Immanuel Community Church

After the resurrection, Jesus returned to the Father, but he continues to speak to us through his Spirit and offers us a lasting peace and joy in the face of suffering because he has overcome the world and secured the victory for us.

The Spirit convicts the world of its sinful and hostile posture toward God through the witness of the church. It is an unwelcome message that will provoke the same resistance and hatred Jesus himself faced.

The hallmark of a true follower of Jesus is the fruit of love that grows from abiding in him.

In His parting words to the disciples, Jesus promised them that he would never leave them as orphans but that his advocacy for them would continue through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

In a culture that tries to maximize output with minimum input and avoid the costly way of real spiritual growth, Philippians 2 calls us to actively live out our salvation, for it is God who is already at work within us.

Jesus’ love and mercy are greater than our deepest failures, and by faith we receive the love that restores what sin has broken.

Jesus showed the limitless humility and depth of his love by washing his disciples’ feet, then calling his followers to do the same for one another.

We want a deliverer who will fix all our external circumstances and make life more bearable for us, but Jesus is a Savior who frees us from our deepest bondages.

Jesus’ restoration of Peter in John 21 shows us that God does not allow our past experiences of serving to have the final word, but heals and restores us for continued service in his name.

Summary: We often fail to experience true, biblical joy because we allow our circumstances, our fears, and our forgetfulness to rob us of the joy the gospel brings. But when we worship the God who sees and saves us, and trust that through our brokenness, He will bless the world — we can experience the fullness of joy that can …