Soma Spokane Sermons

Psalm 44 is likely a Psalm written during or near the end of Israel's exile, and moves from an encouraging reminder of God's historical faithfulness to an impassioned cry for God to show his saving power again. The first 3 verses have been one of the texts we've leaned on over the last 3 years as we've asked God to continue to grow us into a long-term, disciple-making presence in our region and beyond. This week we celebrate Church Plant Sunday, and talk about how our Planted Initiative and securing permanent facilities will allow us to plant churches locally, regionally, and globally for years to come.

Who appears to be stronger? Jesus or Caesar? Who would you follow? Who would you bet on? In this moment, Caesar looks strong and Jesus looks weak. But through this weakness, Jesus will conquer the world. Caesar ruled by conquering lands and subjugating people. Jesus ruled by conquering sin, death, and the grave and freeing people. This King bore the full weight of God’s anger and judgment towards the evil of the world. Then He rose again to new life, and was presented before the Ancient of Days, given dominion, kingdom, that all peoples, languages, and nations should serve him… No one is worshiping Caesar today. But billions bow the knee to Jesus. Behold your King!

We’ve seen so much goodness in Daniel and the Boys, watching and learning from them how to navigate life in a world that is not our home. They’ve modeled a kind of faithful presence — in the city, for the city, but not of the city — that might be one of the most helpful biblical pictures for disciples in our current cultural context. This week we look back over the lessons we’ve learned, taking notes on how to live with a winsome faithfulness in our own corrupt and corrupting Babylon. We’ll end our study in Daniel by looking at the vision Daniel receives in chapter 7. And it is apocalyptic, in the best sense of the word: The curtain is pulled back and Daniel gets let in on the behind-the-scenes realities of the cosmos, complete with terrifying beasts and heavenly judgments. And while the details of the vision are hotly debated, the main point is so very clear: Jesus wins, and his people will be vindicated forever!

Another chapter brings another new king for Daniel to get to know, with another new set of rules to follow. While the satraps and officials play dirty, Daniel does the same thing he has always done: he gets down on his knees to pray. Conflict with the empire seems to be the norm for Daniel, as it is for every person living a life of “faithful presence”, but he has learned how to abide in the midst of the storm. He’s been getting his Daily Bread from the Father’s Table for decades, and that vibrant inner life with the Spirit is what empowers him to walk into the lion's den without a word of complaint. And while Daniel is praying, the world is watching... and God is working. As Exiles in our modern Babylon, we find ourselves in a similar situation with the insanity of our ever-changing social norms. Fortunately, we have access to the same power by the same Spirit.

One of the main themes of our Exiles series has been the sovereign working of God behind the scenes even when godless Babylon seems to be prospering unhindered, and in Daniel 5 Babylon’s self-glorying comes to a crescendo. Belshazzar throws himself a great drunken feast in mockery of God and his people. But it is the last straw, and God brings the king trembling to his knees. Daniel has been off-stage for about 30 years, working in obscurity, no longer at the center of the drama. But he’s remained faithful and ready, and when God opens a door of opportunity he’s able to step through it with boldness. Once again, humble faithfulness outlasts and overpowers the pomp and pride of godless Babylon.

Daniel’s ongoing service and reputation grants him another opportunity to serve on the world stage. He is called on to interpret another troubling dream for the king of Babylon. Daniel is genuinely grieved when he hears the dream because he knows its interpretation: the king will be humbled, unless he repents. Daniel’s relationship & years of faithful presence allow him to speak boldly to the king. He actually wants good for the king. In love for Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel calls the king to repentance before God. With genuine hope and care, Daniel’s message is delivered with hopes that God might spare the king. Judgment and suffering do come, yet in the end through God’s mercy, it seems as if the king does indeed repent, is converted, and his kingdom and flourishing are restored. The pagan king turns into an evangelist, boldly proclaiming the wonders of the sovereign God of Daniel. As Exiles in our modern Babylon, we find ourselves in the shadows of powers that desire flourishing but are mixed up in troubling sit

Daniel and his friends are faithful Israelites, born and raised. But they are no longer in the Promised Land where daily life is governed by biblical morality and the broader culture is shaped by and encourages their faith. Instead, they’re surrounded by a cultural reality with which they feel deeply at odds, under a great deal of pressure to conform to the ways of Babylon while the consequences for holding faith and conviction are steadily increasing. And while we’re 2 millennia away from them, the parallels are remarkable: The West is increasingly post-Christian, resulting in a rapid rise in both a liberal secularism and conservative religionism. Disciples of Jesus are waking up to the reality that America is not our true home. We are Exiles here, sojourners in a land that we’ve been sent to and called to serve, but we do not belong to the American empire any more than Daniel belonged to Babylon. This posture—in the city, for the city, but not of the city—is what makes the church both faithful and winsome,

Daniel 2 opens with King Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man in the world, afraid, agitated, and paranoid from a series of bad dreams — and he’s ready for heads to roll, including those of the Jewish exiles. But Daniel doesn’t panic or picket; rather, he goes to his community of faithful exiles to seek mercy from God. This little band of faithful see themselves as sent to Babylon to seek the welfare of Babylon, and they do so in prayer, trusting the sovereignty of God and the plans he has for them. God reveals the dream to Daniel, who is then given the opportunity to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom to the King. As Exiles, we’re challenged to believe that God is sovereign over kings and kingdoms, that he’s bringing a final Kingdom in his Son, and that we are called to be a unique kind of counter-formation community within the Babylon in which we live. In order to resist the de-forming pressures of the empire, we need to form communities of prayer, revelation, rest and worship who see ourselves as sent to

Our Spring series will be rooted in the Old Testament book of Daniel. Daniel and his 3 friends are ripped out of the land of Israel and dragged into Babylon, the land of Israel’s greatest enemy. They’re re-homed, re-named, re-educated, and re-purposed as Babylon attempts to stamp out their Jewish identity and their allegiance to Yahweh. But God speaks a surprising word to his people: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf” (Jeremiah 29.7). So here’s the tension: These exiles must love and bless Babylon, but they must not be conformed to it; They must serve their enemies, but they cannot serve their gods; They must be among the Babylonians for the good of the Babylonians, all while maintaining their allegiance to God and their identity as his people. Our series will explore these tensions, looking at how the New Testament writers pick up this biblical theme of exile as a way to describe the Christian experience. This week we explore the de-forming inf

Who we are and are becoming is directly related to where we’re finding our sense of identity, belonging, and purpose. Our hearts and minds are being formed every moment of every day. Throughout the week there is a steady stream of devices, creeds, and ideologies vying for our attention. This input is simply subtle & sly. It can also be openly ornate & overpriced. Whatever it is, it is obvious that we live in a world competing for the narrative. Our hearts can become confused, our people disseminated thinly, and our mission dulled. That’s the reason we gather week after week. We need to be reminded of our identity, our belonging, and our purpose. We need to engage with our God and with His people to fuel our everyday mission.

The great gift of the gospel is assurance - we can know where we stand with God and we can rest in his affectionate gaze. God is for us, with us, and will sustain us to the end, because of Jesus Christ. So what hinders us from living with great joy and confidence and security? On one hand, we've got critics - in our own heads, in the people around us, and in the enemy of our souls - and we shrink back from fully enjoying God's love. On the other hand, we experience hardship in the world - pressures of life, persecution, and suffering - and we measure God's love based on these difficulties. The gospel calls us beyond all that, proclaiming the sufficiency of Jesus to silence our enemies and the sacrifice of Jesus to conquer our uncertainties. Come Holy Spirit!

Life in the Spirit is the unique privilege of the adopted child of God, and God’s ultimate goal for us as his children is glorification: to be conformed to the image of his Son. God has nothing less in mind for you than a full restoration of who he created you to be and what he created you to do. When Paul says we will be “glorified” with Christ, he is looking all the way back to Genesis 1-2, reminding us of God’s original intent in creation, and promising us a full restoration of all that has been lost, for us and for the creation. But none of that means we avoid the harsh realities of this broken world and the suffering here. In fact, our future glorification actually increases the suffering here, as we are now called to forsake the kingdom of self and the ways of the world in order to live for the kingdom of God. Thankfully, in the midst of our suffering, the Spirit is with us, sharpening our hope, helping us in our weakness, and carrying us through to glory!

The declaration of "No Condemnation for those in Christ Jesus" opens up the possibility of a new way of being human: A life no longer driven by self-will (which always leads to personal, communal, and spiritual death) but led by the Spirit (which always leads to life and peace). The new way of the Spirit calls us to put to death the old ways of being as they continue to reside in us and our community, and to offer ourselves together as living sacrifices, learning to do life under the leadership of the Spirit of God in us and among us. At the heart of all this is the experience of knowing God as our "Abba, Father" and knowing ourselves as his adopted children and future heirs. Christians have the unique privilege of knowing where we stand with God (no condemnation!) and experiencing his loving presence now (the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry Abba! Father!). That's the heart of Christian Life -- not just knowing about God and the fact of no condemnation, but knowing him and being known by him, and h

You. Are. His. In Romans 11, Paul keeps coming back to these declarative statements because our great need is to remember what Christ has done and why He has done it. We must remind ourselves and be reminded of who we are: “The gospel broke through because it isn’t just about the fact that we are all fallen-that part is easy for me to swallow... it's about the fact that we are perfectly loved. And that is the part I have a hard time believing on a minute-by-minute basis.”

What if the story of scripture is that there's a better way than resolutions or "trying harder"? In Christ, we are free from the condemnation of the law, and fulfill its righteous requirements by the Spirit, and there is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION for those in Christ Jesus. No more wondering where I stand with God or if I have done enough. No more slinking into his presence, hoping he hasn’t noticed my recent performance. No more shame-driven hiding or fear-based groveling — you can come in like a perfect Son or Daughter adored by the Father!

Paul’s whole point in Romans 8 — this entire chapter, & in some ways all the chapters leading up to this — is summarized in one word: Assurance. We can have this kind of certainty and live with complete assurance: God is with me! God is for me! Not based on my feelings or my circumstances but based on CHRIST. All that he has done is ours in him. And by the Spirit — who meets us with presence, power, comfort, care, help — we have every reason for confidence!

Sunday mornings are a unique time for the broader Soma Spokane Family to gather together. We do this to engage with God and each other to fuel our lives for the missionary work of gospel proclamation in our regular rhythms. This week we dive into the specific liturgical moments that occur week after week on Sundays. The hope is to give a framework and highlight each of these moments so that we can engage more easily and at a greater depth. The 11 steps of our liturgy are: Gather, Community, Call to Worship, Confession, Assurance, Prayer, Word, Communion, Thanksgiving, Benediction, and Scatter.

We love to be loved. We love to love. We love the idea of love. We love to think we know what love is. We love to celebrate love - especially during the holidays. Our feel-good culture assumes that there is a common, agreed-upon working definition of love. But, our experiences, reasoning, culture, and traditions fail to properly pattern love. We are often sold misery, labeled as love. In this world, we are left wanting. Instead of defining love, our weary world becomes the host of love incarnate. The third week of Advent is a celebration of the coming of love. In Jesus, love is perfectly displayed and extravagantly offered! The love of God was made manifest among us! Love has arrived!

Some of the favorite verses for this time of the year declare “peace on earth and goodwill to men,” and that Jesus is going to come as the “prince of peace.” And yet, the promise of peace seems to elude the practical felt lives we lead. What we are going to search through is that “Peace is the conscious possession of adequate resources.” If that is true, and that adequate resources are provided in Jesus, then our conscious possession needs to focus on something different this season. We need a switch in what we see, lean on, and worship as our resource for life.

Advent means “arrival,” and is traditionally a time to consider what it would have been like to live before Jesus came, holding to the promises of God’s rescue but not yet seeing them in real-time. It is also a time of wonder and surprise because God’s rescue did not come as anyone expected! On Sundays in December we are looking at the traditional themes of Advent — the arrival of Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy in Jesus — and hearing from a variety of Soma people as they share how they’ve experienced these gifts in the last year.