Microchurch Minute
Imagine living Palm Sunday as it happened. You’ve made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem with your family. It is Passover, the sacred remembrance of when God led the Israelites out of Egypt. The city is full, buzzing with anticipation. You are busy preparing for the meal, carefully selecting your sacrificial lamb. It must be pure, without blemish. You’ve chosen well, spotless, the right size, set apart. There’s talk in the streets about a man named Jesus. Some say He heals the sick. Others say He casts out demons. Whispers grow louder: Could this be the Messiah?
Then suddenly, commotion. “Hosanna!” “Save us now!” You rush outside, pressing through the crowd, palm branches waving, cloaks thrown onto the road. And then, you see Him. Riding on a colt. Your heart catches. You remember the words of the prophet Zechariah. You learned them as a child. This is how the King would come. Could it really be? “Hosanna! Hosanna!” you cry out with the others. At last, the One who will rescue us. The One who will overthrow Rome. The One who will restore our people. But… He doesn’t look like a warrior. No armor. No army. No force. Just a humble man on a donkey.
They were waiting with expectation, full of hope for a Savior. But they had already decided what that Savior should look like. A conqueror. A king of power. A deliverer on their terms. Instead, Jesus came in humility. Not to conquer Rome, but to conquer sin.
Not to overthrow governments, but to overthrow death itself. He is King—just not the kind they expected.
And how often do we do the same? We celebrate when God moves the way we hoped. We praise when His plans align with ours. We shout “Hosanna” when the outcome feels like victory to us. But when He doesn’t… When He’s quieter than we expected, slower than we wanted, or working in ways we don’t understand. Do we still trust Him? Do we still follow?
Jesus didn’t come to meet expectations. He came to fulfill promises. He turned the world’s idea of power upside down, choosing humility, sacrifice, and grace. And in doing so, He secured the only victory that truly matters.
So the question Palm Sunday leaves us with is this: Do you praise Jesus for who He truly is or only for who you hoped He would be?
Microchurch Minute
We previously learned about the fruit of the Spirit in our study of Galatians. As we continually strive to be more like Christ, these characteristics should become evident in every aspect of our lives. On Sunday, we took a deeper look at how the nine characteristics we bear when the Holy Spirit lives within us fit beautifully into three outwardly observable categories.
In our relationship with God (upward): love, joy, and peace.
We see agape love most clearly in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross—a love so great that He was willing to suffer so we could be restored to God. Throughout the Old Testament, we see that the forgiveness of sin requires the shedding of blood. How incredible that God chose to become that sacrifice for us. Because of this, we can fully experience the love of our perfect Heavenly Father, who chooses us again and again.
From that love flows joy, a deep and steady satisfaction in who God is. And when we trust Him fully, we receive peace that surpasses understanding, even in life’s storms. Be mindful to keep your focus on Him, because distractions are often used by the enemy to steal that peace and joy, whether it’s frustrating paperwork, difficult diagnoses, or conflict in relationships. Resist the urge to take control and instead lean into the Holy Spirit within you. What may feel heavy now is not the end, joy truly comes in the morning.
In our interactions with others (outward): patience, kindness, and goodness.
Patience can be especially challenging. To endure hardship and remain slow to anger goes against our natural instincts, it requires the work of the Holy Spirit in us. From patience flows kindness, a visible compassion in how we treat those around us. This extends into goodness, where our character and actions reflect integrity. Are your interactions marked by genuine care? Do people walk away feeling seen, valued, and encouraged? That kind of impact can only come from a life rooted in God.
In our relationship with ourselves (inward): faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Faithfulness is seen in our commitment to God and our consistency in living out what He has called us to do. It also shows in how dependable we are in our daily lives. Gentleness is an area many of us desire to grow in, having strength that is steady and controlled, not reactive. It’s choosing grace in both our outward responses and our inner dialogue. And finally, self-control is like a muscle that must be exercised, it allows us to manage our emotions and responses in a way that reflects Christ, even in difficult moments.
Microchurch Minute
We have been learning about the Holy Spirit and took time on Sunday to dive into spiritual gifts. These aren’t just talents or something you can produce through your own willpower. Rather, they are distinct gifts given by the Holy Spirit. We didn’t log into “theholyspirit.com” to scroll through options and choose what appeals to us. On the contrary, one of the many blessings of being indwelled by the Holy Spirit is that He equips us with supernatural power to play our part in His masterfully orchestrated plan.
Do you ever doubt your gifting? I pray that you would receive it as it has been given to you, without questioning the good and loving Father who inscribed it with your name. Just like salvation, it is not something to be earned, but a gift freely given, meant to build up the Body of Christ.
As you observe others who are active in the church, you may notice that people are gifted in ways different from you. Don’t be discouraged, this is part of God’s design. If we’re not careful, our human mindset can become self-centered when it comes to our gifts. “That leadership team is so charismatic and outgoing… maybe I don’t belong here since I’m only useful in the nursery, kitchen, or behind the scenes.” Sound familiar?
The enemy uses comparison and pride to distort your identity. Either you begin to believe your gifting isn’t enough, or you fall into the trap of thinking your gift makes you more important than others. But that was never God’s intention for spiritual gifts.
I love the comparison Scripture gives us, the Body. A foot cannot see, but it can walk. An eye cannot walk, but it can see. A hand cannot smell, but a nose can. Each part is different, yet each part is essential. Your differences are not a flaw, they are exactly what make you an integral part of the Church.
This doesn’t dismiss the natural talents you’ve been given. Maybe you’ve always been creative, or you thrive in the kitchen, or you naturally lead a room. Those characteristics may very well be the places where the Holy Spirit has uniquely gifted you. The shift happens when our mindset changes from “Look what I’m good at.” to “Lord, how can I use this to serve and build up Your Church?”
When we walk in our spiritual gifts as God intended, the focus isn’t on the person, it’s on the work God is doing through them. As believers, we are called to do everything in love. When I use my gifts, it should flow from reverence for God and love for His people.
I look forward to us continuing to grow together, discovering our gifts, encouraging one another, and strengthening the Body of Christ so that we can more powerfully carry out God’s work together.
Microchurch Minute
Remember the last time you stirred up a nice cold glass of chocolate milk? You pour in just the right amount of chocolate syrup and mix it vigorously until it spreads all the way through the milk. The result is delicious, a satisfying treat that comes from taking the time to mix it well.
When we accept Jesus Christ and the reality of our redemption, He promised that the Holy Spirit would come to dwell within us. Like chocolate syrup poured into white milk, the Holy Spirit is now present in every believer. You can’t remove Him from the glass, His presence is there.
But here’s the question: are you letting Him settle at the bottom, or are you stirring things up?
While the Spirit fully lives within us, we are called to intentionally walk in step with Him and allow His presence to permeate every part of our lives. Allowing the Holy Spirit to work through you (your thoughts, decisions, relationships, and actions) requires surrender and daily dependence.
Don’t remain stagnant and let the richness settle at the bottom. Stir it up. Let the goodness move through every part of you until every “sip” of your life reflects the sweetness of the Holy Spirit.
His presence shouldn’t result in only a mild change (still mostly white milk) but a complete transformation, turning your life into something entirely new.
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” – Galatians 5:25
Microchurch Minute
We have spent the last few weeks going through the book of Galatians together. It’s been a powerful journey to see Paul’s complete anguish for the people of Galatia that are still buying into the idea that grace just isn’t enough. This letter wraps up on a few key points, the first of which is how believers handle the transgressions of other believers. We are called to lovingly address the sins of our spiritual family out of a place of desiring spiritual restoration for them – not a place of boasting our own superiority. This ideology is pretty backwards from worldly thinking. As the human race, we intrinsically want to point out the flaws and errors of our fellow man, put them on display at the whipping post and stand with a false sense of earned smugness as we watch them get what they “deserve”. But God. He wants us to leave the judgements, consequences and condemnations to Him. If we truly love God and have received His grace, we may simply desire our fellow believers to be forgiven and reconciled to the Father. After all, do we not trust the God of the universe to dish out consequences far more justified than we could ever imagine? Then we are called to share one another’s burdens. This required openness and vulnerability on both the burdened party and the believing brethren. Keep in mind, no one on earth may ever know just how obedient you are in this act of shouldering the burdens of other believers and your spiritual leaders, but God sees it. Are you pouring into your flesh or into the Spirit? God knows. Paul reminds us that we reap what we sow. If you’re stuck on using your resources to gratify your flesh, you will awake one day to find yourself disappointed in the unavoidable decay and ultimate death of the flesh. However, when you use your resources to pour into the Spirit as you are convicted to do, it is increased tenfold (or more!) for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. This falls into the discipline of tithing, but we will get into that at another time.
Our house church family is positioned in such an intimate way, that we can easily access one another to serve each other as needed. Do you ever notice that individuals who make statements like “why didn’t anyone at church help me?” are generally the individuals who tend to isolate and withdraw from community? But when we are actively in pursuit of our spiritual brothers and sisters, the fruit of the Spirit is often times evident in the way that we show up for, care for and pray for one another. That’s my kind of community! That is the community we are not only invited into but have the responsibility to help build on earth as we allow the Spirit to direct us.
Throughout our reading of Galatians, has Paul made his point abundantly clear? DO YOU UNDERSAND THAT THE JUDAIZERS ARE MISLEADING? I imagine that Paul’s handwriting must have been big and bold by the way he wraps up this letter. These legalists had an end goal of growing their list of converts to boast in their own achievements, not in anyone’s actual salvation. Believers want only to boast in the cross. The cross is a dividing barrier between the worldly wants of the flesh and the eternal deliverance of the Spirit. The flesh hates the cross and what it stands for, but I will boast proudly in the cross and Jesus Christ who reconciled me to the Father!
There were those that believed circumcision was required. There were those that boasted in their refusal to partake in such ritual. But neither mattered to God. He is still seeking to see the new creating that you become when you accept the free gift of grace offered by Jesus’ death on the cross, His perfectly pure sacrifice. I can imagine by this point in his letter Paul would just be at an absolute breaking point in his frustration with the Jesus+ doctrine that he was trying so desperately to refute. After a long letter of rebuking, correcting, warning and pleading, we see that he ends his letter with grace, not law, to the people of Galatia.
