Soma Spokane Sermons

The focus of Everyday Mission is to make disciples who can make disciples. Jesus is the risen King and Lord of history, and in His final words to His disciples, He commands them to carry on His central ministry - forming communities of discipleship around Him, His message and His mission. Do our everyday priorities and practices reflect a life of disciple-making mission?1. Read Matthew 28.16-20, commonly known as The Great Commission. What strikes you about this text? If you put yourselves in the shoes of the disciples, what do you think would be most striking about this scene?2. The book of Acts tells the story of these first disciples obeying the Great Commission. What did they go and do? How did the Spirit work? What were some of their priorities and practices?3. If you were to take personal responsibility for the Great Commission, and arrange your life around it, what might need to change? What would you do more, and what would you do less? What would you start doing today?4. If you’d like to dig more dee

Everyday Mission, Part 1 - Gospel PowerThe good news of the Gospel is the power of the Christian life, not just as the start but throughout the whole of life. The good news of Jesus' work brings ongoing transformation, day in and day out, as the Spirit permeates our lives with its truth. That power of the Gospel shapes us into a certain kind of people - a Family of Servants and Missionaries - called the Church, a Gospel people. It is through these people that Jesus is on mission in the world today, making disciples who can make disciples and planting churches that can plant churches.1. Take some time to review where we’ve been: Gospel Formation and Life In Community. What are the 3 aspects of the Gospel we’ve discussed? What are the Identities that shape our community?2. Re-read Titus 2.11-15, and pay special attention to what Paul says in v.14. What was the purpose for Jesus’ rescue mission? What does Paul say is the identity and the purpose of the Church?3. Consider this: the place where your passions and t

Basics 8: Life in Community, Part 3 - We Are MissionariesThe life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was a great rescue operation in which God stepped into His rebel world and purchased the freedom of a people at great cost to Himself. Jesus has paid the price to free us from sin, self, and death, so we can live now as His people - the Church - in all of life. This week we look at how Jesus equips us as His people so He can continue His rescue operation through us, empowering us by His Holy Spirit to be Missionaries, sent into the world to share and show the good news.1. Read Acts 1.1-8, where Jesus promises the Spirit to make the disciples into witnesses (Missionaries!). What is Jesus promising His disciples? 2. What has been your personal understanding and experience of the presence and power of the Spirit? How does your experience compare to what Jesus seems to be promising in Acts? 3. With whom has Jesus given you favor? How would you live differently if you knew Jesus was going save them as you build rela

Titus 2.14 says the Church is the special, treasured possession of Jesus - a people rescued from sin, called into relationship, and sent into the world to carry on the mission of Jesus. This week we look at the Church as a people bought with a high price and called to be Servants of Jesus in all of life. Because Jesus has served us, giving His life as a ransom for many, our way of life as His disciples is to be marked by obeying Him, submitting to Him, expecting from Him, and relying on Him as we generously steward time, treasure, and talent in sacrificial service.For Discussion:1. Read Mark 10.35-45, and answer the 4 Questions: Who is God? What has He done? Who are we? How should we live?2. How does Jesus define greatness? What does He do with His own greatness and power, and in what ways does that contrast with our Western Culture?3. Our way of life is to embody the self-sacrificing life of Jesus, generously stewarding time, talent, and treasure for His mission. As you think about those 3 categories, which

Basics 6: Life in Community, Part 1 - We Are FamilyThe church is a people who, having been rescued by Jesus, now belong to Him as His treasured possession. When we repent and believe the Gospel, we are born again, and we are baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. This means we are now God's people, brought into relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. This week, we explore our relationship to the Father's, what it means to be His adopted children, and how we can learn to love one another as His Family.For Reflection or Discussion:1. Read Galatians 4.1-7.2. What does it look like when you're living out of your orphan identity? What does it look like when you're living out of your adopted identity? See page 50 in your Basics manual for reference.3. How does God's triunity (3 persons in one) influence your understanding of community? Think: God is love and exists in perfect unity. This reveals God's heart and idea of the world and community. Relationship is not an option, it's who we are.4.

Over the last 3 weeks, we've looked at the past, present, and future tenses of salvation: We have been saved from the penalty of sin (past), are being saved from the power of sin (present), and will be saved from the presence of sin (future). All 3 have massive implications for us as followers of Jesus, and taken together can transform our lives. But how does that transformation happen? This week we explore Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3.14-21, where he asks the Spirit to bring the truth and power of God's love for us in Christ deep into our hearts. We look at how to welcome this process and hear stories of how people in our church family are experiencing the Gospel's power today.Questions for Review:1. Read Ephesians 3.14-21. The focus of Paul’s prayer is the Spirit’s work to drive the love of God in Jesus into our hearts. Why is the Bible ruthlessly “heart” focused when it comes to real growth and change? What happens if we ignore, minimize, or deny the central role of the heart?2. What is one area of living

Being a follower of Jesus means understanding all that He is and has done for us, and allowing that news to be worked deep into our hearts so that our whole lives are shaped by Him. We use the term "Gospel Formation" to describe the process of being conformed to Jesus and His ways with our mind, heart and life. This week, we're looking at how the end of the Story - Jesus' return as the rightful King of the World - in which He makes all things new - shapes us today. Through Jesus, we have been saved from the penalty of sin (past), and we are being saved from the power of sin (present). When Jesus returns, we will be saved from the presence of sin (future), transformed into full Christlikeness, and enjoying God forever in this world remade and restored.1. Read Titus 2.11-15. This is the text we’ll be in for the whole Basics series. Notice that v.11 is Salvation Past Tense, v.12 is Present, and v.13 is Future. What has happened? What is still happening? What will happen some day?2. When you think of ‘heaven,’ wh

The Gospel is the central message of Christianity, the good news that functions as a hub on the wheel of everything Christianity is. All that is involved in being a follower of Jesus is directly linked to understanding, believing, and living in light of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, ascension, and soon return! Last week, we unpacked the first of 3 statements regarding the power of the Gospel for our personal lives: We have been saved from the penalty of sin by the life and death of Jesus. We celebrated the good news of gracious acceptance with God, once and for all, knowing Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness, so that God treats us as if we perfectly obeyed! This week, we look at the ongoing power of the Gospel: We are being saved from the power of sin through the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Jesus rose victorious over death, disarming sin's power, and now sits at the right hand of God interceding for us. And, He has sent the Holy Spirit to empower our lives toward maturity. We mature

Basics is designed to equip the whole Church to take the whole Gospel to the whole world. Over the next 10 weeks, we're unpacking exactly what the Gospel is, what it means to be the Church together, and how to live the mission of Jesus in the everyday stuff of life. This week we look at Section 2: beginning to look at what it means to have our lives formed by the Gospel of Jesus. In particular, we'll talk about the good news of God's gracious acceptance; that is, that we have been saved from the penalty of sin through Jesus' life and death. The Christian life is built on the foundation of Jesus' atoning death and victorious resurrection, and results in a new status with God - not only are we forgiven through Jesus, but we're also declared righteous, given the perfect record of Jesus, and invited into a relationship of delight with our Creator that transforms every aspect of our lives.1. Read Titus 2.11-15. This is the text we’ll be in for the whole Basics series. Consider memorizing it as a community. How mig

As a church, we're celebrating 15 years this fall, so we thought it a great time to revisit our core convictions. We're asking God to lead us into the next season of mission and ministry with stunning clarity. Our mission is to form whole-hearted disciples of Jesus in life-shaping relationships for everyday disciple-making. Basics is about what that means and how we intend to continue accomplishing the mission. This week, we start by unpacking the core message of Christianity: the Gospel or good news. What is the center of Christianity? What is itall about? And what does that mean for us?Questions for Discussion:1. Read Titus 2.11-15. This is the text we’ll be in for the whole Basics series. Consider memorizing it as a community. How might you create space to be formed by this text together?2. Talk about the Basics series and the manual. What sort of commitment do you all want to make to grow through this series? What are you hoping to see happen in your life and community? How will you pursue that?3. Read p.

This past Sunday, we looked back on all of 1 Corinthians and our theme of Strong Church. We've covered a lot of ground this year, and revisited Paul's opening words in 1 Corinthians 1.4-9, in order to summarize all we've learned through this series.Questions for Review:1. What does Paul emphasize in the first 9 verses of his letter to the Corinthians? How does that compare or contrast to the rest of the letter?2. Why do you think Paul starts his letter with so much emphasis on Jesus and all that the Corinthians have in Him? Is he just softening them for the blows they get in the rest of the letter?3. Throughout the letter, at every point in which Paul gives correction, he does so with a clear connection back to Jesus and the themes of 1 Corinthians 1.1-9. What does this imply that he's trying to do in this letter?4. Take some time to refresh yourself on the 5 sections of 1 Corinthians. What section was most striking to you this year? Where have you been most challenged or encouraged? How have you grown throu

On Sunday, I gave the image of a person trying to stand on two different boats while going down a stream. One of the boats represents seeing Jesus as our Savior, His death and resurrection as our defining reality, and His returning as our hope. Paul’s focus through the book of Corinthians has been for them to redefine all of life through the work of Jesus, His death and resurrection; particularly, their thoughts, actions and hopes. The other boat that we try to stand on at the same time represents all the other things we quickly move to, to put our hope in and find our value in, that don’t last. These things are real and tangible but fleeting and shallow. What are the seductive false boats that frequently tempt you to put your time and belief into? Lastly, Paul leaves us with these directives: to fight with all the fight in us, to hold onto the boat that represents belief in the work of Jesus, to actively work out the love of Jesus, and to find a tribe to accomplish this fight and work with. Questions

This passage, anchored in the rest of the letter, gets into the nitty-gritty about how the Gospel gets worked out in our everyday lives. The way we spend our money, the way we interact with those around us, what we do with our time, how we plan for the future; these are all very real parts of this life and are all very scared and significant. It is not just the programmed and religious things that are spiritual. It's because of what Jesus has accomplished, that all of life is a liturgy - everything is worship.FOR REFLECTION:What are the mundane and ordinary things in your life that feel like they suck the life out of you?In what ways does it feel like you live a duel existence, with your spiritual life one reality and your earthly life another?What prevents you from viewing the mundane, the painful suffering, the challenges, and the beauty of this life as meaningful and sacred?What would change if, in the places you find yourself this week, you were compelled by the Spirit to view them as meaningful and sacre

I clearly see we are living in a time when it is apparent that our lives either declare the resurrection victory or we declare a false victory. As our country pursues the natural outcome of living outside of the presence of a necessary savior, God & king, we have the opportunity to be a unique people who are compassionate, serving, loving, and unswervingly convinced that Jesus did indeed need to die to pay for our sins, did rise from the dead, and will return to bring about our resurrection. Paul leads us to conclude that if we want to feel the victory that is ours we absolutely must be persistent about the truth of the resurrection until we pass out. We can't be seduced by the false victories that our flesh, the world, and Satan pose. We must work out Jesus’ truth with our actions. Only then will our lives not be filled with empty ("kenos") thoughts and activities.Questions for working this out:1.  What are the channels of seducing ideas you need to eliminate?  Where do you get false messages about what is

The heart of the gospel is the death & resurrection of Jesus - His work in history to accomplish salvation by taking the penalty of sin and destroying that slave-master, death. If Jesus has been raised, Paul argues, so shall we. But what will that be like? What is "resurrection," and what does it mean for me? While much of that remains a mystery beyond our comprehension, we know 3 things for sure: we will have real flesh and bone bodies, those bodies will be recognizable but gloriously transformed, and all will be in and through Jesus.FOR REFLECTION:1. Do you spend much time considering death and what it means? Would you say you lean more toward "fear" or "befriend" when you think of it? What does the resurrection of Jesus mean for how a Christian can view death? 2. Paul argues that in the resurrection there will be both continuity (we will have bodies) and discontinuity (they will be transformed). How does that shape our way of life today? 3. Consider Paul's list of contrasts between our current bodies and o

Our passage this past Sunday made several powerful statements. If there is no resurrection then our faith is empty. Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the substance of our faith, it is the hope that extends to our resurrection, and it is the invading of the new into the present evil age. What a beautiful picture! Jesus working tirelessly to destroy every evil dominion and ending with conquering all of death and at the end of time handing over the restored world to His Father. Living with, and believing in, the resurrection of Jesus leaves us with the possibility to say “Now how can we live?” If the resurrection happened and Jesus came up out of the ground, we get eternity and to live in the now with different confidence and hope. So what are you going to try? Walkthrough your days with the past, present, and future of the gospel in the forefront of your minds and see what you notice and hear. Remember what Jesus did and promised regularly and then watch and listen as you encounter life’s challenges. “Infla

The death and resurrection of Jesus has always been the plan of God. It was witnessed by many and is the power to a resurrected life for us. Make room in your day to replace some of the stories that occupy your thoughts and focus on the story of what Jesus has accomplished, is doing, and will yet one day do. This is called the gospel. This practice of remembering our full faith, laying aside the distracting stories and asking Jesus to teach us is epically life-altering. Find time this week to create a liturgy of remembering the gospel that fits your character. God made you well. You are beautiful and unique and He has accomplished everything so you get to draw near to the creator of the universe and hear His voice. Search out each day this week how you can:Fix your Filter: Ask God to show you all of the past, present, and future of the good news and what He has done, doing and will do. Do it in your Bible reading. Talk to God about it every time you are in a car. Take a walk and talk with him through

When the church comes together for worship, something really unique transpires. While we're called to be the church in the every day, making gospel-centered disciples in community, we're also commanded to gather regularly to worship God and build up one another. Paul gives needed clarity to this gathered worship setting, urging us to come ready to be used by the Spirit in order to strengthen and encourage one another. A Strong Church is empowered by the Spirit to use gifts in service of one another, eagerly pursuing the Spirit's leading while maintaining order and peace so that everyone flourishes.FOR REFLECTION:1. Read 1 Corinthians 14:26-40. Paul is ending the section (chapters 11-14) on how the body of Christ gathers in ministry and worship. What themes have you seen in these chapters? What seems to be Paul’s overarching point?2. What is the dual emphasis of v.26, and how ought it shape our gatherings? What is Paul hoping happens when we gather?3. In what ways have you grown in clarity around who you are a

Paul summarizes his view of what really matters for the church’s gathered worship: pursue love for one another above all else, and eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit in order to build one another up! We gather to worship God and to build, encourage, and strengthen one another, and we are to pursue gifts to that end.

Chapter 13 is both a beautiful celebration of love and a visceral gut-punch for the church. Paul writes this chapter as a rebuke to a church that is a mess: While the Corinthians were highly gifted, they lacked the kind of Spirit-wrought character that showed true evidence of conversion to Christ. Gifts, ministry, and service - when divorced from love - are of zero profit and do not evidence a true work of the Spirit. Paul is telling the church they must excel in character in a way that mirrors their strength of gifting or they are risk spiritual bankruptcy.FOR REFLECTION:1. Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. What is your first impression of the passage? How have you typically heard or understood it?2. What difference does it make to see the chapter as a challenge or rebuke to the Corinthians ways of relating?3. Read the list of traits of love - what agape really is - ask the Spirit to bring clarity and conviction. What is the Spirit saying about your love?4. What would you say your community and our Soma family is