Denver Community Church

April 13, 2014: Forced Labor (Jerusalem) Babylon – Landon Lynch

There is another kind of slavery that comes when you enslave others. In a way it’s becoming the very person that you hate. When we consider the way the Hebrew people were brutalized by their slave drivers, it’s safe to say they hated them. Now, under the reign of Solomon, they became the slave drivers. 

It’s like a kid who was abused by his father who then grows up to abuse his son. Sometimes slavery is becoming the very thing that enslaved you, because you’ve never truly been freed from it. Of course, this leads to one place – more slavery. This is where the story of Israel ends in the Old Testament. There, by the Kebar River we hung our harps on the polar trees as our tormentors said, ‘Sing us songs of Zion.’ How can I sing of Zion while in a foreign land?

April 6, 2014: The Exodus and New Freedom – Michael Hidalgo

When the people of Israel were brought of Egypt, the land of slavery, it was just the beginning. And what they were about to learn was a new kind of freedom. It was a freedom that was not just for them, but for everybody. God’s vision for his people was that they would bless the entire world. In other words, that they would bring freedom to all people. This is why he reminds them again and again, “you were slaves.”

If they could remember this, and what it was like then they would seek to bring freedom to all people. One of the greatest dangers for the people of Israel would be for them to forget what God had done in liberating them. Because if they did, they may lose sight of what true freedom is and become enslaved once again. 

March 30, 2014: An Egyptian Workforce – Michael Hidalgo

How is it that God was willing to call Abraham to a new life – one that would be a blessing to all people, but in only a few generations he led them into slavery? It makes the story of Joseph seem a less wonderful. Unless … this is a story about a story. Maybe the people of Israel are a visible reality of the human story. 

Like Israel, humanity was given life and a deep connection with God, but they ended up in slavery. And now, Israel is a picture of what we as humans walk into all the time. Day after day they lived as slaves crying out. Because this is what slaves do. Perhaps you are crying out. Wondering how you got back here. Maybe you are wondering if God will ever show up.

March 23, 2014: God Calls Abraham/Isaac/Jacob – Landon Lynch

God was not going to sit back and allow humanity to remain in slavery. So he called Abraham and invited him and his descendants into a new life, to be the new humanity. One that learned once again what it meant to live a free life. God gave this promise not just to Abraham, but also to his son and grandson. This promise was one that would change the course of history. It was a new creation, a new day. Because God is not in the business of enslaving, but in the business of liberating.

March 16, 2014: Everything Falls Apart – Michael Hidalgo

Some things are easier to get into than out of. This has never been more true of anything than sin. One moment, one choice, one action and the course of human history has never been the same. The man and the woman believed that true freedom was not living according to God’s plan, but according to their own. What they failed to see was we always live according to someone’s rule. 

In this they cut themselves off from the God who is life, exchanging his life and love for death and separation. This is still the story of humanity. We believe that God is the one who wants to enslave us, so we run from him and choose our own path, failing to see that this is the one that will enslave us.

March 9, 2014: Created for Freedom – Scott Oppliger

We were created for freedom. To give love freely. To receive love freely. We never had to worry about what someone really thought. We never had to try and love just to get something. Everything was freely given and freely received with no strings attached. This is the kind of thing we see in the best relationships, and it epitomizes the relationship the man and the woman had with God. This kind of thing can sound like a pipe dream – like it could not possibly be real. 

But it is something God wants back. This is why the prophets describe the life to come as a garden. And not just any garden, Eden itself. A place where things were perfect and beautiful. This is what the promise of Lent is. A time for us to remove what hinders us from freedom.

March 2, 2014: Praying and Not Believing – Michael Hidalgo

Peter is in jail. Who knows when he’ll get out, if he will at all. James has just been killed, is Peter next? What do you do in moments like this when you feel powerless to do anything? The best answer the community could conjure was “pray.” So they did. Then, miraculously, Peter was rescued from jail in the middle of the night by an angel.

In the dark streets he found his way to the house where the believers were gathered, and when they heard that Peter was at the door they did not believe it. Wait, what? Wasn’t this what they were praying for? Didn’t they want Peter to be released? And why would God respond to their prayers even if they did not believe he could answer them?

February 23, 2014: A Lot of Baggage to Unpack – Dave Neuhausel

In a recent Rolling Stones article Marcus Mumford commented that he didn’t like the word Christian because of all its baggage. So, he said he wasn’t one of those. His sentiment rings true for many who follow Jesus. Too many things go along with the idea of being Christian; many of which do not describe us. But what did it describe the first time the word was used?

The term means “little Christ.” Up to this point their we called believers, or followers of the Way. They were those who lived in a peculiar way according to the teachings of Jesus. Their lives had such a deep impact on those around them that it was like being with Jesus himself. What would our world look like today if that was how Christians were described?

February 16, 2014: There Are No Boundaries – Michael Hidalgo

The key word that is often missed in the Acts 2 is “all” when describing the believers. Let’s not forget that these were people from all over the world. At least, for that time, they were all Jews and had that going for them. But all of that blew up when Peter was told to “Arise and eat.” It was so shocking that even in his vision Peter said, “Surely not!” What he didn’t know is God was preparing him for ministry to the Gentiles. To those people.

And that was just the start. The hope of Jesus took off in the Gentile world, and it became a problem. What rules do they have to obey? Which rules are okay to break? Can we eat with them? Can God really save them? What was the church to do? This is what the “Council at Jerusalem came together to discuss. Their conclusion? God’s kingdom does not have borders.

February 9, 2014: The Good Life – Michael Hidalgo

There are moments when all seems right with the world. Times when in the midst of chaos, confusion and struggle a time when all seems right emerges – even if just for a moment. These are the moments when we can see things not as they are, but as they should be, and one day will be. It’s a bit of heaven invading our space on this earth. 

These are gifts from God, and something that ought to be embraced. In the midst of hardships, persecution and the threat of death the believers were given this space to exhale. To be. To enjoy the goodness of God. It’s possible there are far more of these moments than we ever thought possible. Maybe we are just not looking hard enough.