Our Daily Reminders

Probably the most important thing I mentioned in Sunday's sermon was the concept of preaching the gospel to yourself everyday. To some of you that may be a new idea or concept. Many preachers and theologians have talked about this before. In fact, Jerry Bridges, in his book, The Discipline of Grace, had a chapter on this subject. So, why is this so important? What does "preaching the gospel to yourself" really mean?

I believe we need daily reminders of four key aspects of the gospel:

1 - Daily recognition of our sin.
We need to remind ourselves that God demands a perfect righteousness and that we cannot acheive it.

2 - Remember the cross.
The cross reminds us of the severity of our condition. It should also remind us of our value in the eyes of our Savior, who was willing to suffer because of the love He has for us.

3 - Grace!
Our salvation is a gift...we do nothing to earn it. We can do nothing to make God love us more than He does now. Grace is really hard to accept...but think of the freedom it unleashes in our lives? We must preach grace to ourselves every day.

4 - We have been adopted.
I think this truth is often overlooked. Many like to point to justification. Of course, we should love the doctrine of justification, but it is a judicial concept. Adoption is about love and acceptance and security and family. I like that more! Adoption also guides our behavior. We are children of God. We are siblings of the KING! We are royalty. With that reality, we are compelled to live as it becomes royalty. Our behavior is not guided by reward or fear. We are secure in our position and what else could we really earn as royalty? Our behavior is guided by love and loyalty.

So, as you wake up tomorrow morning, think about your sin. Confess it. Recognize it...but don't dwell on it. Move on to the cross and grace and adoption. In fact, don't just think about it...preach it! Preach it to yourself so that you may live it for others.

The Fallout!

Every Sunday after preaching, there is a slight worry in every pastor's heart on how the sermon will be received. You pray for the Holy Spirit to be working in everyone's heart and mind...but you just never know what that looks like. You never know what each person needed to hear and whether the sermon you just preached helped or hurt the process!

Anyway, I set forth a vision and plan for our church on Sunday. I called for more intentional and strategic outreach into our community. There is much more to say on that subject, and I will be addressing it some in future sermons, but Sunday I made a specific call. I asked for 4 people to step up and lead the charge. Of course, I want the whole church engaged in outreach, but we need a team of people to help plan, organize, and execute the things we dream up to do.

So...you want to see how God answers prayers? After church, 4 people came up to me (not 3, not 6...but 4...I should have asked for 6!!) and volunteered to help lead the charge. Pretty cool! I am so thankful for the spiritual maturity in our body. I am so thankful for the commitment in our body to reach out, sacrifice, and seek to meet challenges head on.

There will be more details on our plans forthcoming. Our staff and our new team will be working on them. The goal is to meet people in our community, serve them and build intentional relationships...and we get to have a lot of fun together along the way!

I have overcome the world

Today's blog is short and sweet. There is much to be written about the political maneuverings in John 18-19 but the end result is the same: The one who knew no sin became sin so that we might receive the righteousness of God. The cross is the central moment in history. All things hinge on it. We all must ask ourselves: what about Jesus? Who was He? Why did He die?

Pilate ushered Jesus out in front of the crowd and said, "Behold your King!" The chief priests had already dealt with these questions in their heart when the responded soon afterward, "We have no king but Caesar!" How do you respond? Does this day hold significance for you? Behold your King...on a cross, dying for you. That is a good Friday.

Framing the Cross

There are two passages that frame the whole Passion storyline in John. In chapter 12, Jesus makes an interesting comment. He is talking about death and life...basically who or what are you living for. Anyway, He says in verse 26: "If anyone serves Me, He must follow Me, and where I am, there will my servant be also."

Now, fast forward through the Last Supper, the High Priestly Prayer (we will discuss that in a minute), the betrayal, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection...go to the end of John. In chapter 21, Jesus and Peter are walking on a beach. John is walking behind them and Peter asks Jesus about John, kind of "so, what about him...what is his role in this thing?" Jesus says in verse 22: "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? YOU FOLLOW ME!"

The vision of our church is that we are "following Christ together." Here, at two critical points in John, that theme arises. In other words, you may be asking yourself, "so, what now?" You may be wondering about how to APPLY the resurrection to your life. You believe, but don't know what that means in terms of a response. I love Jesus' words in chapter 12, "where I am, there will my servant be also." That is what life as a believer is all about: Follow Him. The harder part is figuring out where He is.

If you are reading along this week with me as I read John 11-21 - the passion week, you might have hit a section we know as the Graduation Address. It stretches from the end of John 13 through John 17 (the High Priestly Prayer). If you have a red letter Bible, then nearly every bit is red. It is Jesus giving His disciples a final reality check, pep talk, and brotherly advice. There is a lot in there, but it becomes more understandable when you see the frames of John 12 and 21. Jesus is laying out what following Him will look like. It gives clues as to where He will be and how to "find" Him.

I always like to define eternity as starting NOW. Why? Jesus does the same thing. In John 17 He defines eternity as knowing God and Jesus Christ. We don't have to wait until heaven to be in Christ's presence. Eternity starts NOW! Follow Him!

Going Beyond the Call

John 13 is just tough to deal with! Think about it...as Christ sat down with His disciples, He had fulfilled everything outside of going to the cross. Eat the bread. Drink the wine...everybody having a good time (sorry, another U2 quote). But Jesus is not about to relax. He is not about to take it easy and wait for Judas to do his thing.

Jesus decides to go beyond the call and give us an example to follow. He gets up and washes the feet of the disciples. Have you ever washed someone's feet? Not your kid's feet, but a non-relative. I did it once...it is a very humbling experience. Not only humbling for the foot washer but also the recipient. It is just uncomfortable altogether.

Now think of God Himself washing the feet of His disciples. Think about waiting your turn. Think about the fact that Jesus stopped and took the time to wash each foot...including Judas. He didn't "have" to. This wasn't prophesied about. This was a choice made by God Himself...true to His character, He went beyond the call.

How should we respond? Read Peter's words in John 13...

A Living Witness

It is Passion Week! On Sunday I asked everyone to read John 11-21 to prepare for Easter. This week I will blog on my reflections as I read through the chapters. Today, it is John 11-12...

I have preached on John 11 several times. It is one of my favorite chapters (John is my favorite book in the Bible...chapter 13 is pretty good too!) in Scripture. What sticks out to me reading through it this time is not chapter 11, but chapter 12!

In John 11, we see so many crucial and important things...Jesus waiting for Lazarus to die before going to see him. Christ's interactions with Martha and Mary. Jesus breaking down in a painful, sorrowful sobbing as He confronts death. Of course, the resurrection of Lazarus. What about the fallout?

We see the leaders determine then, because of what happened, that they have to rid themselves of Jesus. The witness of Lazarus' LIFE is the catalyst of Christ's DEATH. I want to you to think about Lazarus. Lazarus is a threat. He is a WITNESS of Christ's power and deity. His very life is a witness. Wherever he goes, he is a reminder to everyone of Christ and what happened.

A physical resurrection will do that. Watching Lazarus eat, sleep, walk, and talk...his breathing points everyone to Jesus. That resurrection wasn't about the physical as much as it was an illustration of the spiritual. If you know Jesus. If you believe in Him, then you are just like Lazarus. You have been spiritually resurrected!! Pretty cool!

Now, in chapter 12 we see the fallout of that. At the end of chapter 11 and in chapter 12, it says that the crowds came to see Jesus and Lazarus! It says they were talking about it. The challenge is that we also are all living witnesses. We were all dead in our trespasses and sins. We have all been resurrected. What do people see in you? Do they see a transformation? Does your presence point people to Christ? A challenging thought...with more to come!

Making enemies on both sides of the aisle

Earlier this week, our "beloved" U.S. Representative Parker Griffith brought in a Democrat to help him raise money for his REPUBLICAN campaign. Needless to say, Griffith has made more new enemies since his party change than friends. This post is not to be critical or make a political stand, so to speak, against my former neighbor (Griffith lived next door to me for the first 16 years of my life). My point is that it is tough to make EVERYONE hate you!! Most public figures have supporters, no matter what you do.

Anyway, to tie this back to Following Christ, we as Christians sometimes need to be reminded at how offensive Christ was to the people around Him. In fact, we need to expect, if we are following Him closely, to sometimes get caught in His wake. The Gospel message is difficult to fully accept. As I said last Sunday, unconditional love is hard to believe in. So, with that, I wanted to share with you a blog by my good friend and PCA pastor Josh Reitano, who crystalizes these thoughts below by fleshing out Mark 3:6, which says...

The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Josh writes...
Nothing unites like a common enemy. The Herodians and the Pharisees would have nothing to do with one another, and yet, they both were deeply offended by the gospel (though in very different ways).

The Herodians were thoroughly secular - the party of Herod (who was notoriously immoral and irreligious - see Mark 6). They couldn't stand the bad news of the gospel - the call to repentance because of brokenness and sin. This is what John the Baptist proclaimed to Herod, and it got John killed. Here the Herodians are plotting to do the same to Jesus.

The Pharisees would have applauded Jesus (and John) calling the Herodians to repentance. They were quite good at calling people immoral. But their prescription for sin was different. The Pharisees could never get over Jesus' notion of grace. Not only did Jesus hang out with sinners, but He actually told them they could be right with God. And not by following the law with Pharisaical precision (that was a lost cause) - but by receiving Jesus by faith.

The bad news of the gospel offended the Herodians. The good news of the gospel offended the Pharisees. Then, as today, Jesus makes enemies on both sides of the aisle.

Some of us grew up as Pharisees and now want to get as far away from that as possible - and so we run from rules and religion and believe our concept of "open-mindedness" will save us. Others of us had wild patches and so we run toward religion, believing that a moral life will ultimately give us value and save us.

And in strides Jesus and says we're both wrong. Rather than running to and from religion (and rules), we must run instead toward Jesus. Or perhaps better, we need to stop running altogether, and rest in the work Jesus has done on the cross.

Thanks to Josh for these words!