Podcasts about just jesus

A Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity 2 Corinthians 3:4-9 by William Klock Imagine you're an Israelite at the time of the Exodus.  Moses shows up and announces that the God of your ancestors—a God no one's heard from in four hundred years—is going to deliver you from Pharoah's slavery.  Sounds pretty sketchy.  But then God begins to act.  He sends ten plagues on the Egyptians.  He turns the Nile to blood.  Wow!  But then Pharoah's magicians do the same thing.  Okay…maybe not as impressive as it seemed at first.  But as the plagues go on, they get more and more impressive and Pharaoh's magicians can't keep up.  By the tenth plague you know without a doubt that this God of your fathers is something.  He's even more powerful than Pharoah and his gods.  And then the Red Sea.  Pharaoh chased you down.  Your people are stuck between the sea and Pharaoh's army.  All is lost.  And then the God of your fathers parts the sea itself in an amazing display of power and authority.  Imagine what it was like to walk through the sea on dry ground.  And then to watch as, just as miraculously, the God of your fathers causes the waters to come crashing back into place just at the right time to drown Pharaoh's army.  And you join with your people as, for the first time, you sing praise to this God of your fathers—a God whom you're now starting to think of as your God.  But God isn't finished.  He appears as a magnificent pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night and he leads your people into the wilderness.  When there's nothing to drink, he causes water to pour forth from a rock.  When there's nothing to eat, he miraculously provides an abundance of manna and quail.  At Mount Sinai he meets your people in cloud and lightning on the mountaintop.  He establishes a covenant with you.  He will be your God and you will be his people.  He sends Moses down the mountain with the torah and with instructions for the tabernacle.  And having been in God's presence, Moses' face shines so brightly with God's glory that he has to wear a veil.  And when your people have finished assembling the tabernacle, you see God's glory—like a cloud—descend to fill it.  It's stounding.  It's the sort of thing the Egyptians could only dream about their gods doing and the God of Israel does it for real.  And, eventually, just as he promised, God leads your people into Canaan—the promised land—and he conquers the people for you and gives you their cities.  And you know it's him, not you.  There's no doubting it.  He had you march on Jericho, not with swords, but carrying his ark and blowing trumpets as you marched in circles around the city.  Not to attack it.  Not to put siege to it.  But simply to announce that the Lord, the God of Israel had come.  And when that announcement was clear and when everyone could see that you and your people had done nothing but announce the Lord's presence, he caused the walls to come crashing down.  He defeated the city.  And neither you nor anyone else could possibly think of taking credit for it.  Neither you nor anyone else took the Lord for granted.  Neither you nor anyone else could dream of giving your faith, your loyalty, your allegiance to any other god.  Because you had seen with your own eyes the glory of the Lord. Even as the generations passed, the people remembered the Lord.  They lived in those cities, they drew from those well, they harvested crops from those fields that the Lord had taken from the Canaanites and given to their fathers and grandfathers.  They bore in their flesh the sign of God's covenant—that statement, “I will be your God and you will be my people”—they bore that sign in their circumcision.  And every year they celebrated the Passover and not only recalled the events of the Exodus in which the Lord had saved their fathers; they participated, themselves, in those events—they owned them as if they'd happened to them.  And the covenant was renewed. And if you read the Old Testament no further you might think it would be like that forever.  How could a people who had so experienced the glory of God ever take him for granted, let alone turn their backs on him?  How could a people who had so experienced the glory of God ever look for confidence and hope in anyone or anything else?  But it happened.  They took their status as his people for granted.  They began to take those cities and wells and vineyards and fields he'd given them for granted.  They stopped celebrating the Passover and remembering what he'd done for them.  They started worshiping other gods.  They lost faith in the Lord and started putting their trust in kings and in armies and in politics.  And when the prophets came to rebuke the people and to call them back to faithfulness, they refused to listen and abused those prophets.  Eventually, because they took it all for granted, because they were unfaithful, the Lord took away the land and the cities and fields and vineyards—and finally even his presence—and sent the people into exile in a foreign land.  But not before he promised them renewal.  One day he would restore them and make them new and fill them with his own Spirit, he would turn their hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, so that they would be forever faithful. And, in Jesus, the Lord fulfilled that promise to his people.  In Jesus he was born as one of them, but rejected and crucified as a false Messiah.  God raised Jesus from death and overturned the verdict against him, declaring that he really was the Messiah and creation's true Lord.  In rising from the grave Jesus conquered death.  And then, to those who were baptised and received the sign of God's new covenant, he gave God's Spirit.  The old Israel had a temple.  This new Israel is the temple.  And as we read in last week's Epistle, Paul stressed that the risen Jesus appeared to the twelve, and to the other disciples, and even at one point to five hundred, and lastly to him.  And Jesus changed everything for them.  In his death and resurrection he led his people in a new exodus, not this time from physical bondage under Pharaoh, but from bondage to sin and death themselves.  And in baptism, Jesus leads his people like Moses through the waters of redemption to meet the Lord on the far side.  And the Spirit leads us, not as a pillar of cloud or fire, but as God's very presence within us, as we embark on a world- and humanity-saving trek through the wilderness of the old evil age into the age to come, towards the New Jerusalem, to that day when gospel and Spirit have done their work and Jesus does away with sin and death and evil once and for all and forever, and creation is set to rights and we enjoy the presence of our God eternally.  Those first eyewitnesses took this astounding gospel story to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the world and amazing things happened.  It was more than just a story of the glory of God.  The story of the old exodus was that, but this was more.  The story of the Messiah and this new exodus has power unlike any story that has been told before or since.  This is a story backed by the life-giving and life-changing power of Jesus and the Spirit and the people who heard it and believed it and came to trust in the death and, most importantly, the resurrection of Jesus, they were changed.  Forgiven by the redeeming death of Jesus and then given a foretaste of the life of God's new world by the Spirit whom he poured into them.  It was a change that no one could ignore.  Some were captivated by it and came to hear and to believe the gospel story for themselves and they shared in this new life too.  And others got angry as the gospel story and God's new world challenged the gods and the kings and the systems in which they were already invested.  But to those who believed, the gospel, the good news about Jesus was life itself.  And they gathered together as often as they could and when they did, they not only shared the community the gospel had given them, they shared in the meal Jesus had given them.  In the Lord's Supper they ate bread and drank wine—and just as in the Passover—they didn't just remember what Jesus had done to deliver them from sin and death, they appropriated that death and resurrection, they participated in that saving event themselves.  They owned this new exodus just as the Israelites owned the events of the first exodus.  And each time it was as if the Lord was renewing his covenant with them: through Jesus and the Spirit, I will be your God and you will be my people. And you might think that their faithfulness to the Lord would be unending.  You would think that their trust and loyalty—their confidence—would always and only be in Jesus the Messiah.  But it wasn't.  If we're honest about our struggles, we know that it's easy to become distracted by other things.  There's a reason we gather every Sunday to hear the good news again and to come to the Lord's Table to be reminded and to renew the covenant.  There's a reason why wendaily immerse ourselves in the scriptures and in the story there of God and his people.  Because when we don't, even as glorious as that story is, even as it once captivated us so thoroughly, somehow—and to our shame—we forget.  And Jesus is still there, but we start focusing on other things and we start looking for other things and we start putting our confidence and our hope in other things. It even happened in the early church with that first generation of believers.  Paul had arrived in Corinth in about a.d. 50 or 51.  He proclaimed the good news about Jesus and both Jews and gentiles there were captivated by the story.  They believed.  They were baptised.  And Paul stayed with them for about a year and half, helping them to set up a church.  And everyone knew that it wasn't Paul who had done.  He was just an unassuming little man.  Funny looking, maybe with a speech impediment.  (Remember in last week's Epistle he owned that insult about being a monster, prematurely born.)  What happened in Corinth wasn't about Paul.  Brothers and Sisters, it was about the power of the gospel and the Spirit.  And yet just a few years later, it all started to fall apart.  The amazing story about the death and resurrection of Jesus that had once so spoken to them about the glory of God started to fade, and with it their motivation to holiness.  Sin—gross, truly wicked sin—started to creep into the church and they found ways to justify it.  Their worship became chaotic as people began using the gifts the Spirit had given to bring attention to themselves instead of to build up the body.  They abused the Lord's Supper and twisted and undermined its covenant meaning.  And when Paul, their brother, the one who had not only brought the gospel to them, but who could speak with authority about it because he, himself, had met the risen Jesus, when he wrote to them they brushed him off.  They told him they didn't want to hear from him anymore.  He'd been displaced by other preachers who were flashier, who were more handsome, who were better spoken then he was. And so, at the end of 2 Corinthians 2 he appeals to them.  He talks about himself as “we” instead of “I” and I think he does that to emphasise that he stand with the other apostles whose authority came from being eyewitness of the risen Messiah.  The same could not be said of others who have come to them and led them astray.  He writes to them, saying, “We aren't mere peddlers of God's word, as so many preachers are.  We speak with sincerity.  We speak from God.  We speak in God's presence.  We speak in the Messiah.”  The Messiah: that's who this is really about.  Paul has no authority of his own.  He simply speaks what he heard from Jesus himself.  And his point here is that they had once been captivated by that gospel of the Messiah that Paul had proclaimed to them, but now they've been captivated by the words of mere men.  “Do you want a letter of recommendation before you'll listen to me?” Paul asks.  “Do I need to give you a sheaf of reference letters so you'll know I'm legit?” “No,” says Paul, going on in 3:2: “You are our official reference!  It's written on our hearts.  Everyone can know and read it.  It's plain that you are a letter from the Messiah, with us the messengers.  A letter not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.  Not on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of fleshly hearts.” In other words, despite all their problems, despite their backsliding into worldly ways, they are not the people they once were.  Paul had proclaimed the good new—the story about Jesus and his death and resurrection and ascension—and through that preaching the Spirit had captivated them and filled their hearts with faith.  They believed.  They gave their trust, their loyalty, their allegiance, their obedience to Jesus and they were transformed.  And Paul could see it even through all their problems.  No, Paul doesn't need to give them references.  “You are my reference,” he says to them.  I know you've kicked me to the curb, but it was the message I received from Jesus that I preached to you that transformed you—not the merely human words of the other preachers who came along.  It was the word of God that did it. And they really, really need to hear this.  Because in the years since Paul left, as they've listened to teachers who led them astray, as the glory of the pure gospel has faded from their vision, they've begun to put their confidence in other things.  They no longer associate Paul with the gospel.  They're thinking of him as that funny-looking little man with the speech impediment.  And following someone like that in Greek culture, well, that wasn't going to get you anywhere.  And so they associated with the handsome preachers with eloquent rhetoric who could impress the Greeks.  They've forgotten that the gifts the Spirit gave them were gifts of grace to build up the body, and now they're abusing them and putting their confidence in them.  They've forgotten that the gospel puts them all on an equal footing before the throne of grace, and they're letting their old class and cultural divisions divide them up.  They were growing their church—as we'd say it today—but they weren't growing it on the gospel. We do the same thing today.  We may do it even more than the Corinthians, because commercialism is the cultural water we swim in and we don't even realise how much it impacts how we think about church and we don't realise how it so easily displaces the gospel and gospel growth and gospel ministry.  We build our churches around personalities.  We build our churches around programmes.  We build our churches around demographics.  We build our churches by advertising that we're better than or that we're not like our neighbouring churches.  We treat the church as if it's a business or a social club instead of a family—the covenant people of God, transformed and shaped by the gospel and the Spirit.  The Spirit has transformed our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh through the power of the gospel, but we forget the centrality of the gospel and allow our hearts to calcify back into stone.  It might not seem like that's what's happening at first.  Our churches may even have the appearance of success, but it's because we're appealing to stony hearts of worldly people with what they value, not with the power of the transforming gospel they need.   It's that simple gospel that needs to be at the centre of everything.  The risen Jesus always before us.  The risen Jesus at the centre of every decision we make.  The risen Jesus at the heart of everything we do.  Just Jesus, crucified and risen.  The simple gospel.  So Paul goes on in verse 4: “That is the kind of confidence we have toward God, through the Messiah.”  Stop putting your confidence in other things.  Just put it in Jesus.  He and only he can bring us before God.  So Paul says, “It isn't as though we are qualified in ourselves to reckon that we have anything to offer on our own account.  Our qualification comes from God: God has qualified us to be stewards of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit.  The letter kills, you see, but the Spirit gives life.”  The gospel was his only qualification and the only one that mattered.  The same goes for us. Now, think again of the glory that God put on display in the Exodus and in the story of Israel that followed.  That's what Paul gets at in verse 7 when he writes: “But just think about it: when death was being ministered, carved in letter of stone,”—he's talking about Mt. Sinai and the giving of the law”—“it was a glorious thing, so glorious in fact that the children of Israel couldn't look at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory that was to be abolished.”  The glory God displayed in those days was astounding.  It moved the people to faith and trust and worship. But now Paul's talking about the new covenant and what God has done in Jesus and the Spirit.  “Will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?” he asks them.  “If ministering condemnation is glorious, you see, how much more glorious is the ministry of vindication—of righteousness, of justice?  In fact, what used to be glorious has come, by comparison, to have no glory at all, because of the new glory which goes so far beyond it! O, Brothers and Sisters, would that we would also be so captivated by the glory of the simple gospel of Jesus the Messiah.  There is no other glory that can compare and if we will keep it always before us—this good new of Jesus, crucified, risen, and Lord—if we would keep our eyes always focused on it, if we let it shape our lives, if we let it shape our decision, if we let it be the basis for everything we do as the church.  If the glory of the gospel were our sole source of confidence and hope, it would transform our churches and make us the people God intends for us to be.  God's promise is that one day the knowledge of his glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, but, Brothers and Sisters, remember that he has made us the stewards of that glory.  He has entrusted his gospel of life to us and he's filled us with his Spirit.  It is our calling to make his glory known by taking the good news of Jesus to Courtenay and Comox, to Vancouver Island, to Canada, and even to the ends of the earth.  You may have placed a veil over God's glory.  This morning let the scriptures lift that veil.  Let the bread and the wine here at his Table lift that veil.  Look on the glory of the Lord revealed in Jesus the Messiah and be refreshed and renewed for the gospel ministry to which you have been called. Let's pray: Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve:  Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Saviour; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

In week 2 of our Just Jesus series, we continue through John chapter 1 and discuss how John pointed to the light by introducing a king who would reign forever. 

Casey Brooks preaches "Just Jesus" from Jeremiah 9:25, in this Sunday evening gathering of Grace Harbor Church.

Ever feel like you're trying to earn your way to being a “good enough” Christian?Pastor Anthony gets it.Growing up in a legalistic church, he learned how man-made rules can actually pull us away from Jesus instead of closer to Him.In this message from Colossians 2:6–7, we discover Paul's simple truth:The same way you started with Christ is the same way you keep growing.No performance.No extra rules.No spiritual scorecards.Just faith. Just Jesus.Whether you're navigating career stress, relationships, or figuring out authentic faith in your twenties and thirties…This is a reminder:Spiritual growth isn't about trying harder.It's about trusting deeper.Discover what it means to be rooted in Christ through His grace, not your effort.

Ever feel like you're trying to earn your way to being a “good enough” Christian?Pastor Anthony gets it.Growing up in a legalistic church, he learned how man-made rules can actually pull us away from Jesus instead of closer to Him.In this message from Colossians 2:6–7, we discover Paul's simple truth:The same way you started with Christ is the same way you keep growing.No performance.No extra rules.No spiritual scorecards.Just faith. Just Jesus.Whether you're navigating career stress, relationships, or figuring out authentic faith in your twenties and thirties…This is a reminder:Spiritual growth isn't about trying harder.It's about trusting deeper.Discover what it means to be rooted in Christ through His grace, not your effort.

In today's episode, I reflected on Peter and Paul—two unlikely men Jesus called to preach one powerful truth: it's just Jesus. Not Jesus plus effort, law, or status. Just Jesus—who saves sinners like them, and like us. I talked about how humbling that truth is. We all want to believe we're special or that we've earned something. But before God, we're all the same: sinners in need of grace. And the amazing news? Jesus gives it—all of it—freely. Peter and Paul stood firm against anyone who tried to add to that message. And I'm learning to do the same in my own life. When it feels like I'm not enough, or when life gets hard, I come back to that same truth: Just Jesus. That's everything.

We've all heard the end-of-the-world talk—apocalyptic headlines, megaphone preachers, conspiracy-theory YouTubers. But what did Jesus actually say about the end of the world… and why hasn't He come back yet?In this kickoff to our Lock-In series, we take an honest look at what Jesus actually taught about His return. No conspiracy theories. No paranoia. No fear. Just Jesus' words and what they reveal about His heart for you.

You can't live a resurrection life without first dying to the old one. Pastor Louis moves into the heart of Christian transformation in Colossians 3. Here, Paul gets practical in his letter, calling believers not just to believe in Christ but to become like Him. This means putting to death the old self: sinful desires, fractured relationships, disunity, and distorted sexual morality. In a world that encourages self-expression at all costs, Colossians invites us to something deeper: a life of death and resurrection in Jesus. Explore:

In this message wrapping up the Just Jesus series, Pastor Alec unpacks the contrast between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion, revealing the freedom and confidence we now have through Jesus. He reminds us that spiritual maturity isn't about perfection, but about letting the gospel transform our hearts and shape our lives from the inside out. Whether you're just starting your faith journey or learning to lead others, this episode will encourage you to stop settling for less and step boldly into all that Jesus offers.

“Are You Producing What You're Advertising?” Part 6 of Just Jesus series  “The next day, after leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. From far away, he noticed a fig tree in leaf, so he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing except leaves, since it wasn't the season for figs. So he said to it, “No one will ever again eat your fruit!” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭11‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭CEB‬‬   Faking it till you make it will cost you making it.

David Leonard recently traded his studio for a secluded cabin to record his latest album. Leonard and a few of his close musical friends packed up what they needed and headed out to an old cabin in a secluded area in Franklin, Tennessee. Today on Connections, David talks about that experience and his new album, Just Jesus.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's show, we chat with David Leonard!Arkansas native and Tennessee resident David Leonard has been playing, singing, writing, and recording music since college when he and friends formed the band Jackson Waters. He later performed with NEEDTOBREATHE before a season of recording as one-half of the critically-acclaimed, GRAMMY Award-nominated duo All Sons & Daughters. David is a Dove Award-winning producer and creative partner in The Creak Music (Brandon Lake, Cody Carnes, NEEDTOBREATHE, Ben & Noelle Kilgore, and more), and he's also racked up stellar songwriting credits such as “Great Are You Lord,” “Christ Be All Around,” and “All The Poor and Powerless.” It was in 2019 when he released his first solo project, The Wait, a special collection of personal and reflective songs. David followed up the critically acclaimed album with The Wait: Silence The Noise, encompassing recreated and intimate versions of each of the original tracks. Along with being a husband and father, David Leonard can easily say his other love and passion is his work. His new album, Just Jesus, is available everywhere!davidleonardmusic.com@davidleonardmusicchristianmusicguys.com@christianmusicguys

Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and constantly busy? In this week of Just Jesus, Pastor Eric Nelson unpacks the cycle of anxiety, busyness, and fatigue that plagues so many of us today—and how true rest is closer than we think. Through Hebrews 4, we'll explore how trusting in Jesus frees us from the relentless need to prove ourselves, giving us the deep, lasting rest our souls crave.

The Pharisee and his guests didn't want to see the woman who came in.  Just Jesus see her.  He hears her.  He reminds her that she is not alone.  He provides hope.  And he sends her out renewed and restored.  And he does that for us as well, especially when the world wants to erase people.  Jesus invites us to see and hear people, to know they are not alone.  To offer hope, and to send us out.  Pastor Matthew's Sermon is based on Luke 7:36-50.

SPECIAL LESSON In lesson 33 we will turn from our focus on the Torah and the book of Genesis to consider the answer to the question, “Why Do This?”  Why should we study the Bible in this manner?  Why should be put the Bible in its historical context and strive to hear the Bible on its own terms; that is, to hear the Bible as to what it says and what it does not say?    Since I returned from my first study tour to the Middle East in Israel years ago and continuing in my learning since those days, I have found that most lessons I hear from Christians are devoid of the historical context of the Bible.  I have found that most teach with no concept of how important it is to understand the word of God as the “first hearers” did.  A classic example is the picture of Jesus with the sharp two edged sword in Pergamum in Revelation 2.  No one ever has ever taught how the sharp two edged sword and Pergamum are related.  No one ever in teachings I heard makes the connection.  Why?  Since Pergamum was a center of the worship of the emperor of Rome, we learn that Caesar had the right of the sword; in Latin “ius gladii.” This means that he and his designates had the power of life and death; by his word a person could be immediately executed. This is why Jesus was brought before Pilate. In Greek this is called the right of the “rhomphaia” – this is the exact word found in Rev. 2:12!  Bible historians suggest that Jesus who has the sharp two-edged-sword or “rhomphaia” is in direct confrontation with the emperor. It is not Caesar who has the power over life and death, it is not a man who has absolute power over all. It is Jesus. Only Jesus has the power of the sword, the power of the “rhomphaia.” Amazingly, Jesus is writing this to the only city of the seven that is the center of imperial worship of the emperor. If you are an early believer in Pergamum, you get it, loud and clear!! (Note: the sharp two-edged sword Jesus had was not the word of God as in Eph. 6:17. The Greek word used there is “machaira” or a dagger or short sword. That is our sword – God's word.  No way do we get the sword of the King of Kings!) However, there is more. For at least the first 100 years of the “church” the only Bible they had was the Hebrew Scriptures commonly known as the Old Testament. Moreover, a majority of the early church were Messianic Jewish people who knew the Torah, the 1st five books of the Bible, as God's direct instruction (not law) for His chosen people. In the Torah we read … “See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; it is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand. Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever, If I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand takes hold on justice, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me. I will make My arrows drunk with blood, And My sword will devour flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the long-haired leaders of the enemy.” (Deu 32:39-42) A Messianic Jew in Pergamum would easily associate this verse with Rev. 2:12. Jesus had the sharp two-edged sword. Only He has the power of life and death. That is why murder is forbidden in the Ten Commandments. Thus, Deut. 32:39-42 and Rev. 2:12 proclaim Jesus as God, the God of the Bible, the one true God, God alone. When does Jesus ever say that He is God?? All the time!! But, He does it in the cultural context of the times. The Bible was written to them, those who first hear it, and not to us.  As my first teacher said that we must understand the who and the what and the where of the Bible event to understand the why.  This was Ray Vander Laan and I highly recommend you to connect with his ministry, “That the World May Know,” and to start purchasing his DVD's of Bible lessons in their historical context filmed on site in the Middle East.  Here's a link to his website.  Link - https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/ I urge you to check out his free articles and audio lessons.  Click on LEARN at the homepage of "That the World May Know." In this podcast I brought up a story of a 12 year old boy who asked me if Jesus dwells in us.  Certainly the Spirit dwells in us; that is exactly what the Bible says (1 Cor 3:16 and 1 Cor 6:19).  But in one section of the Bible Jesus teaches us something totally amazing.  Check it out ... "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  (Joh 14:10-20) In these verses we see that the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father and we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us and thus the Father is in us since the Father is in Jesus.  On top of that the Holy Spirit will be given to us by the Father and the Holy Spirit will dwell in us as well!!  WOW!! All three in us at the same time.  So who dwells in you?  Just the Spirit?  Just Jesus?  Only the Father?  No.  Who dwells in you? God!  It's bigger than we thought.   So come and join me.  Let us consider the importance of hearing the Bible on its own terms.  Let us consider bringing our brain to the Bible and use our minds and intelligence that God gave us to come to know Him in a deeper and more passionate way so that the fire in us will begin to burn out of control and we will not be able to keep our mouths shut anymore. Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?  What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

We see Paul begin the heart of this teaching in Galatians. If we are saved by works, then Christ died for nothing. The equation is not Jesus plus correct doctrine equals salvation. It is not Jesus, plus the right church equals salvation. It is not Jesus, plus the right gifts of the spirit equals salvation. It is Jesus equals salvation. Just Jesus. He alone saves. That's the Gospel. Shameless plug: here's a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.If you'd like to receive this daily reflection on your phone, text @39110 to 81010 to sign up. You can read today's passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%202%3A%2015-21&version=NRSVUEYou can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

Join us for the first episode of our Just Jesus series as we dive into the book of Hebrews and explore why Jesus is better, perfect, and sufficient in every way. In this sermon, we unpack how Jesus surpasses prophets, angels, and traditions, and how we can guard against drifting away from Him. Through rich biblical insights and practical encouragement, this message challenges us to center our lives on Just Jesus—nothing more, nothing less.

How can we continue to show our gratitude daily when we face challenges? Join us as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that with Jesus, we experience life with a grateful heart, but without Him we are ruled by a sinful nature.

How can we continue to show our gratitude daily when we face challenges? Join us as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that with Jesus, we experience life with a grateful heart, but without Him we are ruled by a sinful nature.

How can we continue to show our gratitude daily when we face challenges? Join us as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that with Jesus, we experience life with a grateful heart, but without Him we are ruled by a sinful nature.

How can we continue to show our gratitude daily when we face challenges? Join us as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that with Jesus, we experience life with a grateful heart, but without Him we are ruled by a sinful nature.

How do we continue to believe Jesus heard our prayers without seeing? Join us as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us to trust in Jesus by walking in faith to lead us home, not by sight alone.

How do we continue to believe Jesus heard our prayers without seeing? Join us as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us to trust in Jesus by walking in faith to lead us home, not by sight alone.

How do we continue to believe Jesus heard our prayers without seeing? Join us as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us to trust in Jesus by walking in faith to lead us home, not by sight alone.

How do we continue to believe Jesus heard our prayers without seeing? Join us as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us to trust in Jesus by walking in faith to lead us home, not by sight alone.

How do we rejoice when it feels like we're facing our problems alone? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that we have access to a peace that surpasses all understanding.

How do we rejoice when it feels like we're facing our problems alone? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that we have access to a peace that surpasses all understanding.

How do we rejoice when it feels like we're facing our problems alone? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that we have access to a peace that surpasses all understanding.

How do we rejoice when it feels like we're facing our problems alone? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that we have access to a peace that surpasses all understanding.

How can we receive God's love as sinners? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that Jesus loves us so much, He paid our debts by giving His life on the cross—where divine love meets divine justice.

How can we receive God's love as sinners? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that Jesus loves us so much, He paid our debts by giving His life on the cross—where divine love meets divine justice.

How can we receive God's love as sinners? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that Jesus loves us so much, He paid our debts by giving His life on the cross—where divine love meets divine justice.

How can we receive God's love as sinners? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series by reminding us that Jesus loves us so much, He paid our debts by giving His life on the cross—where divine love meets divine justice.

This episode was released on September 23, 2024.In this exclusive interview, Max Lucado shares an update on his role at Gateway Church during a time of crisis. Max discusses the ongoing healing process, the church's response, and how his "Just Jesus" sermon series is helping the congregation rebuild trust in Christ. Max also offers insights on how to support those hurt by leadership failures and provides a message of hope and encouragement for all believers.

How can we make a difference in the world? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series with a reminder that when God partners with us, He is faithful to use our actions—big or small—to make a difference!

How can we make a difference in the world? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series with a reminder that when God partners with us, He is faithful to use our actions—big or small—to make a difference!

How can we make a difference in the world? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series with a reminder that when God partners with us, He is faithful to use our actions—big or small—to make a difference!

How can we make a difference in the world? Join us this weekend as Pastor Max Lucado continues his Just Jesus series with a reminder that when God partners with us, He is faithful to use our actions—big or small—to make a difference!

There's an old proverb – never put things off until tomorrow, that you can do today. Jesus was a master at that. In just three and a half years, He turned the world completely upside down.   A Team Player Other people can be such a pain in the neck, have you noticed that? I don't mean you I mean other people. It's always those other people isn‘t it? Its never you its never me we always blame someone else. They're the one that's being difficult; they're the one that's got it so wrong again! We're so full of ourselves aren't we? We imagine you and I, that we're indispensable, that no one else can do it as well as you and I can. If you want a job done right, you just have to do it yourself, and to some extent that is true other people are a pain in the neck sometimes and deep down we'll even admit that sometimes … ahh yeah ok, sometimes, yeah sometimes it is me. Sometimes it is you, and all the more reason then just do it then yourself! It's so much easier without the other people and ok you don't get quite as much done but there are far fewer headaches. Now we don't think like that all the time, but working with other people while it can be rewarding it can also be challenging, we're looking this week at how to live an extraordinary life. We're doing that by following Jesus around a bit like one of those twelve disciples, and watching Him, listening to Him, learning from Him, about how He lived His extraordinary life. On our last program we saw that the very first thing He did in His public ministry was to submit to God through baptism. One of the next things He did was to build a team. He was baptised, He suffered in the wilderness and then He began proclaiming the Good News: "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." Well that's all well and good, but the reason that there was no telly evangelists back then is that there were no tellies, there was no newspapers, there was no radio, there was no T.V, no internet, no mass medium of any sort. In fact, there weren't even sound systems or bull horns to speak to a large crowd! Nothing. Just Jesus, this carpenters son from Nazareth, the self styled Messiah who'd come to save the world. His ministry was about walking the dusty highways and byways of first century Israel and building a following. That was the reality and to do that He needed some help. So here it is, here is what He did. Mathew chapter 4, beginning at verse 18: As He walked by the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers Simon who is also called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting their nets into the sea for they were fishermen. And He said to them, look follow me and I'll make you fishers of people. Immediately they left their nets and they followed Him. As He went from there He saw two other brothers James the son of Zeberdee and his brother John in the boat with their father Zeberdee mending their nets. And He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and they followed Jesus. Now this was totally extraordinary in two regards. Firstly the rabbi went and called His followers, generally this was completely the other way around. You see some Rabbi's were just a bit more prestigious than others, so young men only men, would try and climb the social ladder by following the highest pegged Rabbi in the social scale that they possibly could. So it's a bit like trying to get into Oxford or Cambridge or Harvard to study a PHD. They're far more prestigious establishments than where I studied, you have to apply lots do only a few get in. That's how it was with the most recognised of Rabbi's. Whole families would caught them to try and leverage their social network to try and get their sons in as follows, as disciples – that's what they were called – of the most prestigious Rabbi, because that would advance their prospects. First extraordinary thing about Jesus team building approach was that He called disciples to follow Him, instead of the other way around where the disciples applied for kind of like an apprenticeship with him. And secondly, He went for fishermen to start with. Salt of the earth guys to be sure but very working class, very down the social order, very well … you know, fishermen. Smelly, not that educated, certainly not that well regarded and they came not from Judea, not from Jerusalem but from Galilee like Jesus. Really?! You can just see how the religious establishment in Jerusalem the chaps, the chaps trust, would have looked down their nose at these uneducated bumpkins. I caught the bus the other day and ran into a man who I'd known years before so I sat next to him and for the next 20 minutes or so he told me about all the important people he'd been having dinner with, he was just about to head off to the US to attend Harvard, he'd just had this well known Politian stay at his place … it went on and on and on. He didn't ask me about me, once! So I didn't offer. Sometimes I think that we think that a team if you're going to have one at all has to be full of classy people: people who have their act together. People who are well known, well regarded, people who are rung or three above us on the social ladder. A few rungs higher, so that by associating with them we can climb up a bit further, but not too far away that they're out of reach. Sometimes I think that we think that we have to go and chase after people and grovel to them and follow them, surround ourselves with winners not losers. Jesus turned that whole thing completely on its head. He didn't have people grovel to Him, He went and chose His team. He surrounded Himself with real salt of the earth people, almost deliberately picking the anti-establishment team. Tax collectors to sinners, the lot of them! See Jesus didn't go out there and pick the obviously "A" Team, He built an "A" Team. And what makes the Jesus model of team selection and team building so amazing is that this rag tag team of uneducated bumpkins founded what we today call the church, to which a couple of billion people still belong two thousand years on! Now that's an extraordinary life. Did having those twelve disciples have it's moments? Absolutely! Remember once His disciples failed to heal a boy and Jesus exclaimed “how long must I be with this faithless and perverse generation?” sure it was frustrating! Sure these twelve guys required Jesus to pour Himself into them, Sure one of them even betrayed him. But Jesus life was made all the more extraordinary by this down to earth heart desire to part off to lead to disciple a team, no matter what it cost Him. His life lives on still today through the Church all because He was passionate about the team, passionate about a community. Sounds like the makings of an extraordinary life doesn't it? What do you think?   A Job to Do Now not only was Jesus a team player, but He was focused. He new He had a job to do, and that's what we're going to look at next. A great part of that was preaching and teaching. So, how do you kick off a career as a preacher? That was the challenge for Jesus. He was an absolute unknown. He was poor, not rich. He came from rural not very upmarket Nazareth, not from religion central Jerusalem. He was a carpenter, not a highly qualified Rabbi. He had all those rumours of an illegitimate birth hanging over His head from His childhood. And then there was the stigma of Herod killing all those innocent children under two, because of Jesus. See Jesus had a lot to contend with, and He had three and a half years to tell the world the Good News, to build a team that would go on to become the foundation the church for several millennia and to die and to rise again for you and me. Now, when you think about it that's a pretty tall order and a pretty short period of time. So how do you go about from being an unknown to becoming a respected teacher? Well oddly enough in my own little way, that's something of a journey I've been on and I can tell ya … it ain't easy! It involves a lot of hard work and a lot, I mean, a tonne of help and anointing and provision and empowerment by God. So let's have a look at how Jesus went about it. Mathew chapter 4, beginning at verse 17: From that time Jesus began to proclaim ‘Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!' Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So His fame spread throughout all Syria and they brought to Him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases, and pains and demoniacs, epileptics and paralytics He cured them all! And great crowds followed Him from Galilee to the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and even from beyond the Jordan. So, how does Jesus do it? Well to put it bluntly, He hit's the road. He puts himself out there. He starts to proclaim to declare to preach what was he preaching, what was he declaring? Anyone who's a Christian would have heard these words over and over again so that won't be anything new. "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near." But to the people listening, what He was preaching and proclaiming and heralding and saying and exhorting was outrageously radical! Here they were in this back water of the Roman Empire, this nowheresville if I can call it that, miles and light-years away from the seat of power in Rome. These people where less than pawns in the emporia's chess game I mean had it suited him he could have whipped them all out and turned their precious farm land into a car park and a shopping mall! I mean that was the reality. They'd been living this same subsistence life, just surviving boring insignificant little lives somehow believing that somehow because they were God's chosen people, maybe one day He'd send another King like David to set them free or if not when they died they might go to a better life although the Sadducees who were the religious leaders and the social elites, they didn't believe that. So who could be certain that if you were one of those poor uneducated farmers, or carpenters living there in bumpkins-ville Galilee and along comes this lunatic. Okay He was a very articulate lunatic and He starts crying out Repent! Just like that John the Baptist guy and look what happened to him! I mean, they chopped his head off! Repent. What does that mean? it means change your mind. It means turn around, it means stop living the way you're living. When you think about it that's just what the prophets of old had been telling Gods chosen people but other than perhaps John the Baptist, God hadn't sent one of them for 300-400 years! "Repent! The Kingdom of God has come near." Hang on a minute. God's in the temple over there in Jerusalem how could He possibly come near to us in Galilee? I mean only the high priest gets to go into the Holy of Holies and then only once a year and that's a big deal on the Yom Kippur on the Day of Atonement. How can the Kingdom of God possibly have come near to us? Here in Galilee? Impossible. This was an outrageous message and yet they listened. He got their attention. He was pulling massive crowds. Why? Because not only was He proclaiming good albeit unsettling and confusing news, He was healing every disease so they brought their sick and lame from far and wide. See the thing that got Him noticed was the power of God. God's anointing on His ministry. Without that there's no way He could have done what He did, and certainly not in such a short period of time - three and a half years - so what are you and I learn about Jesus, something that made His life extraordinary? He left the confines of His safe little carpenters shop in Nazareth, He hit the dusty road and went and did what God had called Him to do and what God had anointed Him to do. Was it safe? No! It got Him killed in fact. He always knew that's how it would turn out. But He did it anyway. I saw a great Tweet the other day and it said this: Many Christians worship on the alter of safety before they ask, ‘is this the will of God?' They'll ask, ‘is it safe?' You and I aren't called to precisely what Jesus was called to do in precisely the same way and yet in our own ways according to the gifts and the abilities and the resources that God's given us, according to the place He's put us in, we're called to do exactly that. To get out of the safe comfort zone our own comfortable little carpenters shop whatever that is, and hit the track Jack, and go and tell people about Jesus. And maybe you're a builder or an accountant or a cleaner or a counsellor or a web developer or what are you? Well we're using that. You and I are called to get out into this dangerous place and go and tell people the Good News. Not necessarily as preachers, perhaps a service as encouragers, as people who pull along side someone and proclaim Christ not with our mouths necessarily but with our hearts, with our hands, and with our lives. What sort of life would Jesus have lived had He stayed silent in the confines of the carpenters shop in Nazareth, extraordinary? I don't think so.   Gift Based Ministry Over these past few programs we've seen that Jesus overcame His past which involved a pretty rocky start in life, we've seen that He drew a lot of His power from that fact that He humbled Himself and submitted Himself to His father in Heaven. We've seen that despite the initial cost to Him, He was a real team player and it's the team He built that ended up impacting this world. And we saw how focused He was on mission and objectives. Some great insights there, if you missed any of them I'll share with you at the end of today's program how you can catch them again online. But we're going to finish off today's message with an observation about how Jesus used His gifts to have an impact, because today in particular we're seeing how He went about getting the job done, being that team player being focused on His mission and right now as we're about to see, by using His gifts and abilities in the most extraordinary way. Lets pick up the story again, Mathew chapter 4, verses 23 - 25: Jesus went through Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people so His fame spread throughout all Syria and they brought to Him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases, and pains and demoniacs and epileptics and paralytics, and he cured them. Great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis Jerusalem, Judea and from even beyond the Jordan. Now you're sitting there thinking, well, I don't have the power to heal people, I don't have the power to cast out demons, if I did I guess great crowds would follow me too! But I don't, so they won't. So Berni, what are you banging on about here? Am I right? Sure I am! We all think that. But let me tell you what I think are the two most powerful, most powerful words in that passage. And they're not the words about curing every disease, every sickness; they're not about His fame spreading or great crowds following Him. You want to know what I think the two most powerful words in the passage are? I think that they're the first two words … "Jesus went”. And the reason they're so powerful is that unless He'd gone, unless He'd gotten up off the sofa, left His comfortable safe little carpenters shop and gone out throughout Galilee which by the way was the immediate surrounding area or region in which He lived, then none of what He did would have been done! And none of what He achieved would have been achieved! None of these people would have been healed, God wouldn't' have revealed Himself and it's pretty certain you and I today, 2000 years on wouldn't be talking about this Jesus. Would you agree? It all happened because Jesus went. And would you please notice the other thing about this with me, He didn't go to some far flung remote impossible place to start with. He didn't' even go up to Jerusalem in the beginning, He started in His own home region. Sometimes I think, that we think that in order to do something worthwhile for God we kind of have to set sail and go to the farthest place on this Earth. Now sure, some people are called to do just that and we call them Missionaries but far more people are called to use their gifts, their gifts and abilities that God's given them right in the place where they live, where they work where they socialise. It's about just taking whatever we have in our hands and using it to benefit others. I know some people who sit there and say, "Well how come God doesn't use me to have an impact in other peoples lives?' In my experience is that God is always up to something and if we're not involved its probably a whole bunch more about us not going that God not doing. There's a great guy who works in Christian media in the UK is name is David Letterhue. He's just one of those good guys, recently he tweets this: The winds of God are always blowing, but you need to set the sails. It's about hoisting our sails, its about throwing our hat in the ring, its about getting up off the sofa and going and just using what we have to hand. It can be as simple as knowing that your neighbours just out of hospital and fronting up with a meal and taking it over to their house. It can be as simple as offering to have a cup of coffee with someone at work who's looking a bit down and distracted. Ok maybe, God hasn't' given us the gift of healing the way He did to Jesus, but when we take stock of the gifts and abilities and natural strengths and motivations and resources that we actually do have, we start to realise how much God really has given us. I was sharing this story of the ministry of Christianity Works, this ministry that I work in producing these very radio programs with a group of business people just the other day. It's an amazing story, from nothing to a weekly audience of around, well, over 10 million. They were impressed. Hey I'm totally gob smacked every time I think about it or tell people about it! But my point to them is always this: we have a massive team let me see … eight people world wide, a whole organisation plus a handful of dedicated volunteers. None of us, none of us is anything very special at all! We just got together, we just each threw out our gifts in the ring, our abilities and our resources, we just believe that God was calling us and there's something. We took some financial leaps of faith I have to tell you, other people might call them risks, and off we went. Did we have a strategic plan? … oh well I guess … but we never imagined that God would do what He's done. We never dreamed for a moment that we'd be sharing the Good News of Jesus with so many people around the globe. The numbers and all the glory and the impact belong to God, because He did it, He's still doing it, not us. We just kind of figured that if Jesus went, well maybe we could follow along after Him? Maybe we could step out of our comfort zones and go too? So let me ask you, in your life, right where you live and where you work today, what are the opportunities, who are the people that you can go to with a helping hand? With your natural abilities and motivations and make a positive impact in their lives? So exactly what are you waiting for?

When we are rushing out the door on a trip... we often rattle off last things on "The List."  The author of Hebrews is doing the same thing making sure everything is said about life being "Just Jesus" before he says his goodbyes.  Hebrews 13 is a fascinating reminder of what NewCommunity in Christ is all about.  Join us as we end the book listening to the final advice about life being just about Jesus.   

Join Richie Kessler, deacon at Campbellsville Christian Church, as he takes us on a journey through the Book of Galatians in his sermon, “Just Jesus.” He challenges us to resist the temptation of adding human traditions to the message of Christ. Listen as Richie unpacks Paul's teachings on the law, grace, and the freedom found in Jesus alone. It's a reminder that in our walk with God, it's always “Just Jesus”—no substitutions.

In week 11 of our series Just Jesus, Pastor Jamie Wright shares with us that Jesus is Greater in Everyway! Greater than angels and the prophets. Greater than Moses and Jonah. He offered a better blood and a better covenant with better promises. And he encourages us to realize Greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world.

In week 7 of our summer series, Just Jesus, Pastor Jamie brings a life-giving message about the Life Giver. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the LIFE". He also declared, "I am the Resurrection and LIFE." His words give LIFE, and as we fix our gaze on Him and listen to His voice it is evident, He gives LIFE!

This is a powerful 6 series on the Power of knowing Jesus

In Week two of our Summer series, JUST JESUS, Pastor Jamie draws our attention to Jesus as the Healer. During our time together this summer we are focusing our gaze on Jesus and Him alone. Throughout the series Pastor Jamie will guide us to different aspects of who JESUS was and still is! Jesus is still our HEALER! What does that mean exactly. We trust you will join us as we learn together.

Eureka The Pentecostal Church - Sunday Morning Service - 06/09/2024"Just Jesus"Pastor Jonathan McDonald Connect with us! Instagram: instagram.com/eurekachurch Facebook: Eureka The Pentecostal Church Youtube: youtube.com/c/EurekaThePentecostalChurch Website: eureka.churchListen/Download this sermon on Spotify or Apple Podcast - Eureka the Pentecostal Church 

Celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ with this powerful Easter message from Pastor Talaat McNeely of Purpose City Church. In this transformative sermon exploring John 6:37-40 and other key scriptures, Pastor Talaat unpacks the profound significance behind the simple phrase "Just Jesus."No religion, philosophy, or human effort can bridge the gap between us and our Holy Creator. Only the sinless life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ provide complete forgiveness, restore our broken relationship with God, and offer the gift of eternal life to all who believe.This Easter sermon is an inspiring call to embrace the sufficiency of Christ's finished work on our behalf. Whether a longstanding believer or exploring faith, this message will fill you with hope and point you to "Just Jesus" as the source of true righteousness and redemption our souls desperately need.Dive deeper into the Biblical truth that "Just Jesus" is all we need! Share this powerful exposition with others to spread the life-changing good news of the resurrection.-----ABOUT USWe exist to help you Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Your Purpose, and Make a DifferenceSTAY CONNECTEDPurpose City Church Website: https://www.purposecitychurch.com/Purpose City Church Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearepurposecityPurpose City Church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearepurposecity/GIVETo support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world, click here: https://www.purposecitychurch.com/give

SCRIPTURE Zechariah 8:1-23 Revelation 16:1-21 Psalm 144:1-15 Proverbs 30:29-31  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Verses 'n' Flow | Donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music by Tim D. Clinton This Christmas, Just Jesus by Pastor Mike Jr. https://open.spotify.com/track/2iRk3IAhslc4G7D8LENRLl?si=cf0d6a7254a44cce https://music.apple.com/us/album/this-christmas-just-jesus/1649860880?i=1649861342 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jenniferwainwright/message

When you get right down to it, the only thing that really matters in the Christmas story in 2023 is Jesus. No Santa, gifts, or Bing Crosby. Just Jesus. Here's the original story as recorded in Luke's Gospel, just as it happened. I am reading from The Message, by Eugene Peterson. Luke 2: 1-20 The Birth of Jesus  About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.  While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.  An Event for Everyone  There were shepherds camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”  At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:  Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.  As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the shepherds talked it over. “Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the shepherds were impressed.  Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The shepherds returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told! ____________ Merry Christmas 2023, everyone. Other episodes or resources related to today's shows 208: Christmas - A Time to Reflect     207: How to Help the People We Love at Christmas Blog post: The Joy of Christmas Past Our Sponsor You Were Made for This is sponsored by Caring for Others, a missionary care ministry. The generosity of people like you supports our ministry. It enables us to continue this weekly podcast and other services we provide to missionaries around the world.

As we wrap up our week on the simplicity of love, today we'll look at the concept of simplicity itself and what it means to have a solitary pursuit. As you fix your eyes on Jesus today, may you find that the weight of the world falls away. And may you choose the path of simplicity and love going forward living out in joy and peace. Our Scripture for today comes from Colossians 3:14. Today's worship is Just Jesus by Hillsong. -- When you trust Christ as your savior and Lord, you begin a relationship that extends into eternity.  However, eternity doesn't start in heaven, and you don't have to wait until then to experience a full life in Christ.   The truth is that we as Christians are called to invest in our relationship with God in this life as well as in the life to come.    And that means becoming more like Christ every single day.    In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provided a systematic ethic for how to be his disciples.         It was a relatively short sermon, but God's truth in that message has never stopped reverberating throughout the world.   Our latest book, The Path to Purpose delves into the timeless wisdom of Jesus' most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. St Augustine described the sermon as “a perfect standard for the Christian life.”   While we may doubt ourselves from ever achieving such “a perfect standard,” Jesus' central message in his Sermon on the Mount helps us see that standard not as a burden but rather as a source of freedom, purpose, and a guide for living beautifully.   To know more about God's calling on your life, request your copy today of The Path to Purpose: Christ's Vision for Your Life in the Sermon on the Mount, at supportfirst15.org.