Posted on

He is Risen!

Click on the Camera to view the full message

I love science fiction, especially time travel and movies about alternate dimensions. 

In our entertainment immersed culture, we sometimes struggle with what is real and what is not. 

The reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is something that is extremely hard for us to grasp, but yet it is absolutely real. It  is not science fiction. 

Death is a very real part of our existence, and funerals are often a time when people are confronted by their own mortality.  They are a somber time of realization that we all will die someday. 

This past weekend we celebrated the fact that Jesus is alive and that by his resurrection from the dead, we do not have to fear death. The Apostle Paul quoted the prophet Hosea in 1 Corinthians 15: 55; “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 

Jesus is alive!

Throughout the pages of the Bible, we see prophecies and their fulfillment hundreds of years apart. Notice that when Jesus revealed himself to his disciples, he referred to the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms containing information about himself (see Luke 24:44). The entire Bible points to Jesus (see Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22). 

The message of the early church was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Before his ascension Jesus spoke to over five hundred people at one time (see 1 Corinthians 15:1-6). It is real.

The resurrection was common knowledge at the time, and it is also recorded in secular history. Apart from that, if Jesus had remained in the tomb, how did that band of fearful broken disciples start a church that exploded across the world and continues to expand today?

If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we have nothing to hold on to; The Bible is an empty document and cannot be the living word of God. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is what determines our salvation; it is our hope of glory. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we know that he has conquered death and that by placing our trust and faith in him we are assured of salvation and eternal life. Because of the resurrection, all the promises of God’s word are true, and we can stand on those promises.

When we talk about the resurrection, we must understand that Jesus didn’t simply rise from the dead. Many people have been miraculously raised from the dead, but they ultimately died again.  What’s the difference? Jesus was raised with a new body, a body that is not subject to aging, sickness, or weakness. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:20; and Colossians 1, Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead, the first of a new kind of body—an eternal body. 

The resurrected body of Jesus is a physical body. Jesus ate with his disciples and walked and talked with them; he was flesh and blood but different. His new body is a perfect eternal body, one that he still has today as he sits at the right hand of God, and the same body he will have when he returns as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (see Revelation 19). 

The cross is where Jesus willingly offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus, being perfectly sinless, died in our place. But Jesus’s resurrection from the dead was a declaration by God that the price had been paid and we now can be made right with God. By raising Jesus from the dead, God was in effect saying that he approved of the work Christ had done and that there was no more penalty needed for sin. 

Does that mean we never sin? No, we are still subject to temptation and sin; we all are well aware of the fact that no Christian is perfect. But it does mean that when we do sin, we can come to Jesus and ask for forgiveness of our sins (see 1 John 1:9).

The cross is where the price was paid for our sins; the resurrection is where we obtain power to live the Christian life.

What does the resurrection of Jesus mean for us? It means that…

  • Because of the resurrection, Satan and death itself have been defeated. Because of the resurrection, we do not have to fear death. 
  • Because of the resurrection, we are made right with God by of the blood of Jesus shed for us. 
  • Because of the resurrection, we can live victorious Christian lives. Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to live inside all who believe in him, to give us power to live a life that brings glory to God (see Acts 1:8).
  • Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we have hope of a glorious future. Jesus said in John 14; “I am going to prepare a place for you… and if I go, I will come back and take you to be with me…”

Unless Jesus returns soon, we will all face death one day. For those who die having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we will be receiving a new body, just like the one Jesus has. 1 John 3:2 says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

This is not science fiction my friends; this is reality. Jesus is coming back again; his word promises it. Maybe some of us or all of us will die before he comes again, but that does not mean we need to fear death. Because of resurrection Sunday, we no longer fear the uncertainty of death. Those who have made the decision to live for Jesus in this life, will live with him for eternity. 

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

Posted on

Blinded

Click on the Camera to view the full message

Sight is one of our most valuable senses, but there is a blindness that is worse than physical blindness: spiritual blindness. Physical blindness, even though it could affect one’s entire lifetime, is not as bad as spiritual blindness that can lead to an eternity separated from God. 

This week we remember Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey with crowds cheering him on—the same crowd that days later would shout “Crucify him!” Before this day, Jesus had been preparing his disciples for his crucifixion. In the Gospel of Luke, he tells them three times what is going to happen in Jerusalem, but they do not understand what he is talking about. To them, Jesus was the invincible Messiah heading to Jerusalem to establish his earthly throne. They did not see the full picture and the amazing purpose of God for Jesus coming to the earth. 

Revealing Spiritual Blindness

Jesus takes his disciples aside and explains that everything written through the prophets about him will be accomplished. The disciples knew the Scriptures; they had been taught that the Messiah would come and re-establish Israel as a mighty nation. But they did not dwell on passages like Isaiah 53, the prophecy about the suffering servant who would be rejected by man and even punished by God. That prophecy didn’t fit their understanding or paradigm of how God would fulfill the Messianic prophecies.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus clearly predicted his death would be by crucifixion (see Matthew 26:1-2). This type of death was reserved for the worst criminals. According to the law of Moses, those who were crucified were under a curse by God (see Deuteronomy 21:22-23 and Galatians 3:13). 

No other person in all of history was less deserving of such suffering than Jesus. Not only did Jesus suffer an excruciating death, he also took on the full punishment of the wrath of God for our sins. That was the real suffering of the cross. It was a suffering by design; it was the plan of God all along (see Isaiah 53:10).

In Luke 18:34 we read, “The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.” Luke emphasizes the lack of understanding by repeating it three times. The disciples were blind; they did not see with spiritual eyes. They were looking for the establishment of an earthly kingdom, but the truth was hidden from them. 

Healing Physical Blindness

It is no coincidence that the very next miracle recorded in the Gospel of Luke is that of Jesus healing a blind man. The juxtaposition of the disciples’ spiritual blindness with the man’s physical blindness reinforces their lack of understanding.  Jesus performed many miracles that were not recorded for us in the Bible, but this one was significant.  Its positioning in the Gospel is key. 

This blind man is so loud in his desperation that he incites a rebuke from the crowd, but he keeps on yelling with all his might. He is desperate because he grasps his own blindness and has faith that Jesus can open his sight. 

Notice the contrast: here is a blind man who is desperate to be able to see, and here are disciples who are unaware of their own spiritual blindness. The most significant event in human history was lost on those participating in it—even those closest to Jesus—because they were expecting something else. They didn’t see clearly.

The blind man knew who Jesus was. He recognized that Jesus was the Messiah.  He praised God and followed Jesus. 

Saving from Spiritual Blindness

Those who are the most blind respond the most readily to the Gospel. Those who realize the depths of their sin are the most appreciative of their salvation. 

Remember the words of Jesus to the Laodicean church in Revelation 3:17; “For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” This letter to the Laodicean church was addressed not to those who didn’t believe in Jesus but to the early church who did.  Yet they were blind because they did not completely grasp the truth of the Gospel. 

Jesus was with God at the beginning of creation; Jesus spoke the earth into existence. When he created that hill called Calvary and formed the tree that became his cross, he knew that he would ultimately suffer and die on it.  He created the instruments of his own suffering because of his love for you.

As we go into this Holy Week, we will see the cross all around us perhaps more than any other week of the year. Let that remind us of the foundation of our faith. Without the cross, we have no savior.  Without the resurrection we have no hope. And without the Spirit we have no sight. The truth about Jesus was hidden from those around him when he walked the earth. In the same way, the truths of the Word of God are not self-evident; they are revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. When God starts speaking to you through His Word, it comes alive. It makes you wake up in the morning looking for the Bible. 

As you read about the crucifixion account in the Gospels this week, spend time praying and asking the Holy Spirit to give you insight and understanding. Make it personal, realizing that Jesus was thinking about you as he walked the road to Jerusalem. 

My prayer for all of us is that if there is an area of spiritual blindness, the Holy Spirit would give us eyes to see and ears to hear. As Jesus said to his disciples on another occasion in Matthew 13:16; “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”

Posted on

Salvation for Sinners and Sufferers

Click on the camera to view the full sermon

As we celebrate this Christmas season, we celebrate our savior who took on flesh to free us from sin. But more than freeing us from the bonds of sin, Jesus also came to bring healing and restoration. Healing for the sick, the broken hearted, and the abused.

God sent His son to provide a way for sinners to be forgiven and for those who have been sinned against to be healed.

During our lives, we find that we are sinners in need of forgiveness and at times we need Jesus to heal our brokenness because of sin.

Have you ever considered that the salvation that Jesus offers is wholeness? Eternal life is glorious and starts when you give your life to Jesus, but there is more that Jesus offers, wholeness, healing, and restoration.

The account of king David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 is a story of brokenness and pain because of sin. David tries to cover up his sin and he has Bathsheba’s husband killed in battle. Once Uriah is killed, David takes Bathsheba into his palace as one of his wives (2 Samuel 11:26-27).

David, one of the most celebrated heroes in the Bible, the second king of Israel, a war hero, and author of most of the Psalms, sins terribly.

As the account continues in 2 Samuel 12, we see that the prophet Nathan confronts David about his sin. Showing him that what he thought was hidden, was not hidden from God. David’s repentance is immediate, and it is proposed that the great repentance Psalm, Psalm 51 is penned as David cries out to God for forgiveness.

In response, Nathan declares that God has forgiven him and he will not die, but there will be terrible consequences for his sin. Multiple children died and a long list of pain and suffering followed David’s “private sin”. David realizes that his sin is a personal afront to God and he humbles himself in repentance.

The truth is that there are no secret sins and all sins lead to suffering. There are no private or hidden sins. Even if no-one knows about it, God sees, and it affects the body of Christ. The sins that we commit during the week, even if we think they are concealed, affect the entire church family.

As we gather to pursue the presence of God on a Sunday morning, we must come prepared and expectant. If we come in haphazardly or without any thought that we are gathering as the body of Christ to come and worship the Great I AM, not only will we miss out on a blessing, but we will impact the engagement of the church family.

Let us prepare our hearts and minds. Spend time on a Sunday morning in prayer and repentance, with the expectation that we will encounter the living God.

I guess the question is, how seriously do we take the privilege we have of gathering in God’s presence. How grateful are we for the truth of this season? Emmanuel, God with us!

David repents of his sins, and he is forgiven, but what about Bathsheba?

David needed forgiveness. Bathsheba was sinned against; her life was turned upside down. Her husband was killed, and she was taken against her will into the king’s palace as one of his wives. She experienced incredible trauma, and she needed healing.

The salvation that Jesus offers, not only offers forgiveness, but it also offers healing. Jesus came to bring healing and restoration. Healing for the sick, the broken hearted, and the abused.

God sent His son to provide a way for sinners to be forgiven and for those who have been sinned against to be healed. The Gospel is for sinners and sufferers alike.

The apostle Paul used the Greek word, “sozo” 29 times in the New Testament to define salvation. Like most Greek words, it has multiple deeper meanings, and it includes, salvation, saved, to be made well, cured, recover, and restored. “Sozo”, means wholeness.

When we hear the word salvation, we primarily think of forgiveness, but the Gospel also deals with the problem of suffering and restoring to wholeness.

The wholeness of salvation can be hard to measure. When we look at broken items, it is easy to see if they are repaired, put back together. Like a car that was in a wreck or a broken chair that is repaired. But wholeness in a person is much more difficult to measure.

The beauty of Christmas is that Jesus came as a baby, to live a perfect sinless life, he suffered a cruel death on a Roman cross as the spotless sacrifice for our sins, to pay the price that we could never pay. This same Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day and now is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, praying for us, interceding for us. Jesus paid the price for us to be reconciled with God and to be made whole. Physical and spiritual wholeness is available to us because of what Jesus has done for us.

When Jesus walked the earth, he experienced suffering, rejection, abuse, and pain. He identifies with our pain when we are called to endure suffering at the hands of others. He is not removed from pain. By identifying with pain, he provided a way for healing. He provides healing for brokenness, for the pain of Bathsheba and for you and me.

What are you dealing with that needs the power of the Gospel to heal today?

Posted on

We are a People of Hope

Click on the camera to view the full message.

Do you remember a time in your life when God felt distant. A season when you were tempted to wonder if God was even concerned about the things that you were struggling with. Maybe you are there right now.

The Bible frequently deals with the theme of God’s perceived absence. Many times, in the Bible, people wondered if God’s promises to them were still valid. Perhaps God had forgotten them.   

The beauty of the biblical narrative is that the Bible not only acknowledges this soul ache, it also provides an answer. Christmas is one of God’s clearest reminders that He intends to come and live with us. Christmas, the incarnation, is a reminder of God with us, the ultimate longing fulfilled.

Abraham was given an incredible promise by God. Abraham was to have a son and he would be the father of a nation that would bless all the nations of the world (Genesis 12:1-3).  God visited Abraham at least four times and reiterated this promise and Abraham believed God (Genesis 15:6).

But the fruition of the promise took years and even decades. As the years ticked by, doubt may have begun to set in, had God forgotten His promise?

Many of us have felt the same way, when we have received a promise from God, or we have been praying for a miracle, but it seemed that maybe God has forgotten us.

Abraham and Sarah were keenly aware of their age and what seemed to be impossible, could God really deliver on His promise? Had He forgotten them?

Finally, when Abraham was almost 100 years old and Sarah was over 90 years old, God blessed them with a miraculous baby boy, and they named him Isaac. God fulfilled His promise and the family line that would lead to Jesus coming as the Messiah had begun.

Isaac was not only a joy for Abraham and Sarah, he was an integral part of God’s plan for the salvation of the world through Jesus who would be born 2000 years later as a fulfillment of many promises.  When God answers our prayers, we thank the Lord for the blessing, but we don’t always see the greater implications of God’s provision. When God blesses us, it is with a plan to bless others as well through that blessing.

When our daughter was born and miraculously given to us, we rightly thought that she was a blessing to our family, but little did we know how much of a blessing she would be to so many other people. God’s blessings are not for us to keep and hold on to, but they are to be given back to the Lord for His purposes so that others can be blessed.

Isaac, the son of the promise was dedicated to God, and through Isaac God would bless the whole earth. Generations later, through another miraculous son in this line, God would keep another promise. That child, Jesus Christ, would forever and finally prove that however slow God seems, his “slowness” is not a sign of his absence (2 Peter 3:9).

God is not slow; He is patient, and His timing is always perfect. That distinction gives us the ability to be patient too, waiting on him to fulfill his promises.

Sometimes, God will act immediately in answer to our prayers, healing an illness, reconciling a broken relationship, or ending an addiction as an example. But on many occasions, God may ask us to wait. Some people are called to carry the cross of pain and heartache for much longer than they anticipated.  

Either way, do we trust God for the outcome? Do we praise God in the waiting and the hoping? If we don’t walk in hope and trust in God, the waiting will discourage us, eating at us, destroying us if we lose hope.

The first candle of the Advent wreath is the hope candle. As we focus on the birth of Jesus in this season, we can look back and see hundreds of promises that God has fulfilled. And we can look forward with assurance, that God will fulfill His promises in the future in His perfect timing. We are a people of hope (Ephesians 2:12-13). And as His children, we have the promise of eternal life with Christ, a promise that is secure by the word of God.

But what about today?

This Advent, do you feel like God is moving too slowly, or not moving at all? Maybe you are in a season where God feels distant, He seems far off, and you wonder if God has heard your prayers. Does God really see you?

The promises of God’s word inform us that He does see you. If you have given submitted your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, He is intimately involved in working out the perfect plans that He has for your life.  

And as we trust and wait, we must avoid trying to do what only God can do. Our natural tendency is to run ahead of God and not trust Him in the waiting.

We are a people of hope, and we can trust in the immeasurable power and love of God over our lives.

Posted on

Healthy Church Leadership 1

Click on the camera to view the full message

As the Apostle Paul came near to the end of his life, he traveled around to the churches he had planted on his missionary journeys to encourage them, telling them that they would not see him again (see Acts 20:36-37).

One of these churches was the church in Ephesus in a region that influenced most of Asia Minor. Paul had invested years in this region, and he had a deep love and passion for this church. He called the elders of the church together and gave them a farewell speech.

But who were these men and what was their role in the church in Ephesus?

The Calling of Elders

The early church grew rapidly and so did the need for godly men to lead the churches. They appointed elders to care for the spiritual health of the church. While Jesus is the head of the church— he is the Good shepherd—he calls under-shepherds to tend the flock of the church (see Ephesians 4:11-12 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7).

Paul, speaking to the elders in Ephesus in Acts 20:28, says, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

Jesus valued his church in Ephesus. And he values the representation of his body here at Grace Point. It is his, bought with his own blood. And it is because the church is precious to Jesus that he calls men to shepherd it.

The Role of Elders

Paul continues, warning the elders in verses 29-30, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

The early church was under constant persecution for the first four hundred years. But there were also internal challenges from false teachers and leaders who sought to manipulate the church for their own profit.  Paul warned the Ephesian elders of “fierce wolves” who would infiltrate the church, as well as those from within who would distort the teachings of Christ. Jesus used the same imagery in Matthew 7:15.

False teaching takes various forms, but Satan’s tactics have remained consistent throughout history. Some common signs of false teaching include denying the divinity of Jesus, rejecting the resurrection, challenging the authority of the Bible, or diminishing the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement. These are explicit deceptions. More subtle false teachings might encourage salvation through works, striving to earn God’s favor, or promoting extra-biblical revelations.

Elders play a crucial role in safeguarding the church from false teaching. Their primary responsibility is to nurture and feed the flock with the Word of God. John 6:35 illustrates that Jesus is the “Bread of Life,” and elders are tasked with ensuring the church is nourished by the Word. It’s the Word of God that sustains and grows the church, not marketing or management strategies.

The Plurality of Elders

Elders are also sheep, and as such need accountability and shepherding as well. This is why a church needs more than one elder. Having more than one elder in the church strengthens the church and guards against strong personalities that might slowly begin to introduce false teaching.

Biblical leadership principles emphasize plurality in leadership. While we may use terms like “senior pastor” or “associate pastor,” the New Testament emphasizes a team of elders who pray, study the Word, and provide spiritual guidance together. Plurality ensures a healthy balance of leadership, preventing any one individual from potentially leading the church into false teaching. John MacArthur wisely points out, “their combined counsel and wisdom helps assure that decisions are not self-willed or self-serving to a single individual. In fact, one-man leadership is characteristic of cults, not the church.”

The Nature of Elders

The term “shepherd” might have been perplexing to the first-century church. Shepherds were not held in high esteem; instead, their role was one of humility and sacrifice. Similarly, elders within the church are called to be spiritual shepherds, and by nature, that means three things

1: Shepherding is spiritual work. 

Shepherding sheep was not flashy work; it was humble, sacrificial work with no shortcuts. Similarly, the growth of the church is not driven by worldly methods or quick-fix strategies. It’s a spiritual endeavor that requires spiritual leadership.

2: Shepherding is hard work.

Just as being a shepherd in the ancient world was dangerous and challenging, shepherding the church involves spiritual warfare, discouragement, and many other challenges. The elders of the church must be prepared to commit to pray, fast, and serve the body of Christ.

3: Shepherding is answerable work.

Shepherds answered to the owners of the sheep; they were responsible for the care of the sheep they had been entrusted with. Elders are accountable to the Lord for the health and spiritual growth of the church. The church belongs to God, and they are stewards of His people (see Hebrews 13:17).

The Church and Elders

You might be reading this asking, what does this have to do with me?

I encourage you to commit to the church. Become a member of the church if you haven’t already and be an active member of the Body of Christ by praying and using your gifts to serve. This goes far beyond our gathering on a Sunday morning; that is just a springboard for the impact we can have on one another and our community today and for generations to come. As the elders – shepherd and the sheep commit through serving and praying, the whole church is strengthened.

In this age we live in, being part of a church will require active engagement. The season for passivity is over. Being a follower of Jesus is not for spectators. Jesus is building his church and raising up elders to oversee it; will you engage with him in it?

Will you commit to the church?

Posted on

You Must Be Born Again

Click on the Camera to view the full message video.

Have you ever noticed that some of the teachings of Jesus are hard to grasp.

Ultimately, what he said led to his crucifixion, and they are still offensive to the world today.

Sometimes we gloss over the hard sayings, or worse yet, we think that they don’t apply to us. But the teachings of Jesus are the Word of God to every generation.

In John 3, we read of a high-ranking Pharisee coming to meet with Jesus.

This well-known account of a senior leader a pharisee coming to Jesus to know more about Jesus. Nicodemus lived sincerely under the law as best as he could. He adhered to the strictest possible religious rules. But he desperately wanted to find out the truth about Jesus.

We see Nicodemus showing up a few times in the Gospel of John, a man who was not afraid to stand against the crowd and be identified with Jesus after his crucifixion. Nicodemus was bold and Jesus took time to meet with him.

Nicodemus doesn’t ask a question, But Jesus jumps right to the heart of the matter in verse 3, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”.

Jesus knew his heart and the fact that he was seeking truth and cuts to the chase, he jumps into a difficult conversation.

A better translation of verse 3 could read, “unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God”.

Can you imagine poor Nicodemus, he must have been quite confused. Jesus was using language that we are familiar with because we hear it all the time, but Nicodemus was hearing this for the first time, and it made no sense. The familiarity of what Jesus said can also be lost on us.

Obviously, we are by nature flesh, referring to our ordinary humanity. But we are born spiritually dead. We are not spiritually attuned to the things of God.

Ephesians 2 begins with the shocking statement, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sinsin which you once walked, following the course of this world,” Ephesians 2:1-2a.

Until you are born again, you are spiritually dead, you are unable to see or understand the things of God. The problem with spiritually dead people is that they don’t know they are dead.

Spiritually dead people are unable to hear God speak to them, because they do not have the Spirit of God in them, they have no desire to read God’s word, because it makes no sense without the Spirit’s revealing truth to us.

Tragically, spiritually dead people can raise their hands and come forward in a meeting, saying all the right things, get baptized and become good church members. Spiritually dead people can serve on committees and even teach Sunday School or lead a life group.

Sadly, when it comes to eternal salvation, the church might just be a dangerous place. Because you can put on a clean face, clean up your language, give money, even mouth the right prayers, but unless you are born from above, you are not a child of God, and you are destined for an eternity separated from God in hell.

Becoming a Christian is not becoming a better person or cleaning up your act, becoming a Christian is coming alive! Being born from above.

Nicodemus was spiritually dead, but the Spirit of God was drawing him in. That is what the Holy Spirit does, He makes people aware of their desperate situation and leads them to encounter the risen lord Jesus.  

Nicodemus began to wrestle with the beauty of the Gospel, he asked Jesus in verse 4, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

You see, this leader and rule follower, this man of exceptional discipline and obedience, was looking for something to do, but the new birth does not come by a set of accomplishments. It is a free gift.

Jesus says to Nicodemus in verse 5, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

What does Jesus mean when he says, to be born of water?

Nicodemus would have known Ezekiel 36:25-26. Where God tells the nation of Israel that He will spiritually wash them of their sins, a washing that will come with the new covenant when God puts His spirit inside of believers (see Titus 3:5 and Ephesians 5:26).

Being born of the Spirit means to be filled with the presence of God by the Holy Spirit, it means coming alive spiritually. If you don’t know what it means to be born of the spirit, you will never know what it means to walk in the spirit.

Walking in the spirit affects every aspect of our lives, our decisions and plans are all led by the Spirit of God. How we steward our finances, how we interact with people, where we go and how we spend our time. Being born of the Spirit means that we will begin to display the fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5:22-24.

If someone was to follow you around for the next 7 days, and see everything you do and hear everything you say, would they be able to testify that you are born of the Spirit?

Are you born again? Are you born of the Spirit of God?

Are you daily experiencing the power of the resurrected Christ in your life?

Posted on

In God We Trust

Click on the camera to view the full message video

“In God we Trust”. It is the official national motto, signed into law in 1956.

The sad irony is that in our nation today, few people really trust in God. Many people say that they have faith in God, but their actions and lifestyle show that they do not trust God.

In Psalm 25, David is crying out to God for direction, and in verse 2 he states, “O my God, in You I trust…”. And then in verse 3 he says, “Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame…” Waiting on the Lord is the equivalent of trusting in Him. It is actively trusting the Lord, waiting on Him to reveal His plans. Choosing to wait on the Lord and not run ahead of him, that is trusting in the Lord.

In verse 4 and 5, David asks the Lord to show him the way he should go. He is prepared to wait all day for the Lord. David acknowledges that he doesn’t have the ability to move forward, he is pleading with the Lord for direction. How often do we cry out to God like this for our future? Do we know what it is to wait on the Lord? Or do we offer a 30 second prayer and then rush out and make our own plans, hoping that God will bless it.

We read in verse 9, “He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way.”

Now we know that in order to trust God we need come before him humbly and acknowledge our weakness. But the word “humble” in the Hebrew could also mean, afflicted or broken.  

We tend to think of being humble as a posture that we present to God in the way of our attitude, but rather David describes being afflicted and humbled by God. We don’t like the sound of that. David was pleading with God to teach him, and the humbling process was the way God taught David dependence on Him.

By God’s Grace he does that to all of us, when we are brought to the place where we realize we have nothing to offer and are humbled in the presence of the almighty God.

Part of learning to be directed by God, begins with the fear of the Lord (see verses 12,14 and Psalm 111:10). To fear the Lord is a theme throughout the Old Testament.

Fearing the Lord means to be in reverent awe of His holiness, to give Him complete reverence and to honor Him as the God of great glory and majesty. This will bring us into a position of understanding and wisdom, which is knowledge given by God. Only as we truly fear the Lord will we be freed from all destructive and satanic fears.

In verse 15 David declared, “My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.” David trusted God to deliver him when he was in trouble. Do we know how to trust in God when we face trouble? (See Psalm 91:2).

Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead to free us from the power of sin and death. We have a risen savior that rules today at the right hand of the Father. Our struggles today are temporary and fleeting in the light of eternity.

We look around and we see a nation that is very different to the one we knew 20 years ago. However, nothing that is happening today or will happen tomorrow will ever shake God or surprise Him. And along with that, the church, the body of Christ that is built on the foundation of the Word of God will never be shaken.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8.

In order to put our trust in the word of God, we need to know the word of God and meditate on the word of God. What a privilege we must open the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal truths to us. The Bible is a sure foundation that will not be shaken in an ever-changing world.

When we see the changes taking place around us, we need to be drawn to our knees to pray for our country. We weep and mourn as we see changes that seem to be out of our control, but we are not a people without hope. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and have a growing relationship with him, you are part of another Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven. This kingdom will endure forever (see Psalm 145:13).

Matt Chandler once said, “The Kingdom of God wasn’t born on the Fourth of July.” 

Do you trust in God?

Posted on

Why Worship?

Click on the camera to view the full message.

We have this misconception that worship is the time of our church gathering when we sing songs.

But worship is not just singing, we worship what we give value to.

We worship by the way we use our money, the way we work, the way we share the Gospel with others and even in the way we spend our free time. When we understand worship, we understand that we have the opportunity to worship God with every aspect of our lives.

Everyone worships, but not everyone worships the one true God.

In John 4, we read an account of a woman who had misplaced worship. Jesus was resting at a well in a town called Sychar and a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke first and asks the woman to give him some water.

The woman who came to the well had been searching for love, fulfillment, and purpose all her life and the only person who could fulfill all her desires was sitting right in front of her. She brings up the question of worship in verse 20 when she says to Jesus, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” One of the big issues of distinction between the Jews and the Samaritans was the question of the location of their worship. She soon discovers that Jesus was wanting to speak about worship all along, this is why he was waiting at the well for her. Jesus directs the conversation to a time when worship will no longer be about a physical location (see John 4:23-24).

Jesus is explaining that only those who receive the Holy Spirit can worship God the Father. It is only in the Spirit, by the Spirit and through the Spirit that we can truly worship God in a way that pleases Him. The issue is not that we need to learn how to worship or where to worship, rather we need to learn who to worship and only by the Holy Spirit are we able to worship God the Father.

By the definition of worship, we are all really good worshippers. In our sinful human nature, we are really good idolaters, we give value to things in our lives above God. We all are tempted with idols such as: security, peace, meaning in life, self-esteem, significance, or any good thing that we elevate to a level of importance above God in our lives.

“Our hearts are a perpetual idol factory.” John Calvin

The problem is misplaced worship, and the consequences are always tragic (see Jeremiah 2:13).

Jesus offered the Samaritan woman living water, she had been trying to satisfy her longings with marriage after failed marriage. At the core of all failed longings is misdirected worship. Worship of God is what we were made for. We will only find true fulfilment in life as we worship the one true God. That is a meaningful life, that is a life of worship. True worship is recognizing the sovereignty of God in all the aspects of my life.

“Worship is my active, all-of-life response to the worth of who He is and what He does.” Matt Heard

One of the most common misconceptions of worship is that it is a relatively passive event. But in the Bible, the Hebrew and the Greek words for worship involve physical activity involving all of life. Every single activity of my life becomes a way of acknowledging the creator God and His worth in my life, that is worship.

But we live in a world that worships false gods, we are living in an age that is described by David in Psalm 63:1. Are you in a dry and weary land? Or are you experiencing the living water that Jesus invited the Samaritan woman to in John 4:14?

This doesn’t mean that you will never experience pain or hardship (see John 16:33), but when you worship God with all your life, you will know peace, joy and complete fulfilment in the midst of your circumstances. You will be able to worship along with the prophet Habakkuk (See Habakkuk 3:17-18).

In the month of June, we are particularly reminded that the world around us does not worship the God we serve. As we see a month dedicated to the worship of self and immorality.

The world has a sin problem, but the real issue is that the world has a worship problem.  Sin is the result of misplaced worship. Thinking that something other than God will bring joy and peace. In Romans 1:28 we read that God will give people over to the objects of their worship.

We are not dealing with people who are confused or struggling with their identity, we are seeing the result of Satan’s demonic power being unleashed on the earth.

Satan has gone after the very root of God’s relationship with the earth. The pride month uses the rainbow, the rainbow is one of God’s original covenants, not just with the Jews or people but with all living creatures (See Genesis 9:12).

The pinnacle of God’s creation was man and woman created in His image, that was His original design, Satan is attacking that.

In Genesis 1:28 God’s original instruction to man and women was to be fruitful and multiply, something that is impossible with same sex relationships.

And then there is the original sin, Ezekiel 28:17 says that Satan’s original downfall was his pride over his beauty. He grew in pride and defied the one who created him.

Pride is at the very root of Satan’s power. Pride is ultimately worshipping ourselves, saying that we know better than God the Father, the one who created us.

So how do we respond?

Ephesians 6 doesn’t say, go and beat up sinners, it says in Ephesians 6:13 that we should simply stand firm. Stand firm, speak the truth in love and allow the Holy Spirit to do what only he can do.

If you have friends and loved ones caught in this deceptive lifestyle, love them enough to speak the truth to them. The Bible is very clear, they are on a pathway of destruction that leads to hell, because they are worshipping a false religion that may bring fleeting and deceptive pleasure for a moment. We must speak the truth, millions of souls are at stake.

Worship of the one true God is essential in the church.

Posted on

The Awesome Word of God

Click on the Camera to view the full message.

The Bible, the Word of God, is one of the foundational pillars of the church.

The opening verses of John’s Gospel is one of the most profound pieces of scripture and probably the greatest introduction to a book in the Bible. He goes back to Genesis 1 and uses the same language that was in the Torah, “in the Beginning, God…”. And then he uses the term “Word” for Jesus.

He writes that the Word was with God, and then he makes a bold statement, “the Word was God”. In fact, in the Greek, the order of the sentence reads, “and God was the Word”. But the definite article makes the “Word” the subject of the sentence.

If that wasn’t enough, he declares that this God/man is the one who spoke all of creation into existence by the power of his word.

This is Jesus, the creator God, and the revelation of Jesus in the Word of God carries more power than we could possibly imagine. It is not a collection of ancient texts that offer some wisdom.

God has been speaking to His creation from the beginning. Psalm 19 is a picture of God speaking through His creation, His general revelation. God spoke directly to Abraham, Moses, Samuel, and then through the prophets. God ultimately revealed himself through Jesus (see John 14:9).

In verse 4 of John 1 we read, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Life is a key theme in the Gospel of John, the word is used 36 times in the book. One of the essential requirements for life is light.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit fills the followers of Jesus and enables them to be the light of the world. The Holy Spirit is the one who reveals truth, gives wisdom and understanding, as we feed on the Word of God.
And then in verse 5 we read, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” This is the ultimate spoiler, John hints at the beginning of the book, “hey, I want you to know how this ends, the light wins!”

The light always shines, and the church is now the carrier of the light. In the world in which we live, this is not a losing battle, there will always be opposition as long as there is darkness, but light always dispels darkness, it is a law of God’s creation established in Genesis 1:3. The church that has the Bible as its foundation, will always be the light in the darkness.

And there is a promise in this verse, it is not written in the past tense, it is a present aorist continuous sense, simply meaning, “the light has overcome, will overcome and will keep overcoming the darkness.”

We are living in an age of fear with all the information that we are exposed to from the media and entertainment world. Fear controls, fear paralyses. What are you afraid of today?

  • What about the economy and the predicted financial collapse?  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

    • What about the LGBTQ agenda for our children and grandchildren? “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

    • What about the seemingly endless reports of murder and violence in our city? “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

    • What about the war in Ukraine and Chinese saber rattling, what about a third world war? “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

    • What about churches closing? It seems that we are losing ground in an increasingly secular world. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The light of the Word of God will never fail. Isaiah 25:3 reads, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Keep your eyes on the Word of God (Jesus) and keep your eyes in the Word and you will know peace, because the darkness has not overcome it.

The Bible is by far the most printed book in all history, with somewhere between 6 and 9 billion copies printed. The next most printed book is the “Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong”, with about 900 million copies in print. The Qur’an has approximately 800 million copies printed. In the 21st century, Bibles are being printed at a rate of around 80 million per year.

The Emperor Diocletian (AD 284-316) boasted, “I have completely exterminated the Christian writings from the face of the earth!” The very next emperor, Constantine, became a Christian and ensured that all churches received Bibles immediately. Every dictator who has been controlled by Satan throughout history has sought to eradicate the Bible, yet it stands (see 1 Peter 1:23-24).

The Bible is by far the most published, most read, most sold, most attacked, most offensive, most critiqued, most studied, most ignored, most influential, and most powerful book in all human history. So why do we not consume it every day?

Why do we think we can resist temptation, raise children, be the light, and live as overcoming Christians, by ignoring the reading and memorizing of the Word of God.

The church has the word of God as a foundation and pillar. Any church that removes or contradicts one part of scripture to satisfy a secular worldview, has ceased to exist as the Body of Christ. If the word cannot be trusted, then it cannot be foundational. If the Bible is not our authority, then what authority do we have?

We must remember that Jesus, the Word of God, is the head of the church and the bridegroom of the church.

Are you feeding on the Word? Allowing the Word to shine brightly in the darkness?

Posted on

Jesus experienced Hell

And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:33-34
It was noon and suddenly the sky grew dark, Jesus had been on the cross for three hours enduring the excruciating pain and the mocking of the passersby, the chief priests and the soldiers. Jesus had been abandoned by his disciples, his closest friends.
But now something shifted, and the supernatural darkness covers the land.
God turned out the light.
Jesus in those three hours of darkness, became sin for us.
1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
Isaiah 53:4, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”
Isaiah 53:10, “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.”
It was the will of God to save a people for Himself, and that salvation required a payment a sacrifice. Jesus had to die on the cross, God did not spare His only son.
In Genesis 22, we read about the prophetic foreshadow of the cross as Abraham willingly put his only beloved son on the altar. We know the angel of the Lord stopped Abraham and provided a replacement sacrifice.
On the cross, God did not spare His only son, because Jesus was the substitute. Jesus died on our place.
We know the Romans put Jesus on the cross, the Jewish religious leaders orchestrated his conviction, the people cried out for his death, but ultimately the only one who had the authority to sacrifice the lamb of God was God the Father.
And when the full weight of our sins was felt by Jesus, the Father had to turn away from him, it was Jesus who cried out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
We have no words to describe, no glimpse of understanding of the suffering that Jesus endured and the pain that it was for God the Father to sacrifice His only Son.
In those three hours of darkness, Jesus experienced Hell for us. Christ endured all that hell is on the cross. The clearest revelation about hell was experienced on the cross.
Hell has six dimensions to it; conscious suffering, blackest darkness, unleashed demonic powers, the weight of sin, the judgment of God and being separated from the love of God.
The hell of hell is being separated from the love of God, knowing you could have experienced the love of God. Jesus died so that you should not know hell.
Hell is as real as the cross. Jesus entered all the dimensions of hell while on the cross for those three hours.
John Piper said, “no one has ever deserved suffering less, yet received so much”.