CrossLife Church

The Coming of the Kingdom

Everyone desires a better world. Politicians make promises that they will solve all problems if you vote for them, educators teach with the belief that they can contribute to making the world a better place, and technology claims that progress is being made through the latest inventions. However, achieving a better world seems more elusive than ever.Ancient philosophers and theologians once described "the better world" as "what ought to be." The Hebrew people referred to it as the "world that will be," and by the first century, it was known as the Kingdom of God.In Luke 17:20-37, the Pharisees asked Jesus, "When would the Kingdom of God come?" Jesus's reply was shocking. He stated that the Kingdom of God would not come in the manner or location the Pharisees expected. Instead, Jesus asserted that the Kingdom of God was already in their midst. He then proceeded to engage his disciples in discussions about the present and future aspects of the Kingdom of God. Jesus explained that he would first suffer and then return "as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other" (Luke 17:24).Every follower of Jesus should prioritize seeking the Kingdom of God in the present and be prepared for the King's return. But what exactly is the Kingdom, and when will Jesus return to establish the world as it ought to be?

Pressing on Into the New Year

As we stand at the threshold of a new year, Philippians 3:12–16 invites us to take an honest look at where we are and where we’re going in our walk with Christ. Paul admits he hasn’t yet “arrived,” but his life bursts with forward motion—pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of him. The Christian life is not passive; it’s a pursuit. Growth in holiness, deeper fellowship with Christ, and steadfast obedience require a heart that refuses to settle for spiritual comfort zones. Like Paul, we are called to run with purpose, eyes fixed on the prize of knowing Christ more fully.This passage also challenges us to let go of what lies behind—past failures, disappointments, or even successes that can hold us back—and to strain toward what’s ahead. The new year is a gracious opportunity to align our priorities with God’s calling, to make progress one faithful step at a time. In 2026, may our focus be simple yet powerful: to press on, to grow up into maturity, and to pursue the upward call of God in Christ Jesus with renewed determination and joy.

Examining Your Faith

One of the most fascinating insights about this current moment in our society is that people have never been more anxious and fearful about their everyday lives, while surprisingly confident or indifferent about their spiritual state. People seem to be very presumptuous about the possibility of standing before God and finding that God would have any reason to judge them harshly. Most people seem to assume that if there is a God, they have always heard that He is loving and a loving God will be glad to receive them into heaven. This was also a problem towards the end of the first century. John addresses 3 false ideas that many were claiming (1 John 1:6, 8, 10).Lie #1 - We can have fellowship with God while walking in darkness.Lie #2 - Our actions don't make us sinful but good.Lie #3 - Our sinful actions don't reveal anything about our true nature. In John's first letter (1 John), he begins by confirming the Deity and humanity of Jesus (1 John 1:1-4) as the second person of the Triune God. Then in verse 5, John describes God with the words, "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." With these words, John reveals astonishing truths about the nature of God. If God there is no darkness in God; what about the darkness in us?Join us this Sunday as we go deeper into a new series on the letter of 1 John.

Nails, Goads, and Greatness

In a world where truth and trends are always changing and ever-evolving, it is impossible to know the way the best way to live your life. God’s Word is unchanging, providing a fixed reference point in which to measure. In a postmodern world, all meaning is relative and self-determined. This may seem freeing, but it is the equivalent of trying to navigate an ocean in a boat made of water, in a rainstorm, and trying to escape the water with a ladder made of liquid. There is no fixed point of reference and nothing to hold onto.By contrast, God's Word provides a reference point in which to measure and build our lives.As the preacher writes his conclusion in Ecclesiastes 12, he employs the congregation of Israel to remember their creator. His final challenge is to fear God and recognize that God is our Shepherd and desires to lead us. Are you willing to follow?

Consider & Reflect

Certain questions are universal and timeless. Regardless of one's culture, nation, or family, every person will have an inner longing to answer these questions. Those questions are "Who am I?" and "Where did I come from?" How a person answers these questions will ultimately guide how they live their life. This in essence, is one's worldview. What is the basis for your view about life, family, evil, sin, death, business, and purpose? As one grows, learns, and experiences life, they develop an understanding of how the world works and how to navigate it. This naturally shapes one's view or perspective on life, meaning, purpose, and even suffering. Much of our worldview is adopted from our parents, peers, teachers, and many other points of influence from media, experience, etc....As the preacher writes his conclusion in Ecclesiastes 12, he employs the congregation of Israel to remember their creator. His final challenge is not to consider the end of their life or reflect on the beginning, but to reflect and consider their origin. When you consider whose you are, the question of who you are begins to come into focus. When you know your Creator, the uncertainty and difficulties of life suddenly start to fade away.

Living With the End in Sight

One of the greatest fallacies of our day is short-term thinking. Our culture has cultivated and indoctrinated the masses of society to focus their happiness on their current circumstances. The questions we have been tutored to ask are: What makes me happy? What identity would make me happy?”What relationships make me happy? When people struggle to find satisfaction in their current state, circumstance, or relationships, they just go look somewhere else. When a person isn’t happy, it must be the fault of their circumstances or other people, never the result of their own choices. The Ancient Preacher of Ecclesiastes 11 warns, Consider your days, especially when you are young. Live with the end of your days in sight. “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.” (Eccles. 11:9)Those who live for the moment with short-term thinking will find their hearts vexed as their youth fades and the days of older age set in.

(Un)common Sense

The Bible is the most talked-about book in which the most opinionated people have never read. The Bible is full of life-giving and eternal truths that are profoundly transformative to anyone seeking spiritual, emotional, and relational wholeness. The Bible is also full of timeless and universal wisdom in areas of science, biology, botany, anthropology, agriculture, economics, and many other areas of practical life. The Bible is not just a spiritual book, nor is it just a book of rules and regulations. The Bible is full of practical insights into everyday life. In Ecclesiastes 11, the Preacher teaches about the importance of diversification in investing, handling setbacks, and avoiding paralysis by analysis. If you want common sense in times of uncommon foolishness and gimmicks, you will find answers in Ecclesiastes 11. The earlier in life you start investing, the greater you will see the exponential growth of compound interest. The longer you wait to begin investing for the future, the more you will limit your potential for exponential gains. This is true both financially and spiritually.

Following Fools

In his book The Intellectuals, Paul Johnson does a deep dive into Jean Jache Rousseau, Karl Marx, Leo Tolstoy, Jean-Paul Sartre, and other leading thinkers and cultural elites of Modern Western Civilization. These are the heroes of leftist elites and are revered for their secular philosophies and intellects. Paul Johnson's work is remarkable because he shifts the focus away from their writings and onto the logical conclusion of their thinking, their lives. In a lofty speech honoring the life of Rousseau, it was Robespierre who said he was "the one man who, through the loftiness of his soul and the grandeur of his character, showed himself worthy of the role of teacher of mankind." He went on to praise him for "transforming our morals, customs, laws, feelings, and habits." What Paul Johnson discovered by examining their lives was a wake of destruction. They denied God and everything holy and eternal. They rejected established morals and ethics, replacing them with their own versions of morality, ethics, and ideas about society. Yet, their own personal lives, their families, children, women, relationships, and finances were a train wreck. "A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right,But a fool’s heart to the left.Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,and he says to everyone that he is a fool."-Ecclesiastes 10:2-3 Solomon (the Preacher) calls these intellectuals fools. In Ecclesiastes 10, he describes the dangers and maps out some of the traps that wise people will want to know to avoid the path of the fools. Consider the examples in our culture that you allow to be trend setters or influencers in your life. Are you following fools or people of wisdom?

Enjoy!

What is the Bible about, and what does it contain? Some would say the Bible is a book of stories about God and His people. I think the honest assumption of most people is that the Bible is full of many warnings and prohibitions. The Bible contains a bunch of outdated rules and regulations. The perception is that reading and following the Bible will lead to a miserable and unhappy life. 7Go, eat your bread with joy,and drink your wine with a merry heart,for God has already approved what you do. 8Let your garments be always white.Let not oil be lacking on your head.9Enjoy life with the wife whom you love,all the days of your vain lifethat he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in lifeand in your toil at which you toil under the sun.-Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 The Bible certainly has warnings and prohibitions, but it also has positive exhortations and encouragement to enjoy the blessings and gifts of God, to the glory of God. The Bible prescribes the good life, secured and maximized by Godly wisdom. This Sunday, we will

Don't Waste Your Life