Russell

Gods miracles are real, im holding proof in my arms. My wife and I tried for a second child for 8 years to no avail. A year after surrendering to God I was saying my nightly prayers when I heard a voice that sounded like 3 at once. The voice said "I've sent a champion", a week later my wife was pregnant. I dont claim to understand what it meant but I know a miracle followed. Don't be afraid to turn yourself over fully to Christ, what waits is absolutely beautiful.

Long before Bethlehem, a weary man asked a question heaven had already answered. Agur wrote: “I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. Who 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!” — Proverbs 30:3–4 Four questions only God can answer. Then one more that stops the room: What is His Son’s name? Centuries later, Jesus told Nicodemus, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). The One who gathers the wind, wraps the waters, and set the ends of the earth has a Name — and a Son. Agur was reaching in the dark. The gospel turns on the light. His Name is Jesus. The Son has come.

Fear asks a thousand questions. Psalm 27 answers with one Name. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” — Psalm 27:1 David didn’t pretend the armies weren’t real. He just knew Who was nearer. And in the middle of all that pressure, he asked for only one thing: “that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD.” — Psalm 27:4 Not escape first. Not victory first. His beauty. Then this promise for anyone still waiting in the dark: “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” — Psalm 27:13 Keep looking. His goodness is still in the land of the living.

Before you ever smiled at God, He was already smiling at you. Not after you cleaned up. Not after you got consistent. Not after you finally felt spiritual enough. “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” — Zephaniah 3:17 Read that again. He rejoices over you. He quiets you with His love. He sings. Jesus said He came so His joy would be in you, and your joy would be full (John 15:11). Not thin joy. Not fake-it-on-Sunday joy. Full. The Father ran to the prodigal. Arms open. Party ready. No lecture first — celebration first (Luke 15:20). That is the heart of Christ for you. Not begrudging. Not barely putting up with you. Delight. Gladness. Song. So breathe. Lift your head. Let yourself be loved by the One who already chose joy over you. You’re not barely accepted. You’re celebrated.

Judah watched Israel fall… and still only half-turned. In Jeremiah 3, God calls northern Israel “faithless.” She chased idols on every hill. He waited for her to come back. She didn’t. Exile came. Judah saw the whole thing. Same family. Same God. Same warning in living color. And she still didn’t return with her whole heart — only in pretense. That’s the danger. Soft religion after a hard warning. A little Bible, a little church, a little God when it’s convenient — that’s Judah’s road. So as you go through your day, don’t be half-hearted for God. Be all in. At work. In the car. With your kids. When nobody’s watching. Whole heart. Not pretense. He still calls. Return for real.

Your eyes will always find something to lock onto. The feed. The fear. The next thing that needs fixing. This world never runs out of noise that wants your attention. But Scripture says something different: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” — Colossians 3:1–2 That isn’t a call to float away from real life. It’s a call to lift your gaze while you’re still in it. And you don’t have to be a theologian to do it. Pick up your Bible. Talk to a pastor. Sit with a friend whose faith runs deep. Ask honest questions. Listen. Keep coming back. God isn’t waiting for you to get fluent in Greek. He’s waiting for you to look up. He’d love to talk to you. Look up. He’s already listening

We are but a mist. I know I’ve said it before. I’ll keep saying it. Last weekend Pastor Josh brought up John Piper’s message Don’t Waste Your Life, and it brought tears to my eyes. James asks, “What is your life?” Then he answers: a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:14). I write and study to spread the gospel in ways some might never hear otherwise. When I stand before God, I want Him to know I spent my days doing what I could — not only to lead my family toward eternal life, but anyone who would listen. Don’t waste your life. We will fade. The nice things you own will decay. A hundred years from now, people probably won’t remember you ever existed. But Christ will never fade. And Christ will never forget the work you’ve done, or the people you helped toward eternal glory. Love like it’s your last day. Weep tears of joy and passion for the message of Christ. Spread His words of hope and salvation like this mist of a life matters — because it does, and eternity is real.

Lord, give us strength as we walk through this week. Let us remember and rejoice in Your creation, and see the blessings You have bestowed upon our lives. Let us hold true to our purpose — to be the salt and light of the world. These things I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Can you feel the change? Not just in the air as the seasons turn — in your heart. In your senses. Something shifting. Great things are on the horizon. Beautiful new beginnings are coming when we stop staring at everything wrong with the world and lift our eyes to what God has in store. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:18-19) As the seasons change, leave behind the strongholds that held you back and invited darkness in. Claim your freedom in the Lord. Walk into this next season hopeful and grateful for the gifts of each day. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5:1) His mercies are new every morning. Don’t miss them looking backward. Step into what’s next. God’s right there cheering you on.

A man who had everything was still empty. In Mark 10:17 he asks Jesus how to gain eternal life. Jesus tells him to sell everything he owns and follow Him. And the man walks away sad, because he couldn't give up his wealth or his status. Sitting at the 4pm service with my wife and daughter, it was the Holy Spirit reminding me what should always come first. What are the things we're coveting in our own lives? What are we putting before God that holds us back from a true personal relationship with the Lord? Pastor Josh even had a fun demonstration of the 10 Commandments that I got to do with my wife and daughter. Love God with all your heart. Put Him first. He will overfill your cup of life with so much joy you'll be searching for other cups to fill. Thank you, Pastor Josh. Excellent sermon as always.

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The voices from your past never knew the real you. They told you who you'd always be. Too far gone. Not good enough. Not the type. And somewhere along the way you started believing them. But if you belong to Christ, there's a power living inside you that those voices never accounted for. Paul says God "is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20). Not power you have to work up. His power, already in you. The man you want to be, the woman you're praying to become, the moments you're longing for with your family: none of it is out of reach. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). But it starts with one step, and that step usually feels awkward. It looks like finally sitting down with your kid to pray. Calling the friend you've been avoiding. Walking into a church you haven't been to in years. Saying "I'm sorry" first. Peter didn't walk on water by staying in the boat. He had to swing his legs over the side while everyone else held on (Matthew 14:29). Some things will take time. Some will take work. The world won't hand them to you. But "God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7). The old voices told you who you were. Let the One who made you have the final word

Before you ever sang a song to God, He was already singing over you. There's a verse tucked away in the Old Testament that every parent understands: "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing" (Zephaniah 3:17). Picture a dad rocking his baby girl to sleep at 2am. He's tired. She's been crying. But he's humming anyway, smiling down at her, quieting her with his love. That's what this verse says God does over you. Not tolerates you. Not puts up with you. Rejoices over you. Quiets you. Sings. Some of you woke up this morning with the noise already loud. The news, the arguments, the voices in your own head telling you who you're not. Before any of that started, your Father was singing over you. Kids don't earn a lullaby. They just get held. Our joy isn't something we have to work up. It's an echo of His. Get quiet today and listen. He's still singing.

God already knows where you are. He's waiting to see if you'll answer. The first time humans drifted from God, they hid among the trees. And God came looking. "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9). He wasn't asking for information. He was calling them out of hiding. We still do the same thing. We stop praying because we feel guilty. We skip church because we don't want to be seen. We avoid our Bible because it reminds us how far we've gone. But hiding never brings us back. Only answering does. The prodigal son didn't clean himself up first. He didn't earn his way back. He just turned around and started walking home. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). The father had been watching that road every day. And he ran. A robe. A ring. Shoes. Everything the son had given up, given back. He came home hoping to be a servant. He was restored as a son. So if you feel far from God tonight, don't hide. Turn around. You take one step toward Him, and He runs the rest of the way. From Childlike, Chapter 12: The Way Back

Hand a toddler a cardboard box, and you've given him a spaceship. Hand an adult the night sky, and he checks the weather app. Somewhere between the two, we lose something. The Bible calls it wonder, and God wants it back. Wonder doesn't need a mountaintop. It needs attention. The sunrise on your drive to work. The way your coworker's face lights up when she talks about her grandkids. The fact that your heart kept beating all night without you telling it to. The food on your table. The breath in your lungs. All of it is from Him. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17). Every good gift. Not just the big ones. All of them. "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). Stillness makes room for wonder. Hurry crowds it out. From Childlike, Chapter 4: Wonder

A servant owed his king ten thousand talents. That was an unpayable amount, more than a lifetime of wages many times over. The servant begged for time. And the king did something shocking. "And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt" (Matthew 18:27). All of it. Gone. That same servant walked out, found a fellow servant who owed him a few months' wages, grabbed him by the throat, and demanded payment. When the man couldn't pay, he had him thrown into prison. When the king heard, he called the first servant back. "Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" (Matthew 18:33). You and I are the first servant. We owed God a debt we could never pay. Picture a written list of every wrong you've ever done. Every lie. Every selfish choice. Every hidden thing. A record of debt, with your name at the top. God took that list and nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:14). That's why we can forgive. Not because the people who hurt us deserve it. We didn't deserve it either. We forgive because we stand in front of a cross where our own record was canceled. Paul is careful to say God forgave us "all our trespasses." Not most. All. If God has torn up your whole record, you can tear up the one you're keeping on someone else. From Childlike, Chapter 9: Forgiveness

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22–23 New every morning. Not recycled. Not leftover. New. The writer of Lamentations wrote that in the middle of the rubble of Jerusalem. He had every reason to be numb. Instead he woke up and looked for fresh mercy, and he found it. A child wakes up expecting the day to hold something good. That isn't naïve. For a child of God, it's accurate. From Childlike, Chapter 4: Wonder

Look closely at Mark 10:15. 'Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child.' Receive. Kids are experts at receiving. A kid doesn't earn dinner. He just shows up hungry and expects to be fed. Getting my daughter Marley ready for school comes down to her water bottle and a snack. She doesn't worry about either one. She knows they'll be ready. The Lord does the same for us with His plan. In faith, He gives us 'living water' (John 4:10). Through Scripture, He feeds our hunger for the Word (Matthew 4:4). Adults don't receive like that. We want to deserve things. But you can't earn what has already been given. 'See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are' (1 John 3:1). Not 'so we will be, once we clean up.' So we are. You don't climb into the family. You're carried in. From Childlike, Chapter 1: The Invitation