Month: January 2026

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

– Matthew 5:6

Eating is such a part of who we are. It is an everyday ritual that often determines the schedule of our day. From a physiological standpoint, eating means life. When we don’t take in nutrients and the right nutrients at that, we will eventually succumb to malnutrition and death. The hunger drive that is wired within us is one, if not the most physical drives that we experience. 

However, hunger as well as eating goes way beyond a biological need and response. We have a natural craving and our taste buds draw us to flavorful and different foods. The variety of different foods make meal time exciting and more satisfying. Grocery stores are packed with isles and assortments of different flavors all with the ability to cause us to hunger for something special, something satisfying, something comforting. There is no shortage of restaurants either. From down home American food, to gourmet cuisine, to numerous ethnic cafes, we are drawn to what will satisfy our hunger in that moment. 

Mealtime has another aspect to it as well. It is a time of social gathering. Gathering around the table with family and friends goes all the way back to the creation of mankind. Sharing a meal with someone is so much more than simply meeting a biological need. It produces a common relational experience that many times memories are made from. 

Jesus’ use of the words hunger and thirst in Matthew 5:6 establish in us something that we all can relate to. Everyone eats and drinks. Everyone knows the importance of food. Everyone, from the newest baby on, understands hunger pangs that are only satisfied with mealtime. This is why so many of Jesus’ complex teachings were available at a basic level to all who heard it. Because they are relatable. Yet there was always something that prompted those He taught to move from a basic physical understanding to a spiritual reality. 

Righteousness is the diet the believer must choose. This we are to have a craving to do what is right in God’s eyes, mirroring His perfect character through submission and humility, striving to follow His teachings and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We are to resolve to become a disciple of Jesus and just like how food is necessary to keep our earthy body alive, the Word is necessary to keep us spiritually healthy. Not only will our spirit be nourished, but we will also gain a sound mind and body.

However, similar to our grocery stores and restaurant choices, we too have a choice of what we feed our spirit. There are many things out there that seek to garner our attention. Like refined sugars, there are those things that attempt to entice us into a choice that will always leave us needing more as well as feeling sick. The old adage very much holds true here, you are what you eat.

God has blessed us richly with the food He has provided us. It is the only option that we truly hunger and thirst for. It is only God’s Word that has the nutrient density to draw us to the righteousness of the Lord.

When faced or tempted to grab a quick meal or satisfy an unhealthy craving, unhealthy spiritually that is, God always has a healthy table set for us. 

Matthew 5:6 is part of the Beatitudes. These are more than mere suggestions, they are the blueprint to living a blessed life in Christ. In each of them, we have a required obligation on our part to be able to experience those things that God has already provided. Similar to grace, we must be the ones to apply the teaching of Jesus into our life, just as it is each one of us that must decide what we will hunger and thirst for.

Jason Metz, Lead Pastor

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

– Revelation 3:15-16

There is an epidemic that is infecting Americans. It is not viral or biologic in origin, but rather spiritual. I’m not sure how long ago it started, however we can see how it has intensified with every new generation. Though this plague is not organic, the effect does have a physical and as well as an emotional consequence on everyone affected. 

The affliction that is shaping our culture in an adverse way is apathy. It is a lackadaisical attitude that attempts to lull one into a sense of complacency. It covertly masquerades under the guise of busyness, schedules, routine and simply going through the motions. These seemingly innocent effects that are too often justified as normal have a nefarious intent. The goal here is to distract while simultaneously sucking joy, hope and creativity out of us. 

We can define this scourge like this, lacking genuine enthusiasm and determination. It is a careless attitude driven by laziness. Unlike many infections, this one is sneaky. We can carry it for years, even decades without diagnosing the root issue. It is a gradual decline and before we know it, the impact is affecting not only us but our families, our jobs, our relationships and even our churches. 

Unlike many viral or bacterial infections that can take many rounds of treatment to cure, with lasting side effects, the cure for this epidemic is one that doesn’t simply get us through our sickness. It actually makes us much stronger. The opposite of apathy is interest, passion, concern and warmth. All attributes that are the side effects of the Blood and Spirit that cures us from a life of indifference.

Paul in his letter to the Colossians has some great advice on getting healthy and staying healthy. It is found in chapter 3, verse 2…

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

This verse has to be read within the context of chapter 2, which talks about our identity in Christ and how we have become alive in Christ, therefore we are to be rooted in Him, walking with Him everyday. If we are truly and authentically rooted and walking with Christ as led by the Holy Spirit, then His attributes and fruit are a blessing to us supplying and equipping us with His focus, compassion and hope. 

These are all anti-apithetic supplements that we need to be ingesting every day. And that’s the kicker. We have to actually and willfully be taking in the cure everyday to keep the epidemic at bay in our life and in our churches.

It is here, when we become healthy and strong in our faith through a reliance upon Christ that we are now able to be about our Father’s business. And it’s like no other business. It is the business of faith, hope and life. It is working with the Holy Spirit to introduce and further the Kingdom into those dark places and hopeless people. It will provide you with the most satisfaction of anything here on planet Earth. To live in the potential that the Lord has gifted us with is a place that has no room for apathy.

So if not now, when?         

Jason Metz, Lead Pastor

For in Him all the fullness of Deity (the Godhead) dwells in bodily form [completely expressing the divine essence of God]. And in Him you have been made complete [achieving spiritual stature through Christ], and He is the head over all rule and authority [of every angelic and earthly power].

-Colossians 2:9-10

There is a tragedy in the world today. Far too many people are living a mere shadow of what they have been created to be. Satisfied with being just a piece of a much greater complexity. It is a weak point in our lives, a point of natural vulnerability. The world conveys this message and convinces us that we are in fact incomplete and only certain things can make us whole. Money, success, looks, acclaim, material things, relationships, the list goes on. It is a marketing firm’s greatest tool and a tactic that the enemy loves to exploit. And he does it well, thrusting a two edged sword. The temptation and the lengths we will go to attain self-affirmation will always leave us feeling empty at which point the devil doubles down and reminds us that we will never be enough. It’s a cycle that is easy to fall into and one that many never break free from.     

With all the pressure to try to become “complete” we have opened the door to an identity crisis, not simply in our personal life, but within our culture. Striving to conform to an unrealistic, not to mention unstable image only leads to an unhealthy sense of self-worth. Society reaps the consequences from the slaughter of the unborn, to the destruction of our children, all the way to the disregard for our elderly. Life itself and the hope that is so vital to live seems to take a back seat to a selfish longing to “find oneself.” The vacuum created by chasing the words standard of happiness is quickly filled with issues of low self esteem, depression, anxiety, hopelessness and isolation. 

Yet, the only answer is one that no money can purchase, no good work can attain and is available to everyone. It’s much more than a fad in that it was established over two thousand years ago. In Jesus Christ alone can we find something much more than our identity. In Christ, we find His identity and only that has the power and capability to make us complete. To put it in the most simplistic way, we become completely complete in Christ.

It’s not about who I was. It’s now about who I am now.

It’s not about what I have done. It’s now about what I will do now.

It’s not about what I used to believe. It’s about what I believe now.

It’s not about how I used to treat people. Only how I treat them now.

Who I am fades into completion in Christ through reconciliation with the Father. The weight of this world has been replaced with the assurance of hope and I am free to live in the confidence, the eternal confidence that I am in Him and have been made complete, achieving spiritual stature through Christ, and He is the head over all rule and authority as Colossians 2 states.

For many reading this, you know it to be true through your authentic relationship with Christ. So much of this is for the multitude of people we all come into contact with on a daily basis, caught up in the false ideals of this world, living a counterfeit or even worse an empty life. How can your testimony of completeness affect them?

Jason Metz, lead Pastor