The Big Story | Acts - The Spirit Arrives

The Big Story | The End - Everything New

He Will Make Everything New: The Promise of the New Creation Scripture: Revelation 21:1–7, 22–27 Show Notes: The Big Story has never been just about judgment. From the very first moment things went wrong in the garden, God has been working not only to hold humanity accountable — but to bring his people home. Today's episode is the one we've been building toward. In Revelation 21, John sees a new heaven and a new earth. The holy city, the New Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven from God — not built by human hands, but given as a gift. And then comes the voice from the throne: "Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people." He will wipe every tear from their eyes. No more death. No more mourning. No more crying or pain. The old order of things has passed away. Lisa reflects on why that detail — the city coming down — matters so much. This is not humanity climbing its way to heaven. This is God descending to his people. It's what he's always done: the tabernacle, Solomon's temple, the incarnation itself. And in the new creation, the distance closes completely. There is no temple, because God himself fills everything. The gates of the new city are never shut. The nations walk by God's light. The glory and honor of human culture — art, music, creativity, work — is gathered in and offered purely to God's glory. This is not the destruction of what humans have made. It is its redemption. In this episode: * Why the New Jerusalem coming down is one of the most important details in Revelation 21 * What it means that there is no temple in the new creation — and why that's good news * How God redeems human culture rather than discarding it * What "sturdy, weight-bearing hope" looks like when you actually believe this is where the story ends Reflection prompt: What is making you anxious, angry, or sad right now? Bring it before this passage. God has answered — and his answer is: "I am making everything new." Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]

The Big Story | The End - The Great White Throne

Nothing Is Hidden: God's Justice and the Book of Life Scripture: Revelation 20:11–15 Show Notes: We live in a world where it can feel like people get away with things. The powerful cover their tracks. The vulnerable are silenced. Justice gets delayed, diluted, or denied. And something deep inside us knows — this isn't right. That instinct is not just cultural. It's God-given. We are made in the image of a just God, and something in us knows that wrongs must be accounted for. Today, Lisa takes us to one of the most sobering scenes in all of scripture: the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20. The dead, great and small — powerful and forgotten, rich and poor — stand before the one seated on the throne. Books are opened. Every deed is recorded. Every wrong is laid bare. No justification survives this courtroom. No wealth buys a lighter sentence. No influence silences a victim's testimony. But this passage is not only about judgment. It's also about the mercy that runs alongside it. God's justice and God's mercy both find their answer at the cross — and in this episode, Lisa explains why the only thing that separates the condemned from the forgiven is whether a name is written in the Book of Life. The enemy who has been deceiving and destroying since the Garden of Eden also faces his final sentence here. He loses completely and permanently. In this episode: * Why the human longing for justice is not a flaw — it's a reflection of the God we're made in the image of * How God's mercy and justice both meet at the cross — and what that means for the great white throne * Why no "not guilty" verdict rings out for anyone, and what the Book of Life actually is * The question the passage leaves every listener with: who in your life hasn't heard the good news yet? Reflection prompt: Is there a situation in your life — or in the world — where you've struggled to trust that God sees and that justice will come? Let today's passage speak to that. Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]

The Big Story | The End - The King Revealed

The King Revealed: Seeing Jesus in His Full Glory Scripture: Revelation 1:9–18 Show Notes: We made it. After months of walking through scripture from Genesis forward, we arrive at the final book of the Bible — Revelation. This week, Lisa opens the last chapter of the Big Story and what we find is breathtaking. In today's episode, the Apostle John — the same disciple who leaned against Jesus at the Last Supper, who stood at the foot of the cross, who ran to the empty tomb — receives a vision that changes everything. The carpenter from Nazareth is revealed as the risen, reigning King of the universe. Eyes like blazing fire. Feet like glowing bronze. A face like the sun shining in full brilliance. This is not the Jesus of a Sunday school flannel board. This is the Lord of all creation in his unfiltered glory — and John falls at his feet as though dead. But the king knows him by name. And his first words are: "Do not be afraid." In this episode, Lisa reflects on what it means that the Jesus we've followed through the Gospels — eating with sinners, weeping at tombs, holding children — has always been this. He is the First and the Last, the Living One who was dead and is now alive forever, holding the keys of death and Hades. Sin and death do not have the final word. Jesus does. In this episode: * How John's encounter with the glorified Jesus fits a pattern seen throughout scripture (Moses at the burning bush, Isaiah in the temple, Israel at Sinai) * What the symbols in Revelation 1 actually mean — the lampstands, the golden sash, the double-edged sword * Why the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2–3 could have been written to any church in any century, including ours * What it means to give Jesus not just our affection, but our allegiance Reflection prompt: The Jesus we've been following through the Gospels has always been this. How does seeing him in his full glory change how you relate to him today? Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]

The Big Story | One Church - The Love No One Can Grasp Alone

Big Story Pt. 3 | Week 8 | Ephesians 3:14–21 We've spent the week watching Paul build a case for the church's unity, image by image: shared grace, a demolished wall, a temple rising, a worthy walk. Today we step back, take in the whole picture, and let Paul's own prayer become ours. Because by the time Paul reached the end of chapter three, he couldn't keep describing. He had to stop and kneel. In this final episode of the week, Lisa guides us through Ephesians 3:14–21 — one of the most breathtaking prayers in the New Testament — and closes the week with a call to live the story, not just study it. In this episode: * A recap of the week's four theological images and why they build on each other * Why Paul prays that believers would grasp Christ's love together with all the Lord's holy people — because none of us can take it in alone * The doxology that closes Ephesians 3 and what it means for the church's witness in the world Scripture: Ephesians 3:14–21 Live It Out — three ways to practice unity this week: 1. Pick one virtue. Choose humility, gentleness, patience, or bearing with one another in love — and ask the Spirit to grow that in you this week in one specific relationship. 2. Pray beyond your circle. Pray for a believer from a different tradition, generation, or background, and ask God to bless them. 3. Show up. Be present with your church community this week. The body of Christ is built together, not alone. Tell the Story: When the watching world sees believers who refuse to be divided by the things that divide everyone else, it sees something only God could have made. Who in your life needs to see a Christian who doesn't fit the divisive patterns they expect? Who needs to hear that there's a community where the ground is level at the foot of the cross? Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]

The Big Story | One Church - Live Like It's True

Big Story Pt. 3 | Week 8 | Ephesians 4:1–6 For three chapters, Paul has been telling the Ephesians what God has done. Now, with a single word — therefore — he turns the corner. Everything that's true about who we are in Christ becomes the foundation for how we live with each other. In today's episode, Lisa walks through Ephesians 4:1–6, where Paul names four virtues that make community possible (none of them flashy) and then gives us one of the most important distinctions in the whole letter: unity is not something the church has to manufacture. It's something the Spirit has already given. Our job is to stop tearing it apart. In this episode: * Why Paul opens by reminding his readers he's writing from chains * The difference between earning a calling and living worthy of one * Why humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance are the unglamorous habits that hold community together * The seven "ones" of Ephesians 4 — and why none of our differences is bigger than any of them Scripture: Ephesians 4:1–6 Reflection questions: * Think of one believer in your life whose presence regularly tests one of Paul's four virtues in you. What is the Spirit asking of you in that relationship? * What would it look like this week to make every effort to keep the unity the Spirit has already given — rather than waiting until the relationship feels easy? * What is one small step you could take toward that person this week? Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]