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Matthew 20.17-34. On Jesus' way to Jerusalem he predicts his death for the third and final time before being met with two very different requests; one for honour and the other for healing. In this sermon, we are invited to join Jesus on the road and to explore why he responded in the way he did to each request. 20 October 2024.
On Jesus' way to Jerusalem, as He approached what He knew would be the crucifixion, He had to Jericho. Through His journey to Jericho, he encountered Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector hated among the people, in a sycamore tree. Despite being hated, being in a hard-to-see place amidst the crowd, and Zacchaeus not really knowing Jesus but curious enough to catch a glimpse of Him, Jesus called Zacchaeus by name and invited Himself to Zacchauses' house to dine with him. Through this encounter and dining with what the community deemed as the worst of these, we see how Jesus is welcoming. Jesus wanted to display that anyone, including the worst of the worst, who will seek Him and will find Him and He will welcome them in. Jesus will welcome anyone, and in the same way, so should we. Listen to this sermon about He is welcoming in the fourth part of our He Is series.Check out our video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/SY5YFKzJV_cSubscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/8wmeCwBf_zkLearn more about us at chestnutmountain.orgFollow us on Facebook & Instagram @chestnutmtn_Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast, leave a review, and let us know what you think.
Father Greg Favazza's Sermon "What's On Jesus' Prayer List?" If you are just visiting, please know that we accept you wherever you are on your spiritual journey. Welcome Home! You are loved with a love you did not earn, therefore you can never lose! Want to give to our ministries, but not sure how? It's as easy as texting! Simply Text STMICHAELSORL to 73256 and follow the steps! More info here: https://wiki.acstechnologies.com/display/AccessACS/Text+Givinga Sign up for our eMessenger to Stay in Touch - http://stmichaelschurch.co/SignUpToStayinTouch Connect with us! - https://stmichaelschurch.com/contact/ Prayer Request - https://stmichaelschurch.com/prayer-request/ Your Church Home in College Park - Love God, Love Others, Serve the World
On Jesus' road to the cross, we find threads that reveal he is totally in control. Though he is betrayed by his disciple Judas and led through an unjust trial led by Pilate, the Roman Governor, we see Jesus fix his eyes on his purpose: to seek and save the lost.
On Jesus' last Wednesday, he will experience the greatest act (the anointing of the woman) and the worst act (the betrayal of Judas). We will see that we have the same choices before us. Do we worship Jesus with all that we are? Or, will we betray him because of our selfish ambitions?
On Jesus' last Wednesday, he will experience the greatest act (the anointing of the woman) and the worst act (the betrayal of Judas). We will see that we have the same choices before us. Do we worship Jesus with all that we are? Or, will we betray him because of our selfish ambitions?
Knowing Jesus opens up our lives to live a life that is assured of a Kingdom future. The truth iss that we canoften take our eyes off where they need to be - On Jesus. In this message Ps Julie helps us navigate the tension between our day to reality and the truth of the Kingdom!
Knowing Jesus opens up our lives to live a life that is assured of a Kingdom future. The truth iss that we canoften take our eyes off where they need to be - On Jesus. In this message Ps Julie helps us navigate the tension between our day to reality and the truth of the Kingdom!
This world is resetting, but not for anything good or godly. Sometimes you can get off course. Looking at other people's sins and ignoring your own. We as believers need to reset, repent, be restored, be renewed, and set your affection on things above. On Jesus and living for Him.
Folks, I am over-the-moon excited to be able to share this conversation with Dr Lester Ruth about his most recent book (co-authored with Lim Swee Hong), A History Of Contemporary Praise & Worship. This pair did a shorter history on this topic a few years back (Lovin' On Jesus), and in this conversation we get not only the broadstrokes of their findings but also a little bit of the behind-the-scenes work (spoiler alert: there was a LOT of it) that led to their very reasoned and very helpful conclusions in this most recent output. We do our best to give you an overview of the two major streams (one commonly known as “Praise & Worship” and the other commonly known as “Contemporary Worship”) that spring up in the earlier parts of the 20th century, and how those streams become raging rivers that eventually converge into a titanic flood that helps rewrite much of modern Christian worship practice in North America… and, indeed, the world.We also talk about Psalty the Singing Psalm Book, Colby the Singing Computer, and John Piper's view on sipping coffee in church. Oh, and Lester mentions this one book (Doing Our Own Thing) as being quite important, FYI. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marcjolicoeur.substack.com
One of the questions in front of us as people following Jesus is - How do we stay focused ON Jesus, long enough to be guided BY Jesus? In the difficulty of all the distractions that we deal with all the time, We need to orient around Him. Join Pastor Josh Yerton in the continuation of our current sermon series, Live the Adventure.
"To open myself up to God is to invite the big orgasmic, electric current, wanting to happen in and through me"On Jesus and St Teresa of Avila. On bearing witness to suffering and letting it pierce our hearts. On being the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.[with music, sound effects, poetry and drama]Learner Human (blog)@learnerhuman (Instagram)Buy Me A Coffee (Donate & show some love).... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Douglas Groothuis (PhD, University of Oregon) is professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary. He is the author of numerous books, including Christian Apologetics, Fire in the Streets, Philosophy in Seven Sentences, Unmasking the New Age, Truth Decay, On Pascal, On Jesus, and Walking Through Twilight. He has written for scholarly journals such as Religious Studies, Sophia, Research in Philosophy and Technology, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, and Philosophia Christi, as well as for numerous popular magazines. Episode Talking Points: World religions Sharing your faith Interacting with others who have different worldviews Resources: World Religions in Seven Sentences Christian Apologetics Douglas Groothuis' Website --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-monday-christian/support
I. Meta-Apologetics A. Apologetics: Defending the Christian worldview as objectively true, compellingly rational, and existentially pertinent to the whole of life (1 Peter 3:15-6; Jude 3) B. Meta-apologetics: thoughts about how to engage in apologetics, strategies and values. II. The Christian Apologist's Moral Compass A. All are called to check their moral motives and develop godly characterI strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize (2 Corinthians 9:27).Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers (1 Timothy 4:16).B. Yearn for Kingdom ministry (Matthew 6:33) C. Put yourself second to the ministry; do not promote your brand or ego! Let others compliment you. III. Godly Character A. Humility, not self-promotionThis is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief (1 Timothy 1:5; KJV; see also 1 Corinthians 15:9). B. Show love, not strifeAnd the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26).C. Dependence on the Spirit moment-by-moment (John 15; Acts 1:8). See Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality. D. Intellectual preparation for apologetics 1. Know your Bible (Psalm 119; 2 Timothy 3:16) and biblical interpretation (2 Peter 3:16) 2. Know biblical and systematic theology to ground your worldview (Acts 17:10-11) 3. Know logic and logical fallacies; how to argue carefully and assess arguments carefully (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) 4. Know your own culture: worldviews and means of communication (technologies) Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do (1 Chronicles 12:32). 5. Be above reproach in citing your sources in speaking and writing (Exodus 20:15) 6. Behind all these six principles is the importance of being studious, a good scholar Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true (Ecclesiastes 12:9-10; see 1:17; 8:9, 16).I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught (Luke 1:3-4; see also John 21:24). IV. Opportunity and Uncertainty in Apologetics A. Break new ground! It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation—Romans 15:20). B. Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 Cast your bread upon the waters,For you will find it after many days.Give a serving to seven, and also to eight,For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.If the clouds are full of rain,They empty themselves upon the earth;And if a tree falls to the south or the north,In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.He who observes the wind will not sow,And he who regards the clouds will not reap.As you do not know what is the way of the wind,[a]Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.In the morning sow your seed,And in the evening do not withhold your hand;For you do not know which will prosper,Either this or that,Or whether both alike will be good (NKJV). C. Calculate effort in relation to effect and chances of success. D. Embrace unexpected opportunities. 1. Paul at Mars Hill (Acts 16-17): unscheduled mission trip before imposing intellectuals. 2. Paul to Timothy Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine—2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV). V. My Apologetic Surprises, Successes, and Failures A. Surprise: Lecturing at a Baha'i meeting B. Successful attempts 1. Writing On Pascal and On Jesus 2. Doing author events for two of my books at a local bookstore in Denver. Another one flopped (Fire in the Streets). C. Unsuccessful attempts 1. Debate with James K. A. Smith 2. Doing a Buddhist-Christian dialogue at Naropa University (Boulder, CO) 3. Secular publisher for Philosophy in Seven Sentences VI. Attempts, Failures, and Successes before God A. Seek God's Kingdom first, last, and always (Matthew 6:33) B. Remember the audience of a holy God Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil—Ecclesiastes 12:13-14.Resources1. Greg Koukl, Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussion Your Christian Convictions, 2nd ed. (Zondervan, 2019).2. Douglas Groothuis, “Cast Your Bread upon the Waters: Taking Risks in Christian Witness,” Christian Research Journal, 2014. https://www.equip.org/articles/cast-bread-waters-taking-risks-creative-christian-witness. 3. Os Guinness, Fool's Talk: Recovering the Christian Art of Persuasion (InterVarsity Press, 2015). Emphasizes the rhetoric of apologetics and reaching those far from Christ through wise means. A new classic.4. Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, 2nd ed. (InterVarsity Press, 2022).5. Douglas Groothuis, On Jesus and On Pascal, both Wadsworth, 2003.6. Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality (orig. pub., 1973; Tyndale, 2003). Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
On Jesus' final night before his arrest and betrayal, his disciples become troubled. Will they be abandoned? Were they right to put their faith in him? Jesus's response is to reassure them of his identity - He is the fullness of God. But not just this - he is also the way to heaven. Heaven is both a glorious future reality in which all suffering ceases, but also, because of what Jesus achieves on the cross - a present experience. Jesus will never leave us, so we need not be troubled by the thought of being abandoned. And all our troubles recede in the light of heaven - now in part, and in the future forever. By Ed Flint
On Jesus' final night before his arrest and betrayal, his disciples become troubled. Will they be abandoned? Were they right to put their faith in him? Jesus's response is to reassure them of his identity - He is the fullness of God. But not just this - he is also the way to heaven. Heaven is both a glorious future reality in which all suffering ceases, but also, because of what Jesus achieves on the cross - a present experience. Jesus will never leave us, so we need not be troubled by the thought of being abandoned. And all our troubles recede in the light of heaven - now in part, and in the future forever. By Ed Flint
In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, the idea for the topic came from a series Dr. White delivered at Mecklenburg Community Church called, “Is it okay for a Christian to…” This series explored questions that both Christians and non-Christians have about what is or is not okay to do once you cross the line of faith. So, is it okay for a Christian to smoke marijuana and drink wine? Episode Links When trying to determine whether the Christian faith allows you the freedom to do something, it's important to put those questions through a biblical framework that Dr. White outlined. For more on this framework and how to apply it to your life, check out his book After “I Believe”: Everyday Practices for a Vibrant Faith. It's also an excellent book to read whether you are new to the Christian faith or have been a Christ follower for years. As the Bible is key to knowing whether it's okay for a Christian to do (or not do) something, there were a number of Scripture references that Dr. White gave that we wanted to gather for you: * On your body being a temple of the Holy Spirit, read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. * On the benefits of wine for your body and mental health, read 1 Timothy 5:23, Psalm 104:15 and Ecclesiastes 9:7. * On Jesus' words about wine, read Luke 7:34 and Mark 14:25. * On warnings about your personal freedom leading others astray, read 1 Corinthians 8:9, Romans 14:21 and 1 Corinthians 10:31. Finally, Dr. White read an excerpt from a Christianity Today article titled, “A Toast to My Journey with Wine” which you can read HERE. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.
On Jesus, His Church, and the Government.
We need to learn to listen to Jesus when He asks what we want and to pray in faith as an answer. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - Turn in your Bible as we continue our study in Mark's Gospel, in Mark 10:46-52. The author to the Book of Hebrews says the Bible, the Scripture is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. The Word of God is living and active. The Gospel of Mark is alive. Jesus is the word incarnate, and in this text today, I see him beckoning to us, calling to us, drawing us. He’s standing in front of us in the text saying, "What do you want me to do for you?" Calling us to a deeper, more persistent, more detailed, more comprehensive prayer life. That's what I get out of this text and that's what I'm going to see today. This is a beautiful account. This is the last account in Mark's Gospel of one of Jesus's healings. All of the accounts in Mark's Gospel of Jesus's healings are given to us for one reason and that is to bring us, as the readers of Mark's Gospel, to a saving faith in Jesus as the Son of God. From Mark 1:1, the theme of the entire Gospel of Mark is established, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it says at the end of John chapter 20, the purpose of all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all have the same purpose: that based on the miracles that are written in these gospel accounts, we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and find salvation through faith in his name. How do we obtain that salvation? How does it become ours, personally? This account of Bartimaeus gives us a beautiful picture of that, a lived out picture of how we obtain it. Paul says in Romans 10:9, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." What does that mean to call on the name of the Lord so that we might be saved? This account gives us a beautiful picture of that. Jesus said at the beginning of the Sermon in the Mount, some of the most significant words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," literally the spiritual beggars, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." You want the kingdom of heaven, you want to spend eternity in the kingdom of heaven? You have to be a spiritual beggar. What does that mean to be a spiritual beggar? This account gives us a beautiful picture of that. Jesus told in another place, a parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector teaching us about prayer. One was a pridefully arrogant, self-righteous, individual who thought his righteousness was amply sufficient to make himself pleasing to God, and he stood and prayed about himself in that regard. But then there was the tax collector beating his breast, refusing to even look up to God but pleading with God, "Be merciful to me, a sinner." Jesus said that man went home justified. The other one didn't. This account gives us a beautiful picture of that as well. So in this beautiful passage, Jesus stands in front of a blind man who has nothing to offer and says these words, "What do you want me to do for you?” That question represents one of the key moments there is in our relationship with Jesus the Savior. He holds in his hand every blessing you could ever want, should ever want.Every blessing on earth or in heaven is in his sovereign hands. He wants to teach us to seek those blessings from him and only from him and to ask humbly and in faith. He wants to open his hands and satisfy your desires with all of those blessings. Jesus, in the text today, stands in front of you individually, all of you, saying, "What do you want me to do for you?" Now, many people foolishly answer, "Nothing. I don't want anything from Jesus." They're lost. That's the essence of their losses. They don't think about Jesus at all. He never crosses their mind, so they would just say, "I don't want anything from Jesus.” Now, some sinners recognize their dire circumstances and they beg Jesus for salvation, "Save me from my sins, Lord,” and they receive, having sought that blessing by faith, they receive that gift of forgiveness of sins. But most Christians underestimate how much more Jesus could do for us, how many more blessings we should still be seeking from him, so we don't pray very much. We don't pray about many things. We just live our independent lives, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness just like everybody else, and we just do our own things. So we need Jesus to stand in the text and call out to us and say, "I'm here. What do you want me to do for you today, now? What do you want me to do for you about the problem that's pressing in on your life? You haven't asked me about it at all. You haven't prayed about it at all." Prayerlessness. "What do you want me to do for you?" Some people answer this question in a very worldly way. "Jesus, I want to be healthy and, Jesus, I want to be wealthy. I want worldly health, worldly success. “I want my best life now," as one put it. "That's what I want. I want my best life now." So they ask, but don't receive because they ask that they might spend what they get on their carnal pleasures. Others realize the only thing of value is pleasing the Lord so they would say something like this, "Jesus, what I want from you is that you would work in me what is pleasing to you." Yet even those people, all of us, need to learn how to expand our concept of prayer. To expand it, to pray for far more things than we do. To pray with far more persistence than we do. To pray with far more biblical knowledge than we do. To pray for the right things, the things that God wants us to pray for more than we do. To pray for others, to take on their burdens as though they were our own and pray for them. That's what this text is saying to me. One of my favorite hymns, those of you that know me, you know how often I think about this hymn. It's very easy actually for me to get emotional about this hymn. It's well known, but I think it was many, many years of my Christian life before I really felt the weight of the truth of the lyrics in the hymn, “What a Friend we have in Jesus.” It focuses repeatedly on this, the blessing of learning to take it to the Lord in prayer, take everything to the Lord in prayer. "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear." All our sins and griefs to bear. "What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." In other words, you're forfeiting peace right now because you haven't prayed about something and you're carrying burdens right now that you could be giving to him, casting upon him. The next stanza: "Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?" This phrase captures me. I've debated it with people. Is it true? I don't know if it's a hundred percent true, but I feel like it's mostly true. "We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.”Are you discouraged today, dear brother, dear sister? Could it be that you haven't taken it to the Lord in prayer? Could it be the Jesus is standing in front of you in this text saying, "What do you want me to do for you?” and you haven't asked him and therefore you're discouraged? Take it to the Lord in prayer. "Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer." That's what I'm getting out of this text. That's where we're going. So let's walk through it. "Could it be the Jesus is standing in front of you in this text saying, "What do you want me to do for you?” and you haven't asked him and therefore you're discouraged? Take it to the Lord in prayer." I. The Context: Through Jericho to Jerusalem Let’s begin with the context, going through Jericho onto Jerusalem.Look at verse 46, "Then they came to Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus, that is the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside, begging." This is the end of Jesus's public ministry. As I've said already, the entire purpose of the Gospel of Mark and everything in it, is to bring us, the readers, the hearers of this beautiful gospel, to faith in Jesus as the Son of God, the beginning of the gospel about Jesus, the Son of God. The word “gospel” is “good news" and the good news is Jesus. He is the good news. Jesus is the gospel. Now every aspect of the Gospel of Mark has been putting Jesus, the Son of God, on display. As with all four Gospels, the component parts are always Jesus's mighty works in Jesus's mighty words, a combination of his miracles and his incredibly wise and perfect teachings. Those two together are the evidence, all the evidence we need for saving faith in Jesus. As I mentioned, this is the last healing miracle in the Gospel of Mark. There is one more miracle yet to come, but it's not a healing miracle. It's a very unusual miracle. It's the cursing of the fig tree in which Jesus cursed the fig tree, and it instantly withers. It's a very unusual miracle and God willing we'll get to that in due time. But that's a miracle of judgment, not of mercy. It's not a miracle of healing. It's a depiction of judgment on Israel for its fruitlessness. We'll get to that in due time. So they're in transition now. Jesus is going up to Jerusalem, it's Passover time. Thousands of Jewish pilgrims are going up to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. On Jesus's mind, intensely on his mind, is his imminent death. He's going up to Jerusalem to die and He's thinking about it constantly. He's talking about it constantly. He's reminding his disciples of it. Look back at verse 32 of the same chapter. Mark 1032-34, "They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again He took the twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 'We are going up to Jerusalem,' He said. 'And the Son of Man will be betrayed and will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. The will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later He will rise.’” Also, James and John, after that statement, made their request and they came in front of Jesus and He asked the same question, “'What do you want me to do for you?’ Now they had answered, ‘Let one of us sit at your right hand, the other at your left in your kingdom.’" We saw that that was as we perceive, a selfish worldly type of request, understanding the kingdom wrongly and wanting to position themselves for power and glory. Jesus has to adjust their thinking about the kingdom and service in the kingdom as we saw last time. But even then, Jesus brought their minds back to his own imminent death, “for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” [verse 45] So that's right before the texts we're looking at today. They're in Jericho. Jericho is a beautiful and a historic city. The Jericho of Jesus's day lay somewhat south of the ruins of the famous Jericho that was destroyed, the walls crumbling in the time of Joshua. So it was close but not the exact same location. Jericho was located 15 miles northeast of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was built on a set of mountains and was 3,300 feet higher in altitude than Jericho. So we have Jesus going up to Jerusalem. In the parable, the Good Samaritan, the individual who was mugged, who was assaulted by the highway robbers, was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. So Jesus is going the other direction, going up. Herod the Great, and later Archelaus, had strengthened and beautified the city of Jericho, giving it an amphitheater, some villas, a public bath. It was like a little paradise with an oasis of fresh water, palm trees, rose gardens, lavish crops of figs, citrus and other fruits. andSo it's a beautiful place. Its winter climate was delightful. Josephus said that when it was snowy in Jerusalem, Jericho was warm and pleasant, thus Herod built a winter palace there. So that's Jericho. Jesus himself had gone out from that spot three years earlier to be tempted in the desert by Satan at the beginning of his ministry. Now, as we look at the account of the healing of this blind man who we know in Mark's Gospel as Bartimaeus, we have what we call some synoptic problems. The Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They're called that way because they see the perspective of Jesus's life kind of the same whereas the Gospel of John reads differently. So Matthew, Mark and Luke all have this account, but they're written differently, and it's hard sometimes to harmonize how they wrote. I don't want to spend a lot of time on these issues, but I just always want to give you confidence of the perfection of Matthew, the perfection of Mark and the perfection of Luke and how those difficulties are harmonizing.I don't want to spend a lot of time on it, but Matthew, for example, mentions two blind men, not one. Matthew says that Jesus was entering Jericho while Mark says that Jesus was leaving. Luke says He was passing through, so kind of on average entering, passing through and leaving. It was at this time as Jesus was leaving Jericho that He saw Zacchaeus the tax collector in the sycamore fig tree and went back into the city to dine at his house. So some scholars surmised that Jesus was in that sense both leaving and then going back into Jericho. That's one way you could harmonize him. None of these problems are particularly difficult. Look, if Matthew says there were two blind men, there were two blind men. If Mark chooses to focus on one of them and give us his name, so be it. It doesn't mean that there weren't two, it just he's zeroing in on this one individual and I think that tends to individualize the gospel. Every individual has to deal with Jesus personally and this man had a name probably because as, by the end of the account today, he's a follower of Jesus. He was literally, physically, following him along the road and we're going to see in the text he was wasn't just physically healed, but he was saved. So probably, Mark gives us his name because in his community that he lived in, everybody knew Bartimaeus and this is that Bartimaeus that we all know, so he gave him his name. So that's harmonizing these three accounts. II. A Blind Beggar’s Call Let's look at the blind beggar’s call. "They came to Jericho and as Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus, that is the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, 'Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.' Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.'" I think it's hard for us who are physically normal when it comes to sight, to realize the intense suffering of blindness, what it would be like to be blind. I think we could imagine it. Some people actually rate blindness as one of their greatest earthly fears. Polls have been done and people say of all the things that could happen to you on earth, blindness would be one of the worst they imagined. Jesus himself spoke of the significance of physical sight. Jesus said, "If the eyes are the lamp of the body, if your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness." So it is very significant to be blind. How was this man, Bartimaeus blind? We don't know. It is possible that he was blind from birth like the blind man in John chapter 9. It doesn't say. Could be he became blind through an injury or a disease somewhere along the way in his life. Blindness was actually very common in the Middle East in Jesus's day. Many were blind through the birth process. They got a disease from their mother while they were being born. Other infants became blind through trachoma, which is a virulent form of conjunctivitis. There were a lot of problems with blindness. Religiously, spiritually, in the Jewish community, blindness was considered a curse from God. Blind people were seen to be cursed by God for their personal sin, hence the question in John 9, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Did he sin in the womb? How did that work? But you can see the mentality. If you're blind, it's because of sin. You're being cursed by God for sin.Therefore, the blind man would've been viewed as a spiritual outcast under a curse from God, only a little better than a leper just because blindness wasn't contagious, so there wasn't that terror of being around a blind person, but they were considered to be effectively, spiritual lepers, outcasts. You can see the attitude of the crowd toward him. They hate him. They're very negative toward him, yelling at him. And he was begging. Obviously, because of his blindness, he couldn't work in the normal fashion. In order to survive he was reduced to begging and surrounded by a hostile community who considered his condition a just punishment from God for his sin. Generally they wouldn't give him anything but some would and he was therefore very persistent and bold. He had to be in order just to survive. He had to fight for everything. So we see this persistent urgency as a beggar, and we see it then directed toward Jesus. He's urgently crying out to Jesus. Bartimaeus is sitting there begging. There's a huge crowd passing by, he wants to know what's going on. He asked what caused the crowd. He was told the answer was Jesus of Nazareth. That's a basic identification of Jesus. No honorific titles, nothing, just Jesus who comes from Nazareth. However, it's pretty clear that Bartimaeus had heard of this man and had heard of all of the healings that he had done, and so he was moved by faith to cry out. He had heard that there was nothing he could not do. There was no sickness he could not heal. He had almost certainly already heard of the healing of other blind people and so he had hope, he had faith and he begins to cry out. He also, beyond that, understands some theology of Jesus's claim. Putting it all together from Matthew's account and Luke's account, and as well as this one, it's something like this: "Jesus, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me." All of these titles flowing out of this man, Bartimaeus. Matthew tells us he called him Lord, describing exalted status to Jesus. Now, we don't necessarily think that he understood the deity of Christ at that point, but he does call him Lord.Both accounts say that he called him Son of David, meaning he was the fulfillment of the promise that God would take a son of David and put him on a throne forever [2 Samuel 7]. Many prophets come along and predict that David or the son of David will reign on a throne forever. Jeremiah 23:5-6, “'The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘When I'll raise up to David a righteous branch, a king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he'll be called the Lord our righteousness. The Son of David, a branch from David will reign on a throne of righteousness forever.’" So this blind man, Bartimaeus, is calling him Son of David, the Messiah, the long-awaited Messiah by the Jewish people. We know from John chapter 9 that by this time Jesus's enemies, the religious authorities, had decided that if anyone claimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of David, they would be put out of the synagogue, basically evicted from Jewish society. Do you sense this blind man doesn't care about that at all? He's already evicted. What did he have to lose? He had no fear of them. They hated him anyway. They thought he was cursed by God already and so he has no problem crying out, "Son of David.”The Greek actually says he's crying out emphatically or repeatedly, loudly begging for mercy. And look at the crowd's heartless reaction. They disdained and despised this blind beggar. Now they try to shout him down and demand that he'd be quiet. Verse 48, "Many rebuked him and told them to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.'" If you come to faith in Christ in your adult years, you have to go over obstacles that people who know you put in front of you. The crowd trying to prevent you from coming to Jesus, the crowd trying to shout you down or rebuke you. That's what this man has to face. Now he's crying out for mercy. Mercy. Mercy's a central attribute of almighty God. In this context, mercy has to do with the alleviation of suffering, alleviation of suffering. I generally tend to think of grace as having to do with the issues of sin and judgment. By God's grace we're forgiven and by his mercy our suffering is alleviated. They're very close. But here we got the alleviation of suffering. That is what mercy is. You think about Exodus chapter 2 where the Lord says He hears the cries of Israel and bondage in Egypt and He looked down and was concerned about their suffering. That is the mercy of God. He hears from heaven and He's merciful. When He moved in front of Moses when Moses said, "Show me your glory," He pronounced his name. He said, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God. Slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." This is the mercy of God. He's compassion, He's merciful, and Jesus is God's mercy incarnate. He wants to alleviate our suffering. He wants to bring us into a world where there'll be no more death, mourning, crying or pain. All of these healings that display a foretaste of mercy are just a part of that work. He is bringing his people by his blood into a world where there'll be no more need for mercy, no more death, mourning, crying or pain. And that's what he's crying for. He's asking for mercy. III. Our Savior’s Compassion and Power Now we see our savior's compassion and power, verse 49-51, “Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up. On your feet. He's calling you.’ Or, ‘Take heart, get up. He's calling you’ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him. The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’" This is an amazing moment for me. Jesus is a king. He's a passing king. He's going by and He stops for an obscure beggar who cries out to him. I mean, that doesn't happen, friends. The last time that I preached on Mark, we saw Jesus talk about the rulers of the Gentiles who lorded over them and their high officials exercise authority. You can see them going in palanquins or in great entourages surrounded by purple silk and all that. They're not going to stop for a beggar in the field. And the beggar in the field crying out to the passing king, if he gets obnoxious enough, one of the henchmen might go over and relieve him of his head. In medieval Japan, that's what the Samurai would do. If you're a peasant, you're groveling on the ground and you're not lifting your head. If you lift your head, they will take your head from your shoulders quickly and they have the right to do it. But you see what happens here. Here's a beggar with nothing to offer, and we've got the great, the King of kings passing by. He hears him cry and He stops in humility and wants to deal with him. It's the kindness of Jesus. I think about this moment, just to highlight what I'm saying, when Saul was pursuing David out in the desert and wanted to kill him. Abner was his right-hand man, his military leader. David in 1 Samuel 26:14, called out to the army into Abner and said, "Aren't you going to answer me, Abner?" He calls across a valley or something like that. What did Abner said, "Who are you who calls to the king?" Who are you who calls to the king? What's Abner's attitude there? “We don't need to answer you. You're nothing. You have no right to call to the king.” That's Abner's attitude. It is not Jesus's attitude. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. We have a picture of that, don't we? Isn't that beautiful? Jesus is the humble king who comes to serve his people.Mark 10:43-45, "Whoever wants to become great among you must be a servant. And whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." Not just to heal this man of his blindness, but to die for this man's sins. That's our servant king. That's who He is. He's filled with compassion. Indeed, it is compassion that moved him to heal Bartimaeus, according to Matthew's account in Matthew 20:33. He's filled with compassion for this man. He feels what we feel. Jesus calls for the beggar to come and the crowd tells him to cheer up. What's with this crowd? I'm not a big fan of the crowd here.They change. "Oh, cheer up. He wants you." Once they find out that Jesus is interested in talking to him. "Cheer up! On your feet! Be of good courage, be happy, be energetic. Good luck to you," this kind of thing. So He calls to us, but I think it's a good word for us. Just look at verse 49, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Didn't I begin the sermon saying that that's what's happening in this text? Jesus is calling you. He's calling you from the text. So cheer up, take heart, get up on your feet and bring your problems to Jesus. That's what I get out of that, even though the crowd's messed up. When Jesus summons you into his presence, rejoice. So energetically this man leaps up, drops the cloak behind. That reminds me of the Samaritan woman at the well who leaves her water jar there. She is not thinking about that anymore. He's not thinking about his cloak. He's going to Jesus. Perhaps someone in the crowd did him a good service of leading this blind man into the presence of Jesus. We come to the key question, which I chose as the sermon title: "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. Now, depending how you look at it, this may be one of the stranger moments in the encounter. I mean, just think about it. This is one of those times where you're like, "Really Jesus?" It's like the time that huge crowd is pressing in on him. He said, "Who touched me?" The disciples are like, "Huh, interesting question." Was there anyone in that crowd who didn't know what the blind man wanted? I mean, do you have any idea what he might want from Jesus? Any thought at all of what he might want from Jesus? Friends, Jesus is not obtuse. He's not stupid. He's not dense. He's not having no idea what's going on. He knows exactly what this man wants. Then why does he ask this question? Now, that's an important question for us, isn't it? He wants you to articulate your need to him, speak it, tell him what you want, take it to the Lord in prayer. That's what this text is about. "What do you want me to do for you?" This is the one who had said to another man, "Everything is possible for him who believes. There's nothing I cannot do." Jesus represents God in prayer, and He knows what this blind man needs better than what the blind man knows. God, the Father, Jesus said, knows what you need before you ask him. And yet for all of that, He still wants us to ask, to put it into words and make our request known to the Lord. So the blind man gives a simple and reasonable request. Verse 51, "The blind man said, 'Rabbi, I want to see.'" This is unlike James and John's worldly selfish carnal request. This is just a desire to see. He just wants to be like everyone else. Everyone there around can see. Perhaps at one time he had been able to see, you don't know, but he wants to be able to see the blue sky. He wants to be able to see the white wispy clouds. He wants to be able to see the sunset over the sea. See those beautiful palm trees swaying in the breeze there in Jericho. He wants to be able to see the face of his family or friends. He just wants to be able to see the world. The whole earth is full of God's glory. He wants to be able to see that, this world of light and color. He just want to be able to see. IV. The Beggar’s Faith Saves Him Notice he calls Jesus “Rabbi”. It's title of respect, meaning master, and he makes his request known in plain words. He has no doubt in his mind that Jesus can do it. There's no doubt. The beggar's faith saves him. Verse 52, “‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road." Like all of Jesus's healings, effortless, instantaneous, completely effective, totally free financially. So completely free, effortless, perfect, instantaneous, and the ability to see, it's a stunning marvel. It's one of the most complex and amazing processes of the human body. It's only recently that there have been eye surgeons who can do many of the things that are now done routinely, retinal surgery, other aspects working on the eye that's relatively new in the history of medical science. Jesus, like we're already told in Mark 7, has done everything well. There's nothing He cannot do. He heals blind people differently, like with the blind man in John 9. He spits on the ground and makes mud and smears it on the man. The man goes away and washes, and he can see. In Mark earlier, He spit directly on the man's eyes, and then the man saw men like trees walking around. Then He touches them the second time, and he can see everything clearly. He does healings differently here. He just touches him. He does it with a touch of his hands. He just touches his eyes and they're healed. But it's interesting here, the Greek here is that Jesus said, "Your faith..." not has healed you, "but your faith has saved you." There's a Greek word for healed, He doesn't use that here. “Your faith has saved you.” It's pretty obvious. This man has been transformed, he is a new man. Not every physical healing in the Gospel accounts results in individual salvation of the healed person. A very good example of this is in John chapter 5, the man who's by the pool. Remember that Jesus heals and He circles back, and then Jesus says, "Behold you're well again, stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." Then the man goes and turns Jesus into the temple police. It's pretty clear that guy in John 5 wasn't saved, but this man, Bartimaeus is, and he's transformed. He follows Jesus along the road. The next thing in the gospel is the triumphal entry, and I think Bartimaeus was right there, part of the entourage. His faith has saved him. Sins are forgiven by faith in no other way. This man is the very picture of what we call a pre-cross conversion, pre-cross salvation. Just that encounter with Jesus, a physical healing, and his faith saves him. He is beyond just the physical healing. He's now a follower of Jesus. All of us, our greatest need is not physical sight, the ability to walk, any of those physical processes, all of those are going to be taken from us at death. Our greatest need is the forgiveness of sins, the forgiveness of sins, and is by the same mechanism here, our faith in Christ that saves us from our sins. V. Timeless Lessons What do you want Jesus to do for you? We need to start with the basic healing here. All of us apart from Christ starts out spiritually blind, spiritually dead. All of Jesus's salvation works are works of healing. Jesus said, "It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I've not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Jesus has come to heal all of us of our spiritual blindness fundamentally that we don't see the glory of God and we don't see ourselves and our sins properly. What we need is for Jesus to give us spiritual sight to see the glory of God and to see our sins. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and to repent of our sins and define in the bloody death of Jesus, our only hope is salvation. It's a sure and certain hope that through faith in Christ, our sins are forgiven. That's where it all starts here. Nothing else matters. If you don't have that, you have nothing. “What will it profit a man to gain the whole world and loses his own soul?” So start there. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asks. “I want to see you. I want to see the glory of God and the face of Christ, and I want to be justified by my faith in Christ. That's what I want.” Starts there. But now, you all are Christians. You did that a long time ago. Is there anything else? Is there anything else you might want Jesus to do for you? That's how I began this sermon, and that's what I want to ask you now. What do you want Jesus to do for you? This morning, as I was thinking about this sermon, my mind was brought to Revelation 22:1-2.There’s a picture of heaven, the eternal state, and there's a picture of the throne of God and of the lamb and the river of the water of life flowing from the throne through the center of the street of the city. The tree of life is on either side of that river that flows from that throne, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. The tree bears crops every month. You get this picture of healing and fruitfulness and life flowing from the throne. I want you to picture that. Every blessing there is in heaven or on earth flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb. All of them. Seek your blessings from Christ. All of them. Ask God to bless you. Something you don't have, but you need, ask him for it. Something that's in your life that shouldn't be, a sin, a wicked habit, ask him to take it away, and extend it beyond yourself to people around you. Seek blessings from God out of his hand. "What do you want me to do for you?" Get the blessings from him. "Every blessing there is in heaven or on earth flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb. All of them. Seek your blessings from Christ. All of them. Ask God to bless you." We have a mistaken view sometimes of prayer. Prayer works like this. You go to pray and you give God a good idea of something that He didn't have. He agrees with you that it's a good idea, and He changes course a bit because of your prayer, and now does what you tell him to do. Some of you are laughing because that's utterly ridiculous. You can't teach God anything. God already has a meticulous plan for every single moment of redemptive history. He's inviting you into what He's doing. Let me give you a very good example of this. Jesus is our main example of prayer. I was reading this a few days ago, John 14:16, “Jesus said, ‘I will ask the Father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive.’" Now, think about that. Jesus goes to heaven and He says, "Father, I have an idea." He says, "Well, what is it my Son?" "Why don't we send the third person of the Trinity? Why don't we send the Holy Spirit?" And the Father says, "That's a great idea. Let's do that." Do you have any sense at all that was worked out before the foundation of the world, the Father sending the Holy Spirit on the church to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth once Jesus had finished his work? I'm telling you, it had already been worked out. Then why does He say, "I will ask the Father and he will send the counselor"? It's because Jesus knows better than we do, everything comes from God in answer to prayer. And Jesus, our mediator goes to the throne and asks him for the blessings we need. It's the very thing we see in Psalm 2. The psalmist says, "I will proclaim the decree of the Lord." Picture Jesus saying the words of Psalm 2. "The Lord said to me, 'I am your Father. Today I've begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.'" Again, that's not some new idea. That was the whole point. Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, but He has to ask the Father for the nations. What I want you to do is, I want you to see every blessing you could ever want in your life and in the lives of people you care about in the hands of God, and you go to him and ask for them. All of them. Little things, big things, all of them. Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." In the text today, Jesus stands before us and says, "What do you want me to do for you?" What is your answer? Close with me in prayer. Lord, thank you for the time that we've had today in this text. We thank you for its power. We thank you for Jesus's effortless healing and actual physical healing of a blind man, years ago. We know that Jesus can still do anything. We know that our needs are greater than just physical eyesight. Lord, would you please work in us, the salvation you intended, that you would transform us little by little into the image of your Son, that you would make us holy, that you would make us pure, free from sin? And Lord, would you help us to use our prayers for the salvation of others, that we would see our coworkers and neighbors and lost relatives, people around us who are in darkness, that we would ask on their behalf, that they would believe the gospel and be saved. God give us robust, detailed, powerful prayer lives. Help us to understand what happens here when Jesus says, "What do you want me to do for you?" In Jesus' name, Amen.
How the Lord is Judgmental (vv. 2-8) The Lord's judgment is SURE (v. 2) On “judging with equity,” see the judge in the parable of the persistent widow. “Because this widow keeps bothering me I will give her justice” (Luke 18:5). On Jesus making all things new, read Revelation 21:1-5. The Lord's judgment is SLOW (vv. 3-5) On “horns” as a symbol of power and authority, see 1 Kings 22:11. (“And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.'”) On the “conscience,” read Romans 2:14-15. The Lord's Judgment is SEVERE (vv. 6-8) Matthew 26:39 reminds us that Jesus drank the full measure of the cup of God's judgment on our behalf, when he heard “no” to his prayer in Gethsemane: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” After teaching us about the sort of judgement that God has, vv. 9-10 instruct us to be judgmental, as your Father in Heaven is judgmental. By “declaring these things forever” (v. 9) By calling GOOD, “Good,” and EVIL, “Evil” By warning people not to lift up their horns against the Lord (repent/believe) By doing all of this with the correct motivation and tone By being God's agents of judgment this side of Jesus' Second Coming (v. 10)
I. Truth and Religion A. Framing the great debate on religion and spiritualityTaking objective truth seriously in a pluralistic, postmodern setting B. The appeal of the oneness claim (all religions teach basically the same thing): religious strife is eliminated. But this must be logically tested. II. What are Truth Claims in Religion? A. Defining the nature of truth: that which corresponds to objective reality. For more on this, see Douglas Groothuis, Truth Decay (InterVarsity Press, 2000), chapter four. B. Defining a truth-claim: a statement that claims to describe objective reality C. The logic of truth-claims—rules of the intellectual system, rational analysis 1. The law of noncontradiction: A is not non-A (contradictory statements cannot both be true; nothing possesses contradictory properties) 2. Examples of the law of noncontradiction in religious truth-claims a. Buddha cannot be enlightened and not enlightened at the same time; the claim is that he became enlightened. b. Jesus cannot be the Christ (Messiah) and not be the Christ (Messiah). The claim is he always was the Messiah. c. If what Buddha affirms about reality contradicts what Jesus affirms about reality, then both Buddha's and Jesus' view of reality cannot be true. They could both be false if some other worldview is true. A. This fundamental law of logic is a necessary assumption for all rational discourse. III. Similarities Between Jesus and Buddha A. Both are world-historical founders of major religions B. Their lives are enshrined in sacred texts C. Both exhibited profound compassion and gathered followers D. Both emphasized the need to find enduring peace E. Both taught basic ethical teachings on love and respect, versions of the Golden Rule IV. Jesus and Buddha: Key Differences of Worldview A. Do two major religions agree on core issues or disagree? If they disagree, they cannot be one in essence; cannot both true B. Documents on Jesus and Buddha 1. Buddha: Large body of texts far removed in history from life of Buddha. Miracles are not central to the message (dharma) of Buddha. 2. Jesus: Four Gospels (and the rest of the New Testament) are written a few decades after Jesus' time on earth by eyewitnesses or those who consulted them. Miracles are central to the message of Jesus. See Douglas Groothuis, On Jesus, chapter two. C. The worldview of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha (ca. 566-486 BCE) 1. Ultimate reality or the sacred—atheistic or agnostic on God; but nirvana exists 2. The human condition—suffering is due to craving and ignorance 3. Spiritual liberation/salvation a. “Four noble truths”—freedom from craving through insight into the cause of suffering 1. Life is suffering2. Suffering is caused by craving3. The cessation of craving leads to liberation4. The way of liberation is through the Eightfold path b. The Eightfold path—wisdom, ethical conduct, mental discipline c. The afterlife: reincarnation/karma or nirvana (release from reincarnation) D. The worldview of Jesus, the Christ (Messiah) 1. Ultimate reality—a personal and moral Creator God (Matthew 22:37-39) 2. Human condition—image bearers of God estranged from God (Mark 7:21-23; See Romans 3:14-26 also) 3. Spiritual liberation/salvation a. Repentance; turning from self-centeredness (sin) to God's authority (Matthew 4:1: Luke 24:45-47) b. Belief and trust in Jesus himself for eternal life (John 1:12-13; 3:16; 14:6; Romans 10:9). You have to do something with Jesus c. The redemptive power of the suffering death (Cross) of Jesus Christ (Matthew 20:28; 25-28; Romans 5:6-8) 4. The afterlife: Either fellowship with God and the redeemed or eternal punishment (Matthew 25:31-46) E. Two momentous lives compared 1. Buddha—a sage, teacher, and reformer. Sought enlightenment through knowledge and experience; shared this with others 2. Jesus—claimed to be God in human form (unrepeatable) a. Never sought enlightenment, but began ministry in power and confidence (Matthew 4) b. Offered to provide forgiveness for sin against a holy God (Mark 2:1-12; John 3:16-18) c. Claimed to be one with a personal God (John 8:58; John 10:22-31) IV. Conclusion: Between Jesus and Buddha— Gospel or Dharma? A. Buddhism and Christianity cannot both be true; they contradict each other on crucial matters of worldview and spirituality: A cannot be non-A (the law of noncontradiction) B. Objective truth and spiritual reality should be the overriding concern for spiritual seekers C. Final reflection on suffering and hope (crucial test for any worldview) 1. Buddha: transcend suffering through mental discipline and dehumanization (nirvana) 2. Jesus: embrace redemptive suffering because of the fallen nature of the world. Jesus' own suffering on the Cross provides the way of liberation for individuals. a. Jesus and the death of Lazarus (John 11) b. Jesus on the Cross: “My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) c. Resurrection of the body and the afterlife (1 Corinthians 15) D. Jesus offers meaning in suffering and purpose in life through his life, death, and resurrection Recommended Reading 1. Douglas Groothuis, On Jesus. Wadsworth, 2003. Looks at Jesus through the lens of philosophy.2. Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, 2nd ed. InterVarsity Press, 2022 3. Bart Gruzalski, On Buddha. Wadsworth, 2000. Looks at Buddha through the lens of philosophy.4. Stuart Hackett, Oriental Religions: A Westerner's Guide to Eastern Thought. University of Wisconsin Press, 1979. A philosophical analysis, including Buddhism.5. David L. Johnson, A Reasoned Look at Asian Religions. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany Press, 1985. A philosophical analysis, including Buddhism. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
Lenten Mission: Day 3: Continuing The Wisdom of The Cross of Jesus. The Gospel takes place largely on Easter Sunday night . . . and the following Sunday. The story also includes the disciples telling St. Thomas they have seen the Lord. St. Thomas says you did not. St. Thomas then says, unless I place my hand in His side, I will not believe. The reflection begins with the words at the conclusion of the Gospel. Jesus did other things that are not written within this book. The Gospels were not written to merely gives us information. It isn't a history book, though it is historical. Rather, these things have been written, so that you may believe. Listen more within the reflection. The Gospel reading, at first glance, does not seem to have anything to do with The Cross. How could it? The timeline is Easter Sunday, and the following Sunday. Yet, the Gospel has everything to do with The Cross. Hear how the Gospel connects with The Cross. On Jesus' first appearance within the locked room, Jesus gives His first gift of the Risen Lord to His Church. Peace Be With You. Hear more within the reflection. We Should All Be More Like Thomas St. Thomas often gets a bad rap. He is often characterized, on first glance, as the non-believer. In fact, the saying / name of Doubting Thomas refers to this Gospel reading, characterizing him as the non-believer. But on deeper reflection, we, perhaps, should all be like Thomas. Hear a different perspective on the faith of Thomas. St. Thomas reminds us that The Cross is the Key to Knowing Jesus, including in His Resurrection. That is why Jesus bears the signs of hanging on The Cross. Thomas suffers from the bum rap, of not believing when the other disciples saw Jesus on Easter Sunday. But Thomas offers (perhaps) the greatest declaration of faith in the New Testament from his knees. My Lord, and My God. Listen more to this reflection. Listen to how we might be more like Thomas.
Have you felt life has robbed you of abundance, joy, peace, health, wellness, happiness, and good relationships? As God's beloved champion, you don't have to put up with that kind of life for another moment. In his latest episode, Pastor Gregory Dickow continues to uncover and solve the common problem of settling for less than God's best. He illustrates how your relationship with God guarantees to make everything better. He also clarifies God's character, true repentance, and how to know He's talking to you, which makes all the difference. If you want to enjoy boat-sinking abundance and a closer, deeper relationship with the Lover of your soul, this episode is for you! SUPPORT You can donate to help us reach more lives around the world here: https://www.lifechangerschurch.com/give WATCH ON YOUTUBE Subscribe to the Gregory Dickow YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@gregorydickow CONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gregorydickow Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/gregorydickow TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gregorydickow YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gregorydickow Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/gregorydickow Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/gregorydickowoffical/ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Preview 1:02 - An Abundant Life of Joy, Peace, Health, Wellness, and Happiness is Yours 2:59 - Soul Prosperity—the Gifts of Hope and a Great Future 4:54 - Relationship With God Makes Everything Better 7:05 - God's Goodness Produces Boat-Sinking Abundance & True Repentance 12:07 - #1 Don't Settle For The Way It Has Always Been 15:43 - #2 Don't Settle for a Shallow Walk With God 17:42 - God's Character—How To Know He Is Talking To You 19:30 - You Matter To God More Than Anything 20:17 - #3 Don't Settle For Things Getting Worse 21:06 - #4 Don't Settle For A Distant Relationship With God 23:22 - You're On Jesus' "Must" List 24:37 - How To Talk To God 26:10 - Don't Settle For A Lukewarm Encounter With God—Saved By Fire 30:37 - Have Big Expectations 31:32 - Expect More, Do More for His Glory, Give, Connect --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gregorydickow/support
Interested in further study of the Bible? Join us at Logos Bible Software. Sign up to attend Westminster Seminary California's Seminary for a Day here! Please help support the show on our Patreon Page! SEASON 5 EPISODE 19 Join Nick & Peter of the Guilt Grace Gratitude Podcast as they continue Season 5, Reformed Apologetics, and ask the question, "Can Christians do Philosophy?" Dr. Douglas Groothuis (PhD, University of Oregon) is professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary. He is the author of numerous books, including Christian Apologetics, Fire in the Streets, Philosophy in Seven Sentences, Unmasking the New Age, Truth Decay, On Pascal, On Jesus, and Walking Through Twilight. He has written for scholarly journals such as Religious Studies, Sophia, Research in Philosophy and Technology, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, and Philosophia Christi, as well as for numerous popular magazines. Book(s) used for this conversation: Christian Apologetics Have Feedback or Questions? Email us at: guiltgracepod@gmail.com Find us on Instagram: @guiltgracepod Follow us on Twitter: @guiltgracepod Find us on YouTube: Guilt Grace Gratitude Podcast Please rate and subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you use! Looking for a Reformed Church? North American Presbyterian & Reformed Churches --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gggpodcast/support
Jesus Christ is why we're here. But how much of Christ do we know? How much of his person and divinity, how much of his ministry and hopes for us do we truly understand? How much of what we've learnt do we remember? Jesus Christ is the foundation for us Christians and in this month of January, here at BMG we are going back to the basics and asking Who Exactly is Jesus Christ? This is Part 1 of On Jesus. --------------------- Email Us: bmglive4@gmail.com Website: bmg.disha.page Instagram: @bmg.global Twitter: @bmg_global ---------------------- Intro/Outro Music: Slowly by Smith The Mister --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bmglive/message
Focus! On what? On Jesus of course. As we continue our series From the Heart our friend Calvin Larson takes us on a journey on how to keep our focus on Jesus. Make sure you pay attention to this lesson because Cal has some pointers on just on how to do that.
Focus! On what? On Jesus of course. As we continue our series From the Heart our friend Calvin Larson takes us on a journey on how to keep our focus on Jesus. Make sure you pay attention to this lesson because Cal has some pointers on just on how to do that.
For Christians, what is the proper way to think about bioethics and bioengineering? What moral limits should be placed upon bioengineering research and development? Will science give us the ability to live forever, apart from God Himself? On part two of our conversation with philosopher, apologist and author, Dr. Douglas Groothius (GROW-tice), we unpack some ways through these questions and help equip you to give a defense in such important discussions. Douglas Groothuis earned his PhD from the University of Oregon and has been a faculty member at Denver Seminary since 1993. He has also taught at The University of Oregon and Metro State University, in Denver. He has authored thirty academic articles in journals such as Philosophia Christi, Religious Studies, Sophia, Bibliotheca Sacra, and Academic Questions. He has also written for Christianity Today, The Christian Research Journal, The Journal for Christian Legal Thought, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and many other publications. He has authored thirteen books, including Unmasking the New Age, The Soul in Cyberspace, Truth Decay, On Jesus, Christian Apologetics, Philosophy in Seven Sentences, Walking through Twilight: A Wife's Illness—A Philosopher's Lament, I Love You to the Stars (a children's book written with Crystal Bowman), Christian Apologetics, Fire in the Streets: How You Can Confidently Respond to Incendiary Cultural Topics. and The Knowledge of God in the World and in the Word an Introduction to Classical Apologetics (2022) with Andrew I. Shepardson. He has contributed numerous entries to reference volumes such as The Dictionary of Christianity and Science, The Apologetics Study Bible, The Evangelical Dictionary of World Religions, and the textbook, Problems in Value Theory.Related Links: Free access to some related Watchman Profiles: Watchman Fellowship 4-page Profile on Transhumanism by Dr. Douglas Groothuis: watchman.org/TranshumanismProfile.pdf Watchman Fellowship 4-page Profile on Atheism by Dr. Robert M. Bowman: watchman.org/Atheism Watchman Fellowship 4-page Profile on Scientism by Dr. Luke Barnes and Daniel Ray: watchman.org/Scientism Additional ResourcesFREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (over 600 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: watchman.org/notebook. SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © Watchman Fellowship, Inc.
Our guest this week and next, philosopher Dr. Douglas Groothuis (pronounced GROW-tice), unpacks and helps us better understand the foundation behind these ideas and shows us that we as Christians have no reason to fear contributing sound biblical and theological answers to these important topics.Douglas Groothuis earned his PhD from the University of Oregon and has been a faculty member at Denver Seminary since 1993. He has also taught at The University of Oregon and Metro State University, in Denver. He has authored thirty academic articles in journals such as Philosophia Christi, Religious Studies, Sophia, Bibliotheca Sacra, and Academic Questions. He has also written for Christianity Today, The Christian Research Journal, The Journal for Christian Legal Thought, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and many other publications. He has authored thirteen books, including Unmasking the New Age, The Soul in Cyberspace, Truth Decay, On Jesus, Christian Apologetics, Philosophy in Seven Sentences, Walking through Twilight: A Wife's Illness—A Philosopher's Lament, I Love You to the Stars (a children's book written with Crystal Bowman), Christian Apologetics, Fire in the Streets: How You Can Confidently Respond to Incendiary Cultural Topics. and The Knowledge of God in the World and in the Word an Introduction to Classical Apologetics (2022) with Andrew I. Shepardson. He has contributed numerous entries to reference volumes such as The Dictionary of Christianity and Science, The Apologetics Study Bible, The Evangelical Dictionary of World Religions, and the textbook, Problems in Value Theory.Related Links: Free access to some related Watchman Profiles: Watchman Fellowship 4-page Profile on Transhumanism by Dr. Douglas Groothuis: watchman.org/TranshumanismProfile.pdf Watchman Fellowship 4-page Profile on Atheism by Dr. Robert M. Bowman: watchman.org/Atheism Watchman Fellowship 4-page Profile on Scientism by Dr. Luke Barnes and Daniel Ray: watchman.org/Scientism Additional ResourcesFREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (over 600 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: watchman.org/notebook. SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © Watchman Fellowship, Inc.
The second installment of BORN IN THE SECOND CENTURY'S Montanism Trilogy examines the Christian reactions to this mysterious movement. Host Chris Palmero presents testimonies from Irenaeus, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Didache, Epiphanius, and of course, Eusebius. He also tackles a burning question: did Tertullian really convert to the New Prophecy, or was that illustrious fool merely participating in an elaborate LARP?Anyone who listens to this episode can learn about why Christians blow on the faces of their converts; whether Eusebius can really be trusted; the "Heretic's Journey;" whether the Catholics were trying to assassinate Montanus, Maximilla, and Priscilla; whether Irenaeus was a secret Montanist sympathizer; whether the Didache was originally a Montanist book; what the controversy between Christianity and the New Prophecy was really about; why Tertullian got involved in this movement; and how the pagan Celsus has taught us more about this "heresy" than any Christian commentator ever could. The host also shares a special time-saving technique that anyone can use when writing about Philip's Daughters.Opening reading: The Canons of the Council of Constantinople, from the late fourth century, look forward to the age in which Montanism eventually fades from the earth.Patreon: www.patreon.com/borninthesecondcenturyWebsite: facebook.com/BornInTheSecondCenturyE-mail: secondcenturypodcast@gmail.comMusic: Pompeii Gray on Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud00:48 - Reading: COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE, Canon 7.05:24 - OPENING Remarks.09:33 - Reading: FIRMILIAN, Epistle 74, to Cyprian.15:10 - A SAFETY Briefing before Reading Eusebius.18:41 - Testimony of THE ANONYMOUS. His Confused Origin Story for Montanus.22:14 - The Anonymous: The HERETIC'S JOURNEY.26:43 - The Anonymous: PROPHET-KILLERS.30:49 - The Anonymous: A Possible MATTHEW Reference.34:13 - The Anonymous: AMMIA and QUADRATUS.42:25 - Reading: EPIPHANIUS, Panarion, On the Quintillianists.45:38 - Testimony of IRENAEUS.54:29 - Testimony of CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.54:58 - Testimony of COMMANDER SHEPHERD OF HERMAS.59:50 - Testimony of THE DIDACHE.1:02:30 - Testimony of EPIPHANIUS.1:09:11 - On the PARACLETE.1:15:21 - On JESUS.1:16:25 - On PHILIP'S DAUGHTERS.1:27:47 - Reading: WILLIAM TABERNEE, Prophets and Gravestones.1:28:45 - Tertullian as Montanist LARPER.1:45:47 - Testimony of CELSUS.1:49:52 - CLOSING Remarks.Support the show
Our culture can be so harsh, it's no wonder that the writer of Hebrews encourages one and all who believe in Jesus to set their mind ON Jesus. I see so many things that snuff the enjoyment out of life that it's easy for me to build strong, protective walls around my heart. How about you? In today's message with Pastor Johnny, this is exactly what we're not to do.If we think...and I mean, SIT and SOAK in all the truths about who Jesus is then that's the first step in not allowing our hearts to harden.
Our culture can be so harsh, it's no wonder that the writer of Hebrews encourages one and all who believe in Jesus to set their mind ON Jesus. I see so many things that snuff the enjoyment out of life that it's easy for me to build strong, protective walls around my heart. How about you? In today's message with Pastor Johnny, this is exactly what we're not to do.If we think...and I mean, SIT and SOAK in all the truths about who Jesus is then that's the first step in not allowing our hearts to harden.
This episode acquaints you with me briefly. I speak of my conversion and ministry since then. Early on, God showed me that he wanted me to teach, preach, and write. I endeavor to bring the truth of Christianity to the world and to build up the church in the faith given once for all to the saints (Jude 3). Because of my work in philosophy and apologetics, my story can be an apologetic for Christianity. I make this case in “Autobiography as Apologetic,” published in The Christian Research Journal: https://www.equip.org/articles/autobiography-as-apologeticIn the podcast, did not mention all the books I have published in the show, so here they are.1. Unmasking the New Age. InterVarsity Press, 19862. Confronting the New Age. InterVarsity Press, 1988.3. Revealing the New Age Jesus. InterVarsity Press, 1990.4. Christianity that Counts. Baker Books, 1994.5. Deceived by the Light. Harvest House, 19956. Jesus in an Age of Controversy. Harvest House, 1996.7. The Soul in Cyberspace. Baker Books, 1997.8. Truth Decay. InterVarsity Press, 2000.9. On Jesus. Wadsworth, 2003.10. On Pascal. Wadsworth, 2003.11. Christian Apologetics, first edition. InterVarsity Press, 2011.12. Philosophy in Seven Sentences. InterVarsity Press, 2017.13. Walking through Twilight: A Wife's Illness—A Philosopher's Lament. InterVarsity Press, 2017.14. I Love You to the Stars (with Crystal Bowman). Kregel, 2021. A children's book.15. Christian Apologetics, 2nd ed. InterVarsity Press, 2022. Contains eight new chapters.16. Fire in the Streets. Salem Book, 2022. 17. The Knowledge of God in the World and in the Word: An Introduction to Classical Apologetics (with Andrew Shepardson). Zondervan Academic. Due: December, 2022.In addition, I coedited, with James Sennett, In Defense of Natural Theology. InterVarsity Press, 2005. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
0 (1s): Good morning, 1 (2s): Church. Good morning. Good morning. Will you stand as we worship the Lord this morning? 0 (13s): It's to be the happier morning 2 (18s): You Jesus. Thank you for your presence. When all I see is about you see my victory tree when all I see is you see about and the, 0 (44s): And 2 (45s): As I walk through the shout, your love surrounds me. There's nothing to feel for. I am we with you. Come on. You notice. So I find on my knees with my hands lifted high, God, the battle belongs to you. I at your how seat through the night, oh God, the be belong to 0 (1m 30s): You. 2 (1m 37s): And if you against me for Jesus's nothing impossible for sees 0 (2m 2s): My 2 (2m 5s): You 0 (2m 10s): Is 2 (2m 13s): Here. 0 (2m 19s): So 2 (2m 20s): I find I with my hands. It did high. But that'll bes 0 (2m 30s): You. 2 (2m 31s): Everyth, right? I'll see through the, oh God. But that'll to 0 (2m 42s): You 2 (2m 47s): Homebody fortress, you go before us. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. You shining the shadows, you win everybody. Nothing can stand against the power of our God in almight. You go before us. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. You shine in the shadows, you win everybody. 2 (3m 29s): Nothing can stand the of our God in almighty forts for 0 (3m 39s): Us, 2 (3m 40s): Nothing can stand against power. Our God shine in the shadows. You every nothing can stand against the power of our 0 (3m 57s): God. Oh, 2 (4m 2s): So when or on my 0 (4m 5s): Knees 2 (4m 6s): With my hands knit high, God, that'll be lost to in Everyth. I see. 0 (4m 21s): Oh 2 (4m 22s): God, that'll be 0 (4m 24s): To you. 2 (4m 27s): Oh God. That'll be 0 (4m 57s): Christ 2 (4m 59s): Foundation. Areno shaken. I my that, that I'll 0 (5m 17s): My 2 (5m 22s): He's let me down. He's he now. He won't Hass. You got 0 (5m 49s): Highs 2 (5m 50s): I've got makes no 0 (5m 53s): Sense. 2 (5m 54s): So I won't be 0 (5m 56s): Going 2 (6m 0s): Done by my, 0 (6m 5s): My life 2 (6m 6s): On Jesus. He's never so out. He 0 (6m 24s): Won't. He wont. He won't. 2 (6m 38s): He wants, he he wants, 0 (6m 53s): He wants 2 (6m 58s): He will 0 (6m 59s): Be. 2 (7m 2s): Christ is my 0 (7m 3s): Firm found 2 (7m 38s): He 0 (7m 41s): He 2 (7m 51s): He'll het and 0 (8m 4s): Holy 2 (8m 5s): Worship of whos who, Love. Come on. You've seen Rain came, Rain came, rain flew. But my house was built on. I'm came and wind blew. 2 (8m 46s): Not houseless built on you. I'm with you. I've gotta make it 0 (8m 58s): Through 2 (9m 1s): Rain and wind. Blue. Not houseless belts on you. I'm with you. I'm make it it through. Yeah, I'm it through. Cause I'm strong on you. I'm gonna, This is my house. He's builts on you. Christ's my burn foundation. 2 (9m 47s): When now everything around me, never. The more I 0 (9m 58s): Put my 2 (9m 59s): Jesus, He's faithful. So I would, He 0 (10m 17s): Won't. He won 2 (10m 27s): Het, He give him a 1 (10m 48s): Revelation 21, 5 and six says, He who is seated on the throne said, 2 (10m 54s): I 1 (10m 54s): Am making everything new. Then he said, Write this down for these words are trustworthy and true. He said to me, It is done. I am the alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end to the thirsty. I will give water through water without cost. From the spring of the water of life. He who is seated on the throne said, I am making everything new church this morning we're gonna sing a newer song for us called New Thing. And may that be true for us. He has new things for you. No matter what season of life you're in, he has new things. Would you sing this with me? 2 (11m 55s): These's are the days that we prayed for a story. Being of faith has begun and I'm seeing so much still, I'm that the best is not yet come. 0 (12m 21s): Jesus 2 (12m 23s): Not done with me. You're tub a new, you're tubing anything away proceeded 0 (12m 46s): Praise 2 (12m 53s): To Jesus and all thes. Jesus not 0 (13m 5s): Done with me. You're doing anything you're doing. I get up. You 2 (13m 45s): Never up you get up. You up on 0 (13m 50s): Me. 2 (13m 51s): Your is get up. You get up. You never give up on 0 (13m 58s): Mes gonna give up. Never give 2 (14m 3s): Up. I 0 (14m 11s): Your 2 (14m 12s): Is up. You never gave up. You never give up on me. You is never gonna up. You never give up. You never 0 (14m 23s): Give up on me. Never gonna give up. You never, you never give. No. Jesus' 2 (14m 40s): Not 0 (14m 41s): Done 2 (14m 42s): With me. You're 0 (14m 45s): A new thing. You're 2 (14m 48s): Doing 0 (14m 49s): A new thing. I Im baby. You're doing a new, you're doing. Love is never, you never gave up. You never give up on me. You never gonna give up. You never gave up. You never give up on me. Give up, never up. Never up. 0 (15m 31s): I know. Done with me. You're a new thing. You're doing a new for all. You're doing a new, you're doing a new. 3 (16m 2s): Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning. We thank you that two who began a go to work in us. Thank you Lord. Still working, Lord still working on us. And you're, you're sanctify us. You're bringing us in that process of being made holy and holy day by day. Lord, you set us aside, Lord, you're calling us into a new thing, Lord, the new heavens and the new earth that will someday be Lord. But yet we're looking forward to that day. And while we're still here, Lord, we're calling and inviting others into your family, the family of God, and into a great and grand inheritance Lord. So remind us of that new thing that you're doing, that thing that you have for us yet keep our heart set and our mindset on your kingdom. 3 (16m 45s): Lord Jesus name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. 4 (16m 51s): A good Mor 3 (16m 54s): Almost there. 4 (16m 55s): Hello. Good morning. And welcome. It's not working. Is he going? There you go. There we go. Is it okay? There we go. There 3 (17m 5s): We go. Thank you. 4 (17m 6s): Technical difficulties. Good morning and welcome. It's Family Sunday again. We are just so glad you guys are back. As you can tell from the name, it's Family Sunday. We are all together here today. We got all the kids in, so we are just so glad we have donuts and it's just gonna be a great time to listen to the message today. Yeah. Yeah. And 3 (17m 29s): You're 4 (17m 29s): Brier. Oh yes I am. Brier. This is Jeremy. 3 (17m 32s): Jeremy. My name's Jeremy. I'm the youth and family pastor here. And this is not my son and he's not related, but my wife got us confused this 4 (17m 39s): Morning. I don't have any 0 (17m 41s): Positions here 4 (17m 42s): Yet. 3 (17m 44s): So yeah, we're so glad you're joining us here on Family Sunday. It's exciting day as well. We're having, having child dedication right after this. And so it's just a great day to, to be together as a family. We've got a few things coming up. So we also, last week we, we were challenged to help give towards Hurricane Ian relief. And so that was the challenge put out. I don't remember, I don't know how much was raised last week, but we're gonna keep raising that $10,000. We raised $10,000. That's amazing. So that is just a, a generous gift that we're gonna be sending out to Hope City Church out in Florida to, to support them and their, and their kind of regrowth effort building up efforts. 3 (18m 27s): So that's some there, if you still wanna help give towards that, you can write a checkout to Harvest Church or age, you know, on the website and just put in the memo hurricane relief. And, and that's on top of your regular giving church. You've been just an amazing church to, to continue giving. It's been just a great growth in our, the season of our church. So thank you so much. 4 (18m 50s): Also, we are going to be on October 31st or Halloween. We typically don't like Halloween. It's a little 3 (18m 59s): Bit dark. 4 (19m 0s): Yeah, it's a dark, it's it's a dark holiday. Yeah. So we wanna make it much more family friendly. Friendly. So we are going to be having an outreach during Halloween where we're gonna have like a mini carnival in here. So there's gonna be candy, it's going to be great. You can donate candy back at the info center. Yeah. And it's gonna be three to 5:00 PM three to 5:00 PM on October 31st. So 3 (19m 28s): Yeah, open the doors to the community. It's gonna be a great time just to share the gospel message with them in just a tangible way. So it's gonna be awesome. And gals wanna want you to mark your calendar for November 18th at 6:00 PM We're gonna be having a gals event. And this is just like put it on your calendar. We don't have all the details yet, so details are to come, but that'll be November 18th on a Friday night, 6:00 PM 4 (19m 50s): Also for the winter season, we are going to get ready for operation Christmas Child, if you don't know what this is, you take a little like shoebox and you fill it with a bunch of toys and stuff and then it gets sent across the world to a child that's not gonna be able to celebrate a normal Christmas. Yeah. And so we just want to bless these kids. So you can pick up your operation Christmas child box on the back and make sure you drop it off by November 13th so that it can be shipped out on time. 3 (20m 20s): Awesome. And you said your family's probably done 30 to 40 boxes over your 4 (20m 24s): Lifetime? Yeah, quite a few. Okay. They've done, yeah, we've done quite a 3 (20m 26s): Few. Awesome. Well we got a video for Operation Christmas Child. Let's check that out. 5 (20m 38s): At the count of three when children opened the shoe boxes, they're so excited. 6 (20m 43s): I mean, it's just been incredible. 7 (20m 46s): Kids are so excited giving them a gift. Do it in Jesus name. And that's what this is all about. 8 (20m 52s): Jesus loves you. 9 (20m 56s): It's a gospel opportunity is the chance for the children to change the entire life. 10 (21m 2s): The word of God is spreading. The gospel is 9 (21m 4s): Advancing, 11 (21m 6s): It is impacting children, it is impacting families. It is impacting the world greatly. 7 (21m 13s): Thank you for praying. Thank you for giving. God will bless and God will use your gift to touch the life of a child and to be able to do it. Jesus name. So thank you, thank you for being a part of it. God bless each and every one of you. 3 (21m 32s): All right. So just what a great way to impact our world for the life-changing mess of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So get your boxes in the back of the Info center right now. We're gonna have a, a time of meet and greet. So say hello to someone around you as well as I'll invite up to the stage those, those families that are dedicating their children today. So say hi to someone around you. We'll be back in a minute. 0 (22m 8s): We all 8 (22m 13s): Loves 0 (22m 14s): Us 8 (22m 18s): When we're so 0 (22m 21s): No 8 (22m 22s): Matter what we 0 (22m 23s): Do to, 8 (22m 26s): This is great. There's nothing better. Didn't 0 (22m 32s): You? We And in this fucking Mr. 0 (23m 20s): Prevails, 8 (23m 22s): I hope his Jesus God never fails matter. What we do. He loves is the 0 (23m 34s): Kids 8 (23m 36s): Is 12 (23m 46s): I'm 0 (23m 48s): Ladies. 3 (24m 6s): All right. You guys will. All right. Welcome everyone. Child dedication Sunday on the side. Yeah, can go on the side. Yeah. All right. Come on up. Come on up. Schwartz is what exciting day shows our, our church is growing, not, you know, from, from the youngest up. 3 (24m 51s): So it's, it's, it's great to see your families up here. It's all right. So I get to introduce everyone first. So over here we have Logan and Caitlin Weiss, and we have their whole family, but today they're gonna be dedicating Theodore, Theo, and Willow. Let's see. And and Theo was born July 13th, 2022. And Willow was born August 17th, 2019. And Emmett back here was born December 21st, 2016. All right. And over here we have the Schwartz family. 3 (25m 33s): We got Joel and Caitlin and Gwen. And today they're gonna be dedicating Laurel. And she was born on January 19th, 2019. I got the date right. Okay. And then also Juniper, who was born on October 21st, 2020. So you just had a birthday. That's exciting. So today it's, it's, it's, it's a great day cuz first and foremost, it's the parents that we're dedicat are dedicating their lives to the Lord and the raising of their children in to nurture and discipline in the admonition of the Lord. 3 (26m 13s): New living translation says the discipline and instruction of the Lord. And so I wanna read a passage from Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy six, verses four through seven says, Hero Israel, the Lord our God is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. And these words, which I've commanded today shall be in your heart. So first and foremost, it's, it's the parent's relationship to God. That's the most important. And it it starts with the parents in their walka Lord as they're loving and obeying him and drawing closer to, to the Lord in humble obedience. So I brought up a triangle because I think in a way this is the, our relationship with God is the best pyramid scheme. There it is out there, okay? 3 (26m 54s): It's the good pyramid scheme. And so at a on a triangle, you have three different points. And you have God of top, cuz God is the rock, he's unmovable. But as the husband and wife begin to draw closer to God, and they began to come closer and closer to God, you can see they also, Dr. Come closer to each other. And so as your relationship individually grow and, and, and become closer to God, so too will your relationship with you as spouses grow closer to each other. And then what that does is Paul says that, follow me or imitate me as I follow and imitate Christ. So as you are going closer and your walk, the kids are gonna see that and they're gonna replicate that. 3 (27m 36s): So that is the triangle. But it also says, and Deutero, it says, You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk to them when you sit down at your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. It's, it's a lifestyle of raising these kids up and teaching and nourishing. And it takes full efforts. A hundred percent right? A hundred percent. Psalm 1 27 says, Behold children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward like the arrows in the hand of a warrior. So are the children in one's youth. And it says, Happy is the man who has e quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with their enemies at the gate. So the Bible says that children are not only a heritage and reward, but they're also arrows in the hand of a war. 3 (28m 22s): Parents, you're warriors, we're raising dragon slayers in the time of dragons. I like that Facebook post that came out during 2020. You see, arrows are not just meant to be to stay in the quiver, They're meant to be shot out, they're meant to be released. They're, they're, they're meant to be sent out. And it takes time, it takes focus, it takes effort, it takes concentration. So that's what parenting is. It is preparing your children to be released out into the world and accomplish what God has for them. So I'd love right now to just to to, for the church body, you're a part of this community, to, to help raise these kids, to love on them. So why don't you raise your hand for to just be as we just pray over these two families. 3 (29m 6s): Jesus, we thank you for these two families, Lord, who are here saying that they're here to dedicate their children into the Lord. We thank you for each of the individual personalities of these children and all that you want to accomplish in and through them Lord. And so Lord, draw the parents closer to you, God, and closer to each other, Lord, so that their relationship might be strong and that that love might trickle down into the lives of their kids. And that kids witness Lord, your, their obedience to you Lord. So Lord, we dedicate these children unto the Lord. We dedicate them to you. God. We say, Lord, that good work that you started in them, we complete it, Lord, yes, we thank you Lord. 3 (29m 47s): In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Love you guys. Love you. All right, Steve. 13 (29m 60s): Yeah, I'm up. 14 (30m 3s): Thanks Jeremy. Thanks guys. I remember 31 years ago, roughly we dedicated sweet KK to the Lord. And, and really it is a dedication of the parents, as Jeremy said, We're actually asking parents to make a commitment of their lives, to raise up godly offspring. And we're talking today about impacting our community and our world with the life changing message of Jesus Christ. I tell you, as parents and grandparents, we've got the greatest opportunity to impact our nation, our world, our community, and our world with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. 14 (30m 46s): So sometimes when we're busy, you look at my, look at these young families, there's so much going on, there's so much activity and so much drawing and pulling on these young families, and I just want to encourage parents and grandparents and grandparents. But that the greatest thing that you can do is, is impact your little kids with the gospel message of Jesus Christ. And watch how that will change the culture and will change your family and will change the dynamic of the, the nation and the world. Good and wonderful things happen as a result of that investment. And it's an investment, right? It's like a lifetime of investment, but it's got the best return possible. 14 (31m 31s): It's just the most amazing thing. And so with that, let's pray as we get into the message today, We're gonna be in First Corinthians chapter four. And Lord, we just want to invite you, Lord, we're so thankful for the opportunity to set time aside in the service, to challenge people, to challenge families, to raise their kids the way that the scriptures inform us to raise our kids. And so, Lord, I pray that there would be strength around that focus and commitment around that focus, Lord, that there would be a lifetime of dedication around that focus, Lord, that we as your church would make it our priority to pray for the next generation, to disciple the next generation Lord God, to instruct and to model to the next generation what it means to be a servant of yours, a follower of yours, Lord God. 14 (32m 22s): So in our conduct and our words and our thoughts and our deeds, God, that they would see and want to emulate and model that in their own, in their own lives, Lord God. So we pray Jesus, that each week as we gather that we'd be built up on our most holy faith, that we would, would receive instruction and encouragement to do what you've called us to do in your Word. And so part of that, and a major part of that Lord, is that we might impact those around us, impacting our community and our world with the life changing message of Jesus Christ will help us to do that. We pray, Lord, thank you for your grace in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. How many can remember, you guys seem a little quiet today? 14 (33m 5s): How many can remember our core values? Four core values on which we move forward together on, I'll give you the first word of each core value and then you fill it in. We are committed the Lord to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We are confident in the word of God. We are created to serve God and others. And we are called to love all people, right? Do me a favor, write it down as my, some of us just need, we need core values for our own lives, right? Like we need to adopt core values for our lives that help to shape us and mold us as we move forward. 14 (33m 48s): And so use these core values because they are applicable, they are transferable, they work for a corporation, the, a corporate gathering of people like a church, but they also work for individuals and for families. And so, and then part of that is a purpose statement. What is your life gonna be like? Well, as a church, I hope and I pray, and our goal and our focus is that we would be impacting our community and our world with the life changing message of Jesus Christ. And so that's kind of what we're talking about today. But before we get to that, I got something for pastor appreciation that I'd like to share with you a couple weeks ago was pastor appreciation week. And so we received, you know, encouragement and gifts and that sort of thing. 14 (34m 29s): And one of the things that I did receive was a, a free joke. I got a free, I didn't have to pay five bucks for this joke. It was a free joke. And so this is the joke. What did the buffalo say to his son when he dropped him off at school? Bye son. I think I'm actually used that before, but it worked again. I got it. I had to use it. So anyway, hey, we're in First Corinthians chapter four. We're going to do our best to walk through all of First Corinthians chapter four. Do I have a calendar counter up there? Boy, I can't hardly see that. 30 Oh my glasses, I got like 45 minutes. Is that what they are? Is that what I have? 45 minutes. Thanks Amanda. Thanks. 14 (35m 10s): I might take 45 today impacting our community and our world life changing message of Jesus Christ. How do we do that? How do we do that? I mean, we gotta have steps to accomplish the goal. We gotta have things that we can do that help us march down that path, that intentional path that we've set out for ourselves. And so as we look at first Corinthians chapter four, the apostle Paul Apollos and Paul, our, our speak, Paul, especially through the, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is speaking to us about what our lives should look like. And he's speaking to a church, he's speaking to the church at Corinth, he's speaking to believers, people who are like you and I, who are just trying to figure out what it means to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. 14 (35m 56s): And so, number one in your notes, how do we, how do we impact our community and our world with life changing message? We gotta live our lives for God and not man. So number one, live your life for God and not man. You think we see that in the scripture? We see it all throughout the scripture, right? We can probably unpack any book of the Bible, any chapter of the Bible, and we'll see kind of this underlying theme in there that we are called to live our lives for God and not for man. First Corinthians four, one says, So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God's mysteries. 14 (36m 39s): So this first kind of levels the playing field. Paul reminds us of his role as simply a servant of God. What does that word servant mean? Is if we get a word picture, it's actually the under rowers in the bottom of a ship. The under rowers are the, the least envied servants on the boat. They're underneath at the bottom of the boat and they're rowing and they're pushing the boat, they're moving the boat through the waters. It's, it's a thankless job. And they're underappreciated, but they're doing a job moving the ship. I'll re under rowers indicating the lowest galley slaves, the ones rowing on the bottom tier of the ship. 14 (37m 21s): They were the most menial un envied and despised of slaves. So when Paul talks about his role as a servant, he really has got a clear perspective of his role. This is the Apostle Paul who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament. He could be boasting about his role within the kingdom, but instead, instead he doesn't, He realizes that he is a servant of the living God. And he communicates that throughout his epistles, as he writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He says, Hey, every person in the kingdom of God is merely a servants of God. And that word could be understood as, as an employee, maybe that's an easier word for us to understand where employees of God were actually working for God. 14 (38m 8s): Were employed by God here in the earth to do the work that he's called us to do. We're employed to do God's work in the earth. So every the servant of God is directly answers to God. Every one of us will give an account and stand before the king and give an account for our lives. Why? Because we're employed by him for a purpose to do, do the work that he's called us to do. So Apollo and Paul, they understood, hey, we're simply employees of God. They were put in charge of explaining God's mysteries. And so they were servants of God. 14 (38m 49s): Paul Apollo and Paul were servants who knew their job in the kingdom. So we're kind of getting some pieces and we're starting to put it together. Apollo and Paul, they were servants and they understood their role within the kingdom. And so there's some things that we can grab a hold of as believers here in the 21st century. We can get a better understanding, a clearer understanding of who we are. We are servants, employees of God with responsibilities. And it's our job to figure out what that responsibility is. Paul continues to challenge us in the next verse, verse two. Now a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. 14 (39m 33s): So Paul's brings something else to the table that helps us to understand who we are and who we have been created to be. So we are simply servants of God. We're employed by God with responsibilities and we must be faithful in those responsibilities. So there's a little three many, three point service sermon within a sermon. These are things that God has called us to do. We can unpack the scripture and get point by point. We can get step by step the plan that God has for us. And Paul's outlining it for us. We are called to be servants. And so nobody in the kingdom is, is more important than another. 14 (40m 15s): We're all just servants of the living God, employees of God. And we've got responsibilities. And it is our responsibility to figure out what our responsibility is. And then once we've figured out what our responsibility is, then we must be faithful with our responsibility. This is indeed how we impact our world, our, our community, and our world. The life changing message of Jesus Christ. We get very serious about who we are. Not in a unhappy way, but in a, I don't know about you, but when, when a person figures out what they're on the earth to do, they, it, it, it just fills that person with a sense of purpose, a sense of duty, a sense of responsibility. 14 (41m 4s): Like I know what I'm here to do. A lot of people go out through throughout life and they've never quite settled in, in their identity and figured out who they are. And so they're running from thing to thing, accomplishment to accomplishment, trying to fill that void. And that void can only be filled in Christ Jesus when we realize that in Christ we are servants of God. Jesus modeled that for us. He said, I didn't come to be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. And so Paul, in the early church followers of Jesus Christ understood this. And they lived their lives in that way. Nothing's changed in 2000 years. This is what God has called us to do, to understand that we are simply servants, employees of God with a purpose and we must be faithful. 14 (41m 55s): It's a life and death situation. Spiritual life and spiritual death. And so this is why we charge families to disciple their young people. That's why in our church we're focused on discipling every generation that comes through. Because we want people to understand who they are in Christ. They are servants of the living God given responsibility, purpose in the earth. And they must be faithful. Three very important ingredients. Things that we must get our hands on and our hearts around and must fill our minds. This reality that we, we have purpose, we work who directly for who, Right? 14 (42m 39s): What was the second one that I said? Faithful. Faithful Faithful's. Three. What was the second one? You've got responsibility. All right, so first one, we are servants, employees of God. Number two, we have responsibilities. And number three, we must be faithful. Right? It's life and death, right? So make that, you know, stick in your heart and in your mind. Let that really settle into your soul and, and shape the way that you live your lives and the way that you make decisions. I am a servants of God, an employee of God. I have responsibilities and it's my job to figure out what that responsibility is. 14 (43m 24s): And then I, I must be faithful. If you're a, if you've got kids, your primary responsibility are those kids is your job. We will partner with you in Sunday school and in youth programs and all kinds of stuff. But it is, it is your job. You will stand before the Lord and actually give an account for the way that you've parented your kids. And so it's your responsibility to make sure that you are discipling your kids. And then as your kids grow and then as you have grandkids, it's your responsibility to invest in those grandkids because you are in their life for a purpose. My kids are amazing in so many ways because of their grandparents, because of the way their grandparents have spoken into their lives and for the countless hours that their grandparents have prayed for them and spoken life into them. 14 (44m 18s): So we have this amazing responsibility. Colossians 3 23 says, Work willingly at whatever you do at whatever you do ministry, vocation, parenting, all responsibilities, work willingly at whatever you do as though you are working for the Lord rather than for people, right? We're working for the Lord and it's to the Lord that we will ultimately give an account for our lives. We are working for God as number one servants. Number two, people with responsibility. And number three, as people who must be faithful. This is, this is probably all I need to say today, but I got a few more pages of notes here. 14 (45m 3s): So let's continue to go through Colossians 3 24. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward and that the master you are serving is Christ. Over and over again in scripture, we see that the one that we serve is not man, but God. As we work for the Lord, it makes very little difference what others think about our work. As long as we are satisfying the Lord. As an aside, if you're not satisfying your boss, you're probably not satisfying your Lord in general terms. So everything that we do must be un is unto the Lord. 14 (45m 44s): And I, I can make this promise to you, If you are serving your earthly boss, as you are your heavenly boss, your earthly boss will be more than satisfied. Why? Because people who serve God faithfully are people of integrity. They don't lie, steal, cheat. They are people who are responsible and reliable and honorable. And so if you're living your life that way at work and in your home, you are pleasing your heavenly boss. And I promise you, everybody else in your life kinda like that triangle that Jeremy had, God at the top man and woman, as they get closer to God, they're getting closer to one another. 14 (46m 25s): As, as you in your life get closer to God, you're pleasing those in your life because you're, you're a better husband, you're a better father, you're a better wife, you're a better mother, you're a better employee. You're, you're a better everything. You, you fill in the blank. Everything is better. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything else will be added onto you. So make God your priority and everything else will fall into place. But you gotta, you gotta get that done first. You gotta make God your priority in every area of your life. Paul continues in verse three s for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. 14 (47m 6s): I don't even trust my own judgment at this point. Why is Paul making this statement? Paul makes this statement about people's evaluation of his ministry because people are always changing their minds and their basis for evaluation and their basis for evaluation isn't always God's basis for evaluation. So Paul saying, Hey, I just gotta make sure that I'm honoring the Lord and as I honor the Lord, I'm trusting that he's going to do what he wants to do through me. So Paul's not worried about externals, he's not worried about what people are thinking. He's not a people pleaser, He's a God pleaser. Why? Because he's an employee of God with responsibilities and he must be found faithful. 14 (47m 50s): Paul understood his life. We need to understand our lives, what we're here for. We need to get a hold of our purpose in the earth where we're here for a kingdom purpose and we got jobs and we've got, you know, hobbies and things like that. But those all take, those are all secondary and tertiary. They're all like way down the list compared to, compared to the reality that we are slaves of God, servants of God, employees of God, and we have responsibility and we must be found faithful. So Paul's not worried too much about what people think about his ministry. And that's really the best way to go about ministry. My ministry may be great for some, but it may put others to sleep. 14 (48m 34s): It really doesn't matter. I need to be about my father's business. And I, I tell you, it might put others to sleep because I watch people sleep during my sermons sometimes. And the craziest thing is sometimes they're right on the front row. I'm like, Holy cow, are you kidding me? You're asleep right now. Maybe preaching one of my best messages and you're asleep. Or I'm speaking to a chair cause there's nobody there. But I'm like, wake up. We had a guy years ago when I was an associate pastor and I was preaching and this guy was snoring right in the middle of my sermon. He was like 34 rows back and he's just sacked out completely. All right, listen, you can't sleep through sermons and expect to get anything from the Lord, right? 14 (49m 18s): So get some sleep at night and then come ready to go. Most of you know what I'm talking about. What does God think about your ministry? What does God think about my ministry? That's the most important thing. Now we can learn from other people's, from people's critiques, people's encouragement. Some of in my life, some of the hardest lessons that I've had to learn have been through super uber critical people. And the temptation is to say, Oh, they're just jerk star mean. And even if 95 or 99% of what they're saying is mean spirited and inaccurate, there just might be a nugget of something in there that I need to hear. 14 (50m 2s): There just might be something in there. Get a get through all the flesh and all the ugliness of how it was communicated. There might be something there. And so the Holy Spirit will use all kinds of things. Mostly his word and his spirit will speak to us. But also through people. We will get a chance to kind of evaluate our lives. But we can't live our lives for people. We can't, we we can't minister to please people. Proverbs 29 25 says, Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. So what are you called to do? And don't do it to please people. Don't fall into a, a, a role of responsibility because you think others think you should be in that role or responsibility. 14 (50m 47s): When I wanted to be a senior pastor years ago, somebody said, Well, you're just a kid. You probably should just be a youth pastor. I said, Well, maybe you're right. But I'm called to be a senior pastor and that's what I feel like I'm supposed to do. Right? The world wants to shape who we are, right? When we planted a church, well, you've never planted a church before. You shouldn't plant a church, right? What is it that the world is telling you you shouldn't do? Because you shouldn't do it in their perspective. Amen. Right? Like you, you shouldn't do what? Because you've never had what? The experience, the training, the education. What is it that you feel cold in your soul to do? 14 (51m 27s): But others are telling you you can't do? Maybe what? God, I'm back. Not maybe at all. For sure. What God has called you to do is fulfilling his kingdom purpose in your life. And so you as a servant of God, a lowly servant of God, get to settle in. Amen. And do finding out your purpose and maybe you're not finding out your purpose because you're trying to please everybody around you. Listen, you'll never be able to figure that out. You'll never please everybody cuz soon as you please one somebody else is mad at you because you're not doing it the way they thought you should do it or thinking the way they think you should be thinking. So figure out what you're in the world to do. You're first and foremost a servant, an employee of God. 14 (52m 10s): So let's get that settled. I'm just a, a lowly under rower, right? No prestige, no honor, really. It's just an under rower, right? And then I've got responsibility and that I must be found faithful. Paul tells us in verse four, My conscience is clear, but that doesn't prove I'm right. It's the Lord himself who examine me and decide Paul's conscience is clear, but he understands that he might be missing something. Paul's saying, Hey, we can't even really trust our conscience now we need to work toward clearing our conscience of known discrepancies in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. 14 (52m 50s): But even then, only God can judge us and come to an accurate conclusion. And so we need to be constantly checking in with the Lord. Lord, what am I doing? Is, is what I'm doing in line with you and you, you can't accurately hear from the Lord on the fly. You gotta like settle in and just take some time. You, you gotta spend time with the Lord and it can't be, Hey Lord, you know, speak to me throughout the day. I mean God will do that for sure, but you, you just probably just need to get with the Lord and spend some uninterrupted time. Turn off your phone, do whatever you gotta do. Get alone. Do whatever you gotta do to hear from the Lord and then do that on a regular basis. 14 (53m 31s): Otherwise you'll get way off track. It's easy to get off track. You gotta do what you gotta do to hear from the Lord. And you gotta do it on a regular basis. Lord, how's the ministry going? This ministry that you've called me to, Am I doing okay as I read the war, Lord? Is what I'm doing properly reflected in your word? Lord? Does it look like what you've called me to do? Does it look like what you've called the church to do? And Lord, am I being faithful? Am I being faithful? Last night, about six o'clock, I told my wife, I said, I gotta go for a walk. And I, cuz I, I go walk in and I pray. And that's just how I spend time. 14 (54m 12s): I, I'm just out there by myself and I can, I'm a probably a little bit so I can't sit cuz I'll get distracted by a thousand other things. So I just walk and I pray and, and I came back and I told only, I said, you know, I, I feel like I've been praying to an iron dome lately. I, I can't break through. Like, I, I, like, I I don't, I feel like when I'm praying I can't get through. And, and I realize, you know, we're, we're called to walk by faith and not by sight and emotions sometimes rob us of the joy of just doing what we know that we're called to do. And so don't, don't rely on emotions, cuz some days you're gonna have a great day, other days you're gonna have a bad day. Some days you feel like, Oh, I, I got a direct line to the Lord. And other days you're feeling like I can't even, I can't even touch heaven, right? 14 (54m 54s): So just keep doing what God has called you to do. Get up, figure out that you're a servant of God, that you've got responsibility and that you must be found faithful. Just trust the Lord. One Corinthians chapter four, so many judgements about anyone ahead of time before the Lord returns for he will bring our darkest secret secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due. The new Bible commentary states, it is Christ, it will expose attempts to cover up misdeeds and will judge not merely actions but motivations. So Paul's saying, Hey, don't look on the outside and elevate one person over another. 14 (55m 37s): I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollo, I'm of Peter, I'm of Christ. You know, we, we look on the outside and we, we misjudge just do worry about yourself, right? Amen. Where are you? Right? Don't worry about what I'm doing or what your friends doing. What, what are you doing? Verse six, Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollo of myself to illustrate what I've been saying. If you pay attention to what I've quoted from the scriptures, you won't be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another. So here, Paul reiterates what he's already said, and he challenges the factions in divisions within the church. 14 (56m 20s): One Corinthians one 12 says, Some of you are saying, I am a follower of Paul. Others are saying, I follow Apollos, or I follow Peter, or I follow only Christ. Paul's talking about the distractions that are happening within the church. Well, I'm a part of this faction, or I'm part of that faction, I'm part of that group or that that person or that whatever. What has God called you to do? Or called the team up together as a church and be part of the kingdom work that God's called us to in the earth. But what, what is God calling you to do? Right? So often we're focused on what others are doing or are not doing in their lives and in their ministry and how we are disappointed by that. But what is called you, what is God called you to do? 14 (57m 4s): So Paul, in a sense, is challenging at superstar mentality, right? Where we're elevating people and it's just so unhealthy, right? So if, if we're elevating somebody on the platform to at the expense of our own ministry that God has called us to, if, if we're missing the point of what God has placed us on the earth to do, then we're missing it all together. We are of Christ, period. We are of the Lord. I was at a church years ago and the one of the leaders in the church was introducing their pastor as the star. 14 (57m 46s): He said, Hey, there's our star. And there's no stars in the kingdom except Jesus. I mean, only God is He's he, He reigns in rules. Supreme. We need to live our lives for God and not men. Not trying to please men, not trying to become men who people are impressed with, or women that people are impressed with. It's none of that stuff matters. Our goal shouldn't be, I want to be impressive. My goal should be, our goal should be, I want to be invisible, man. I just wanna be a servant of God, an under rower. 14 (58m 27s): Like I don't care. I I I need to do what I'm called to do and be faithful. And that's what all is gonna matter in the, at the end of, at the end of the day. So impacting our community and our world with life changing message of Jesus Christ. Number one requires that you live your life for God and and not for man. And then number two, remember that your life and all that you have is a gift from God. In our culture where we've got plenty, we forget that all we have is a gift from God. Verse seven, For what gives you the right, Paul goes on First Corinthians chapter four, for what gives you the right to make such a judgment. What do you, what do you have that God hasn't given you? And if everything you have is a, is from God, why boast as though they were not a gift? 14 (59m 9s): You think you already have everything you need. He's challenging the carnality within the church. People who have resources or political power, he's challenging them because they feel like they've already arrived. We, we have to be careful when we've attained a, a level of success to remember that it doesn't matter how much we have or how much we've succeeded in this life. We are only and always still a bond servant and a servant, an employee of God in Jesus' name. That is our call. And that will keep us humble and that will keep us grateful. Every everything that we have is a gift from God. And so God has gifted some and it allows those people to become prominent and, and were to use those prominent gifts and talents to impact the kingdom that we might make a difference in the world. 14 (59m 57s): You think you already have everything you need. Paul said, You think you're already rich. You have begun to reign in God's kingdom without us. I wish you really were reigning, but then we'd be reigning with you. It's like, hey, you've, you're not even realizing that we're in a battle. You're celebrating well prematurely, but you're also celebrating the wrong stuff. We're not here in the earth to build a kingdom ourselves, a place of sanctuary for ourselves. We're in a battle for the kingdom. We are under rowers servants, period with responsibility, Period. 14 (1h 0m 39s): And we must be faithful. Period. Verse nine, He says, instead, I, I sometimes thank God has put us as apostles on display like prisoners of war at the end of a victor's parade condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world, to people and angels alike. Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools. But you claim to be so wise in Christ, we are weak. But you are so powerful. You are honored. But we are ridiculed even now. We go hungry and thirsty and we don't even have enough clothes to keep us warm. We are often beaten and have no home. 14 (1h 1m 20s): We work weirdly with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world's garbage. Like everybody's trash right up to the present moment. And we can turn on TV and watch health and wealth messages all day long until cows come home and everybody's telling you, you should be healthy, wealthy, and wise. That's not what Paul's experience was. 14 (1h 2m 1s): The church is delusional if that's what we think we're here to experience into a accomplish. Now. God is good and he blesses and he takes care of his church. But most of the church around the world is not healthy, wealthy. And why They're in the early church experiences. Paul experienced this. We go hungry and thirsty. You turn on some television preachers, teachers, and they're telling you that this should never happen. Well, it happened to Paul, it happened to the early church. 14 (1h 2m 43s): We gotta change our mind about the kingdom. It's not about us. It's about the king. We will never impact our community in our world with a life changing message of Jesus Christ. If it's always about us. Just amen. I'm not writing these things to shame you, Paul said, But to warn you as my beloved children, verse 14, verse 15, For even if you had 10,000 others to teach you about Christ, you only have one spiritual father before I became your father in Christ. When I preach the good news to you. So I urge you to imitate me. Paul said, so I urge you to imitate me, right? 14 (1h 3m 23s): So Paul say, Hey, follow me as I follow Christ. Right? That's a bold statement. It's a statement that we should be able to make to our friends, families, and neighbors. Hey, follow me. I'll show you what it means to be a follower of Christ. Right? Paul's not arrogant, but he is certainly confident in who he is as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we need to have that same confidence. Why? Because we understand that we are servants of God, slaves of God. We are here with purpose and we are laser-like focused on that purpose because we will be held accountable and we must be faithful. And so with that clarity and with that confidence and with that conviction, we move forward as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. 14 (1h 4m 13s): And we do what God has called us to do. We live in the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ, and we impact our community and our world with life changing message of Jesus Christ. It happens really one person at a time. You impacting another person, you impacting someone else, One person impacting another one at a time, at a time, at a time. Paul wasn't confused about his life. We will be confused about our lives. If we deviate from the scripture, we will be confused about who we are, about how we should spend our time, our talent, and our treasure about everything alike. 14 (1h 4m 58s): We will be confused walking around in a cloud, confused about what success looks like, confused about what our purpose in life is, confused and never knowing whether we've actually made a difference in the earth. But if we figure out that we are servants with a purpose and we must be faithful, then we will no longer be confused. Paul wasn't confused about his life. He knew that his life and all that he had was a gift from God to be used for God. And that God could give him a gift to him or take from him whatever. And whenever, and Paul was ready for it. Philippians four 12 and 13 I, I know Paul's rights. 14 (1h 5m 38s): I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I I can do everything through him who gives me the strength, right? I can do everything right. So don't get discouraged if you're in a hard spot in life. Welcome to humanity, right? Financial stressors, physical stressors, relational stressors. Don't get down on God because you think he's not living up to his end of the bargain. His end of the bargain is I say to you, you serve me. 14 (1h 6m 18s): That's it. Right? I redeem you by my grace and through my blood, and you serve me all the days of your life because I've give you, I've given you purpose. I've adopted you into my family, given you purpose. You get to serve within the kingdom to impact your community and your world with life changing message of Jesus Christ. That's what it's about. If we think it's something different, we've missed the gospel completely. If we somehow think that we're important within the kingdom, you're important as much, as much as you've been given responsibility. And if you don't do it, if you don't find yourself faithful, God doesn't find you faithful, then you've blown it. It's a bit, Did you hear me? You have blown it because you got your whole life to figure this out. 14 (1h 7m 3s): And God is so faithful and gentle and good. He continues to remind us and teach us. And maybe that's what he's doing today. He's reminding us, He's teaching us, He's instructing us. He's trying to get our attention in a world that's filled with distraction, filled with priorities that have nothing to do with kingdom filled with hindrances to what God has called us to. Paul said, Hey, imitate me. Do what I'm doing. Follow me as I follow Christ. Paul is discipling these believers in genuine Christianity. 14 (1h 7m 44s): Genuine Christianity. Genuine Christianity is what we see in the pages of scripture. Genuine Christianity. The definition of discipleship goes beyond just being a good student of a teacher. Discipleship requires that we imitate our teacher. Follow me as I follow Christ. Paul is urging these followers of Jesus Christ to follow him as he follows Christ. Verse 17. That's why I sent Timothy my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus. 14 (1h 8m 24s): Just as I teach in all the churches, wherever I go. Some of you have become arrogant thinking, I'm I, I will not visit you again, but I will come and soon if the Lord lets me. And then I'll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God's power. Because there's people within the church who are rising up and they're influential and they're speaking a godless, biblically void message. And there it's all about people exalting themselves. And Paul is there to challenge it. 14 (1h 9m 4s): He said, I'll come. I'll come. Listen. I'd rather have a dude come and shake me by the, by the neck and get my attention than standing before God. So I'm the dude today, and I don't make light of that. I, I am calling us. I am pleading that we would understand who we are, that we would get it at the core, that we would live it in Jesus Christ impacting our community and our world with life-changing message of Jesus Christ requires that all believers remember that your life and all that you have is they get from God. 14 (1h 9m 60s): And that we need to live our lives for God. There's a British rock band called Queen, great song that still played today great in the eyes of the world. What's her song? I want it all. I want it all, and I want it now. Freddie Mercury just belts it out, right? He wanted it all. They wanted it. That's the theme of the world. And if we're not careful, it's the theme of Carl Christians like we want it here and now. 14 (1h 10m 42s): We want our rewards. We want to live life. We want it all. Now, the fact that Freddy Mercury died of complications with AIDS at AIDS 45 isn't lost on me. This world doesn't offer what we're longing to experience as created beings in Christ, where we're called to serve the Lord, to give our lives to God. He said, Freddie, Mercury people, do you hear me? 14 (1h 11m 24s): Just give me the sign. It ain't much. I'm asking if you want the truth. Here's to the future for the dreams of youth. I want it all. Give it all. I want it all. I want it now. I want it all. Yes, I want it all. I want it all. Hey, I want it all and I want it now. I mean, it's just over and over and over again. This could be the theme of your life, like I'm working to get it all. Cuz we, we think somehow that that's what it's gonna scratch the itch or fill the void. He said, I'm a man with a one track mind so much to do in one lifetime. 14 (1h 12m 9s): Do you hear me? People not a man for compromise and wears and wise and living lies. So I'm living it all. Yes, I'm living it all and I'm giving it all. And I'm giving it all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. This is the theme of the world. Freddie Mercury died in 1987, but his songs are still going, impacting our community and our world with life changing message. Jesus Christ. Number three, remember that the kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk. 14 (1h 12m 53s): It is living by the power of God. By God's power. Where did I get that? Where did I get that? There's 20. The Bible. Okay, If I'm up here preaching something that's not in the Bible, don't listen to me. But if I'm up here preaching what is in the Bible, listen, the kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk, but it's living in God's power. Verse 20, first Corinthians chapter four, For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk, it's living by God's power. God spoke it. 14 (1h 13m 33s): This is what we believe as believers. This is what we live for as people who are living for Jesus. It's not just talking about it, but it's living in the power of God. I say it all the time. Everything that God calls us to requires that we live in that power, that we're empowered to do what God has called us to do. We cannot see what God is asking us to do. We cannot hear, we cannot do unless we're living in the power of God filled with the spirit of God. Which do you choose? Paul Road, Verse 21. Which do you choose? Everything comes down to choice, right? 14 (1h 14m 15s): Which, which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you? Paul says he understood his authority within the church and his job to bring correction. But it wasn't his hard to be people up. It was his hard to disciple people to raise them up, but to encourage them to do what God had called them to do. But he's willing to bring a rod of correction if that's what will awaken the church, which you choose. Should I come with a rod to punish you or should I come with love and a gentle spirit? What do we need? What are we choosing? I mean, do we, do we want to stand before the Lord after reading passages like this and hearing sermons like this and say, Ah, I didn't take it serious. 14 (1h 15m 7s): You say, Well, I'm old and I haven't been living my life like this. We'll start now. Say I'm young and my life is just getting started. Get going. Now. Think about it now. Say, Well, I haven't raised my kids the way this, that you're been talking about. We'll start now. Repent and apologize and start now. Say, Hey, I've tell your kids, Hey, I didn't raise you the way I should've raised you. Forgive me. I'm going to, by God's grace, begin again in your marriage. Maybe you've not been honoring your spouse the way you should begin again. Say, Hey, I haven't been the best spouse. 14 (1h 15m 49s): Forgive me. I, I'd like to begin again and begin again. Don't be discouraged by a message like this, but let it light a fire in your soul. We were had a campfire. We had our grandkids over Friday night and couldn't wait for grandpa to get home because I was gonna build a bill campfire, you know, they wanted to help me build a fire. You know, we got this little fire area in the back of our property and like, Grandpa, we wanna, we wanna gather sticks so we can help you build the fire. Like, okay, go grab up the sticks. And we start building this fire. 14 (1h 16m 29s): And it's just really small. At first, I said, just wait. It's going to, it's gonna get bigger. So I, I had built this TP of a structure around this, and it was just a matter of time before that fire just grew and grew and grew and then caught. And before you knew it was just tall and we're just, we're roast of marshmallows and having to be careful cuz we're getting too close to the fire. But it was exciting when there's a, a fire burning, it's an exciting thing. Some of us are just barely embers ember. We're just barely, barely alive. There. Stoke it. I got real close to the fire and started blowing on it. 14 (1h 17m 9s): I said, Watch this, guys. Watch, watch. When I blow life into the air, into this fire just begins to get hot and big. Let God blow some life into you. Amen. Because what God can do in a moment is, is wonderful and supernatural to bring life and light to your, your walk as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, your purpose. And you'll, you'll never find greater joy, greater peace, greater fulfillment, and greater satisfaction than when you're doing what God has created you to do. 14 (1h 17m 52s): Everything else pales in comparison to that. Everything else pales in comparison to that. So forget about the big points. What are the three small points? Number one, 0 (1h 18m 7s): Servants, 14 (1h 18m 8s): What is it? 15 (1h 18m 9s): Servants, Employee of 14 (1h 18m 10s): God. Oh, servants, employees of God. What does that mean to you? 15 (1h 18m 19s): My life? I'm here to do what 14 (1h 18m 23s): He wants me to do. You're here to do what he wants you to do. Yeah. Employed by God, we've all been employed by somebody in life, right? Right. What do you, how do you know that you're doing a good job when your boss is saying, Hey, great, great job. When you know you've got a good clear job description and you're doing the job, be a servant. Figure out what you're called to do and then do it faithfully. Go ahead and stand up, Lord, as we wrap this sermon up, Lord, we thank you for who you are and for your grace. And we love you Lord. And we know that you love us and that you've given us purpose and we will be held accountable for that purpose. 14 (1h 19m 8s): So, Lord, I pray, I pray that that's what happens here at Harvest Church and everywhere where we have influence God, that we would, we would model this and live it and we stumble. We'd be quick to repent and get back to it. In Jesus' name for all the days of our lives. In Jesus' name. Lord, thank you Lord. Thank you Lord God. As we get ready to worship again, I pray that we'd be worshiping with a clear conscience, knowing that we are settled from this moment. 14 (1h 19m 58s): We are settled and we are committed from this moment to march forward in Jesus' name, to build your kingdom, to impact our community and our world with life changing message of Jesus Christ. One person at a time. We are your servants. We have responsibility and we will be faithful. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name. It's worship 0 (1h 20m 29s): Jesus. You're doing on, you're doing ah, A you're doing a Never gave up. You never gave up, you never up on you never give up. 0 (1h 21m 11s): You never gave up. You never gave up on me. You gonna give up. Never gave up. Never gave up. I know Jesus. Not done. You're doing, you're doing a new, you're a new thing on your life. 0 (1h 22m 1s): You never gonna give up. You gave up. You never gave up. You never gonna give up. Never give up. You never give. Gonna give up, never give, never up, done with me. You're new. You're doing a new Hoo. 0 (1h 22m 51s): You're doing a new, You're doing a new. So come do a 1 (1h 23m 11s): God. That is our prayer this morning, that you would do something new within us, that we wanna be complacent, but that we would live to our eyes toward heaven. We would ask what our assignment is for the day. And God, we would just walk moment by moment, day by day with you. We thank you for your presence. We thank you for your truth. We love you. It's in your precious name we pray. Amen.
Kingdom People3. Greatness in the Kingdom Dan Bidwell, Senior Pastor Matthew 18:1-14 11 September 2022 There is an expression that has become very popular recently G.O.A.T or the GOAT. An acronym for the Greatest Of All Time. Usually used to talk about sporting heroes. My research tells me that the first person to be described as the GOAT was Muhammad Ali (back in the 90s). But since then there have been many names thrown about as the Greatest Of All Time. (30 seconds to turn to the person beside you and share who you think is the greatest sports person of all time...) - Babe Ruth - Michael Jordan (6 championships, 6 NBA Finals MVPs, 6 League MVPs) - Tiger Woods - Wayne Gretzky - Michael Phelps - Lewis Hamilton (7 driver championships, most wins, most pole positions, pro since 2007, youngest F1 World Champion in history) - Simone Biles (25 World Championship medals, most decorated gymnast in history) - Serena Williams (23 Grand slam titles, ranked No. 1 for 319 weeks, including 186 consecutive weeks, year end No. 1 five times) - Tom Brady (7 Super Bowl wins, including 5 Super Bowl MVPs, see what happens when he kicks off his 24th season in Dallas later today..) Its a fun game trying to decide what factors contribute to somebodys status as the Greatest Of All Time. Is it high scoring like Michael Jordan? Is it longevity, like Babe Ruth or Serena Williams? Is it championships won? Or is it something else? So what makes someone the greatest? That is the question at the heart of our Bible passage today. A question that helps us understand what matters to Jesus, and what matters in his kingdom. So why dont we pray and ask God to teach us as we open his word right now. Heavenly Father, as we open the Bible now, will you teach us about your kingdom and the values that matter to you. Teach us about greatness and humility, as your Spirit does his work in our hearts. Make us more like Jesus as you make us into people for your kingdom. In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen 1 We are in the middle of our Fall teaching series from Matthew 17-21, which Im calling Kingdom People. In these chapters, Jesus teaches us all about the culture and values of the Kingdom of Heaven. But they are not just cultures and values for when we die Jesus wants us start living the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. And the disciples learn a lesson about Jesus kingdom values when they come to him with a question. (v1) 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (Matthew 18:1) I grew up in a competitive household. I have an older brother and two younger sisters. When we were kids, my brother and I competed for the fastest, and who was the strongest, and who could eat the most pancakes. Then my littlest sister got a bit older and then we all had to compete to be the loudest. And then we all got a bit older again and had to compete with my other sister for who was the smartest... Now were all in our 40s and we compete about whos aging the best. Id like to say comfortably Im winning. (May not be true but thats just the competitive person I am. Win at all costs.) The disciples want to know who is winning at being the best Christian. Or best Israelite, probably. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? they ask. Remember not too much earlier Peter and James and John had been invited to go up to the mountaintop with Jesus. They were his closest companions and his inner circle. Perhaps the disciples wanted to know if one of those three was the greatest. Of course up on the mountainside two dead guys showed up perhaps the two greatest dead guys in the history of Israel. Moses and Elijah. Moses who represents the law and the ten commandments, kind of the grandfather of Gods OT people. And Elijah, the greatest of the prophets. So great that he didnt actually die God took him up to heaven in a chariot of fire. So maybe Elijah is the greatest figure of the OT, and maybe he would be the greatest in heaven, apart from Jesus I guess. Maybe they were thinking of someone else. (And this is where it starts to look like the debate we had earlier about the GOAT.) - King David killed Goliath when he was just a boy, became King, established Jerusalem as the ruling seat of Gods people. God promised David would always have a descendant on the throne. But then there was Bathsheba... - Solomon? Unparalleled wealth and diplomatic influence, incredible wisdom but not so wise when it came to the ladies. 2 - Jump to NT times. What about Mary? She gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God. Surely Mary might be one of the greatest in the kingdom? - Peter who becomes the rock on which the church is built. - Paul who becomes the greatest missionary church planter in history, not to mention writer of half of the NT. What makes a person great in the kingdom of God? Is it achievements like this that make us great? Little Children Jesus does what he often does. He takes an everyday object and turns it into a teaching tool for us. (v2) 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:2-3) I kind of laughed when I first read this, because my siblings and I were just like the disciples we always wanted to know who was greatest. I assume Jesus did not pick a child like me and my brothers and sisters as his example ;-) No, he calls a little child to come over. And he says to the disciples, dont worry about who is greatest. He says, if you even want to enter the kingdom of heaven, then you need to change and become like this like little children. So what is it about little children that makes them an example of what you should be like, if you want to belong to the kingdom of heaven? I would love to say its innocence. But watch a two year old for a couple of hours and youll find out that they are anything but innocent. Cheeky and adorable, yes, but naughty as well... So its not that Jesus wants us to be innocent to be worthy of the kingdom. Maybe its child-like wonder. There is something about little kids that helps them see the world with fresh eyes. They havent been conditioned by disappointment, or constrained by cultural expectations. They sing and dance without worrying about what other people think. They have this beautiful optimism, and as adults we wish we could shield them from the realities of the world so that they dont lose that hopefulness. But life rarely works out that way. So I dont think Jesus is talking about child-like wonder. 3 Maybe he is talking about the receptiveness of children the way that they trust what we teach them. But then again, little kids will also believe the wrong message if somebody they trust teaches it to them. Surely Jesus isnt saying we need to be gullible to be part of his kingdom. So what was Jesus getting at? Theres a little word in v4 that tells us what he was thinking: lowly. Time for a little history lesson. In ancient times, many cultures thought less of children than we do today. Children were treated as property rather than people. Children were bought and sold as slaves, at other times beaten and neglected, and even sacrificed to pagan gods. In the first century when our story today takes place, Roman law gave a father absolute power over his family which extended to life and death.1 A father could have his child killed, and not be punishable by law. Children had very different rights than they do today. They were some of the lowliest (most unimportant) people in society. And that lowliness was what Jesus commended about children. (v4) 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. (Matthew 18:4-5) You see, the disciples had come asking who was the greatest in the kingdom. Who was most important. And Jesus says the kingdom is not about achievement. Its not about individual accolades. Its not about winning, or earning, deserving. Its the very opposite. Its all about dependence. Think about children. Children play no part in the decision to be born. They enter the world completely helpless. They rely on a parent or a carer to feed them and clothe them and change their diapers. Even as they grow more independent, our kids trust us to provide a home, and safety. They have no way of paying for those things, and it wouldnt even cross their mind. They dont get to be our children by earning it. They dont receive our love only when they deserve it, at least thats the way its meant to work... Children are completely dependent. And entry into the kingdom of God, its about being dependent. On Jesus. Thats a humble position to be in, isnt it? Completely dependent on someone else. And its the very opposite of what this world says makes us great. Our world says you need to be independent, able to hold your own, pay your own way, climb the ladder, beat a pathway to success. 1 https://www.crossway.org/articles/what-jesus-thinks-about-children/ 4 And the same can happen in the world of church. Some of the disciples had grown up in very legalistic religion. They thought the kingdom was a matter of keeping the commandments, and performing religious ceremonies. And some of us might have grown up that way too, trying to earn Gods love. But Jesus says, none of that matters. Not in my kingdom. The greatest will be the one who accepts my gift of forgiveness. The one who receives my pardon. The one who trusts me like a child. Its a change of mindset, isnt it?And thats what the disciples needed. Jesus told them that back in v3: unless you change and become like little children... That word for change in the original language, it really means coming to have a new perspective. Jesus needs them to see that they have been thinking about it all wrong. The kingdom is not about greatness, its about humility. I just want to pause before we move on to ask, is this a mindset you need to change as well? My whole upbringing was about seeking greatness, so I know how hard it is to switch the mindset from seeking greatness to seeking humility. But Jesus leads the way in humility, and he shows us that the humble can still achieve great success its just about the way you carry yourself on the journey. I grew up watching Rugby Union, a kind of tackle football played without pads. In the 1990s, Australia dominated the world stage, and brought home two Rugby World Cups (like Olympics, only played every 4 years). At the center of the Wallabies success was the captain, John Eales. 67, 262lb, a work horse on the field. A fierce competitor but always fair; well-spoken and gracious in victory or defeat. He led from the front, but never brought attention to his own achievements. He just quietly went to work, leading Australian rugby into a period of unparalleled success. Legend has it his team gave him the nickname Nobody because Nobodys perfect. John Eales is considered one of the greatest rugby players of all time, and I think his humility is a huge part of his legacy. Not surprisingly, John Eales is a follower of Jesus. How is Jesus forming humility in your life?Thats our first big idea for today. The kingdom is a matter of humble dependence. Little Ones 5 The second big idea from today is welcoming little ones. No doubt you saw on the news this week that the Queen of England died at the age of 96. A sad day for the world. As an Australian, Im actually a subject of the Queen Australia is a member of the British Commonwealth, and Queen Elizabeth has been part of my life for all of my 46 years. And thats true for my parents as well the Queen was crowned in 1952, when my parents were just 4 years old. Now I know Ive told you this before, but my mother got to meet the Queen in 1954 when she was on her coronation tour to Australia. Mom was 5 or 6 years old, and she lined up with a row of other kids who had lost their fathers in the war. And the Queen came past and spoke to them, and took their gifts of flowers. And that pattern continued all through the Queens 70 year reign. She loved to meet her subjects, especially little children. Jesus loved little children too. In a society where children were often overlooked and undervalued, Jesus was never too busy for the littlest ones in his kingdom. And he says to the disciples in v5:5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. (Matthew 18:5) When we reopened Yountville Community Church a year ago, it was really important to us to welcome the little children into Jesus kingdom. And so we launched Yountville Kids, a program for 0-10 year olds. We had two trained leaders my two children Charlotte and Jamie. And we had a mission to share the hope of Jesus with every member of our church, from the biggest to the littlest ones. It has been such a joy to see the way Yountville Kids has grown over the last 12 months. The number of kids has grown, the number of leaders has grown. Every week the classroom is buzzing with kids playing games, doing craft, singing songs, and most importantly hearing about Jesus from the Bible, and learning to put their trust in him. And so I would ask you to pray for Yountville Kids. Pray that we can welcome more and more children into our programs, which means welcoming more and more families into our church. It means praying for more leaders, so that we can open more classrooms. Soon it will mean asking for the finances to pay for a staff member who will lead Yountville Kids as it expands, and so that we can start planning for Youth Ministry. But we do all this because its part of sharing the hope of Jesus in the Napa Valley and beyond. The gospel is for everyone, from the biggest to the littlest amongst us. And Jesus says, whenever we welcome just one child in his name, its the same as welcoming him. But kids arent the only little ones in our society. 6 Jesus wants us as a church to make sure that we extend the welcome to all those who find themselves in lowly positions in our society. Just like Jesus had time for children, he also had time for the blind, the lame, the sick, and the outcasts. In a world that measures people by their achievements, those little ones are often overlooked, arent they? Or more strictly speaking, we are the ones who overlook them, ignore them, and push them out of sight because they arent successful like us... Its that greatness/humility theme again, isnt it? Jesus talks quite a bit about little ones in Matthews gospel. Its here in ch18, back in Mt 10:42, and also in Mt 25:40. Jesus wants us to have concern for those who are hungry, those who need clothing, those in prison... In our context, I think Jesus would be talking about the homeless and the most vulnerable in our cities. But look at what Jesus does for those little ones in v12: 12 What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:12-14) You see, Jesus will go to extraordinary lengths for the little ones. He reaches into their lives, into their messes, he finds them where they are, and he brings them home into his kingdom. Ive seen amazing testimonies from the Alpha prison program, where inmates have the chance to learn about Jesus through Alpha just like we do here. And Jesus is changing lives through it, and creating new futures. Ive seen the same thing with the crew who do our landscaping here at church every week. They are all part of an addiction recovery program called The Bridge in Napa. Its a 12 month residential recovery program where the guys replace their addiction with a year of learning about Jesus. I love talking to the guys a couple of them are really on fire for the Lord. All because Jesus walked into the messiness of their addiction and carried them home. We get to be a little part of that here at Yountville Community Church, but dont you want to do more? Wouldnt you love for this church to be a place where everyone is welcome, from the greatest to the least? Thats my prayer for us. Maybe youll join me in that now... 7
On Jesus' last day before His death, He demonstrated a powerful lesson, through a shocking act of love. Then He said "I have set you an example ... do as I have done for you." What did he do, that was so important that He timed in the last few hours of His life? In this talk, Abel talks about 3 questions we can ask, to live a life of no regrets. John 13:1-17
In this interview with Dr. Doug Groothuis, we discuss his new book, “Fire in the Streets.” The book covers a variety of topics related to Critical Race Theory in America. We dive into reparations, evangelical sympathizers to CRT, and socialism. How should Christians respond to CRT? How did CRT and neo-Marxism take over the academy? Is CRT a conservative bogeyman? Bio from Denver Seminary:“Dr. Douglas Groothuis earned his PhD from the University of Oregon and has been a full-time faculty member at Denver Seminary since 1993.He has also taught at The University of Oregon and Metro State University, in Denver. He has authored thirty academic articles in journals such as Philosophia Christi, Religious Studies, Sophia, Bibliotheca Sacra, and Academic Questions. He has also written for Christianity Today, The Christian Research Journal, The Journal for Christian Legal Thought, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and many other publications. He has authored thirteen books, including Unmasking the New Age, The Soul in Cyberspace, Truth Decay, On Jesus, Christian Apologetics, Philosophy in Seven Sentences, Walking through Twilight: A Wife's Illness—A Philosopher's Lament, and I Love You to the Stars (a children's book written with Crystal Bowman). He has contributed numerous entries to reference volumes such as The Dictionary of Christianity and Science, The Apologetics Study Bible, The Evangelical Dictionary of World Religions, and the textbook, Problems in Value Theory.”Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/chasedavisEpisode 7 - Blaise Pascal, Metallica, Donald Trump, and Critical Race Theory with Dr. Douglas Groothuis - https://fullprooftheology.buzzsprout.com/1249781/5944654Fire in the Streets - https://amzn.to/3RWZ6mXSocial Justice and the Christian Church - https://amzn.to/3PUAJ7XTwitter - https://twitter.com/DougGroothuis
What would you do with a second chance on life? During this message, we look at what Jesus did with His second chance on life. On Jesus' first day back, He prioritized a walk with His friends and an invitation with some urgency. This past weekend, Pastor Mark Pope guided us through these two important examples of Jesus' priorities as we celebrate Easter. Be challenged this week to consider the following question: When was the last time I pushed for God's presence? FULL SERVICE
It's Palm Sunday. On Jesus' final trip into the city of Jerusalem, He carefully plans out every detail with two of His disciples. This moment is known in history as the Triumphal Entry. In today's message, we will take a look at the questions that arise when you look at the story more closely, how the answers reveal Jesus' motives and why Palm Sunday is worth celebrating.
Kid's Ministry Coffee Break | 5-Minutes of Spiritual Refreshment for Children's Ministry Leaders
Coffee break 11: How many times are you caught up in the details of what is right in front of you that you suddenly look back and realize you've not been headed in the direction upon which you set out? Maybe you accepted your calling into student ministry with some very specific ideas of the direction God intended you to go…but then…over time…you got caught up in some of the details and side issues that arose along the way…until suddenly you realize you aren't headed in the direction of your calling anymore. https://ministry-to-children.com/childrens-ministry-is-the-highest-calling/ We can even forget what our calling is because of getting distracted and focused on the wrong details and situations that inevitably come in a life of ministry. Traditions, rituals, routines, and distractions have a tendency to demand our eyes look down from the course which we are on… they want our attention to be on them instead of them being the tools we use to accomplish our goals. Traditions and rituals can, over time, without us aware of it, become the very goals themselves! Suddenly we look around and realize…our path has taken a wrong turn. Throughout the Gospel stories Jesus was headed toward Jerusalem—to the center of religious and political power—to stand face to face with corruption. If he'd gotten side-tracked along the way… If he'd allowed the many things that popped up on his journey to divert his attention… He wouldn't have stayed on his obedient path to the cross. He had his eyes fixed on Jerusalem. Even when he was headed in the other direction, he knew he was ultimately headed to Jerusalem. Where are our eyes fixed? On Jesus, yes, but how or why? What is your calling? What direction did you set out on when you said, “Yes” to ministry? Is your path still headed there? Have you gotten distracted? Have you gotten lost? Fix your eyes on the calling given to you by Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Look up…let your eyes find what you need to be headed towards…and focus on that. Pretty soon you'll be able to look back and see that you have been headed exactly to what and where you've been called to go. It's okay to spend time looking at other people's rows, but only for the purpose of building others up and offering encouragement as we all work together for the purpose of the Reign of God advancing on earth in the name of Jesus Christ. (Special thanks to Charlie Ketchen—who was the one who asked my dad about his rows and originally offered it as a devotion for his peers in his ministry work as a chaplain) https://10bibleverses.com/scripture-quotes/reward-bible-verse-gods-reward-scriptures/ Today's message is brought to you by Rev. Joseph Sanford from Sanford Curriculum -- where he works with Lauren Sanford to develop resources for children and youth ministry and is available on The Sunday School Store. https://sundayschool.store/ Music provided by The Muse Maker
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?7 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-49) Jesus is Lord was one of the earliest creeds of the Christian faith. If Jesus is Lord, Caesar is not. Money is not. The approval of our parents, spouse, friends, or society is not. If Jesus is Lord: he is Lord. He commands our respect, our obedience, and our submission to his will because if Jesus is Lord, he is King. The parable of the two house builders invites the question: on what foundation have you built your hopes, home, and security in this world? On Jesus and his Lordship? Or somewhere else? As for Jesus' Lordship: you've heard his commands over this past week of devotions from his sermon on the plain: “spend yourselves on behalf of the poor, love your enemies, do not judge or condemn, forgive and give, take the plank out of your own eye first, love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.” So: today's devotion is pretty simple. You likely call Jesus Lord when you pray to him or talk about him: “Lord, Lord.” Do you also treat him as your Lord: bending the knee, building your life in him alone, loving him alone, and doing what he says?
On Jesus' twelfth birthday, he is finally allowed in the temple, but the problem was he didn't exactly want to leave once he got there. When his parents realized he pulled a Home Alone stunt and found him amongst the religious leaders they doubted if he belonged there. How many of us have been told our culture is too different, we are too young, too old, too fat, too differently abled, too divorced, too single, too queer, too feminine to participate in the full life of the church. Well, Jesus knows the feeling and he made a place for himself and others in many of spaces where people said he and we had no place.
On Jesus' twelfth birthday, he is finally allowed in the temple, but the problem was he didn't exactly want to leave once he got there. When his parents realized he pulled a Home Alone stunt and found him amongst the religious leaders they doubted if he belonged there. How many of us have been told our culture is too different, we are too young, too old, too fat, too differently abled, too divorced, too single, too queer, too feminine to participate in the full life of the church. Well, Jesus knows the feeling and he made a place for himself and others in many of spaces where people said he and we had no place.
Jesus taught in parables, in many settings and for diverse audiences. On Jesus' final journey towards Jerusalem recorded in Luke 9-19, his teaching and training focus turns specifically to his disciples. He employs severals parables to challenge and to form their thinking, so that they will be prepared to live as his disciples long after he has ascended. Stuart Holman continues our series on the Parables of Jesus, considering some of the parables in Luke 9-19.
Jesus taught in parables, in many settings and for diverse audiences. On Jesus' final journey towards Jerusalem recorded in Luke 9-19, his teaching and training focus turns specifically to his disciples. He employs severals parables to challenge and to form their thinking, so that they will be prepared to live as his disciples long after he has ascended. Stuart Holman continues our series on the Parables of Jesus, considering some of the parables in Luke 9-19.
Jesus taught in parables, in many settings and for diverse audiences. On Jesus' final journey towards Jerusalem recorded in Luke 9-19, his teaching and training focus turns specifically to his disciples. He employs severals parables to challenge and to form their thinking, so that they will be prepared to live as his disciples long after he has ascended. Stuart Holman continues our series on the Parables of Jesus, considering some of the parables in Luke 9-19 ( growingdisciples.net.au ).
Jesus taught in parables, in many settings and for diverse audiences. On Jesus' final journey towards Jerusalem recorded in Luke 9-19, his teaching and training focus turns specifically to his disciples. He employs severals parables to challenge and to form their thinking, so that they will be prepared to live as his disciples long after he has ascended. Stuart Holman continues our series on the Parables of Jesus, considering some of the parables in Luke 9-19.
On Jesus' final journey towards Jerusalem recorded in Luke 9-19, his teaching and training focus turns specifically to his disciples. He employs severals parables to challenge and to form their thinking, so that they will be prepared to live as his disciples long after he has ascended. Stuart Holman continues our series on the Parables of Jesus, considering some of the parables in Luke 9-19.
Jesus taught in parables, in many settings and for diverse audiences. On Jesus' final journey towards Jerusalem recorded in Luke 9-19, his teaching and training focus turns specifically to his disciples. He employs severals parables to challenge and to form their thinking, so that they will be prepared to live as his disciples long after he has ascended. Stuart Holman continues our series on the Parables of Jesus, considering some of the parables in Luke 9-19.
Ask any confessional Presbyterian what the church is supposed to look like and they will have an answer ready- sound doctrine, presbyterian government, and regulated worship. If those criteria were applied to the Ephesian church at the end of the apostolic era, it would appear that the Ephesian church would have been heartily welcomed into the club of Old School Presbyterianism. On Jesus' own assessment, it had all of this and more. Yet, Jesus was not impressed. After commending the Ephesian church for soundness in faith and doctrine, He challenged their heart and threated to remove their lampstand because they had fallen from their first love. The point of this letter to the Ephesian church is that doctrinal orthodoxy without fervent love for Christ is offensive to God and will bring judgment upon the church.
On Jesus & the Crowds, and Jesus Vs. The Pharisees
Citations (in order)On new priesthood between Old and New Testament,Hebrews 8.8, 13; 9.11'...the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant......by calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.But when Christ came as high priest...he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands...On calling on God without being preached to; note again the backdrop of roman audience where philosophy thrived,Romans 10.14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?Colossians 2.8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.On mission of God, Abrahamic promise,see publications by Christopher J. H. WrightFor Socrates' reference of 'daimon',Apology 31d, 37e, 40a to 40cPhaedrus 242b-c.On division of kingdom, satanic or foreign spirits,Matthew 12:26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? On knowing Jesus prior to meeting him,John 4.25The woman said, “I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”On Spirit, compared to the wind,John 3.8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.On Biblical interaction with philosophy, or philo-sophia, Jewish prophetic God and pagan reception, undertaken by Pauline writing,1Corinthians 1.22-3For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, On Filioque controversy,See publications by A. Edward Siecienski. On work of the Holy Spirit prior to the name of Jesus being preached,See Acts 10, Peter's confession at v.44-48"...They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.On Jesus asking, sending, of the Holy Spirit,John 14.16, 15.26And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever...When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father...Isaiah 65:1 I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.On Paul preaching for God that is unknown specifically to roman culture at that time period,Acts 17.22-34...For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you...On nature and grace,See Thomas Aquinas, or Summa theologiae. On Immnauel Kant and religion,See Critique of Pure Reason, Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason Matthew 11.18-9For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is proved right (vindicated in some translations) by her deeds.Hebrews 11.3 (ESV)By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Citations (in order)On new priesthood between Old and New Testament,Hebrews 8.8, 13; 9.11'...the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant......by calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.But when Christ came as high priest...he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands...On calling on God without being preached to; note again the backdrop of roman audience where philosophy thrived,Romans 10.14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?Colossians 2.8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.On mission of God, Abrahamic promise,see publications by Christopher J. H. WrightFor Socrates' reference of 'daimon',Apology 31d, 37e, 40a to 40cPhaedrus 242b-c.On division of kingdom, satanic or foreign spirits,Matthew 12:26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? On knowing Jesus prior to meeting him,John 4.25The woman said, “I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”On Spirit, compared to the wind,John 3.8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.On Biblical interaction with philosophy, or philo-sophia, Jewish prophetic God and pagan reception, undertaken by Pauline writing,1Corinthians 1.22-3For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, On Filioque controversy,See publications by A. Edward Siecienski. On work of the Holy Spirit prior to the name of Jesus being preached,See Acts 10, Peter's confession at v.44-48"...They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.On Jesus asking, sending, of the Holy Spirit,John 14.16, 15.26And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever...When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father...Isaiah 65:1 I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.On Paul preaching for God that is unknown specifically to roman culture at that time period,Acts 17.22-34...For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you...On nature and grace,See Thomas Aquinas, or Summa theologiae. On Immnauel Kant and religion,See Critique of Pure Reason, Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason Matthew 11.18-9For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is proved right (vindicated in some translations) by her deeds.Hebrews 11.3 (ESV)By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Citations (in order)On new priesthood between Old and New Testament,Hebrews 8.8, 13; 9.11'...the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant......by calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.But when Christ came as high priest...he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands...On calling on God without being preached to; note again the backdrop of roman audience where philosophy thrived,Romans 10.14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?Colossians 2.8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.On mission of God, Abrahamic promise,see publications by Christopher J. H. WrightFor Socrates' reference of 'daimon',Apology 31d, 37e, 40a to 40cPhaedrus 242b-c.On division of kingdom, satanic or foreign spirits,Matthew 12:26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? On knowing Jesus prior to meeting him,John 4.25The woman said, “I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”On Spirit, compared to the wind,John 3.8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.On Biblical interaction with philosophy, or philo-sophia, Jewish prophetic God and pagan reception, undertaken by Pauline writing,1Corinthians 1.22-3For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, On Filioque controversy,See publications by A. Edward Siecienski. On work of the Holy Spirit prior to the name of Jesus being preached,See Acts 10, Peter's confession at v.44-48"...They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.On Jesus asking, sending, of the Holy Spirit,John 14.16, 15.26And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever...When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father...Isaiah 65:1 I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.On Paul preaching for God that is unknown specifically to roman culture at that time period,Acts 17.22-34...For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you...On nature and grace,See Thomas Aquinas, or Summa theologiae. On Immnauel Kant and religion,See Critique of Pure Reason, Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason Matthew 11.18-9For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is proved right (vindicated in some translations) by her deeds.Hebrews 11.3 (ESV)By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
On Jesus' kingship, fulfillment of the Father's plan, and fruits of life that flow from his sacrifice - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lucas-laborde/message
On Jesus as the fulfilment of the law - Fr. Maximo Stock Click here for today's readings. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lucas-laborde/message
Paul Kingsnorth doesn't fit neatly into Left or Right — which is only one of the reasons we consider him one of the more interesting thinkers of our time. He has been talking and writing about nature for over 25 years, and during that period he has developed a his own self-reliant, localised form of environmentalism.Formerly a climate activist, Paul grew disaffected with the movement when he came to the realisation that “economic monster” that enveloped the world was too great to fight against. Instead, he channelled his energies into writing books, essays, novels and poetry, all of which have been hugely influential in the way we view our relationship with the modern world and its maladies.In his own life, he has tried to “secede from the system” as much as possible by living on his own farmstead out in western Ireland in county Galway. While he admits that it is impossible to fully withdraw from the world, small acts of resistance — whether they are using an unconnected compost loo or refusing to use a smartphone — allows him to “jump off the treadmill”. His recent conversion to Christianity came as a surprise, not least to Paul, and it gave him a deeper appreciation of the importance of limits and humility. Below are some excerpts from this enthralling interview:On the culture wars:The more modern and the more westernised the world is, the more lost people seem… It seems to me that both sides in this horrible toxic culture battle that's going on are talking about identity as if it's something that's under threat for them and something that they've lost and something they feel attached to and something that the other side wants to take away from them. On rationalist versus mystic modes of thought:So you've got sort of mythos versus logos…. So we have a very rationalistic, very secularistic, scientific, mathematical way of looking at the world, which is useful, obviously… But we also have something which is deeper and to some degree truer than that, which is the mythic way of looking, which is where true poetry comes from, it's where art comes from. But it's also where I think our deep love of nature comes from, and it's where religion comes from. That stuff flows through absolutely every human being and every human culture always at all times.I think liberal modernity and neoliberal capitalism as well have operated on the false assumption that the mythic way of seeing will be ultimately superseded by the rational way, by the logoic way of seeing if you like, because obviously, myth was just a silly thing we believed in before we had science, that we don't need anymore. That's not what's happening.On giving up climate activism:What you end up seeing if you are an activist for long enough is that we have built this enormous, unsustainable economic monster that now envelops the world, which requires endless growth to keep it going. It isn't possible to feed it with enough natural resources to power that endless growth, the fossil fuels that it uses to power that endless growth is changing the climate. So we all know these terrible stories: we've kicked off a mass extinction event, the climate is changing, all of these kinds of horrors. So you end up having to try and turn this around, and you end up campaigning to stop climate change. And after many, many years of doing that, I was unable to avoid the reality, as it seemed to me and it still does — it actually isn't possible to do it in the way that we wanted to do it. On the capitalist system:We're not citizens, we're not people rooted in a culture, we're not individuals who have a sort of wider sense of worth. We're primarily consumers and producers for that machine. We measure everything in terms of economic growth, we measure that in a material sense, rather than in any other sense. We've become a kind of a society of merchants and those consumer values have infiltrated everything, absolutely every aspect of our lives…I think that's a tragedy. It's a cultural tragedy, and it's an ecological tragedy too. On Covid:Covid is interesting in the sense that we've all been acting like science is going to solve this using the algorithms and the mathematical formula and the rest of it. But there's also something very mythic about this virus isn't there? It's very apocalyptic, I think, in the original sense of the word. The word apocalypsis is Greek for unveiling, it means revelation. On Bill Gates:It's an interesting one this, because you've got all the crazy conspiracies about how Bill Gates is going to inject you with microchips and all this stuff. But there's a basis for this. Bill Gates is a very powerful man and he's using his money to change the world in particular ways. He's using his money to fund newspapers. He's using his money to promote development in places like Africa in a very particular pattern. He's doing certainly all sorts of things. And the same is true of Soros, who's always the centre of conspiracy theories as well. So although the conspiracies themselves are crazy and often dangerous and unpleasant, the sense of powerlessness that fuels them is real. I think that these conspiracies come about when people try to join dots that they don't understand, because we don't really know how it's working anymore. On China ‘lifting a hundred million' people out of poverty:China has made, for example, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people landless through the construction of dams; through the construction of giant cities. Obviously, the state in China is all-powerful, and so people are just moved. And then they're put into cities. And often if you take people who've been living on their own land, in a subsistence economy where they have enough and you put them into a city, where they then are earning wages, but very low wages; they've lost any sense of control through that process of enclosure that we talked about earlier. Then you can stick that on your balance sheet and you can say look at these people we've lifted out of poverty. Maybe some of them wanted to be but were they? On his conversion to Christianity:I've been on a sort of spiritual search for 10 years or so. Because actually, so much of what we've been talking about seems to me to be at root, a spiritual question in the broadest sense of that slightly horrible word. That it's actually about what we value. And so much of our destructive nature, it seems to me, comes from our sense of self-worship. So once you believe that there's nothing above you, once you believe that there's nothing sacred about the world, that the world is simply a material object, a giant resource that you can harvest, then you can become quite tyrannical. On Jesus' teaching:It's very interesting to go back to the teachings of Jesus 2000 years ago, and see him basically addressing the same flaws in human nature that we have now. And of course, that's not just true of Christianity. So there's a there's a lesson in radical humility that you can get from it, which I hadn't realised until I started to look at it properly. And that's still working its way through me. It's quite a radical and exciting thing to be happening in a way. Read the Post here See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
On Jesus and the Pharisees, Healing, And the Sabbath
On Jesus' Temptations in the desert by the devil
On Jesus saying love your enemies, do not retaliate against violence, do not judge others, and do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. Crazy things like that. Speaker: Tim Kim
On Jesus' Victory, and the unexpected
This week Daniel Ray continues his discussion with Christian apologist, philosopher and author, Dr. Douglas Groothuis about his book Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. This book is a popular textbook at Christian colleges and seminaries, was winner of the 2012 Christianity Today Book Award of Merit. In part 2 of their discussion, Daniel and Doug explore some additional arguments for the Christian worldview put forward in the book and address some key questions: Are some atheists arguing that the best explanation for much of the universe is that there is no explanation for it? Should skepticism be the default position? How can we creatively and wisely relate to people who seem to be far away from the gospel? Why do Christians need to go beyond focusing on merely winning arguments? Douglas Groothuis is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, Evangelical Philosophical Society, and Society of Christian Philosophers. Dr. Groothuis received a Ph.D. and a B.S. from the University of Oregon, and an MA in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has served as adjunct professor at Seattle Pacific University, visiting instructor in apologetics for Westminster Theological Seminary, and instructor at the University of Oregon. He is the author of ten books, including Truth Decay, Unmasking the New Age, On Jesus, On Pascal and In Defense of Natural Theology (coeditor and contributor). He has published two dozen academic articles in journals such as Religious Studies, Think, Inquiry, Sophia and Philosophia Christi. BONUS LINKS: Here are some additional resources: Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, by Douglas Groothuis, IVP Books (2011), 752-pages: https://amzn.to/39olHDb Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism, by Douglas Groothuis, IVP Books (2000), 303-pages: https://amzn.to/30Gk3cb Douglas Groothuis Website: https://douglasgroothuis.com/ FREE: We are also offering a free subscription to our bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free. SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Join the Apologetics Profile podcast team for as little as $1 here: www.patreon.com/WatchmanFellowship. Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman FellowshipFor more information, visit www.watchman.org © Watchman Fellowship, Inc.
In this week’s discussion, Daniel Ray talks with Christian apologist, philosopher and author, Dr. Douglas Groothuis about his book Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. This book is a popular textbook at Christian colleges and seminaries, was winner of the 2012 Christianity Today Book Award of Merit. In their discussion Daniel and Doug discuss some of the arguments for the Christian worldview put forward in the book and address some key questions: Can the Christian worldview stand up to the experiences of human suffering? How do we get from a defense of objective truth and the key arguments for God to a case for the credibility of Jesus, the incarnation and the resurrection? Do alternative worldviews adequately explain morality? Douglas Groothuis is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, Evangelical Philosophical Society, and Society of Christian Philosophers. Dr. Groothuis received a Ph.D. and a B.S. from the University of Oregon, and an MA in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has served as adjunct professor at Seattle Pacific University, visiting instructor in apologetics for Westminster Theological Seminary, and instructor at the University of Oregon. He is the author of ten books, including Truth Decay, Unmasking the New Age, On Jesus, On Pascal and In Defense of Natural Theology (coeditor and contributor). He has published two dozen academic articles in journals such as Religious Studies, Think, Inquiry, Sophia and Philosophia Christi. BONUS LINKS: Here are some additional resources: Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, by Douglas Groothuis, IVP Books (2011), 752-pages: https://amzn.to/39olHDb Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism, by Douglas Groothuis, IVP Books (2000), 303-pages: https://amzn.to/30Gk3cb Douglas Groothuis Website: https://douglasgroothuis.com/ FREE: We are also offering a free subscription to our bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free. SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Join the Apologetics Profile podcast team for as little as $1 here: www.patreon.com/WatchmanFellowship. Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman FellowshipFor more information, visit www.watchman.org © Watchman Fellowship, Inc.
DiscipleShift #2, Living the Big Picture By Louie Marsh, 9-29-2013 Intro. 4 pictures 1) As a Disciple of Jesus I am… A Follower of Jesus – My faith is 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17 (ESV) A devotee of Jesus - I am focused ON JESUS. 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” John 11:25-27 (ESV) 2) My life & church are focused on FOLLOWING & BECOMING like Jesus. 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.. Philippians 3:10-12 (ESV) The purpose of the church & my life are THE SAME! 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV) 3) The purpose of the church is to MAKE DISCIPLES. The foundation is JESUS & THE GOSPEL 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11 (NASB) The 5 pillars are the 5 “purposes” or 5 EXPRESSIONS of my faith. Worship (John 4:23-24) Evangelism (Romans 10:13-14) Ministry (1 Corinthians 12:4-5) Fellowship (Acts 2:42) Discipleship (Hebrews 6:1) These 5 Expressions exist to support the real purpose of the church – MAKING DISCIPLES. 4) God uses everything to make me a MATURE DISCIPLE. Making disciples vs. discipleship. Making Disciples - - - - - -Discipleship - - - - - Making Disciples - - - - - Discipleship 5) If I want to become like Jesus I must CHOOSE obedience over everything. 23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Luke 9:23-24 (ESV) 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Philippians 3:13-15 (ESV)
Pastor Nikki Young delivers a powerful Trinity Sunday sermon: "On Jesus, the Spirit, and the God Won’t Be Caged."
On Jesus' first full day in Jerusalem He visited the temple... and was not pleased with what he found. Listen to find out what the Savior's reaction to moneychangers and animal sellers tells us about our own temple worship. And for more scripture study help, check out my FREE Come Follow Me Study Kits at https://www.kristenwalkersmith.com/freebies/ Bible Video: Jesus Cleanses the Temple
On Jesus's exorcism and what faith in him means. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lucas-laborde/message
Welcome to the Worship Workshop Podcast where we help you grow a stronger team that leads engaging worship. Today we dive into where modern worship comes from—and why it matters—with Dr. Lester Ruth. During the discussion, we also discuss the fourfold order of worship—the history of it and why it's still critical for today. Resources Mentioned In This Episode: Dr. Lester Ruth's Books: Flow https://amzn.to/37hQpev Lovin' On Jesus https://amzn.to/2tObtvv Lester's Recommendations: Constance Cherry: Worship Architect https://amzn.to/38lULTs James White: A Brief History of Christian Worship https://amzn.to/31Sb4F6 Bibliography of Worship Studies http://iws.edu/resources/bibliography Calvin Institute of Christian Worship www.Worship.calvin.edu Dr. Lester Ruth is the Research Professor of Christian Worship at Duke Divinity School. Lester holds degrees from Notre Dame, Candler School of Theology of Emory University, and Asbury Theological Seminary. He was a student of James F. White - the former University of Notre Dame Professor of Theology (Liturgical Studies). He co-authored Lovin' On Jesus: A Concise History of Contemporary Worship with Dr. Swee Hong Lim. Follow Lester Ruth on Twitter: @jl_ruth Learning Community If you want more training for your team, for you as the leader, and a community of worship leaders and team members you can interact with, we have it. It's the Worship Workshop Learning Community. The Learning Community is free training, encouragement and community for you AND your team members. Go to WorshipWorkshop.com/lc to learn more and get access to that right now. Support Us On Patreon If you love what we're doing here on the Podcast and over at the Learning Community, and would love to be a part of it, I want to challenge you to become a Patreon supporter. And you can do that for as little as $2 a month. You get far more value in content and perks than what you contribute monthly. But more importantly than that, you're able to help us provide training content for leaders and worship teams literally all over this world, and some who don't have the means to buy products or enroll in membership program like Worship Workshop. So go WorshipWorkshop.com/patreon to become a supporter. Write a Review If you're not able to partner with us financially right now, but you'd love to help us out, give us a positive review at Apple Podcasts. You can find that by going to www.worshipworkshop.com/apple Thanks for being a part of the Worship Workshop Podcast and Learning Community. My team and I are so honored to be even a small part of your journey as you build a stronger team that leads engaging worship.
In John 6 Jesus explains that He is the bread which came down from Heaven. Why did He say this about himself? Does the bread and drink offered in communion turn into His flesh and blood? There is a distinct difference between believing IN and believing ON Jesus. Even the devil and his demons believe IN Jesus but salvation comes from a belief ON Jesus.
In John 6 Jesus explains that He is the bread which came down from Heaven. Why did He say this about himself? Does the bread and drink offered in communion turn into His flesh and blood? There is a distinct difference between believing IN and believing ON Jesus. Even the devil and his demons believe IN Jesus but salvation comes from a belief ON Jesus.
Reflections into the mirror (and just like that, I am done with that phrase) about Luke 23:33-43. On Jesus as king.
The very heartbeat of God is people. John 3:16 states that God sent His Son, Jesus, to Earth because people were on His mind. On Jesus’ most difficult day, people (His mother and the thieves at Calvary) were on His Mind. The capacity to have people on your mind is possible when we make God […]
Father Gonnella- "On Jesus’s Terms" by Saint Patrick Parish Homilies
Reflections into the mirror (which sometimes makes objects look bigger than they really are) about John 6:51-58. On Jesus and ... cannibalism??
Reflections into the mirror (which, it now occurs to me, makes little sense, because don't reflections technically come out of the mirror??) about John 17:6-19. On Jesus and mothering.
Sri Kaleshwar said “Think positive, start the day with positive, lead the day with positive, end the day with positive, then your life will become positive. Be in the positive.” But how do we do that? Though positive thinking is a prerequisite, “Be in the positive” is a state of being. We can attain a state of consciousness, through which we experience our world. Listen in to hear, not only how to think positive, but how to live in a state of Positive Being. For more information: On Jesus: See the book: The Real Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ, available at Amazon.com On Silence Meditation: https://learn.divinelineage.org/p/who-am-i On Being Love and Simple Acts of Kindness, go to: https://divinelineage.org/love/being-love
Reflections into the mirror (I thought about giving up puns for Lent, but ... I didn't) about John 2:13-22. On Jesus, really. Just Jesus.
On Jesus' last Tuesday, he speaks to us with unfiltered clarity. The temple and it's systems which perpetuate injustice has walked the way which leads to destruction. As the end of Jesus' life draws near, he speaks to us about the things of utmost importance. How might we avoid the same fate as this temple and the city which surrounds it? We must let Jesus lead us in the way of neighborly love.
On Jesus’ last Tuesday, he speaks to us with unfiltered clarity. The temple and it’s systems which perpetuate injustice has walked the way which leads to destruction. As the end of Jesus’ life draws near, he speaks to us about the things of utmost...
A Home that is built BY Jesus, built ON Jesus, and built FOR Jesus can stand up to anything.
A Home that is built BY Jesus, built ON Jesus, and built FOR Jesus can stand up to anything.
Who am I? What exactly happened on the cross? On Jesus body? Within Him or to myself? How do I know where I stand with God? How do I get the power of Holy Spirit? Baptized? Am I Saved? Am I filled? How do I get? Where? What? When? How? When? What was the exchange that was made and how does that impact me? This podcast addresses the many questions anyone and everyone has concerning their right standing with God. What needs to be done? What did you receive when you received Jesus Christ as your lord? What is the absolute TRUTH with Holy Spirit? God bless you, We love you and thank you for praying for God's Hand Ministries! God is ON YOUR SIDE!
On Jesus, Pete Rose, and the Clergy-Laity Dichotomy.
On Jesus and the rich man (Mark 10:17-31) and our relationship with wealth.
On Jesus and the rich man (Mark 10:17-31) and our relationship with wealth.