Antioch Waco

We want to be a people with a passion for Jesus and His purposes in the earth, and we want to be a people that makes disciples who ENCOUNTER God, DISCIPLE others and live on MISSION. If we study the meaning of discipleship in Jesus' time, we see that a disciple was someone who dedicated years to learning the ways of his master by being with the Rabbi, learning the Rabbi's teachings and doing what the Rabbi did, then going and making more disciples. Likewise, we want to be disciples—apprentices—of Jesus, doing the same in our time.

Antioch is committed to being a people with "A Passion for Jesus and His Purposes in the Earth." The truth is that we are empowered to love God and be passionate for His purposes because He first loved us. This is how we know His love is true: He sees us, yet still pursues us; He forgives us FULLY; and He will never leave or forsake us. Thank you, Lord, for Your miraculous love—may we live our lives lit up by a passion for You and Your purposes!

Jehovah Jireh, translated literally, means "The Lord will see." The meaning of this in today's English is "the Lord will see to it," or "the Lord will provide." We first see this phrase in Genesis 22, when God miraculously provided a sacrifice for Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah. A thousand years later, God had mercy on the people of Israel when David offered a sacrifice in the same location. After another millennium, Jesus was crucified only a few hundred feet from the same place, and on Mount Moriah itself, where God's temple was built, the veil separating us from God's Holy of Holies was torn, reconciling us forever with God by the sacrificial love of Jesus. Praise God that we can fully trust our sovereign Provider—Jehovah Jireh.

Throughout Scripture, we see God compare Himself to a shepherd about 100 times and refer to His followers as sheep about 400 times. Sheep are notoriously defenseless, stubborn and foolish. Shepherds, however, are loyal and sacrificial and are known for using two tools: a rod to prompt sheep toward food and safety, and a staff to pull sheep back from harm when they don't respond to the rod. We are accustomed to spending time with other sheep, who disappoint, abandon and hurt us. But Jesus is not like us. He is the Chief Shepherd, and He heals the damage that other sheep have done and returns us to the fold. He is a Rescuer who knows us fully and loves us completely. May we be good sheep to our Shepherd, allowing Him to lead us and trusting His goodness—He is good, and He does good.

In Exodus 3, we read the story of Moses and the burning bush. God called Moses to be Israel’s deliverer, but Moses was hesitant because of insecurity. When we’re tempted to give up because we’re insecure about our past, let us remember that God is the God of the past, present and future. He is I AM, and He redeems the past, is present today and covers our future, because He’s already there.

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord to be saved from their Midianite oppressors, God called Gideon to lead Israel to victory over Midian. God revealed himself to Gideon in a powerful and miraculous way. What did Gideon name the place where he had encountered God? Not “The Lord Is Power” or “The Lord Conquers,” but “The Lord Is Peace.” Like Gideon, may we surrender the outcome of every part of our lives to God and submit to Him as our Peace.

Exodus 17 tells a story of a battle between the Israelites and their long-time foes, the Amalekites. God promised the Israelites victory over the Amalekites, and He did so in a way that illustrates how He remains victorious in our lives today. Like Moses, when we are faced by modern-day Amalekites—sins that we find hard to overcome—let us find rest on the rock that is Jesus, and let us lean into our community to uphold the authority of God over the enemy.

Mark 10 tells the story of a blind man—Bartimaeus—who hears that Jesus is near and repeatedly cries, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Like Bartimaeus, when we are blinded by our limitations, our sin and the world we live in, may we hear our Savior, whose voice we know, and may we respond to his invitation to show us mercy.

Many of us know the gospel but miss the foundational truth of why Jesus had to die or if his death really did anything. Jesus' death didn't only forgive us of our sins; it completely set us free by putting our old self to death and replacing it with a new self. We are no longer slaves to sin or death regardless of our thoughts, temptations or emotions, and we are made holy and righteous through Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Nature of God as Father doesn't only apply to earthly Fathers, but to all of us. We often have a distorted view of who God is because of sin, whether sin we've committed or sins committed against us. And, our insecurities from these things are directly tied to our misunderstandings of who God is and His character. God the Father is loving, forgiving and near. Amidst pain and brokenness, if we can quiet ourselves long enough, we can move from accusation against our Father and into greater intimacy with Him.

Pastor Carl Gulley is back! Carl shared with us this week about some of the powerful revelations he received from God while on sabbatical—not just helpful lessons, but a re-hardwiring of the spirit in the areas of rest, identity and the goodness of God (if you need breakthrough in any of these areas, make sure to give this a listen!). As Carl re-joins our staff, our leadership team has sought God on the areas in which Carl can provide the greatest support. Carl will continue in his capacity as an Elder and member of our Strategy Team, and he will also take on the initiative of fostering reconnection among our church members as we re-learn how to gather in community after the isolation of the last few years. Carl will also continue teaching, discipling and mentoring, and will additionally spend time investing in many of our US pastors and international workers.We are so thankful that Carl has diligently spent the last year seeking God and health in all aspects, and we are so happy he’s back in our regular life! If you see him around, welcome him back!

The name YAHWEH represents God's name, "I AM." This name was so sacred in Judaism that throughout history, the nation of Israel would not speak it aloud for fear of taking the Lord's name in vain. Jewish scribes eventually combined its spoken replacement—"Adonai," or Lord—with Yahweh. Our current version of that combination is Jehovah, and its meaning is "He Is." This summer, we're going to spend time learning many of the wonderful things He Is.

1 Corinthians 16:8 and 9 speak of a wide door, opened by God, but which many adversaries are trying to shut. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” This summer, let’s respond to Jesus’ knocking and resist the adversaries that would try to close God’s open doors in our lives.

It's Baptism Bash Sunday—what a moving time of celebrating God's transforming grace in the lives of so many of our family members! The parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 portrays an apt description of each of our lives. When we sin and go our own way, our Father is beckoning us back with open arms. He is unimaginably better than we could ever guess. Thank You, Jesus, that You are always thrilled to welcome us into Your embrace!

God is drawing each of us, every moment of every day, into His grace. We can either respond to it with acceptance, or we can reject it by trying to rely on self-transformation. One way God calls us to respond to His transforming work of grace in our lives is to be baptized. If you have chosen to follow Jesus and have not yet been baptized, we have a Baptism Bash coming up on Sunday, May 22, where our entire Sunday service will be dedicated to baptisms. Want to learn more or sign up? Find more info here: antio.ch/BaptismBash22