair next to mine and the principal began his presentation of the facts as had been presented to me up to a point. Then, something unexpected happened. Daddy held up his hand, motioning for the principal to pause his tirade, and leaned over to me telling me, “Son, you can go back to class.”
That was unexpected. This wasn’t Daddy’s meeting. He had nearly absolute authority over me, but how would that work at school? Rather than waiting to find out, I swallowed the lump in my throat from fear and anxiety and walked out of the office into the hall and back toward class.
What happened next is seared into my memory — a core memory, if you will.
I heard my daddy’s characteristic whistle to get my attention. He was standing at the office door. He winked at me and waved.
You see, a wink was our thing. That wink came to mean many things over the years. It could be as simple as I-see-you or kind of an endearing look or, as it was in this case, everything’s going to be fine because daddy’s got you.
The bad news came untrue because “Your daddy’s coming!” (with the connotation of he’s going to get you) had turned to Daddy is here and he’s got you.
For some, JESUS is COMING could produce fear because they do not know Him. For those who are opposed to Him, the image is that of Revelation 19:11-21 — the rider on the white horse with a sword in His mouth ready to “tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty” (Revelation 19:15). He is coming in the full authority of “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16) and in power and judgment will defeat those who “gathered to make war against Him who was sitting on the horse and against His army” (Revelation 19:19). Those enemies are to be “slain by the sword that came from the mouth of Him who was sitting on the horse” (Revelation 19:21), or as Martin Luther put it in the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, felled with one “little word”.
That’s bad news.
It’s bad news unless you belong to Him, unless you are saved and given eternal life in Him (Romans 10:9-13, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:4-5). To face down the Lamb, Jesus Christ, the rider on the white horse — King of kings and Lord of lords — is a fearful thing. No one in His army will have to fight, Himself included. When He says, “It is done!” (Revelation 21:6), it is simply that — done. None can stay His hand. None can war against Him. None can flaunt His authority.
That’s good news.
It’s good news if you are with Him.
So, do you want the good news or the bad news?
The good news is that Jesus has made a way for us (John 14:6). The King of kings has left His throne and come to earth — to dwell among us (John 1:14), living the life we cannot live while dying the death we deserve (2 Corinthians 5:21). He left the glory of heaven to come to earth and deliver “us from the domain of darkness” and transfer us to His Kingdom by redeeming us and forgiving our sins (Colossians 1:13-14). For those who see Him as King, confess Him as Lord, believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead shall be saved (Romans 10:9-10). Again, that’s good news!
For those whom He has saved, “Sunday’s coming!” means that He has come and is coming again! It is a celebration because not even death could stop Him, that when He promises everlasting life He can give it because He is the Life (John 14:6).
For those whom He has saved, it is better than a wink and a wave telling us everything will be okay — Jesus lives tells us that we can “take heart” because He has already “overcome the world” — everything is already okay because He has already won (John 16:33)!
And that’s what we will be singing about Sunday at Christ Community — that’s WHO we will be singing TO: Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords! The songs we sing and Scriptures we will read will be pointing us to Him and praising Him for who He is and all He has done, is doing, and will do. John will preach to us from God’s Word and preach Jesus!
13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Bible teaches us that it is good to meditate on God’s Word so that, as the Lord told Joshua, we “may be careful to do everything written in it” (Joshua 1:8). To meditate on it means that we are doing more than reading or comprehending it because we are dwelling on it, allowing it to stay on our minds and hearts throughout the day. This is a practice the Bible attributes to those who “delight” or “love” God’s Word and want the words of their mouths and meditation of their hearts to be pleasing in the sight of God (Psalm 1:2, 19:14, 119:97).
Meditation Monday is an opportunity for us to take a short passage of Scripture — no more than a few verses, consider what it means, and store it in our minds so that we think on it throughout the day and it make its way into our hearts and lives.
Here is today’s passage:
Psalm 119 is all about God’s Word. It is 176 verses long and has 22 sections (one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet). It is a very long poem of adoration and worship to God for giving His Word and providing His people with it. There are eight words the psalmist uses to talk about the Word of God: law, testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, rules, and, of course, word. We are going to be spending a while on Mondays looking at some highlights from Psalm 119 to help train our minds and hearts to meditate on God’s Word.
Today’s passage helps us understand the way studying God’s Word — meditating on it, storing it in our minds and hearts (memorizing it), and listening to or obeying it — helps us to follow Christ.
Psalm 119:10 gives us the picture of how we need God’s Word, specifically His commandments, to keep our “whole heart” seeking after the Lord. His ways are best. God knows what we need and how we should live. This is not a popular viewpoint today; well, it never has been a popular viewpoint. But v. 10 clearly shows us the value in trusting in God’s authority as Creator and Lord to tell us how we should live our lives, to command us with sovereign authority to live as He calls us and to recognize how His Word conveys His authority to us.
This carries over into Psalm 119:11 and the value of storing God’s Word in our hearts, namely preventing sin. The idea of storing up God’s Word is clearly speaking of memorizing Scripture, but it also extends to meditating or pondering on God’s Word. This sort of memorization or meditation is not for knowing information but for knowing the Lord. The idea of storing up God’s Word is clearly speaking of memorizing Scripture, but it also extends to meditating or pondering on God’s Word (Psalm 1:2). This sort of memorization or meditation is not for knowing information but for knowing the Lord (John 17:3). The idea is that God is able to keep us from sin — that knowing Him and desiring a deeper relationship with Him is better than any fleeting pleasure sin can offer (Hebrews 11:25).
Look at the way v. 10 and v. 11 fit together. Seeking after God with one’s whole heart means that you do not want to sin against Him. Read that again: sin against Him. Having God’s Word in our minds and hearts — stored up like bales of hay to sustain life and livelihood through the winter — keeps our focus on Him and not our desires (Psalm 37:31). To continue the analogy of storing hay ahead of winter, memorizing and meditating on God’s Word is like cultivating and tilling the ground, planting grass seeds, fertilizing, cutting, and baling, all with winter in mind. Storing up God’s Word in our hearts means cultivating our relationship with Him by having His Word teach us correct doctrine and holy living (2 Timothy 3:16), watering the implanted Word and having His Spirit grow us to bear fruit in keeping with repentance and walking with Him (Matthew 3:8, James 1:21-22, Galatians 5:22-23).
May we meditate on these verses today with eternity in mind rather than the futile fleeting pleasures of sin. May we store up His Word and seek Him with our whole hearts today.
The Bible teaches us that it is good to meditate on God’s Word so that, as the Lord told Joshua, we “may be careful to do everything written in it” (Joshua 1:8). To meditate on it means that we are doing more than reading or comprehending it because we are dwelling on it, allowing it to stay on our minds and hearts throughout the day. This is a practice the Bible attributes to those who “delight” or “love” God’s Word and want the words of their mouths and meditation of their hearts to be pleasing in the sight of God (Psalm 1:2, 19:14, 119:97).
Meditation Monday is an opportunity for us to take a short passage of Scripture — no more than a few verses, consider what it means, and store it in our minds so that we think on it throughout the day and it make its way into our hearts and lives.
Here is today’s passage:
Meditation Monday began as a means to both redeem a hashtag fairly common in some social media circles (#meditationMonday) and take the opportunity to help people meditate on God’s Word. This is not the hmmmm meditation of Eastern religion but a specific spiritual discipline laid out in Scripture where we put God’s Word in focus and dwell on it — and it in us.
When it comes to meditating on the Word, Psalm 119 is a great place to go. It is 176 verses long and has 22 sections (one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet). It is a very long poem of adoration and worship to God for giving His Word and providing His people with it. There are eight words the psalmist uses to talk about the Word of God: law, testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, rules, and, of course, word. We are going to be spending a while on Mondays looking at some highlights from Psalm 119 to help train our minds and hearts to meditate on God’s Word.
Today’s verse is simple, involving a question and an answer. I find that simple, bite-sized chunks help me keep the passage on my mind. It sticks in my memory better, which is part of why we meditate on the Word. The question is very practical, how can a young person (not limited to men via the context) keep their way pure — or what can they do to live holy lives? The Psalmists answer is simple and is something worth remembering: guarding it according to the Word.
Sometimes people see God’s commandments or guidelines as oppressing them or keeping them from doing what they want or feel, but this verse gives us a better perspective. Just as the mother of a toddler is going to vigilantly keep objects out of their child’s mouth and deal with tantrums and tears because the baby cannot get their way, God’s Word shows us how the Creator — the inventor of human beings — designed life to work best. To carry on with the toddler metaphor, it means that God’s Word protects us from choking hazards and burns and falls and breaks — it keeps us from sin. It is a guardian guidebook to help us follow Christ.
📖 Revelation 3:7–13We’re back!After a few months off, The King is Coming returns in 2026 with one of the most encouraging letters in Revelation — Jesus’s message to the faithful church in Philadelphia. In a world filled with opposition and weakness, Jesus opens a door no one can shut.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison explore:✔️ Jesus’s identity as the Holy One, the True One — God Himself✔️ What the “key of David” means and how Jesus alone opens and shuts✔️ The debated phrase “I will keep you from the hour of trial” — and how to read it biblically✔️ Why “little power” doesn’t disqualify faithfulness✔️ How being kept through the trial glorifies Christ’s strength in us✔️ What it means to be a pillar in God’s presence foreverThis church had no rebuke — only encouragement. And Jesus’s call still stands today: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11, ESV)🔗 Missed earlier episodes in the series? You can click here to catch up and listen from the beginning.✍️ If you’d like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
Sunday’s coming, and I look forward, Lord willing, to gathering with my faith family at Christ Community Church!
I guess you could say that I have been feeling a bit nostalgic lately, but throughout the day today, I have found one particular memory has been vividly on my mind. Maybe it is because the last Refresh & Restore Bible study was on the relationship between parents and children or just thinking about the way that my kids seem to be growing years and inches before my very eyes. Either way, I want to share this memory with you today.
In 2015, I quit ministry for what I thought was going to be forever, or at least a very long time. I had burned out. I needed a break. I needed to remember the love I had for Jesus — no, more than that, the love He had for me — and “repent, and do the works [I] did at first” (Revelation 2:4-5). It was hard though for many reasons, not the least of which was having to learn a new vocation and living with my parents until we could finish work on our house.
This particular memory was on a Wednesday. Xander was not quite a year old and was sick. Candice was exhausted from work and working on our house, too — honestly more so than me. And Keri would not drop the subject of whether or not we were going to church that night.
I had informed Candice and Keri as we left the school in Winona that we would not be returning for church that night because “Daddy needs a break”. With Xander being sick, one of us would have to stay with him, and we could just use the time for family. I can remember Candice silently taking it all in but watching me carefully and a little concerned.
Keri asked again if we were going, almost as if she didn’t understand what I thought I had communicated more than clearly enough. I told her to be quiet, which honestly is hard for five-year-olds under the best of circumstances. We picked Xander up from my in-laws and were headed home when Keri picked up the conversation again, this time getting louder. So I got louder as a response. “Daddy. Needs. A break.” I enunciated this time. And what Keri did next hit me like a ton of bricks.
Keri raised her voice: “You’re my daddy! You’re supposed to want to take me to church!”
I was embarrassed.
I was angry.
I looked over toward Candice to get some support — support for a break from the woman who had been caring for our sick baby before and after work — from the one who would be at my parents’ caring for him if I were to take Keri back to Winona for church (the one needing a break herself). She offered no support and only asked me what I was planning on doing now.
I sped to my parents’ house to drop off Candi and Xander, sped to Winona and walked Keri into the children’s class — late of all things. I crept around the building to slink in the front, hoping not to draw attention to myself and still more than a little bit angry and embarrassed by Keri’s question. As I opened the double doors to enter the worship center, Dr. Tim Mims was praying — more than that was praying for me (even though he didn’t know it at the time).
“Lord, I feel it in my spirit that you want me to pray for someone who just wants to give up — to quit. Lord, help this person….”
He continued to pray. I eased the door shut and crawled quietly up the stairs to the balcony, weeping. I spent the rest of that prayer meeting lying on my face and listening to the Word of God preached, listening to my pastor continuing to pray for myself and others. And all because my baby girl had not been willing to let me be anything other than what I had taught her daddies were supposed to be.
I had let church become a job — become an event. Now, gathering with my faith family was to regain the right place in my life. It would be where I GOT to go instead of something I had to do. The church did not need me, but rather, I needed it — and we need Jesus together!
There’s a verse that I mention in the “Songs for Sunday” posts often that is appropriate here:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:23-25)
As Sunday approaches, I ask you to consider your plans — whether you plan to gather with your faith family or not. This is not an effort to guilt or convince. This is a pastoral effort to have you consider some things (like I did all those years ago and again today).
What is the confession of your hope? Is it “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:9)?
How does it affect your life to know that “He who promised is faithful” — whether or not we are ourselves?
What does it mean to neglect meeting together “as is the habit of some”?
For me, I had lost sight of the confession of my hope and was more worried that the promises I had made to the Lord had fallen by the wayside. I was saying that it was only going to be one little Wednesday night — not even a Sunday, mind you, but honestly, I wanted out and away as much or as often as I could. You see, I was lying because I was blinded to the promises and plan of God — of His faithfulness despite my bout of faithlessness (2 Timothy 2:13).
Maybe you need to be reminded that we gather not to check off some religious box or to get anything out of it. No, we gather to worship Jesus. We gather to remember what He has done and all He has promised. We gather because He is risen! And we get to stir one another up to love and good works as we do.
I doubt I am as convincing as my five-year-old baby girl yelling from the back seat, but the Holy Spirit is closer than that.
Daddies, yes, you are supposed to want to take your babies to church, but more than that you get to. Mommies, yes, it’s the same. But hear me on this: there is grace for those who have faltered and lost sight. There is grace for those who have missed. There is grace.
So, I ask you as you read this — as an effort to stir you up to love and good works rather than mere church attendance — will you gather?
This Sunday at Christ Community Church, we are going to make much of Jesus. We are going to read about Him from His Word. We are going to sing about Him and to Him. John is going to preach to us from His Word — we get to hear from Jesus by the preaching of His Word and the power of His Spirit!
Won’t you gather with us?
Everyone is welcome!
Here are our Scriptures & songs:
Scripture | Lamentations 3:16-24 —
16He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; 17my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; 18so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.
19Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
22The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; 23they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
Song | Grace Wins — Scripture Inspiration: Romans 3:23, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 5:16-18, Romans 8:1, 1 Timothy 1:13-14, Ephesians 1:6-7, 2 Corinthians 9:8, John 1:16, Ephesians 2:7, Ezekiel 36:26, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, Luke 15:11-32, John 4, Matthew 9:27-31, John 9, Luke 16:19-31
Song | His Mercy is More — Scripture Inspiration: Lamentations 3:22-23, James 2:13, Romans 5:20, Hebrews 8:12, Isaiah 40:28, Hebrews 4:13, 1 John 3:20, Micah 7:18-19, Exodus 34:6, Psalm 145:8-9, 1 Timothy 1:15, Luke 14:21, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Colossians 2:13-14, Psalm 107:9, Ephesians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Galatians 2:20-21
Scripture | Romans 6:4-8 —
4We were buried therefore with Him in baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. 6We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.
Song | Death Was Arrested — Scripture Inspiration: Ephesians 2:1-5, Romans 5:6-8, Revelation 20:14, Revelation 21:1-5, Galatians 2:19-20, 1 Peter 3:18, Romans 5:1-8, Romans 6:15-23, Colossians 2:13-14, John 19:28-30, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, Revelation 1:18, Luke 15:11-32
Song | Ain’t No Grave — Scripture Inspiration: John 8:34, Romans 6:6, 1 John 4:8, 1 Chronicles 28:20, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 1 Corinthians 15:50-56, John 8:44, 1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 12:9, Genesis 3:15, Ephesians 6:11-18, Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14, 2 Timothy 1:10, Hebrews 2:14, Revelation 5:5, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
The Bible teaches us that it is good to meditate on God’s Word so that, as the Lord told Joshua, we “may be careful to do everything written in it” (Joshua 1:8). To meditate on it means that we are doing more than reading or comprehending it because we are dwelling on it, allowing it to stay on our minds and hearts throughout the day. This is a practice the Bible attributes to those who “delight” or “love” God’s Word and want the words of their mouths and meditation of their hearts to be pleasing in the sight of God (Psalm 1:2, 19:14, 119:97).
Meditation Monday is an opportunity for us to take a short passage of Scripture — no more than a few verses, consider what it means, and store it in our minds so that we think on it throughout the day and it make its way into our hearts and lives.
Here is today’s passage:
It’s Meditation Monday and a good opportunity for us to consider what trusting in God looks like.
The Proverbs are about wisdom and give us good insight into what living out one’s faith is supposed to look like (and often what it is not supposed to look like). Proverbs 3:5-6 gives us some sound advice and counsel that will help us in following Christ.
Trusting the Lord with all one’s heart means that they cannot trust their own hearts for guidance. Our hearts are not trustworthy because they tell us what we want to hear, permit us to do what we want, and lead us toward what we want (even if we do not intellectually know we want it). Trusting in the Lord is first recognizing that He is Lord and as such directs our paths, but it is also trusting in Him to steer our lives because we know we are blind to certain things.
To think that we can “lean” on our own understanding shows foolishness because we too often blind to how our desires or biases affect our decision making. We need help. This is why we see here that we are to “acknowledge” the Lord in “all [our] ways”: we need to submit to Him and put our life in His hands. This is a scary prospect because we like to be in control, but this is what faith is all about, “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith (or trust as we see in today’s passage) is trusting the God we cannot see to be able to steer us around or over or through whatever obstacles we are blind to. What looks like a detour to us is really Him making our paths straight and headed toward Him!
📖 Revelation 3:7–13We’re back!After a few months off, The King is Coming returns in 2026 with one of the most encouraging letters in Revelation — Jesus’s message to the faithful church in Philadelphia. In a world filled with opposition and weakness, Jesus opens a door no one can shut.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison explore:✔️ Jesus’s identity as the Holy One, the True One — God Himself✔️ What the “key of David” means and how Jesus alone opens and shuts✔️ The debated phrase “I will keep you from the hour of trial” — and how to read it biblically✔️ Why “little power” doesn’t disqualify faithfulness✔️ How being kept through the trial glorifies Christ’s strength in us✔️ What it means to be a pillar in God’s presence foreverThis church had no rebuke — only encouragement. And Jesus’s call still stands today: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11, ESV)🔗 Missed earlier episodes in the series? You can click here to catch up and listen from the beginning.✍️ If you’d like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
June 17, 2004, was a day that will forever stick out in my brain. I woke up that morning nervous and stayed that way for hours. My heart raced as I mentally rehearsed the words and melodies, fearing my fingers would betray me when it mattered most. I probably played my guitar practicing for later in the evening more than I had for any other single event. I had to make sure that my hands knew what they were supposed to do. As I headed out, my family wished me well.
I drove from my parents’ house to pick Candice up from where she was working in Charleston and drove her out to Grenada Lake. When we got there, everything was just perfect. The air was warm but not stifling, with a gentle breeze that kept the humidity at bay. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on our picnic table, creating a natural spotlight. I walked Candice to the table and ran back to the trunk and retrieved my guitar, making sure to have my pick and everything just so in my right hand.
Now, I had serenaded Candice before — this wasn’t that. This was different. I had poured my heart into writing the most important song of my life, every chord and lyric meticulously crafted for this moment. As I said, my memory is so vivid regarding this that it plays almost like a movie in my mind. I played. She smiled. I sang. She beamed. And then it was time for the big finale. Tucked tightly in my closed middle finger was a ring. With a swift, practiced motion, I swapped my guitar pick for the ring, dropped to one knee, and let my voice carry the most important question I could ask: “Will you marry me?”
In my memory, it is almost as if everything goes to slow motion. I can see her eyes, wide with surprise and filled with tears, glistening like the sunlit water behind her. The scent of grass and trees filled the air, mingling with the distant murmur of the spillway. I remember that moment between question and answer seemed to drag on forever.
There were tears from her and cheers from me as she said yes. And my life has not been the same since, life going from slow motion to what seems like sometimes as fast forward.
Now, I told you that story because 1) I have been reflecting on it all week as Candice and I have celebrated our anniversary and reminisced on the best of times, and 2) as I have been laying out the songs we will sing and Scriptures we will read together, there is a much more vivid picture of heaven in my mind that, if you can believe it, has me more excited than I was on that evening 20 years ago — for Sunday, yes — but even more for eternity to come!
The image in my mind comes from Revelation 7. Try and picture it with me.
There is a crowd bigger than any ever seen before on earth. As far as the eye can see from horizon to horizon, there is a “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages” (Revelation 7:9). All are wearing white robes, and they are all standing around something. A large and lofty throne. Zoom in, and you see that there on the throne is a Lamb, “standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6).
There is a sway to the crowd, and they have palm branches in their hands. The moving of their garments and the wind through the palm fronds is nearly thunderous as the numberless crowd moves. But then, they begin to cry out in unison. The chorus is beautiful and a brilliant tapestry of every accent and tone of voice ever created by God and cries out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
There is an undercurrent of admiration and gratitude and worship as they cry out because every single person in this crowd has experienced persecution and tribulation for the sake of the Lamb and had their robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:13-14, 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 5:8-9). As I type, the beauty of the scene is almost overwhelming for me to try and take it in, as it must have been for the angels and elders standing near the throne, causing them to cry out, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 7:12)
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12)
He is worthy because He was slain and by His blood He “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” and has made them “a kingdom and priests to our God” to “reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10)!
THIS is why I am excited about Sundays. JESUS is why. This is the day set aside to celebrate all He has done, especially His resurrection and imminent return. And in contemplating that, there is simply nothing on this earth that can compare or compete.
If you look at Sundays as a time of religious observance, it is easy to ignore and easier to desire to miss it. Religion is heavy and checking off attendance as part of religious observances is easier still. But gathering with your faith family, singing and crying out together to the Lamb is heavenly (Hebrews 10:25; Revelation 5:12-13). It is not religion but relationship (Galatians 4:3-7) — relationship and awe and desire as one has for the One who redeemed you from the bondage of sin (Romans 6:6), the One who raised you to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4) out of the wages of your sin (Romans 6:23), the One whose hands and feet were nailed to the cross you deserve (Colossians 2:14, 1 Peter 2:24), the One who walked out of the tomb you were destined for (1 Corinthians 15:4).
Once Jesus has saved you it changes everything.
Everything.
When I knelt in front of Candice at that picnic table all those years ago, I could not imagine how much of a core memory that would be, but I also could not imagine that there would be bigger moments. But other memories have joined it: the way I can still feel my heart skip a beat when picturing the doors of the church opening up for her to walk down the aisle to me on our wedding day, the day she told me I was a daddy, even to the glances we still share and the way I love her has deepened as it has from 20 years of love and sacrifice, and even through the difficult and trying times.
If you are in Christ, it should be similar for you. The relationship grows sweeter not because of ease but because of the shared journey. The fears and doubts give way to faith and devotion because Jesus has given all and sits on the throne. I know that my filthy righteousness has been traded for His and that my dirty self will be clothed in white one day and stand in a numberless crowd around His throne. I won’t care if I am up close or around the fringes. I will bask in His glow and lift my voice with the rest of the Church and cry out “Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb!”
And praise be to God, I’ll get to do that Sunday, too, because worship is not a far-off event but a close one.
So, Sunday we want to point you toward heaven — toward Jesus. From John preaching to the praise team leading to all of our voices joined together, everything we read or sing or preach will be in such an effort. Lord willing, the things of this world will dim and be outshone by longing to be with our Savior and to make much of Him.
Won’t you gather with us?
Here are our Scriptures & songs:
Scripture | Proverbs 30:1-4 —
The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.
The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out. 2Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. 3I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. 4Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name? Surely you know!
Song | O Praise the Name (Anastasis*) — Scripture/Inspiration for the Song: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, John 19:17, Isaiah 53, Romans 5:6-10, John 20:24-27, Galatians 3:13, Psalm 6:6-7, Matthew 27:57-61, Nehemiah 9:5, Psalm 30:12, Revelation 5:9-13, Luke 24:46, 1 Corinthians 15:55-56, Revelation 19:1-6, Revelation 19:12-14, Romans 6:1-5, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
*Anastasis is the Greek word for “resurrection”.
Scripture | Revelation 7:9-17 —
9After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15“Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. 16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Song | Worthy of It All — Scripture Inspiration: Revelation 4:10-11, Revelation 7:9-17, Isaiah 53:7, John 1:29, Revelation 5:6-13, Romans 11:36, Malachi 1:11
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Song | Revelation Song — Scripture Inspiration: Revelation 5:6-12, Revelation 1:8, Revelation 4:8, Romans 3:25, Hebrews 9:5, Revelation 5:13, Revelation 17:14, John 15:5, Psalm 33:8-9, Revelation 4:2-3, Revelation 4:5, Luke 5:17-26
📖 Revelation 3:7–13We’re back!After a few months off, The King is Coming returns in 2026 with one of the most encouraging letters in Revelation — Jesus’s message to the faithful church in Philadelphia. In a world filled with opposition and weakness, Jesus opens a door no one can shut.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison explore:✔️ Jesus’s identity as the Holy One, the True One — God Himself✔️ What the “key of David” means and how Jesus alone opens and shuts✔️ The debated phrase “I will keep you from the hour of trial” — and how to read it biblically✔️ Why “little power” doesn’t disqualify faithfulness✔️ How being kept through the trial glorifies Christ’s strength in us✔️ What it means to be a pillar in God’s presence foreverThis church had no rebuke — only encouragement. And Jesus’s call still stands today: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11, ESV)🔗 Missed earlier episodes in the series? You can click here to catch up and listen from the beginning.✍️ If you’d like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
All of this thinking about marriage has had me thinking a lot about the gospel. Paul, in Ephesians 5:32, says that marriage (which He refers to here as a “mystery” or symbol) “refers to Christ and the church”. Marriage, the love of a husband for His wife/a wife to her husband, is meant to be a picture of the gospel.
Why?
Well, the gospel is a picture of love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. The gospel is a picture of the King of kings leaving His throne, coming to earth in pursuit of His bride — to redeem her from her sin and death, bringing her home with Him.
This can be seen in the Bible through the marriage of a prophet named Hosea and his wife, Gomer. Now, the gospel gives us imagery for the Love Story of all love stories, but it is not necessarily nice and neat nor is it always fitting for the Hallmark channel. There’s death and blood and gore and sacrifice. There’s sadness and heartbreak. There’s…well, let’s look at Hosea and Gomer’s love story, or at least the PG-est version I can give you.
God told Hosea that his marriage would be a picture of the way that Israel had committed adultery against Him. So, Hosea was told to go and take a wife like Israel — a wife who would no doubt forsake Hosea and commit adultery against Him like Israel had forsaken the Lord (Hosea 1:2). And that’s exactly what Hosea did, and that’s the beginning of his story with Gomer (Hosea 1:3). They had a rough go at it, but God had a plan in the midst of what looks like a terrible calling.
Hosea and Gomer had a baby. God told him to name the child Jezreel so that when people heard the name of the child Hosea could tell them that the Lord was going to punish Israel for the bloodshed by the hands of Jehu (2 Kings 10:11 will give you the context). Imagine someone coming up to you and asking the name of your child. What would normally be a happy or at least a generically positive conversation would be: meet my son Jezreel; we named him that because God is angry over our nation’s sin and is about to lay down judgment for it.
Hosea and Gomer had two more children, although the language in Hosea 1:6 and 1:8 differ from the birth announcement of Jezreel (Hosea 1:3), meaning that Gomer was doing exactly what was prophesied of her — she had conceived their other two children outside of their marriage. These two kiddos had interesting names, too, as well as messages for Israel (Hosea 1:6-9). The first was a daughter named Lo-ruhama (No Mercy). The second was a son named Lo-ammi (Not My People). When people learned those names, they were to be told that, because Israel had forsaken the Lord — in the same manner in which Gomer had forsaken Hosea — that they were no longer to receive God’s mercy, no longer to be called God’s people, and that God would no longer be their God.
This is a truly terrifying message.
Mercy is God withholding the punishment deserved in favor of grace. Now, it was time for judgment. At face value, it appears that hope was lost for Israel because they had forsaken their hope — their Husband (Hosea 2:16) — all because their own desires were greater than their love for Him. This coincided with the fact that Gomer had left Hosea and had been sold into another man’s harem (Hosea 3:1-2). Hosea and Gomer’s marriage was to be a picture of God’s relationship with Israel, so if things are taken on the face of the terrible news, Hosea should just unmercifully cast Gomer aside and gave her a good riddance and so on. That’s what we would do today. Moses even allowed for such an instance (Deuteronomy 24:1-4, Matthew 19:7-9).
14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15And there I will give her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
God would pursue His people and woo (“allure”, “speak tenderly”) them back to Him. There would be times of trouble (“wilderness”) and it would take time, but His people would repent and turn back to Him. He would no longer call them Lo-ruhama (No Mercy) or Lo-ammi (Not My People) because He would once again show them mercy and gather them to Himself as His people.
What about Hosea? God told him to go and get his wife, even though she was “loved by another man” (Hosea 3:1). Hosea went to that man and BOUGHT (literally, redeemed) his wife for “fifteen shekels of silver” and some barley (Hosea 3:2). In the same way, God has sought us out in the midst of our unfaithfulness to Him (James 4:4) and “demonstrates His love in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Hosea paid a little money and grain, but Jesus paid for His Bride “not with perishable things such as silver or gold”, but with His “precious blood”, “like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). He loves us despite our sin and death and offers us love and life in Him alone. Knowing full well the depth of our sin, Jesus came to earth and, again, BOUGHT (literally, redeemed) us from slavery to sin and makes us His own forevermore.
What a love!
What a Love Story! And it is not over yet.
Revelation 21 gives us a window into heaven when Jesus’s Bride, the Church, will finally come home to Him. Look at the language here and how it fits with Hosea’s story. From the throne of God we hear these words:
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes….” (Revelation 21:3-4)
Oh, what a day that will be when we stand before our King and with nail-scarred hand He reaches up to wipe away the last tear His bride will ever cry. The pinnacle of His mercy will be reached when His Bride comes home and dwells with Him in His house forever!
Now, I know that this is pretty heavy for a “Songs for Sunday”, but oh, how beautiful it is! It would be so easy to look at this and say, woe is Hosea, but we have all been Gomer. Yet the King of kings left His throne, “took on flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus, “emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men”, was “found in human form”, and “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).
And that is what we are singing about this Sunday.
It doesn’t matter whether you deem yourself far off from God or close to Him, it is good for us to get to gather and make much of Him — to sing His praises and know that He is in the business of saving and His love casts out all fear and can cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It is good for us to get to gather and point each other to Him. It is all we have to offer at Christ Community because for many of us, we remember what it is like to be loved like Gomer.
What about you?
If you are in or around Grenada, MS this Sunday, we would love to invite you to gather with us. It’s Father’s Day — bring dad, too.
4But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Song | Washed Clean — Scripture Inspiration: 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 1:17-18, Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 8:2, John 8:34-36, Psalm 51:2, Psalm 51:7, Jeremiah 33:8, 1 John 1:9, Titus 3:4-5, Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 3:34, Ephesians 2:1-2, Acts 26:18-19
3He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.
Song | Man of Sorrows — Scripture Inspiration: cf. Isaiah 53 and John 1:11, 29; also Galatians 3:13, 21; 1 Peter 2:24; Mark 14:16-62; Matthew 26:39-44, 26:67-68, 27:26-30; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-10; Psalm 145:3; Revelation 4:11; Philippians 2:5-8; Matthew 20:28; Titus 2:13-14; Colossians 2:13-15; Romans 6:23; John 8:36; John 20:1-7; Matthew 28:1-20; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
Song | Jesus Paid It All (O Praise the One) — Scripture Inspiration: Matthew 11:28-30, John 19:30, Colossians 2:13-14, 2 Corinthians 4:15, Hebrews 12:28-29, Isaiah 1:18, Jeremiah 13:23, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ezekiel 11:19, Revelation 4:10-11, Romans 6:4, Revelation 5:9-10
8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Song | I Got Saved — Scripture Inspiration: Psalm 46:1-4, Zechariah 13:1, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Psalm 36:9, Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 61:10, Matthew 26:28, Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 John 1:5-10, Psalm 103:12, Psalm 51:9, Psalm 32:5, Psalm 107:10-16, Nahum 1:13, Isaiah 6:5, James 2:13, Zechariah 7:9, Hebrews 9:5, 1 Peter 2:10, Psalm 25:7, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 85:4, Acts 3:21, Galatians 2:16-17, Romans 5:8-9, 1 Peter 2:1-3, Hebrews 6:5, Colossians 2:13-15, Psalm 25:11, Numbers 4:19, Romans 8:28-30, Philippians 3:20-21, Colossians 3:10-13
Invitation | What He’s Done — Scripture Inspiration: Matthew 7:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:33, John 19:7, Matthew 26:26, Colossians 1:19-20, 1 Peter 1:19, John 8:36, Isaiah 53, Psalm 147:3, John 3:16, John 15:13, Romans 8:5-8, 1 John 1:9-2:2, Acts 4:12, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, Hebrews 2:14, Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Corinthians 15:50-57, Revelation 4:1-11, 1 John 5:4, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 5:12, Philippians 4:8
Offertory | Good, Good Father — Scripture Inspiration: John 5:25, Revelation 3:20, Matthew 25:23, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 119:68, Nahum 1:7, Psalm 68:5, Psalm 36:5-7, John 3:16, John 15:13, Romans 5:6-8, Ephesians 2:4-5, Colossians 2:6-8, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 139:4, Matthew 5:48, Romans 11:33, Ephesians 3:8, 1 John 4:7-11
I can remember times in my life when what I thought and felt about Sundays varied. If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to share a bit of my testimony.
As a kid, I can remember being excited about church coming up and a lazy afternoon afterward. I loved Sunday School where we would get equal amounts of Bible story time and puzzles, coloring, crafts, or playdough. The singing was a big hit for me — go figure. I remember getting excited when the preacher got excited. I remember the excitement of being home in the afternoon with no work to do or chores to accomplish — just time together playing or relaxing, just togetherness. And once I got saved, all of that just multiplied more and more because I had a gratitude and awe to Jesus that wasn’t there before.
As a teenager and young adult things shifted a bit as I started to serve and lead more, especially after being called into ministry. There were times when the joy I felt conflicted with my work ethic and desire to accomplish something or check off boxes. Sunday hit different with a job description, and when ministry became my bread-winning vocation, it shifted to something sad. In my foolishness and latent adolescent zealousness, my weeks culminated in Sundays meaning all of the work Monday-Saturday produced the worship gathering on Sunday morning and night. I found myself mired in a spiral of fearful work rather than worship in the fear of God. I feared committees and potential of lost pay rather and lost the joy of gathering with my faith family I had when I was a kid.
Then…I quit.
I found myself burned out and empty. I had long since put my hope in my work ethic and abilities and lost sight of what I was doing — WHO I was serving. Thankfully, I had a teaching license and our house had not sold when we had moved away, so I tucked tail, moved back home, and tried to start anew.
That first Sunday back was one of the most terrifying and convicting of my life. I had never been a visitor to a church other than coming in view of a call or visiting preacher. Now, I found myself in a new church where nearly everyone there knew I had been a pastor and had questions as to why I was coming to sit a pew and fade into the background. Through the whispers and the questions, I wanted to sink through the floor and disappear. I had hoped that some of the feelings from my childhood would return — that being able to be more of a part of the congregation would awaken something in me, but that is not how things work. The idolatry of work over worship took years to accomplish and would not be undone by an awkward day in a pew.
Eventually, something happened in me. The desire for God that I felt in the beginning began to return. I can’t tell you how many mornings I spent in the Word (at least a year and a half) hoping for some spark or feeling to return. I can’t tell you the number of prayers prayed where I found myself hoping He would listen to a shameful quitter, or worse one who had made a vocation of serving Him all about what I could do or accomplish. Just like it was in my marriage, laziness in a relationship would not be undone by a few sincere acts or gestures. BUT GOD.
In the seeking and searching, He was there. He had never moved. It was me who had moved. I think David described it better than I can in Psalm 40:1-3:
1I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. 2He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
I was mired down in the swamp of my sinful idolatry and foolishness and could not get out under my own strength. My legs had pumped and climbed and were spent in exhaustion. The solidity of the shore was too far away, BUT GOD reached out, plucked me from the clay, and moved me all the way to the solid foundation of the ROCK, Jesus. Just like one would a toddler who had fallen, He held me and made sure I had my feet under me and on Him. The voice I could barely lift to Him in prayer began to croak out a new song, voice crackling out of unuse but the melody, the “song of praise”, began in my heart and eventually made it out of my lips.
Sunday regained its significance. It is the day we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection. He died for our sins, yes, but more than that, He rose! He is in the business of making dead things live. He is in the business of protecting His children, His sheep, from danger, even if that danger is their own stupidity and wandering. Those He has made alive will never die.
I look forward to Sunday because when “I waited patiently for the LORD”, He answered me and “heard my cry”.
I look forward to Sunday because when I was through with His work, He was not through with me.
I look forward to Sunday because it is not about my feelings but about His faithfulness (even though God has given me more joy now than in worshiping Him and serving Him than ever before).
I look forward to Sunday not because of vocation or religious devotion. I look forward to Sunday because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross and the magnificent truth that He walked out of the grave I deserve.
What about you?
Is Sunday a religious experience for you? Does it tick some kind of box on your righteous-living or to-do list? Has it been a while since you have gathered? Are you afraid that He knows your heart and might somehow abandon you?
HE hasn’t moved.
This Sunday at Christ Community, we will point you to the One who hears your cry and can pluck you out of whatever is miring you — whether it be the grave or the swampy ground of your sin. The songs will point to the finished work of Jesus on the cross and the vacancy in His borrowed tomb all the way to when His people will dwell with Him in heaven. The preaching will point you to Jesus by His Spirit and through His Word.
Maybe today is a good day to quit the exhausting clamber out of of the mire and reach your hands out to the One who has already reached out for you.
Peter, one whose testimony includes betraying and abandoning Jesus, said it well: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). His mighty hand is reached out to you. Grab hold of Him because He cares for you.
Sunday is coming.
I look forward to gathering with my brothers and sisters — all of which have a testimony of hopelessness and helplessness BUT GOD.
22“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
11Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.[1]
Colossians 3:17-19
Greetings Sojourners!
We are moving into the last leg of our journey through Colossians, and I am praying that, just as these Bible studies have been impacting my own life as I have studied, written, and taught, they will have an impact on your life as well. The impact on my own life has largely come from meditating on the question I asked you to consider in last week’s Bible study: what if all of what Paul told the Colossian church about setting our minds on Christ (Colossians 3:1-4), taking off sin (Colossians 3:5-11), and putting on Christ (Colossians 3:12-17) mattered for real life?
I told you that it is meant to affect every aspect of our lives. Now, we allow God’s Spirit through His Word to meddle in our lives – specifically today, in our marriages.
Before I begin in earnest, I want to clarify something: marriage is not for everyone (check out 1 Corinthians 7 as an example). The primary relationship concern for those who are in Christ is to the Lord. To use the language Paul used there, unmarried men and women are “anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord” and “be holy in body and spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:32, 34), but married men and women are “anxious about worldly things”, how to please their spouse (1 Corinthians 7:33-34). Marriage is a good thing that should “be held in honor among all” (Hebrews 13:4), but Paul’s word to the unmarried in 1 Corinthians 7:38 is that “he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better” in regard to devotion to Christ.
This does a lot to illustrate how whatever we do, “everything [is to be done] in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17). For centuries and even to an extent today, the culture has placed a stigma on remaining unmarried – more harshly on women than on men. The standard is not whether or not we have achieved some level of earthly relationship but on whether or not we have a relationship with Christ, so much so that Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth told them to “regard no one according to the flesh” because those who are “in Christ” are “a new creation” after being reconciled to God by grace through faith in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:15-19).
So, if you are reading this and God has called you to, for either the time being or for life, singleness, rejoice in your calling, take what can be applied to your life and relationships and leave what cannot. Everything in Colossians 3:1-17 is to be applied for all believers in all of life. Furthermore, everything in Colossians 3:1-17 matters in the everyday lives of believers in all of life. It needs to be said as we are about to enter today’s Bible study that this is more than just knowledge – it is to be applied and learned. This means that for some – really most of us – there will be some repentance involved. John MacArthur summed it up well in his preface to the commentary on our passage today:
“Genuine Christianity consists of both doctrine and holy living. The New Testament reminds us in many places that an intellectual knowledge of our faith must be accompanied by a life that proves faith’s reality. And such a life can only be lived by vital contact with God in Christ. It is difficult to see how Christianity can have any positive effect on society if it cannot transform its own homes.”[2]
If God has really saved us, change will occur – not us changing for Him to save us but Him changing us. There is no way that Him moving sinners from dead in sin to alive in Him (Ephesians 2:1-5, 4:17-24) does not produce change – produce fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).
So, if you are reading this and are saved by grace through faith in Jesus alone and married, take heed as we see what God has for you. This Bible study will not be exhaustive, meaning that it cannot cover the scope of every aspect of marriage. The goal will be to take the specific teaching Paul gave to the Colossian church and supplement it from the longer teaching Paul gave the Ephesian church so that we have a picture of what it is like in real, everyday marriage to be a husband or wife adorned in Christ.
Wives, Submit to Your Husbands, as is Fitting in the Lord (v. 18)
That one sentence encompasses Paul’s message to the wives in the Colossian congregation, but we need to put in some work to understand how to apply these teachings in our real lives.
What This Does NOT Mean
Simply put: the Scriptural command for wives to “submit” to their husbands does not mean abuse. This is not a call to subservience. Those who have used this to demean or put down their wives or to control them have sinned, plain and simple. Paul told the church at Ephesus that marriage was a picture of the gospel, Christ being the husband and the Church being His bride (Ephesians 5:32), so a marriage that is characterized by a husband demeaning his wife and putting her in the position of servitude does not reflect the husband of the Church who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give His live as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
This submission is not absolute or all-encompassing nor is it obedience. Obedience in the context of Colossians 3-4 is relegated to children and servants, not wives.[3] For a Christian wife, her obedience and submission is to Christ above her husband. If a husband’s desires deviate from God’s Word, the wife should not submit. It also does not mean that women are inferior. Both males and females are created in God’s “own image” (Genesis 1:27). The New Testament reiterates it and clarifies that in Christ, “there is no male and female” (Galatians 3:28). Now, this is not to say that there are not differences, but those differences do not make one better and the other inferior.
What Does Submit Mean, Then?
The word translated “submit” here means “to place in order”, specifically in the context “a willing personal subjection”.[4] Let us look at a few passages in the New Testament where this word is used to help us get a picture of what the Holy Spirit through Paul was talking about. The best place in the context would be Ephesians 5:21 where Paul tells the church at Ephesus (and thereby us today) that part of doing everything out of thanksgiving to and in the name of Jesus (Ephesians 5:20, Colossians 3:17) means that members of the church are supposed to be “submittingto one another out of reverence to Christ”. The submission for a wife to her husband is to be similar in nature to how members of the Church are to submit. This can be further illustrated in the life of Jesus. In Luke 2:51 after Mary and Joseph had lost Jesus and found Him teaching as a child in the temple, it came time for the family to return home to Nazareth, and Jesus was “submissive” to His parents. Jesus is God, but He submitted to His earthly parents when He “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). It can also be illustrated by the way Paul told the church at Rome that they were to be “subject” and therefore live in “subjection” to the authority of the government (Romans 13:1, 5). Obviously, their “citizenship…in heaven” (Philippians 3:20) trumped their Roman citizenry and the law of God superseded the laws of Rome, but in the instances where they did not, God called them to be submissive to the power He had allowed to be in authority.
Looking at that context and the definition, it is clear that Christian wives are to willingly subject themselves to the authority of their husbands. God designed the home and family to work a certain way and this submission is to God’s way as opposed to what the world presents as options. Women, knowing full well that they are equal to their husbands (if not surpassing them, as is the case with my wife), willfully submit themselves to God’s design, trusting that He knows best. The husband is to be the spiritual leader of the home with the wife backing him up. The wife is to help her husband to lead well, meaning that her strengths complement and strengthen his so that the family survives. You cannot have two sources of authority. Think about the tension that exists between Christians trying to be submissive to God but also the government. When government authority begins to outweigh God’s authority, one’s walk with Christ suffers. God’s authority wins out. When a wife leads or finds herself having to lead because of a sinful husband, the family suffers.
When Paul told the Colossian church that this submission of wife to husband was “fitting in the Lord”, he was acknowledging that God’s ways are best – that God, the Creator and inventor of human beings, knows His design and what works best (and what does not). So, Christian wives, I urge you to sit down with your husband and y’all strategize as to how to implement this in your homes. We joke in my house about how my wife, Candice, got sidetracked during our wedding when we were exchanging vows. Her father, who was officiating, asked her to repeat after him that she would submit to me, but Candice did not hear. Her response had everyone in the congregation rolling with laughter: “Wait. What did you say?” Yet, her patient submission and help are what makes me able to lead our family. She holds me accountable. She withdraws her submission when I try to lead in the wrong direction. She holds me to a higher standard than any human being on earth can or wants to, ensuring that I am the husband and father God calls me to be.
Husbands, Love Your Wives, and Do Not Be Harsh with Them (v. 19)
It should be noted here that there is a role for husbands and standards for them as well. In fact, the call for husbands in Ephesians 5 is substantially longer than the call to wives. Look at Ephesians 5:25-31:
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Whereas it seems as if the world places little to no expectation on the part of husbands other than to work and provide and allows men to be functional boys, only with more expensive toys, God has a higher calling for husbands than has been tolerated. He holds them to the standard of Christ for love, care, and leadership.
What This Does NOT Mean
First, this is not meant to belittle or demean men. There are times like Father’s Day when men who are seldom seen darkening the doors of a worship gathering show up only to be heavily rebuked, chastised, and told just how worthless they are and have been. This is meant, just as we did above with God’s call to wives, to show what it looks like for God’s call to impact the real lives and marriages of husbands who have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus.
Second, we need to revisit something we talked about above when we clarified what a wife’s submission is not. The authority of a husband is not absolute nor is he the master of his wife. Too often throughout history, men have tried to rule over their wives like tyrannical dictators, terrible fathers, or terrifying masters. This ain’t that. The example of husbanding is Jesus. Period. Before we get into what that looks like, if you are a saved husband and lording over your wife, trying to punish her for stepping out of your lines, or commanding them to serve or service you, you need to repent. There is no Christ in that. Paul rightly and plainly told the Colossian husbands not to be “harsh” with their wives. The word translated “harsh” here means “to be harsh, angry” with the connotation of making someone else “sharp” or to “embitter” them. Love does not create bitterness. Harshness has no part in love.
What Does it Mean for Husbands to Love Your Wives?
I think that the Ephesians 5 passage on husbands is especially helpful here as both Colossians 3:18 and Ephesians 5:22-24 are both brief in their calls to wives, the only difference being Ephesians 5 clarifies the comparison between wives and the Church. This is something that needs to be elaborated on because Scripture elaborates on it (and most worldly expectations for husbands have woefully fallen short of for centuries in many cultures). We will take Ephesians 5:25-31 sentence by sentence, and sometimes phrase by phrase to help us understand – and by understanding give opportunity for application and/or repentance for saved husbands.
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her….” This love is special and sacrificial. It tells the Story of a King who left His throne and became a lowly peasant that He might redeem His beloved and rescue her from execution. What King would leave His throne to do such, and not only that but to take the place of His beloved in the execution? Husbands are to love their wives in such a way that their own life is of no account to them when it comes to caring for their wife. What is there that a godly husband would not give up for his bride? The answer should be nothing. This is romantic for sure, but more than that, it is a love that is known and demonstrated (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). It communicates counting the other more significant than one’s own self (Philippians 2:5).
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church…that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word….” If a husband’s love were only wrapped up in being willing to die for his wife, it would be an unfortunate thing for sure. Jesus died for His bride but lives again (Revelation 1:18). That illustrates the nature of earthly husbandly love, too – to be characterized by living for his wife rather than willing to show that love in a one-time event. This is a love that sanctifies one’s wife, sets her apart and gives her to the Lord to be saved and cleansed (Ephesians 5:25-27). The love of a husband does not save, but a godly husband, as spiritual leader of his household, consistently and constantly points his family (beginning with his wife) to the Lord that they may find cleansing according to His Word. This means that the Word is present in the marriage relationship, not being the preacher and interpreter but the one who ensures his wife is thriving in her relationship with God as a fellow believer (Ephesians 5:20-21, Colossians 3:16-17).
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church…so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she may be holy and without blemish [or blameless]….” Building on the last point, this carries it to completion. Marriage vows rightly say, “till death do we part.” This verse longs to see one’s wife with Christ when death parts. This means consistently continuing in the spiritual leadership role of husband “so long as both shall live” (Ephesians 5:28-29). The wife is not a trophy of conquest possessing a mark of long-remembered beauty. No, she is to be set apart and rejoiced in, ensuring that God keep her not only on earth but all the way to heaven when she no longer be her earthly husband’s bride but part of the Bride of Christ forever with Him in heaven (Revelation 19:7-9). This is a love of safeguarding, protecting, and discipling for all the days of one’s marriage (1 Peter 3:7).
“In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves Himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of His body.” In recent years with the rise of mental illness and the sad effects of the Fall on the human body (especially the mind), this might puzzle some (Romans 8:20-22). People (like the one writing this Bible study) have gone long years without caring for their body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). People desire to end their lives. We recognize that mental illness exists and that depressing and thoroughly tragic circumstances exist. We should begin to recognize that believers who are husbands who do not love their wives as Christ loves the Church is an aberration as well. Christian husbands should notoriously be more loving and caring when it comes to their wives because Christ has been loving and caring to them (1 John 4:19). A wife is to be cherished and cared for as one’s own body should be cared for (Ephesians 5:28-29). There is no diet version of a godly marriage. There is either healthy or unhealthy (Matthew 7:17-18).
“’Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’” The marriage relationship is to trump all other earthly relationships. Rightly here, Paul puts the responsibility of the man to leave the home of his adolescence and take his wife to their own home. This relationship is marked by the “one flesh” union produced by physical intimacy. It is a direct quote back to Genesis 2:24 when God Himself performed the first marriage. This is a call for the 1st century church at Ephesus (and Colossae) to return to the design God had for marriage, and it is a call for the 21st century church to do the same (Ephesians 5:32-33, Colossians 3:18-19). Adam and Eve deviated from the plan when they traded God’s plan for their marriage and humankind when Eve ate of the fruit the Serpent offered and Adam stood by without intervening before eating of the fruit himself (Genesis 3:6). The church at Ephesus was marred by the worship of false gods by having relations with cult prostitutes (Acts 19:24-27). The church today must separate from the culture around us where marriage is no longer held in esteem (Hebrews 13:4). And it is the husband, led by the Spirit following the Word of the Lord, who is responsible for correcting the course rather than following the course of this world (Romans 12:2).
Wrapping Up
Ephesians 5:32 says: “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church.”
This.
Really.
Matters.
It cannot be faked (Romans 12:9). As I said above, there is no diet version of this – only original formula will do.
This is not a time of being shamed or chewed out for our inability to do marriage right (Romans 8:1). No, that is not what it means by referring marriage back to Jesus and His Bride. The Church can do nothing in her own strength but is made perfect in her weakness because Christ’s strength does and accomplishes everything (2 Corinthians 12:9)!
If you are a believer and a husband to a wife or wife to a husband, this is not a call to give up but a call to hit your knees with one another and seek the husband of the Church to grant repentance and grace in your marriage. This will not be an immediate relief or fix but the beginning of some difficult months or years that will lead to Jesus producing the marriage He gave us in His Word. There will be tears of pain and sorrow, but they can lead to tears of joy and celebration, ultimately to be wiped away in heaven when Jesus’s Bride finally makes it to Him.
It is my prayer for those who will read this to desire a godly marriage – not because of some bit of rule-following or obligation, but because it is worth it. As I have written this, I have found myself conferring increasingly with my bride and asking tough questions. These were not questions of how great I am or how good we have it. No, dear Sojourner, these have been questions of how and why she put up with me when I was a terrible husband – questions of how she could still love me despite laziness and foolishness – questions of how she exemplified Christ’s love when her husband did not. You see, I can testify first-hand that God can produce what He shows us of marriage in His Word. This is not to say that Candice and I have arrived because we have not. But we can testify that by the grace of God we survived my stupidity and have seen God move and work and change us over the past 8-9 years. We can testify of God’s grace in granting repentance and producing forgiveness. We can testify that God’s way works best and that the time and love put into changing is worth more than words can express.
Just Keith Harris 