Resonate Community Church

The first six verses of chapter 16 demonstrate for us that when it comes to failure, we're our own worst enemy. This choices Sarai, Abram and Hagar all make create a situation that's far worse than it needed to be. It's easy to see that our greatest enemy is often not Satan, but ourselves.

We serve a most amazing God, not just because of His character but also because He has chosen to covenant with us. In chapter 15 of Genesis we see God's covenant with Abram and through it, see the New Covenant that Jesus Christ has made with us.

We all hit bumps in the road and make mistakes through life. Sometimes the mistakes we make can make us feel like a real failure. As we look at the bible, specifically Hebrews 11 we can see a list of "biblical heros" that seem like they just got it right. If we dig a little deeper we can see that they are just like us and have sin in their lives too. Looking at their stories we learn that they are remembered for their faith because they kept their eyes on the Lord through their failures and asked for forgiveness. Faith is what conquers failure.

In this important chapter of Abram's life, God is going to establish His covenant with Abram. In the first 6 verses we see God commend Abram's faith and we learn that faith is believing the Propositional truth given to us by a Personal God.

There are times when we all struggle to see growth in our lives or the lives of others. As we continue in this story of Abram and his journey of faith. In chapter 14, packed with action, we see reflections of Abram's growing faith. What an encouragement as we Journey in our growth of faith.

The separation of Abram and Lot says much about Abram as a peacemaker. When laid next to chapter 12, we'll find that it also says much about Abram's recovery from his sinful wipe out in Egypt. As we study, we find that Abram returns to Canaan a changed man,a man who has moved from seizing control from God to ceding control to God.

As we study the story of Abram going to Egypt in Genesis 12, we learn a very important lesson; The fastest way to compromise your faith is to try and take control. To put it positively we can say that, Following in faith means ceding control….not just of the destination, but also the route, companions, experiences, sights, struggles, delays, detours and difficulties.

"Faith is not the absence of doubt, it is the presence of belief in the face of doubt." Certain circumstances can sometimes either increase or decrease our faith in the Lord. Guest speaker Brian Hennon shares about the different levels of faith we come across as we live our lives. Brian takes a special focus to remind us that even when we are fearful or doubting, as long as we are following Jesus we are always associated with Jesus.

Who is this Abram that figures so prominently in these chapters of Genesis? Where did he come from? What was his background? While we don't know a lot, we do know how he responded to God's call...he Followed!

As we begin a study on the life of Abraham we find another Genealogy, one that connects Abraham with Shem, the son of Noah. We find is that these Genealogies reveal to us that the Plan of God is just fine, that line of the Seed of the Woman is safe and remains unbroken.

At the end of this series we pause to allow others to share their Reflections on the series of Spiritual Exercises and hear a final challenge on Pursuing in Grace.

Seldom do we consider Witness to be a Spiritual Exercise, yet to glory in the Gospel and to verbally witness to others can bring great change in us. The life changing, spirit satisfying, passionate joy we all long for will be experienced when we verbally witness to the truth of Jesus Christ as the only Savior from sin.

Worship is the logical response of any Jesus follower when brought face to face with the living God. It's not simply tradition or liturgy, but a response to truth that engages our entire being. While not always considered an exercise of Spiritual Training, we find that when exercised, worship does a remarkable work in us.

Growing in our intimacy with Jesus requires that we look more like Him. Serving isn't just something we do, but it's central to the very core of being like Jesus who came not be served but to serve and to give His life for us.

Community is not just something nice we participate in on Sunday morning or at small groups and it's not just at the new social group we belong to as Believers. Rather, Scripture reveals in Hebrews 10:19-25 that Community is a Blood Bought Gift of God's Grace through Jesus Christ and without it we cannot achieve our full Spiritual potential.

Fasting is an intentional focusing of our entire being on our God…a demonstration to Him and reminder to us, that He is far more important than the food we eat which keeps us alive. Fasting heightens the gravity our plea, the intensity of our contrition or the magnitude of our perceived need as we approach our Father in heaven.

Amplified, the youth group at Resonate Community Church spent a week serving in Chicago, partnering with Inner City Impact. This Sunday Amplified planned and led the entire Sunday morning. Three of the Adult leaders who went on the trip share what the Lord did through that week.

Jesus our Savior is the ultimate example of Sacrifice and Giving. As we pursue Him we too must practice these disciplines. In doing so, we'll see that to cling more intimately to Jesus, one must let go of what he holds so tightly.

While not always included in a list of Spiritual disciplines, the practice of Silence and Solitude do have their place in the process of helping us grow in relationship to Jesus Christ. In Silence and Solitude we come alone and silent before our glorious God of grace, not to find ourselves but to find Him, pursuing Him and listening for what He has to say to us through His Word as we pray, meditate and worship.

Meditation is the immersion of myself in Scripture, combining the effort of focused thinking with a humble dependence upon the Spirit to recall, remember, rehearse, recite and reflect on our God as He is revealed in the Bible. This is our third Spiritual Exercise that is focused on helping grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ.