Orchard Hill Church Blog
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Imagined Jesus #5 - Obscure Jesus (Easter 2020)
On this Resurrection Sunday, Dr. Kurt Bjorklund shows how the resurrection of Jesus Christ doesn't make Him obscure, but helps to be completely clear about who He is and our future and be able to face face death without the fear that goes with it.
God is our Refuge (Psalm 16 Devotional)
We have no promise for tomorrow. We have no promise for our next breath. We have no promise that life will be easy. Scripture is clear that the opposite will often be true. But we have a God Who can protect us and shelter us, in Whom we can find our only true security.
Preparing for Easter: Waiting on the Lord
I do not know about you, but I hate waiting. I think Americans in general hate waiting… and for the most part we expect not to wait. Sometimes we are forced to wait for things that are outside of our ability to control. But some of the things we wait for are far more profound, and perhaps even life changing.
Preparing for Easter: Christ's Sacrifice for All
Matthew 27:32-56, to this day, still brings me back to the night I accepted Christ. It does not matter how many times I have read this passage, how many times I have preached on it, sat in rooms, and listened to others share about it. The passage, every single time, reminds me of two things.
Preparing for Easter: Humility & Glory
This week, we remember the ultimate sacrifice of our Redeemer. It is only because of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, that holy justice could be meted out, and that like Dusty Miller in the Burmese Jungle, a life was taken that a life might be gained.
Preparing for Easter: Grace
The ministry of Christ really has a lot to do with pointing out how everybody messes up. When I read Peter’s story in Matthew 26, I see the reality of the gospel of Christ. Jesus knew why He had to come to earth – to save sinners who would deny knowing Him in His darkest night.
Imagined Jesus #4: Self-Help Jesus
Joel Haldeman, Campus Pastor of Orchard Hill: Strip District, looks at Chapter 21, the epilogue of the Gospel of John, to learn about something Jesus says we should give our lives to, and how in this season, we can find something that truly matters.
Preparing for Easter: Christ's Faithfulness
How easy it is to be faithful to God when things are as we want? How easy it is to seek God when things are going our way? How hard it is to have faith when we face something that is not merely unpleasant but painful and hard?
Learning to Lead like Jesus (Boyd Bailey) | Book Review
I started this book on a quest to improve my leadership skills but also discovered along the way that learning about Jesus’ traits will help me to not only be a better leader, but help me to be a better person by growing in the likeness of Christ.
Diversity and the Church
The Church is unlike any other group of people. But here’s the problem: The Church can be like any other group of people. It’s our human tendency to seek connection with those who are “like us.” If you are a follower of Jesus, can you see this tendency in yourself? I see it in myself.
Preparing for Easter: God's Provision
As we all find ourselves in uncharted waters, in exile as it were, prevented from partaking of what we became so familiar with, I think it would be wise to remember what Israel did in times of exile.
Preparing for Easter: Worship
Life has become magnified in the past month; our daily schedules and priorities have changed. But when we remember or see for the first time that life is not about us but about God’s desire for us to know Him, this Lenten season becomes even more magnified. Life is short and God is all we need.
Preparing for Easter: Trust in the Lord
Psalm 121 starts with a question: “Where does my help come from?” With this statement, the writer expresses a feeling that every person can identify within our own times of struggle. As human beings, we tend to look to man and seek help from sources that we can see, or by what we can gain for ourselves. But Psalm 121 offers us a different perspective.
Ask a Pastor Ep. 88 - How to Respond to a Financial Crisis
This episode Dr. Kurt Bjorklund, Joel Haldeman, and Hefron Tillotson Financial Adviser, Grady Wirth, get together online to have a conversation about how to respond to the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus and crises that arise throughout life.
Preparing for Easter: Hope in Christ’s Resurrection & Return
As I read through Romans 8:11-25 today, I couldn’t help but see the current state of our world. The picture of our present reality couldn't have been painted more clearly. The Spirit that we’ve received from the Father does not make us slaves that live in fear but reminds us that we’ve been adopted to sonship!
Imagined Jesus #3 - Optional Jesus
Dr. Kurt Bjorklund continues through the gospel of John to Jesus’s crucifixion and looks at the difference between the optional and real Jesus that we can encounter in our lives.
Preparing for Easter: Life in the Spirit
It is easy to read Romans 8 as a religious person and miss its challenge. At first, this passage seems to show the distinction between good people and bad people. If we read Romans 8 and think “there are bad people who just react to their flesh, and then there are good people like me,” we’ve missed the point.
God is Still in Charge During “Such a Time as This”
Up until this week, it has been easy to get lost in the details of American life: family, friends, eating, sports, internet, entertainment... so many distractions that could keep us away from the “for such a time as this moments” that God has for us, just as with Mordecai and Esther in 550 AD.
Preparing for Easter: The Word of God
You may have heard it said that followers of Christ are in the world but not of the world. What this means is, through a relationship with Jesus Christ, we realize that this world is simply a stop on our way to the Kingdom of Heaven, our final destination.
Preparing for Easter: Christ's Love for the Church
John 17 is typically referred to as “Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer,” and in the section of the prayer we’re looking at today, Jesus prays for his disciples. After providing the Twelve with some of the most challenging and profound words He ever spoke to them, Jesus now prays to the Father for these friends He loves.