This week we're going to focus on the simplicity the Christian life is meant to be marked by.

Jesus summed up our purpose with two statements, love God and love people.

But in our humanity, we have made complex what God designed to be peaceful, purposeful, and simple.

A.W. Tozer remarks, in the pursuit of God, every age has its own characteristics.

Right now, we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity, which is in Christ, is rarely found among us. And instead are programs,

methods, organizations, and a world of nervous activities, which occupy time and attention,

but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience,

the hollowness of our worship, and the servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional

methods all testify that we in this day know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.

If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we would first determine to find him,

and then proceed in the way of simplicity. May we discover the peace and joy that come

from pursuing a simple Christianity this week.

Welcome to the First 15 podcast.

This world is an exhausted place.

We search constantly for what would be the most important,

or what deserves our attention from moment to moment.

As the tides of societal values ebb and flow,

so do our affections.

We invest value in love into that which offers us nothing in return.

And unfortunately, the cares of this world have crept into the people of God. Our gatherings are

often marked by complexity and exhaustion. With program goals and achievements, we make

complex what God intended to be so blessedly simple.

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