Spiritual Practice for the Week: Breath Prayer

The Breath Prayer can help us learn to pray unceasingly. It is a way to have on our lips what is always on our heart. In Hebrew the word ruach has three meanings: “wind,” “breath,” and “Spirit.” The best known Breath Prayer is called the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” (Luke …

Sabbath

January 15, 2023 –  Pastor Mark Albrecht Message Big Idea – The Sabbath can be a contentious topic in Christian discourse.  It can be implemented as a rigid and laborious practice. On the other hand, it can be rejected as archaic and unneeded.  But Christ specifically notes that the Sabbath was made for our needs. Furthermore, we are still called …

Stillness

January 8, 2023 –  Pastor Mark Albrecht Message Big Idea – Our habits are formative. That is, they determine who we are becoming. So, we must examine our habits through a biblical lens, adapting to firmly keep ourselves in the grooves of grace God has provided for the Christian life. The first habit is stillness. Jesus habitually practiced stillness by …

Still on the Throne

Rest Assured – God Reigns

January 1, 2023 –  Pastor Mark Albrecht Message Big Idea – Daniel 10-12 offers some timely insights as we start 2023. It informs how we should view human conflicts and world events and depicts the horrors of human evil concentrated in the State. Yet, this passage shows how Christians should respond: expectation and prayer. In this way, we press into …

Still on the Throne

History is His Story

December 18, 2022 –  Pastor Mark Albrecht Message Big Idea – In Daniel 9, we witness Daniel responding to God’s promise to return he exiles and rebuild Jerusalem.  In doing so, Daniel passionately prays on behalf of all of Judah, confessing collective sin and reminding the Lord of His promises.  As Christians, we should also see prayer as our powerful …

Still on the Throne

About the King’s Business

December 11, 2022 –  Pastor Mark Albrecht Message Big Idea – The vision recorded in Daniel 8 came to the prophet in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar of Babylon (553-554 B.C.). This vision concludes with Daniel saying, “I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it” (Daniel 8:27). If Daniel didn’t understand it in …

Still on the Throne

Evil’s Days are Numbered

December 4, 2022 –  Pastor Mark Albrecht Message Big Idea – Just as Daniel, we as Christians face a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) future.  In this, we should expect persecution and difficulty to intensify.  Yet, our trust in God’s reliable Word, our knowledge of God’s purpose for our lives, and the promise of God’s final victory should lead …

Still on the Throne

God Honors Those Who Honor Him

November 27, 2022 –  Pastor Mark Albrecht Message Big Idea – In Daniel 6, Daniel is raised to high office by his royal master Darius the Mede. Daniel’s jealous rivals trick Darius into issuing a decree that for thirty days no prayers should be addressed to any god or man but Darius himself; anyone who disobeys this edict is to …

Still on the Throne

Who Gets the Last Word?

November 20, 2022 –  Pastor Mark Albrecht Message Big Idea – One of King Nebuchadnezzar’s successors and the last ruler of Babylon, King Belshazzar, arrogantly partied in the face of real, existential threat, the Persian Empire. Not only did he wrongly place his security in the things of this world, but he refused to wisely learn from his predecessor’s mistakes.  …

Still on the Throne

Pride Precedes the Fall

November 13, 2022 –  Pastor Mark Albrecht Message Big Idea – King Nebuchadnezzar elevated himself in his own eyes, grounding his pride in insufficient and earthly sources. Yet, God, in His sovereignty, loved this proud Babylonian king. In the same way, the Lord loves us in spite of our in-grained and persistent pride. So, the challenge becomes this: will we …