Living in the Sonrise

A few weeks ago, something crazy happened. A bunch of teens and young adults left the comfort of their homes and walked for hours carrying heavy bags on their shoulders, ringing doorbells and knocking at the houses of strangers, not knowing if anyone would accept what they had to offer. Crazy, right? More than 2,000 years ago, the Son of God left the glory and comforts of heaven and walked the road of pain and toil for 33 years, ministering to people who sometimes didn't even thank Him, then walked the road to Calvary alone with the weight of the sins of the world on His shoulders, not knowing if anyone would accept it. He gave His very life to save the ones who didn't care. It wasn't crazy- it was Love. Those "crazy" young adults? They were canvassing- selling Christian books door to door to raise money to further their education, and to spread the light of Christ. I  was one of them. On my own, I can't canvass. It's hard. It's exhausting. I mess up ...

 Hi friend! :) This post is the fourth and last part in the blog post series "Come Home" based on the sermon I did at our church last month. To read the first three parts, click  here ,  here,  and  here ! The first three parts covered three false statements that we often believe about ourselves and God: Part One: "God could never want to be with me, I'm such a sinner." In this part, we discovered that Jesus came to be with sinners, and to lift them up to joy and peace in being with Him! Part Two: "I'm too far gone for God to love me." Here we looked at the story of the lost sheep, and how Jesus loves us no matter how far we've wandered away.    Part Three: "I'm not good enough, I'm just worthless." In this part, we looked at the parable of the lost coin and discovered that "the value of an object is determined by the price paid for it, and God gave everything for you. You are of infinite worth, because He paid an infini...

Hello friend! This post is the third part in a series of posts called "Come Home" that are based on a sermon I did last month at my church. If you missed the first two parts, you can read Part One  here  and Part Two  here . Let's jump right into the next parable! After the lost sheep parable in Luke 15 comes the parable of the lost coin. It is found in verses 8-10. "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." This parable is so beautiful. It compares the lost, broken sinner to a piece of silver. And not just any piece of silver- this woman’s most prized possession. This lost coin was o...

Hello friends!! Today's post is Part Two of the series "Come Home" which is based off a sermon I did at my church. Here is the link to read part one, if you missed it:  https://livinginthesonrise.blogspot.com/2023/05/come-home-part-one.html From Part One: " After the Pharisees started complaining about Jesus’ company, Jesus dealt with the matter as He often did: by telling parables. These parables show us the answers to our other statements!" So, the first parable is found in Luke 15:4-7. "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, m...

Hello friends! :) Over the next few blog posts, I'm going to be sharing a sermon that I recently gave at my church. If you want to watch it, here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/live/7vihqoq77ag?feature=share  I really was stuck when I was writing it, but God really blessed and helped me to know how to put it together. I pray He speaks to your heart as you read it.  Have you ever believed one of these statements? “God could never want to be with me, I am such a sinner.” “I’m too far gone for God to love me.” “I’m not good enough, I’m just worthless.” “I’m not worthy to be called God’s child.” I think most of us have fallen into believing these lies at one time or another. Maybe we’ve heard that God loves us no matter what, but we have a hard time believing that it’s true. I know I have fallen into these traps before.  So how can we find the sure, true answers to these questions? Let’s go to Luke chapter 15.  Luke 15 starts off with this verse: “Then drew ne...