Jesus is Lord

The Gospel message is clear: Jesus saves. But is this the whole message? In our efforts to shorten things down ever smaller from pages to paragraphs and from phrases to Tweets (or bumper-stickers if you prefer), we run the risk of leaving something out. Yes, Jesus saves but what does that really mean?

The opposite problem is also prevalent. It's easy to go on and on about a topic that before you know it, you can forget what it even was we were talking about. There are libraries of books that have been written about Jesus, but unfortunately there are many that say a great deal without saying anything at all.

Our aim is to be somewhere in the middle. Phrases like "Jesus Saves!" or "Christ is Lord!" are jam-packed with meaning. We can risk cutting short the Gospel if we stop after confession, belief, or even baptism. Instead, we press on with the work of salvation. We confess not only that "Jesus is the Son of God" but also that we want Jesus to be the Lord of our life. The Gospel story doesn't end with Jesus's resurrection: Jesus ascends to the throne of God as king! Luke 22:69 reads, "But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."

Rome feared this teaching of Jesus. For Jesus to be "King of the Jews" (John 19:19) it meant that Jesus was a challenger to the authority and power of the Roman government. In their view, Jesus was a threat that needed to be dealt with permanently. The people should have no ruler but the one the Romans had placed over them. 

Jesus is a king and He says as much in John 18:36 -- "My kingdom is not of this world." It's not. But it is a real power within this world and His reign is a real threat to those who desire to rule in darkness, to oppress the poor, or to abuse people created in the image of God.

Jesus saves. Christ is king. Has the sovereign reign of Jesus broken into your life? Are you ruled by King Jesus? Or do you seek refuge, power, safety, and security in those that can harm your body but do nothing for your soul (Mat. 10:28)?

Foundations - Action

We are mistaken if we believe God's work has ceased. Jesus tells us in John 5:17 that just as God is always working, His work will also continue. We strive to imitate the work of God, but we simply cannot do this alone. We work together as God's children, in God's family, as the church of God so that we will be found working when He returns (Mat. 24:45-51).

Foundations - Holiness

This week, we continue our series examining the divine attributes of God as we look at "holiness". Throughout Scripture, we see the holiness of God affirmed on nearly every page.

He created us, but our sin has totally separated from Him. In our earthly desires, we separate ourselves from God by following down paths He never intended for us. We chase pride, pleasure, lust, greed, ambition, and other desires. We find safety in the world we make for ourselves. But it is a false safety full of lies and danger. We are lost and wandering, alone and living in darkness. He is the light, but we hide from it (John 3:19) and try to keep our evil deeds hidden from the light (John 3:20).

Thankfully, God is not satisfied with this relationship (2 Peter 3:9). He takes it upon Himself to reconcile us back to Him, to redeem us (2 Corinthians 5:18). He reaches down from Heaven and forms a bond with us. He adopts us as His children (Ephesians 1:5) and guides on us paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:3).

Many people think the holiness of God means we can never be with Him. We can never be good enough. We can never do enough. When we study our Bibles, what we see instead, is that it is because of the very holiness of God and His love for His children that He "became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption," (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Has Christ become your wisdom? Is He now a natural part of your way of thinking? Do you consider His Name when you speak and act? Have you been redeemed and transformed? Have you been adopted into God's family?

If not, why not? What's holding you back from God's love? What keeps you from Him? I pray we do not love our sin more than our saviour. I pray that in our humility we turn and listen and hear. I pray we come out of this darkness we cling to and run to the light of life. I pray we finally find the peace He has prepared for us (Philippians 4:7).

Foundations - Accountability

Welcome back! Though hopefully many of us never left, we were separated in body but together in spirit. I am still praying for the end of the pandemic and for healing to all. I know that for some it is best to remain at home while we wait for the tide to turn. For others, we take precautions to keep one another healthy and safe. This morning, we will continue our series in "Foundations of Faith" as we examine what "Accountability" means. Just as we try to keep one another safe physically, accountability means that we will strive to keep one another safe spiritually. The last several lessons have dealt with the idea of God as our loving, caring, and compassionate Creator. Unfortunately, it is far too easy twist these ideas into something they are not. Paul fought against the idea that God's grace meant sin would be welcomed back. So did Jude. So did Peter as well. God being loving and forgiving does not mean that He expects we should remain in our sinful life. Instead, the loving relationship we have for our God who saved us from our sins and gives us every blessing should lead us to growth and change. What happens though when my sin is too great for me to even see it? What happens when I allow my sin to flourish and it starts affecting those around me? What happens when my sin impacts not only my relationship with Jesus but also with my fellow Christians? Today we will ask ourselves, are we humble enough to accept correction or are we instead asking others to accept our sin?

Foundations - Justice

The Bible tells us that God is a just God. But what does that mean? What does justice look like? Where can I find it?

Many people, prophets, and kings have tried to define justice on their own terms. God gives us a picture of justice in His word. There we find a paring of "justice" with "righteousness" as a way of describing not only the moral character of an individual or adherence to ritual acts of worship, but also how that individual relates to everyone around them.

We see a positive picture of doing justice in Job and we see Isaiah calling out the injustices in the nation of Israel. How do we apply these warnings and examples to our lives today so we can be not only a people of love, compassion, and seeking God but also a people of justice.

I hope you can join us this morning as we continue try to understand our God better and better understand justice and righteousness!

Compassion

I'm a fixer. If there's a problem, I don't like to just wait for someone else to fix it or try to put up with it. I wan to do something about it! The problem is, sometimes the solutions we are able to provide just won't fit well with the problems we have. The question is then: are we thinking about the problem the right way?

We see all around people that are down on their luck, hurting, or in poverty. Sometimes, we would rather blame them for their situation than help. Sometimes we feel like the help we can offer won't make a difference. Sometimes we let these discouraging thoughts stop us from fulfilling our purpose.

Perhaps, we can change the question. What if we begin to see people in poverty as a real people in need of compassion? What if recognize that in poverty, we have an ongoing opportunity to bless and to be blessed through showing compassion.

Yes, we want badly to help pull people out of poverty. Yes, we want people to be paid fairly and treated fairly. But if the solution to poverty is simply hard work and dedication then it becomes a moral judgement we pass on those in poverty that they are not good enough, not worthy, not loved.

What if instead we realize we have people right in front of us that need love and compassion. They need Jesus and the Kingdom. We fool ourselves if we think we can help one person or a few over our lifetime and the problem of poverty will go away. No, Jesus says: "The poor will always be with you, so what does that mean but that the work of the church continues!

The work of compassion will never end. The mission is fulfilled in doing the work. When we focus on the task at hand, rather than blaming people for their mistakes, we can finally fulfill our purpose and calling as a people of love and compassion.

Foundations - Building Intentionally

In this "Foundations" lesson, we will take a moment to examine the importance of being intentional in how we choose to build up from our foundational understandings of God. Each of us already have a picture of God in our minds. He is a loving, caring, and just Creator God who redeems us through His Son. But could it be that I have a picture of God that isn't revealed in the Word and instead come from someone else's distorted view of God? I won't claim that my view of God is complete or perfect or finished, but what I want to do to today is open the door to questioning humbly what else I have left to learn about God. Our Bible is full of examples of people that have acted in a way that is contrary to the revealed Word of God. Their build a god for themselves that allows them to exalt themselves above everyone else and allows them to live a life of disobedience. God being loving, caring, and forgiving doesn't mean that we ignore what He requires of us. It means that we respond in kind, with loving submission that leads us closer to Jesus. I hope you can join us for worship this morning and I pray that as you go out into the world bearing the image of God, that the image you bear is one that truly reflects the character we are called to have!

Foundations - Love

In this, the second in our series on foundations, we look at a familiar and frankly, terrifying passage. Jesus tells us that on the day of judgement, there will be people who will have been working, serving, and doing marvelous things in Jesus's name that will hear, "Depart from me, I never knew you."

How sad it would be on that day, when we desire to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant"(Matthew 25:23) and instead we receive   condemnation. Can we know that we are saved? Can we know that we are loved?

I believe the Bible tells us we are loved and we can know we are saved. There is "more to the story" going on in the exchange Jesus uses to warns us about judgement.

I hope you can join us in worship this morning as we take a look at the love of God as our Spiritual Foundation.

A Sure Foundation - Matthew 7

Jesus closes the Sermon on the Mount and reminds us all of the choice we face. One house, built on a sure foundation can withstand the attacks coming from the wind, the waves, and the rain. The other house fails. Jesus says the difference between them is the foundation. One has a foundation that is sure, solid, and secure. This foundation comes from hearing the word, believing the word, and acting on it. Our foundational understanding of the nature and character of God the Father, as revealed in the word and God the Son through God the Spirit, will give us either a secure foundation or one that is flawed. Today we begin a new series that will help give us that foundational understand of God as He has revealed Himself to us through His word. We will begin at the beginning, in Genesis 1, and look for clues in the text that show us how our God is different. I hope you can join us for worship this morning!