The Messiah Comes

I feel like we need a greeting for Christmas time.  You know like on Easter morning.  I always look forward to saying “He is risen,” and then hearing the answer, “He is risen, indeed.”  Maybe I should say something like, “The Messiah is coming.” And your answer would be, “The Messiah is here.”  

Let’s take a minute and pray before we get into the message.

Lord Jesus, You are the Messiah.  Thank You for coming into the world, for coming to save us.  Oh how we need you.  Please come afresh into our lives, every day, every minute.  Clean out the corrupt things in us, the deceitfulness and just plain wickedness.  Redeem us and make us new.  We thank you that you have done the work already.   Speak to us now.  Fill us with the wonder of your coming.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Promises of the Messiah

In Galatians 3:6-9 Paul says, “Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.  The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” 

In the NASB it says, “The Scripture…preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham…” The promise of the gospel (i.e. the promise of the Messiah) started all the way back in the book of Genesis. It didn’t start with the promise found in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. It didn’t start with the promise found in Isaiah 7:14 that a man would be born from a virgin and that man would be called “God” or specifically “God with us” which is “Emmanuel”. It didn’t even start with the promise found in Daniel 9:26 that the Messiah would die at a particular time in history.  

In Ephesians 1:4-6 Paul shares how long God had planned on giving His son, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”  Eugene Peterson paraphrases the passage in The Message this way, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)” 

Poured Out and Devoted

Titus 3:1-15

Welcome! Today we have are going to finish our series on Titus by looking at Chapter 3, the final chapter of the book. This is a bit of a change from our previous plans, in which we were going to spend two weeks on Titus 3, because we will have a special guest speaker next week, Timmy Powers. Timmy was a pastor here at CCC for many years, and then he became a missionary in Eastern Europe, based in Kiev, Ukraine, where he has continued to serve for more than ten years. I am really looking forward to seeing Timmy and hearing from him again.

Anyway, when we opened the Titus series, we talked about how God desires to build us into a people that are mature in Christ, people who are completely transformed by Christ’s love and who reflect the goodness and love of Christ in all that they say and do. I gave the analogy of building skyscrapers and talked about how in many parts of the world it is common to see unfinished, abandoned building projects.  Unfinished because they ran out of money, or they realized it was a bad idea, or for one of countless other reasons. Such unfinished buildings are an eyesore, and unfortunately, spiritually speaking, it is not uncommon to see people that are likewise unfinished, likewise no longer advancing in Christian maturity.

Waiting Expectantly

Titus 2:11-15 

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.--Titus 2:11

These two phrases (1) "the grace of God" and (2) "has appeared" are found together in only one place in the Bible and that is here in verse 11.  So we must ask ourselves the question.  “What do these two phrases mean and what or who do they refer to?”

Part of the answer is found in the rest of the sentence “that brings salvation …to all men."

The other part can be found in the Book of Romans,  The Apostle Paul, who wrote these instructions here to Titus, is also credited for writing the Epistle of Paul to the Romans.  We find the following in Romans 1:16-17: 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” 

In Accord

Titus 2:1-10

Welcome! Today we continue our series in the book of Titus. Two weeks ago I opened the series by saying that God desires to build us up into a mature body of believers, one in which its people are continually growing in faith and wisdom, multiplying their lives into those around them. I used the analogy of a skyscraper being built and talked about how in many places in the world you see half-finished projects, abandoned due to running out of money or due to other problems, and I pointed out the unfortunate fact that if you look around you, it is easy to find Christians who also seem to stagnate, to stay half-finished, incomplete. The instructions Paul gives to Titus are meant to ensure that this would not happen to the local bodies of believers in Crete, and its principles can and should be applied by every church everywhere so that they too would grow up to maturity.

Now I don’t know if you remember much of what I said two weeks ago, but today I am actually describing things subtly differently than I did then. What is the difference? Well, two weeks ago, I presented this analogy from the point of view of us as individuals, saying that, for example, I don’t want my faith to stagnate, and so I should look to see in the book of Titus how I can continually grow in wisdom, in purity, in faith, in love, and in multiplying my life to others around me. Now, I don’t think there is anything particularly wrong with this personal view – we should each desire personally to grow in Christ and in Christlikeness. But that’s only part of the picture, and before we dig into the details of the first part of the second chapter of Titus, I want to dwell on this for a bit.

Testimony

Titus 1:10-16

Good morning, we continue today in our six week series in the book of Titus.  This series, like Paul’s letter to Titus, is focused on ensuring we mature and become a fully built up follower, disciple of Christ.

Carl introduced the book and dove right in to chapter 1 last week.  We’ll look at a couple of thoughts from the first half of chapter 1, and then move on into today’s passage.  Before we do that, let’s take a moment and pray.

God, I cry out to you.  Please speak to us from this passage in Titus.  Show us how to apply what Paul wrote to Titus here and now in our lives.  I thank you that “all Scripture is God-breathed, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training” (II Timothy 3:16).  Use this time this morning, to train us up in who and what you desire us to become “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  (Ephesians 4:13)  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Entrusted

Titus 1:1-9

Welcome! Today we begin a new series entitled Titus: Building a People of God. The picture that has been used to advertise this series shows a group of men in the 1930s building a skyscraper. In poorer countries, it is common to see half-finished buildings, grand dreams of one or more people that have run smack dab into a very different reality.

In America this is less common because most major construction requires approval by a group of investors (such as a bank) who refuse to loan out money until they are nearly certain the project can be completed. However, it does still happen in America. Where I grew up in California, there was a planned freeway that was supposed to connect two other major freeways, but they ran into legal trouble when they were about to cut through a community called South Pasadena and had to stop building. There were even exit ramps that went high into the air and stopped abruptly. This project came to a halt before I was born, and it is still in litigation nearly 50 years later with no end in sight.

"Take away the stone."

John 11

Welcome! Today we come to our last message from the book of John until next year. By way of a quick preview, we will be going through the book of Titus after this, and then we will have a Christmas series. And then, beginning in January, we will pick back up the book of John and go through the rest of book right through Easter.

Our series for this middle section of John has been entitled “What did He Say?!” because a major theme of these chapters is not only the things Jesus did and said, but the people’s response to these things. John shows us more than any gospel how people responded to the words and actions of Jesus, and by and large, as we have seen, the way they responded was with shock, with disdain, with laughter, and even with anger and hatred. In fact, in the previous chapter they tried to stone Jesus in verse 31 and then tried to grab Him in verse 39, but as it says, He escaped their grasp. Their anger towards Jesus was for a variety of reasons, but in chapter 10 it was specifically because they understood that Jesus was claiming to be God, a claim He did not in any way deny. The chapter ends by saying that Jesus went back across the Jordan to where John the Baptist had baptized people around the time Jesus was just beginning His ministry, and it says that there, in contrast to Jerusalem, many people believed in Him. This brings us to the beginning of John 11:

"I am the gate."

John 10

Good morning!  Today, we are going into John chapter 10 as the next part of the series “What did He say?”  I think this chapter is familiar to many.  This chapter contains some beautiful imagery and some great assurances of our salvation.  It is also a chapter which flows right out of the previous chapter.  Literally, Jesus started a dialog at the end of chapter 9 and his speaking continues into chapter 10.  There is no interruption or time lapse between the last verse of chapter 9 and the first verse of chapter 10.  Before we jump into John chapter 10, let’s pray.

Lord, open our hearts and minds to your Word.  Help me communicate the truths that You want us to understand.  We thank you that you do not leave us alone, but that you are our shepherd.  Give us humility to recognize our need for you and your eternal provision and protection.  You are faithful and kind.  All this we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

I have to confess that I was envious of Carl because he got to share on John 9 last week.  I love the story of the man born blind whose transformation you can see in just a single chapter.  His pluck and boldness before the Pharisees is so invigorating.  Then, as Jesus seeks him out the second time after the confrontation with the Pharisees, the man worships Jesus.  It is exciting.

"I am the light"

John 9

Welcome! Today we continue our series on the book of John entitled “What did He say?!” in which we explore the works and especially the words of Jesus. The book of John contains more conversations among the people, more reactions of the people to what Jesus was doing and saying, than any other gospel. And so, in this series, we are not really taking the book of John in a particular slant; we are simply following the cues of the book itself.

Now, today, we look at chapter 9 of John. In John chapter 8, Jesus was in Jerusalem, teaching whoever would listen among the crowds, including the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. It was a contentious series of conversations – the people questioned Jesus’ claims about Himself, they questioned what He meant by how they needed to be set free, they called Him demon-possessed, and so on. Jesus tried to tell them that they were in fact blind, they were in fact slaves, slaves to sin, and that they were the ones who were actually under the influence of the devil. He also told them in only slightly veiled language that He would go somewhere they could not follow to save them from their sins. He also told them He had been in God the Father’s direct presence, and He told them that He was ancient; “before Abraham was born,” He said, “I am.” In response they picked up stones to stone Him, but He slipped away.

John chapter 9 picks up right from these events, from this moment of slipping away. 

"You belong to your father, the devil."

John 8

This morning we will continue on with the series titled “What Did He Say?!”  The series covers the book of John chapters 5 through 11.  As we’ve already heard over the last few weeks, Jesus repeatedly stuns his hearers in these chapters.  To quote Carl directly, Jesus says, “the most serious things ever said, the most profound, and, especially, the most important. They have immense implications for every person on earth, eternal implications.”  It is as if in each chapter Jesus is successively more stunning and revealing about his own character and identity.

Occasionally, I have heard things said about Jesus regarding his self-awareness during his time on earth.  Questions like, did Jesus really know he was God’s Son?  Did he know that his sacrifice was sufficient to cover the sins of the world?  Did Jesus really know that He would rise from the dead? 

Well, the book of John gives us those answers very clearly.  Yes, Jesus repeatedly talks about his relationship to the Father.  He knew exactly his purpose and when his time had come.  He speaks of his own death, resurrection, and ascension before they happen.

"Come to Me and drink."

John 7:1-52

Welcome! Today we are continuing our series entitled “What did He say?!” on John chapters 5 through 11. If I had to name two over-arching themes in these chapters, I would say that one is that Jesus is God – this in fact is a huge theme throughout the book of John – and the other is that people refused to accept what Jesus really had to say. We have seen these themes already, and we will continue to see them. But beyond this, there is much more to see in these chapters, and I am excited about what we will see in John chapter 7 today.

The very first words of John 7 are “after this,” to which our natural response should be “After what?” Well, in John 5 and 6 we see Jesus in Galilee after leaving Jerusalem because the leaders there were becoming more and more upset with Him, even to the point of beginning to plot His death. There in Galilee, Jesus drew larger and larger crowds, and in front of a giant crowd of “5000 men” and who knows how many others, He miraculously fed the whole group starting from only 5 small loaves and two fish. He then left the crowd because they wanted to forcibly take Him and make Him king. His disciples crossed the lake that evening, a fierce storm came up, and Jesus miraculously walked across the water to meet them. After this the storm suddenly ceased, and they crossed to the other side. There, in Capernaum, the crowd followed after Jesus the next day, and in a dramatic teaching, Jesus explained that they needed to “eat His flesh and drink His blood” if they wanted to come to Him or to the Father. At this much of the crowd and even the greater group of disciples left Him. And this brings us to Chapter 7.

"The one who feeds on Me will live."

John 6:25-71

Welcome! Today we are continuing our series entitled “What did He say?!” on John chapters 5 through 11, so-named because of all the astounding, shocking things Jesus did say to His disciples, to Jewish leaders, and to the crowds in these chapters. It is easy for us to become numb to these words if we have grown up with them. One of my desires and prayers for us during this series is that these profound passages would shake us up and cause us to stare freshly at the amazing and undeserved provision of God in Jesus Christ. My desire and prayer is that it would move us to worship Him, and that it would move us to serve Him sacrificially with our lives.

Today we pick up the story in the middle of Chapter 6, and it is helpful to briefly review what has happened earlier in this chapter. Jesus has become famous for the things He has said and especially for His miracles of healing, and now, in Galilee, when people figure out that He is the man that people have been talking about, large crowds gather and follow Him. This was one of those times, and as it was time for a meal and there was no McDonald’s around, Jesus asked His disciples, as a kind of test of their faith, where they should buy bread for these people.

"It is I; don't be afraid."

John 6:1-27

Welcome! Today we have a second message from our series called “What did He say?!” on the book of John, chapters 5 to 11. As I mentioned last week, the reason for the title of the series is that throughout these chapters of Scripture, the things Jesus said were shocking, astounding, even outrageous except for the fact that they were true.  The titles for each message in the series are direct quotes of Jesus from the verses being studied that week. This week we are exploring John chapter 6, verses 1 to 27, and the title of the message is “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Our passage is one that should be familiar to you if you have grown up going to church, but my desire is that we would look at it with fresh eyes, and not just fresh eyes but fresh hearts. To do this we need the Lord’s help, so let’s ask Him for His help. I am going to stop talking for a minute or so, and I encourage you to use this time to ask the Lord to speak through His word to you, that He would open your eyes and your heart to whatever He would have you learn and apply to your life today.

Well, John 6:1 begins with the phrase “some time after this,” so it is helpful to briefly talk about the previous chapters of John so that we appreciate the connections between what has already happened and what is about to happen in this chapter.

"You do not have the love of God."

John 5:16-47

Welcome! Today we begin a series of messages from the book of John, chapters 5 to 11. The title of the series is “What did He say?!” with a question mark and an exclamation point. The idea behind the title of the series is that what Jesus said was shocking, beyond shocking. In fact, I would say that the things Jesus said were the most outrageous, most extreme, most blasphemous things anyone could ever say – except for the fact that, being said by Jesus, they are actually true. (If anyone else said them they would be blasphemous.) The fact that they are true does not lessen the shock of what Jesus said; instead, I might say that they are perhaps the most serious things ever said, the most profound, and, especially, the most important. They have immense implications for every person on earth, eternal implications, and I am excited that we will be exploring these things during this series.

Today’s message  begins with John 5:16 and goes to the end of chapter 5, and we will see that the things Jesus says here every bit as shocking and important as anything else we will see in the series. Now, the very first word of verse 5:16 is “so.” That means that it comes from something that has happened before, and so (there’s that word again) I think it will help to give a very quick summary of a few key events in the book of John given prior to this point.

Seed Throwers

Galatians 6

Good Morning! Today, we have reached the end of the book of Galatians and the end of our summer series on Law and Grace. Carl took us through an overview of the entire Law from the Old Testament during June and July. Over the last weeks, we’ve covered the first 5 chapters of Galatians. Now, we will close out the series with Galatians 6, but not yet.

Let’s take a moment to pray before we get going:

Father God, You know all things. We come to You this morning humble and needy like little children. I pray that You would illuminate the dark places in our hearts and minds. Flush out the lies which we have hidden and reinforced over the years. We desire to live as the free men and women which you have purchased us to be. Our eyes and our hearts are on You. Speak now we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Unyoked

Galatians 5

Let me ask you this, “What do you think about when you think about God?” Do you see Him as a scorekeeper in heaven? Do you think He’s up there making a mark every time you do good or making a mark every time you do something bad? Do you see Him as a grandpa sitting on His rocking chair just rocking the time away? Do you think He’s not really all that concerned with your life; He started everything and just let it go? Or do you see Him as a big question mark; maybe you’re not really sure if He exists?

How does our view of God practically affect us today? In Galatians five I think you will see that the Galatians were teetering on a wrong view of God and the false teachers had totally gotten it wrong. Do we believe that God has the ability to set us free? Do we believe that He even wants us to be free? Let’s take a look at this chapter.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

The Christians in Galatia had already been set free by Christ. God was commanding them to do two things: stand firm and to not let themselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. It wouldn’t make any sense for a prisoner to walk back into the cell and close the door when he was a free man.

Heirs to the Estate

Galatians 4

Today, we are returning to our study titled Law and Grace. We’re in the “Grace” study using the book of Galatians. We took a little break last week for sharing time and communion. Now, we’re back in Galatians. We’re just beyond the halfway point. There are 6 chapters in the book, and we will pick up today in chapter 4. Before we jump in, let’s take a moment and pray.

Lord, I pray that You would show us Your grace today. We all benefit from Your grace continually, to some degree, whether we recognize it or not. I pray now that we would grow in our realization of Your grace. I pray that if there are things in our hearts and minds that are still captive to the elementary principles of this world, that You would show us and transform us. We want to live lives of freedom and grace. Our focus is on You. Teach us we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

I said that we’re going to talk about Galatians 4 today which we will, but I do want to back up a few verses in chapter 3. The beginning of chapter 4 hangs on a thought that was introduced at the end of chapter 3. We’ll understand chapter 4 better if we go back and reread a few verses.

Out of the Slimy Pit

Psalm 40

Welcome! Today is the last Sunday of the month, so we will have a shorter message followed by a time of remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup and then a sharing time, in which anyone can share what the Lord has been teaching them. Throughout this year, we have been reflecting on various psalms in preparation for our communion times, and today we will look at Psalm 40. This psalm is one of the many psalms written by David, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to use the exact words and ideas that he wrote.

I think this particular psalm also fits in beautifully with the series we have been going through and are still in the midst of, Law and Grace, which began by giving a 30,000-feet-in-the-air view of the Old Testament Law as revealed in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and which in the last few weeks has been contrasting this to the grace of Christ that is found in Galatians. And so as we go through Psalm 40, I will point out the parallel threads that run there and here. 

Unsupervised

 Galatians 3

Carl laid the foundation for the Law in his teachings on the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Then John Farmer explained how the Galatian church was deserting Christ and His Gospel of Salvation for a different Gospel (a Gospel of works).  Last week Brian Bridgeman taught on how Paul describes to the Galatians his reproof of the apostle Peter for reverting back to the works of the law and leading new believers astray.  Paul tells the Galatians that he has died to the Old Testament Law and that by the persecution that he received from the Jews, he had shared in Christ suffering and that he (Paul) no longer lives but Christ lives in him.

Today we will learn a little more of how the Galatians so quickly abandoned their new found faith in Christ and the Gospel that Paul preached to them and began following a different Gospel.  This different Gospel was based on the works of the law again.

Galatians 3:1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

Dead Men

Galatians 2 

Recently, we’ve been going through a series on Law and Grace. We started out when Carl gave an overview of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. One of the things that grabbed my attention the most was learning that there were some laws that were easier to obey because they involved outward obedience. The Israelites were better at obeying these laws. Some of these laws included things like making the Tabernacle and the objects that belonged in the Tabernacle, and also setting up for worship sacrifices. It was these things that the Israelites did very well, at least most of the time. But again these were outward actions. This is comparable to what we do today: going to church, setting up chairs and tables for a meeting, making meals, etc.

But the more difficult laws involved those that required obedience from the heart. Some of these laws included things like the Passover found in Exodus, or the command to “love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” found in Deuteronomy. They had to obey God in the Passover without having a reason for every command. For example, God didn’t explain why they needed to place the blood of the lamb on the doorpost. Why couldn’t God know that they had sacrificed the lamb and let that be enough? Why did it have to be a lamb? Why couldn’t they break any of its bones? 

AWOL

Galatians 1 

Good morning! Today, we are making the transition in our summer series on Law and Grace.  Carl has been sharing the last several weeks about the books of the Law.  We have taken a very high level view as each week encompassed an entire Old Testament book.

We began with “Redemption and the Tabernacle” discussing the book of Exodus.  Already in Exodus, we saw that the Law was presented in two main types.  There were requirements that are character based, actions of the heart, loving God, stuff on the inside.  An example would be the Ten Commandments.  Then, there are requirements that are activity or accomplishment based, doing stuff, external things.  An example would be the detailed construction of the tabernacle.  It is much easier for us, in our own strength, to do stuff than to be holy.

Rehearsal and Ratification

Deuteronomy

Welcome! Today we come to our final message on the Law, focusing in on the book of Deuteronomy. In the coming weeks we will explore the wonderful book of Galatians, hearing this Word like the Galatians would, in sight of the Law. 

The setting of the book of Deuteronomy is in the desert, with Moses and the grown-up children of the generation that God had freed from the harsh slavery of the Egyptians. The Israelites, despite God’s personal provision through the manna and other food, despite God’s personal leadership through the column of cloud and the column of fire, and despite God’s personal promises that He was for their good and would help them, despite all this, the Israelites repeatedly rejected God, complaining and revolting against Him. Finally, God declared that they would not get to go to the Promised Land after all, that the promise would pass on to their children, the next generation. For 40 years they wandered around the desert, still led by God, and at last, it was time for the next generation to fulfill this promise. The book of Deuteronomy is primarily Moses’ farewell address to these people, for he, too, had sinned, and he, too, would not be able to go to the Promised Land.

I Am Bowed Down

Psalm 38
 
Let’s pray before we look into Psalm 38,

Lord Jesus, thank you for including Psalm 38 in Your Word.  Sometimes we do feel far away from You.  We allow our sin to separate us from You.  We desire to draw near to You.  I pray that You would speak to us this morning.  Teach us to enjoy sweet fellowship with You.  We ask this now in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

I happened to give the message on Psalm 16 back in January.  I remember I complimented David for setting the example of not dwelling on his circumstances.  In the first verse of Psalm 16, David cries out to the Lord to keep him safe, but from there on, David praises God.  It is a good thing to “rejoice always.”  That is a clear exhortation from Philippians 4.

But Psalm 38 is an anguished and even desperate plea.  So, if the right thing to do is to “rejoice always,” why did God allow Psalm 38?  I think it’s here in part because it is real, it is genuine, and it is honest.  We are told to cast our cares on him because he cares for us.  Sometimes our cares are so big that we can barely articulate them much less speak of them with praise.

Failure and Preparation

Numbers

Welcome! Today we come to our third message in the series entitled Law and Grace, focused on looking at the Old Testament law and then the gospel of grace as explained in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Two weeks ago we looked at Exodus, and last week we looked at Leviticus. I want to start by giving you a quick summary of what we have talked about so far.

Both Exodus and Leviticus combine a sequential telling of the story of the Israelites’ history and God’s progressive revelation of His Law for the Israelites. God’s first command to the Israelites was to celebrate a new holiday called the Passover, commemorating God’s delivery of the Israelites from Egypt. He gave them this command, telling them to do it every year, even as He was preparing them for the night in which the firstborn of the Egyptians would die. The Israelites were released and then crossed through the miraculously parted sea. Then they were led by the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire and given water and the manna, and then reached Sinai. There they were given the Ten Commandments along with other regulations. On multiple occasions during these events the Israelites grumbled and complained against their God, and they even made an idol to worship while the Ten Commandments were first being given to Moses, who smashed the tablets when he saw what his people were doing. Moses went back up the mountain and received a second set, and when he came down, he began instructing the people in what God required of them. 

Sacrifice and Sanctification

Leviticus

Welcome! Today we continue our series entitled Law and Grace, looking at the book of Leviticus as a whole. As I explained last week, the reason we are going through the Law is that it helps us to better understand grace, and in the second half of this series we will go through the book of Galatians, using what we have learned in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy to better understand and appreciate the incredible gift of grace we have received through Christ.

Leviticus is a big book; we could spend many weeks exploring it. My approach this week is to first give a general overview of the book, and then say a little about each chapter, focusing on what people of the Law really had to do and, also, explaining how these things are hints of Christ.

The name “Leviticus” comes from the Septuagint, the translation of the Old Testament into Greek made a few hundred years before Christ. Leviticus means “of the Levites,” and the Levites were set apart to serve as tabernacle caretakers and priests. A significant portion of Leviticus focuses on what the Levites were to do in their service to God.

Redemption and the Tabernacle

 Exodus

Welcome! I am excited to begin a new series called Law and Grace. This series really has two parts. The first part focuses on the Law, also called more specifically the Mosaic Law, based on scriptures in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and the second part focuses on Grace, based on the book of Galatians. You may wonder why these two topics are paired together. It is because Galatians becomes much richer when you better understand what it is talking about when it refers to the Law. Indeed, this is not just true of Galatians but of many New Testament books, but Galatians specifically, I think, has some wonderful truths open up when you really understand the Law.

This month and a little bit into the next, we begin our first part, on the Law. Today we focus on those parts of the Law given in the book of Exodus. What comes to your mind when you think about the Law? For many Christians, I think the whole issue of what we are to do with the Law is kind of fuzzy. Clearly, Christians do not keep the entire Law today. Unless you completely abstain from pork, only eat bread that is unleavened during the Passover, go to Israel annually for the feast of Ingathering, bring animals to Jewish priests to be sacrificed, and so on, you do not keep the Law.

He Heals

John 4:43-5:15

Good morning, welcome.  Today, we will continue our study of the book of John near the end of chapter 4.  Before we start that passage, I thought we might take a couple of minutes to review what has occurred in the previous chapters so far.  Chapter 1 begins with the beautiful testimony of Jesus as the Word of God and that “in Him was life, and that life was the light of man.”  Then, we were introduced to John the Baptist who came “to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe.”  John the Baptist is not the light and he denies openly to the people that he is not the Christ.  Then, when Jesus arrives the next day, John declares, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”

One of the attributes of the Bible which I marvel at again and again is its truthfulness.  When you read the Word of God, there is no feeling that something is being concealed about the lives of the men and women.  If I were writing a book about heroes, about the chosen prophets, the spokesmen of God, I would try to leave out their warts and weaknesses.  But the Bible seems to go the opposite direction.  It is almost as if God went out of His way to include the weaknesses of the men and women of the Bible.

He Fills Our Thirst

John 4:1-42

Welcome! Today we continue our series from the book of John, digging in to Chapter 4. Last week we looked at John Chapter 3. As a reminder, we talked about Jesus’ conversation with the Jewish scholar and leader Nicodemus. Recall that Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again, a statement that bewildered Nicodemus. Jesus went on to tell him that man must be born of water and the Spirit if he wishes to enter the kingdom of God. He also told Nicodemus the heart of the gospel, from John 3:16 and 17: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Last week we also saw John the Baptist confronted with the fact that his ministry was waning while Jesus’ was growing. John’s beautiful response began with saying, “A man can only receive what is given him from heaven.” He described himself as the friend of the bridegroom, a specific role in Jewish weddings of that time, and he described himself as full of joy in knowing that Jesus had come, and that his (John’s) role as a forerunner, as preparer, as announcer of Jesus was coming to a close.

He Brings New Life

John 3:1-36

Welcome! Today we continue our journey through the book of John, going through Chapter 3. This chapter includes perhaps the most well-known verse in the New Testament, John 3:16, which says, For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

As we dig into Chapter 3, I think it will help to first review a few things from the second half of the previous chapter. Just before the Passover, Jesus had gone with His disciples into Jerusalem, and there He drove the moneychangers and people selling animals for sacrifice out of the temple area, saying “Get out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” This of course created quite a stir, and Jesus no doubt was noticed by not only those in the marketplace, but also many of the people gathering for the Passover as well as the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.

That My Heart May Sing

Psalm 30

It’s easy to get sidetracked when you read the Bible.  You can study the Bible, memorize it, or learn everything about it in the original Hebrew or Greek.  You can systematically categorize every doctrine found in the passage and learn how to refute every objection that is brought up against it.  But we need to careful that we don’t forget the number one reason we read the Bible.  Jesus rebuked the Jews that had been persecuting Him by saying, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” John 5:39-40 (NIV ’84).

 In Jesus day there were people who had memorized the whole Old Testament.  They could recite the Bible forwards and backwards.  They could articulate their theology better than anyone else, and yet they only knew the Bible, they didn’t know God.  They thought they had eternal life because they had studied the Bible but they needed to know God in order to have eternal life.  So, our number one goal in reading the Bible is to know God.

As we read Psalm 30 I want you to take note of anything that you learned about God.  I want you to underline whatever grabs your attention.  You might find a verse that talks about what God is like.  You might find a verse that talks about what God has done or what He will do.  Just highlight anything that you can learn about God from this passage.

He Cleanses

John 2:12-25 

Before we start, I would like to take a minute to pray and ask God to really come here and fill this room and fill our hearts that we might be blessed today through His word.

We thank you, Oh thank You Lord, for our salvation for the wonderful gospel Lord.  The good news that our sins are paid for by Your death on the cross and we don't have to work our way to Heaven; Lord, that You have provided a way for us to put our trust in You and enjoy salvation for all eternity.  God, I pray that if anyone is here today that doesn't know You, that You are not Lord of their life, Lord I pray that they would be moved today to enter into a permanent relationship with You from now through all eternity.  Lord Your word is given away free, I think of the verse, "That buy truth and don't sell it."  Lord we don't want to sell truth here today we want to give it away freely.  I pray that You would bless the hearts of Your people.  Help us Lord be spiritually encouraged and strengthened for Your task at hand.  For reaching the world with the gospel, Lord, for seeing Your kingdom come.  Seeing Your will be done here on earth as it is in Heaven.  I thank You Lord for your word.  I thank You for this time here this morning and pray You would bless it.  In Your name Jesus, amen.

I had a couple of thoughts, as you know we are continuing the series in the book of John.  Carl started last week and he got up to verse 11 in John chapter 2 I think. So I am going to take John chapter 2 verse 12 through the end of the chapter, verse 25.  We only have 13 verses to go through so, hopefully they will be pretty simple and everyone will understand them and we will get out early, but I can't promise that.

He Reveals

John 1:35-2:1

Welcome! Today we continue our exploration of the wonderful book of John. If you recall, we spent the month of January looking at the first two-thirds of the first chapter, what you might call the grand re-beginning of the Bible, that opens with the famous words “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” The Word, that is, Jesus, was there in Genesis. He was there when God said, “Let us make man in our own image.” And He was there with God, and as God, through all of the historical events recorded in the Old Testament. And He was there with God and as God in the hearts and minds of the prophets and poets and everyone else who contributed to the Old Testament Scripture, led word for word by the Spirit of God.

The Mystery of the Resurrection

Good Morning!  He is risen!

Indeed, He is risen!  Praise God for the joy of Easter morning.  This is the day of all days.  This day is the accomplishing of all God's plans for you and for me.  All our hopes and dreams are fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Let's take a moment and give thanks to Him who gives us life:

Lord Jesus, what can we say that has not already been said?  You took the cup of the wrath of God and drank damnation dry.  You took all the punishment including separation from Your Father so that we might become children of God.  Thank You that we will be raised to life and not left forgotten in the grave.  In the same way, You are not forgotten as You rose out of the grave.  Praise be to Your Name.  You are worthy.  Speak now truth by Your Word, by Your Spirit.  Amen.

Last week, Carl took us through story of the arrest of Jesus up until Jesus' death on the cross.  Following his death, his body was hurriedly removed and placed in a nearby tomb due to the oncoming Sabbath.  A special Sabbath.  Passover.  That Passover day, the tomb was sealed and the guards were placed in order to prevent someone from stealing the body of Jesus.  And so it continued until Sunday morning.

The Power of the Cross

Welcome! This week and next, in keeping with the Easter season, we are focusing on the cross and resurrection of Christ. In today’s message I want to remind you of the events leading up to and including the crucifixion, and then we will look into the title of this message, the power of the cross.

I will start by reading a fairly long set of verses from the book of John focusing on Jesus’ arrest, questioning, and the events that follow. We start in John 18. 

When He had finished praying, Jesus left with His disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and He and His disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples. So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. – John 18:1-3

The Greatest Rescue

 Psalm 27

Welcome! Today, in addition to a short teaching, we will spend time remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup, as He instructed His disciples to do, and we will also have a sharing time where everyone is invited to share what the Lord has been teaching them and working around and through them in the past month. First, as we have been doing this year on communion Sundays, we will go through a Psalm together. Today we will look at Psalm 27.

Psalm 27 was written by David. David most likely wrote it reflecting on recent experiences he had gone through or was going through, especially including dealing with enemies, and although you may not have any earthly enemies you are dealing with, one of the wonderful things about the Psalms is how they find express truths packed with emotion that can be expressed by anyone, no matter what they are or are not going through. The Psalms speak to our heads through our hearts, and since the Lord wants us to worship Him with our entire hearts, souls, minds, and strength, it is good for us to not only read the Psalms, but agree with them, to say, “Yes, Lord, me too!” And this is what I would like us to do with Psalm 27 this morning. You may find some verses resonate with you more than others. If so, that’s great! Just make a note of what verses do speak to you, and use these as a basis for how you pray before we take communion. Here is how the Psalm begins:

Love, Actually

Today, we reach the end of the relationship series we started back in February. It has been an encouragement to me, and I hope also to you. If you missed one of the messages, please go back and listen online. Right now, we will complete the series looking at Love Actually. Let’s pray:

Father God, you are love. We’re all seeking and searching for love. We all want to be filled. We don’t want loneliness. I pray that You would speak to us about love, real love. Show us actually what love is. May we not be tricked by counterfeits, may we not yield to deceitful things which may satisfy for a moment, but are burned up like chaff, making us feel even more empty and discouraged than before. We need you. Speak to us, fill us, and transform us, I pray. In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Did you know there was a movie with this title, Love Actually? It was released back in 2003, and it was billed as “the ultimate romantic comedy.” It had about a dozen main characters. If you can imagine a 2 hour movie with a dozen main characters, well the story can’t help but come across as muddled and shallow. Worse than a shallow story though, the writer and director’s treatment of love itself is disappointingly shallow.