The Exchange Church

Join us tomorrow at 9:30am for Sunday service! https://youtu.be/1be-pCGpixE

Join us tomorrow morning for Sunday Service! We are continuing our "Church & State" sermon series! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjjkBreZ5f8

Our February Bible reading plan is available here! If you’re having trouble getting started with doing devotionals, we’ve provided a step by step guide to follow and some questions to ask as you are reading the Word!

Join us for Sunday Service tomorrow at 9:30am! We'll be continuing our sermon series "Church & State" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o2bL85u6UU

We'll be having our monthly worship & prayer gathering tomorrow morning (1/30/21) at 10am! We hope you can join us online to pray as a church! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAiHjbSzdCI

Join us tomorrow at 9:30am for Sunday worship! We’ll be starting a new sermon series titled Church & State! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8WK4Qr-r04

Happy New Year!! Let’s start 2021 off right by being in the Word together! You can find a PDF version of the January in the link below A devotional (or devotion), also referred to as quiet time (or QT), is a daily time that is dedicated to developing one’s personal relationship with God. This is not time spent listening to sermons while in the car or on the treadmill. It is one-on-God time that is set apart to sit at the feet of God, enjoy his Word, and abide in Him (cf. John... 15:1-9; Luke 10:38-42). There is no exact formula or right way to do devotionals, but the following guide may be helpful to follow: Step 1: Be Silent A good way to start is simply by silencing all the distractions around and in you so that you can focus. The Bible calls this waiting on God (cf. Psalm 25:5; 62:5). Step 2: Pray After you have focused in, pray a short prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and incline your heart to the beauty and joy of God’s Word (cf. Psa 119:18, 36; 86:11). Step 3: Read Read through a passage of scripture. It is best to follow an ordered plan rather than skipping around to a random passage each day. Be mindful of the leading of the Spirit as you read. If there’s anything you don’t understand, read it again. Step 4: Process After you read, it’s important to spend some time processing what you’ve just read. You may want to ask yourself the following questions that will help you better understand the text: 1. What does the text teach about who God is (ie. his nature, his character, his values, how he works)? 2. What does the text teach about people or humanity? 3. Are there any commands, judgements, warnings, or promises in the text? 4. Are there any good examples to follow or bad examples to avoid? 5. How can I obey God with what I have learned in this text? Feel free to write down any thoughts you may have in a physical or digital journal. If there is anything you don’t understand about the passage, write that down as well so that you can later consult other resources like a commentary or a pastor or leader for help interpreting it. Step 5: Pray Again Spend a few minutes praying though the passage you just read. Ask God for the faith, strength and hope to love Him and others in light of the lessons you’ve gleaned from the text. https://www.dropbox.com//Read%20the%20Word%202021%20-%20Ja

Join us tomorrow at 9:30am for the last Sunday service of the year!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKvj6qpYa5g

Yes, Jesus is God with us. But he is more than that. He is God for us. Had Jesus come and taken the name Immanuel, Matthew’s fulfillment formula might have been more exact, but it would have been ambiguous. Sons and daughters of Israel would have asked: Is God bringing salvation or judgment? By taking the name Jesus, though, God gave the answer to his people’s prayers. What he had promised long ago was now fulfilled in the birth of a virgin’s son.... This son would bring salvation from Israel to the nations. He would grow up to be the Suffering Servant who would give his life as a ransom for many (20:28); he would shed his blood to ratify a new covenant, thus securing forgiveness for his people (26:28); and he would gather disciples from every nation on the earth (28:19), uniting them in his church (16:18) so he could dwell with us forever (28:20). In this way, God is with us (Immanuel) because he sent Jesus to give his life for us. - David Schrock https://www.thegospelcoalition.org//the-bad-and-good-news/ #ReadtheWord #GodwithUs #MerryChristmas

God is just and holy and separated from sinners like us. This is our main problem at Christmas and every other season. How shall we get right with a just and holy God? Nevertheless, God is merciful and has promised in Jeremiah 31 (five hundred years before Christ) that someday he would do something new. He would replace shadows with the Reality of the Messiah. And he would powerfully move into our lives and write his will on our hearts so that we are not constrained from ou...tside but are willing from inside to love him and trust him and follow him. That would be the greatest salvation imaginable if God should offer us the greatest Reality in the universe to enjoy and then move in us to see to it that we could enjoy it with the greatest freedom and joy possible. That would be a Christmas gift worth singing about. That is, in fact, what he promised. But there was a huge obstacle. Our sin. Our separation from God because of our unrighteousness. How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest Reality in the universe (his Son) to enjoy with the greatest joy possible? The answer is that God put our sins on his Son, and judged them there, so that he could put them out of his mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time. Hebrews 9: 28 says, Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. Christ bore our sins in his own body when he died. He took our judgment. He canceled our guilt. And that means the sins are gone. They do not remain in God’s mind as a basis for condemnation. In that sense, he forgets them. They are consumed in the death of Christ. Which means that God is now free, in his justice, to lavish us with the new covenant. He gives us Christ, the greatest Reality in the universe, for our enjoyment. And he writes his own will his own heart on our hearts so that we can love Christ and trust Christ and follow Christ from the inside out, with freedom and joy. From Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent, John Piper #ReadtheWord #Advent2020 For our December reading plan including Advent passages click here: https://www.dropbox.com//Read%20the%20Word%20-%20December.

Join us for Sunday service today at 9:30am! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl5j8ZsB3Xg

God promised David that a son from his own body would have a throne that God would establish forever. Jesus fulfills that by reigning as the Son of David (Matt 1:1) forever. And David himself will be on his face before his infinitely greater Son, worshiping him with the rest of the redeemed forever. Jesus will establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness. His kingdom will be a perfect reflection of his own character, of which it is said in Hebrews 1:8-9, Your t...hrone, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. In other words, a perfectly righteous King who loves righteousness and hates wickedness will make sure that those attributes will characterize his kingdom forever, protecting the poor and needy rather than exploiting them. Understand now, by faith, that the victory of Jesus Christ over sin and death is total and complete. He did it alone, no one helped him, so that all the glory would go to him. As in the day of Midian’s defeat, he caused Satan’s kingdom to destroy itself. He gives us the plunder forever: eternal life, peace, righteousness, good counsel. Rejoice greatly in this! Be certain that you are restoring your joy in Christ’s victory over sin and death every single day. Say to your soul, "Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Rejoice in the victory Christ has won for you!" - Andrew M. Davis, Exalting Jesus in Isaiah (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary Series) For our December reading plan including Advent passages click here: https://www.dropbox.com//Read%20the%20Word%20-%20December.