Church Family,

This week brings with it a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  The foundation of our beliefs is what we celebrate this week.  This past Sunday, we reflected on what God through Jesus secures for us.  As Jesus, our King, rides into town with shouts of Hosanna, God is securing for us our salvation.  We are made safe in final judgment and given life through the person and work of Jesus.  Take this week and follow Jesus in His last week, what we call Passion Week or Holy Week.  Here is a breakdown of each day and the scripture that corresponds to that day.  Carve out space each day and read, pray, and perhaps sing in worship for the work of Jesus that secures our salvation.

Passion Week Schedule

There are several ways for you to engage this week as we reflect deeply upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

• Let Us Pray! – In-person prayer gathering this Wednesday (3/31) at 6 pm.  Zoom option available (link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88997861173).
• Good Friday – In-person gathering this Friday (4/2) at 6 pm to reflect upon the cross of Christ.  This will be on Facebook Live, or you can view it from the Livestream on our webpage.
• Waiting Saturday – A guided reflection upon the time between Jesus’ burial and resurrection.  We used this last year and found it helpful in considering uncertainty and doubt.  Click here to see the guide.
• Resurrection Sunday – Our normal in-person Sunday Gathering (4/4) at 10 am to celebrate our Risen Lord!  This will be on Facebook Live, or you can view it from the Livestream on our webpage.

At all of our in-person gatherings, we will still observe all the restrictions we’ve had in place for the past several months (See video here from our webpage).  Thanks for your patience and willingness to serve one another during this season.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Bryan

Church Family,

This past Sunday, we continued our trek through the book of Genesis.  We’ve been following Abraham for several chapters and finally arrived at the birth of the long-awaited promise of a child, Isaac.  What a glorious moment after all the waiting!  Abraham and Sarah both rejoice at the birth of Isaac.  The scriptures tell us they laughed in joy at the astonishment of God’s faithfulness.  God provides as he promised (Gen 21:1)!  In the arrival of God’s divine promise, another thing occurs; the shortcomings of man’s attempt to do what only God can do.  Ishmael (Abraham and Sarah’s way of taking matters into their own hands back in Gen 16) laughs in mockery at God’s provision.  He does not receive God’s provision with trust.  Despite all this, the Lord still has his ear towards him and provides safety and provisions for him and Hagar (Gen 21:15-21).  In contrast between Isaac and Ishmael is both joy and difficulty.  Joy in that God is faithful, difficult in that man’s attempt to be God causes strife.  God’s way is always best, and man’s way always falls short.  We are to trust his ways in his timing!

Easter Schedule

Next week marks the last week of Jesus’ life that we often refer to as Passion Week or Holy Week.  There is much to contemplate during this time leading up to Resurrection Sunday.  We want to take advantage of this time to think and consider what the person and work of Jesus mean to us.  We will do this by having a Good Friday Gathering (April 2nd at 6 pm) and our regular Sunday Gathering (10 am).  Mark your calendars and plan on intentionally engaging in those two gatherings.

Let Us Pray!

We will continue with our Wednesday Prayer Gathering this week at 6 pm.  This is an in-person event, but we will offer a zoom option as well (link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83652085669)

Desert Kids

This is just a quick reminder that if you have children or interested in serving in Desert Kids, please hang out after the gathering for an informational meeting.  Thanks to all the parents for your patience.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Bryan

Church Family,

It was such a joy to have church planter Andy Shurson, who is in the process of planting Desert Ridge Church, with us this past Sunday.  He walked us through Genesis 20, the story of Abraham and Abimelech.  For a second time, Abraham is overwhelmed by the fear of man and lacks trust in the providential care of the Lord.  On their own terms, he and Sarah try to preserve the promises of God rather than trust.  Their fear of Abimelech caused them to sin and, in doing so, brought sin into Abimelech’s house (Gen 20:9).  As the Lord confronts Abimelech, he exhibits a greater fear of the Lord than the great patriarch Abraham (Gen 20:8).  It’s easy to point figures at Abraham and question his trust.  But we too often lack trust and are overcome by the fear of man.  It hinders our joy and suffocates our faith.  We must function in reverent awe of God if we are to experience great joy and true freedom.  It’s far greater to walk in trust of the Lord than others.

Let Us Pray!

This Wednesday at 6 pm, we will meet in-person (woohoo!) for a time of prayer together as we anticipate Easter week.  There will be a zoom option as well (link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85629190158).  I don’t know if you noticed, but we consistently call our times of prayer together (whether during our Sunday gathering or Wednesday evenings) “Let Us Pray!”.  This is because we want to remind ourselves of Scripture’s call to be a people who pray and pray often.  As a church family, we must saturate our church, our community, and the world with prayer.  As a church family, we must seek wisdom through prayer, we must pray seeking courage to be obedient, and we must pray for stamina to be faithful.  Join us as we call out together to our gracious God to do His will among our community and us.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Bryan

Church Family,

I love our commitment to God’s Word every time we gather.  Preaching through books of the Bible forces us to look at the not-so-pleasant sections of Scripture.  This past Sunday, we considered how the Lord responds to sin by looking at the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  These are popular places even today used as references for outright evils.  One thing that becomes evident is that sin requires judgment.  The Lord, upon Abraham’s pleading, cannot find anyone righteous in Sodom.  Through sexual perversion, they put on display their evils (Gen 18:4-11).  Though judgment comes, the Lord saves Lot precisely because of Abraham (Gen19:29).  Sin does indeed require judgment, but grace is available through another.  We are all like Lot, only saved because of another, Jesus.

Life Among the Nations

This past Sunday, we announced an opportunity to encourage international college students at ASU.  It’s simple, do you have a piece of furniture you have been looking to get rid of?  Well, nows the time!  Most international college students don’t have the bare necessities, such as a table to sit and eat or a desk to do their work.  Life Among the Nations is asking for donations of unwanted furniture to help these students.  If you have any items you are willing to donate, email me.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Bryan

Church Family,

This past Sunday was a tremendous encouragement to us all.  God’s Word is always relevant to our day no matter the number of years between us and the time of the event.  We saw in the Genesis account of Ishmael and Isaac a patient Lord.  Abraham and Sarah take matters into their own hands to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise (Gen 16).  In doing so, they caused tremendous problems for themselves and future difficulty for God’s people.  Despite all this, the Lord in his patience reestablished covenant with Abraham and brings about his promises in Isaac (Gen 17).  In his appointed time (Gen 18:14), He provides Sarah with a child who will carry on the everlasting covenant of the Lord.  His delay was not a display of weakness, but rather a moment to bring about His power; “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Gen 18:14).  The Lord’s patience is a display of His tender power.  Brothers and Sisters, be patient, pursue intimacy with the Lord, and let the waiting breed greater trust.

The Doctrine of Humanity

This week’s topic in our lecture series on a biblical doctrine of us will be original sin.  Here’s the zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82256318650.  We will take next week off due to Spring Break.

Members Meeting

If you are a member of Light in the Desert Church, we are having our quarterly Members Meeting this Sunday at 6 pm on zoom.  We will be sending out a link through email in the next few days to all the members.  Do make some time to join us as we discuss the effects of 2020 and look ahead to 2021.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Bryan

Church Family,

I hope you all are well and enjoying your week so far.  This past Sunday, we discussed how important it is to have God as our faith’s object.  There is no shortage of ideologies or “ism” to believe, but only one object of our faith counts us as righteous.  As we have been following Abram the last few weeks, we have seen his faith tested, but in Genesis 15:6, his faith is counted as righteous.  This is a moment that he is fully convinced (as Romans 4:21 says) that God will do what he says. Moses recounts for us that “Abram believed the Lord,” emphasis on Lord!  Abram believes in the Lord and trusts that He will do what he says.  This fully convinced trust in God and his promises carry over in the New Testament as a shining example.  Paul tells us, “But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:23-25).  You see, what you believe and the object of your faith is crucial.  Our faith rests solely upon the person and work of God the Son, and like Abram, through faith alone in Christ alone, we are counted righteous.

The Doctrine of Humanity

This series of lectures explores what the bible tells us about humanity and the cultural misunderstanding that permeates society.  We will continue this week looking at gender.  This is a zoom-only event, so click here (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87210086840) and join us at 6:30 pm this Wednesday.

Members Meeting

Please mark your calendars for March 7th at 6 pm for our next Members Meeting.  We will discuss how 2020 impacted us and share a few exciting things coming.  This will be a zoom-only gathering.  We will share the link in next week’s News Blog.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Bryan

Church Family,

What a wonderful time this past Sunday worshiping with you all.  I’m constantly encouraged when we gather and reminded of God’s grace when I see you all!

Can we all agree, the Bible is a phenomenal work of literature?  For some, the first thing they think when they read that last sentence is, “Thank you, Captain Obvious,” while for others, not so much.  Reading our Bibles is a discipline not only to incorporate into our daily activities but also to learn how to do well.  It’s not uncommon for the bible to introduce a theme, a person, or a theological point early on to unpack later.   Genesis does this a fair bit.  It has shown us its relevance for understanding the entirety of scripture, and this past Sunday was one of those moments.  We cannot understand Genesis 14:17-24 without Psalms 110 and Hebrews 5-7.  Melchizedek, who looms large throughout the history of God’s people, shows up in Genesis 14 without any explanation and disappears without any explanation.  He is not mentioned again until King David sees something in him pointing forward to a Priestly King who would be of an eternal priesthood.  Then the great expository preacher of Hebrews unpacks all the details of Genesis 14 and places all of them squarely upon Jesus.  Come to find out, Melchizedek is in our Bibles to point us towards Christ, the real King of Righteousness who brings peace!  Brothers and Sisters, read your Bibles, trust your Bibles, and marvel at the greatest of Christ!

Woohoo!

I want to celebrate and express my thankfulness to all of you who gave to our international missions offering Lottie Moon.  Many of you gave on behalf of Sandy Talbot at the request of her family, and they have been encouraged by your generosity.  We received $3,075!  One hundred percent of that will go to support foreign missions!

The Doctrine of Humanity

This week’s link to our next lecture in the series The Doctrine of Humanity is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86400028226.  We will continue discussing gender.

Church Family,

I do hope your week has been full of joy as you reflect upon the grace and mercy of God.  This past Sunday, we considered God’s providence.  One cannot read Genesis without seeing God’s hand involved at every turn.  Despite the difficulties caused by humans, he remained faithful to his promises by being intimately involved providentially.  It’s precisely God’s providential care that moves redemptive history down the corridors of time.  Let us not think that He only did that then; He continues and will always continue to move.  God was, is, and will be sovereign, so therefore He did, does, and will act providentially in the world to do what is best!  Take some time to consider His providential care over you throughout the years (Psalms 44).

Let Us Pray!

This week’s link for our prayer gathering is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89633986422.  We will start at 6:30 pm.  Our time together will not only consist of prayer but scripture reading as well.  Do try to carve out some time to join us!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Bryan