Red Rocks Church Weekend Messages

We all have those times that we feel like we are really hitting our strides as Christians. We might have just come off a really disciplined week, we've spent time with people who really don't have it together with Christ like we do, and we feel pretty great about where we are. Then we have those other weeks where we feel hesitant to even pray. We recognize our depravity, or maybe we've just lost our momentum and we feel our need for our Savior on a very real level. The question is, what posture of our hearts reflects the Lord's desire for our lives?

This week Shawn continued the story from last week about the royal official who went to Jesus in a panic because his son was sick. We looked at the other angle to this story-the struggle between how we think God should do things and how He actually chooses to do them. In our lives we have this 'space between' how we think things should happen and the reality of what takes place. It is in this space that God is active, even when we don't see it. God is working in the mess, in the late hours when everything seems to be falling apart, and when we are struggling to make sense of the situation and the prayers that seem to be falling to the floor.

We should never be surprised when we face difficulty in life; Jesus even told us in Scripture that we will have trouble in this life! But God's love, peace, and presence is greater than the troubles we face.

It is the first responders who come to the aid of people when they are in their moment of desperation. First responders don't discriminate, nor ask questions when someone needs immediate help; they just respond. They run to the pain. They go to the problem, when so many others run the other way. It is in God's beautiful nature and character to be the first responder, the one who initiates, the one who goes to save those who are helpless.

This week we are going through a timely message on a particular section of one of the greatest sermons ever told by Jesus. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus spoke about how we are called to be different and to view the world differently from people who don't know God; it is referred to as the 'Beatitudes.' They are postures of the heart that every Christ follower should desire to cultivate.

In the first chapter of a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian church, Paul reminded them of their true identity in Jesus Christ. That identity is not earned or manufactured, but it is a birthright for all who have called on the name of Jesus and have become a son or a daughter of the King. It is because of Jesus Christ that we now have the birthrights of sons and daughters of God.

Throughout this series, we are going to look at what it means to 'Know Joy,' no matter what. No matter what happens in life, we can truly know joy at all times. As a church, we are going to walk through the book of Philippians. We are going to get to know the Apostle Paul and listen to what God has to say to us about living a life with a true inner joy.