Year in Review

Days to be Remembered: The Book of Esther (January 6 – March 24)

We started the year by studying the short, unusual book of Esther.  You’ll recall how the Amalekites and Israelites had been enemies for years, despite being distant cousins through their fathers Jacob and Esau.  The Israelites found themselves in captivity due to sin.  The second in all the Persian Empire was a man named Haman who hatched a plan to kill all the Israelites with the King’s permission.  However, he did not realize that the king’s new wife, Esther was herself and Israelite.  Despite her initial fear and at the urging of her relative Mordecai, she approached the king to see a way to save her people.  God granted her favor in her husband’s eye, and spared her.  Once he heard of the plot to kill his wife and her people, he had Haman put to death on the very gallows he built for Mordecai and empowered the people of Israel to fight back and be allowed to live. 

Infant King

Matthew 2:1-23

Merry Christmas and welcome to this second message in our new series in the gospel of Matthew. John set the stage for us last week, remarking how Matthew tells the story of Jesus from an intensely Jewish perspective. He frequently quotes from the Old Testament to make his case for Jesus being the promised Messiah. In the things that Jesus said and did – even through who he was and what happened to him – Jesus fulfilled many prophesies that foretold the coming of a savior, a leader who would deliver the people of Israel from everyone oppressing them and give them a life of shalom: peace, freedom, and fulfillment. The word Messiah literally means “anointed one,” harkening back to the anointing of David by Samuel to be a godly king over the people of Israel. The anointed Messiah would come from the line of David and reign in righteousness and blessedness, expanding his own divine kingdom into the whole world. The message of redemption would be universal. Matthew emphasizes how the Messiah, though Jewish and coming in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, touches all people everywhere and for all time. We’ll see evidence of this in our passage for today.

Generation 42

Matthew 1:1-25

 Good morning!  We are starting a new series today.  It is titled, “The Kingdom of Jesus.”  We will cover the first half of Matthew’s gospel, chapters 1-12.  It will carry us till the end of March.

Carl wrote the introduction for the series in this way … “In the decades before Jesus, expectations grew of a long-awaited Messiah who would finally bring the kingdom of God to earth. Even the long-celebrated kingdom of David was seen as a foreshadowing of the far greater kingdom that was to come. For centuries, prophets had written about this coming King and kingdom, but the age of the prophets had seemingly ended. Life in Israel was difficult as a result of foreign occupation and interference. Had God forgotten His promises? Matthew tells the fantastic story of how, at last, the Messiah had come.”

Multiplying Workers

Fulfilling the Great Commission: Multiplying Workers

Welcome! Today is our final message in this series entitled “Fulfilling the Great Commission.” Today’s message is entitled “Multiplying Workers.” As I have mentioned throughout this series, this series is based in part on the book “What Jesus Started” by Steve Addison.

I want to start today with a review of where we’ve been, and to also specifically ask the question, “Is this really what Jesus started?”

Gathering Communities

Fulfilling the Great Commission: Gathering Communities

Welcome! Today we continue our series on “Fulfilling the Great Commission.” Today’s message is entitled “Gathering Communities.” I want to start with a pretty provocative quote by Richard Halverson, a former chaplain to the US senate:

“In the beginning the Church was a fellowship of men and women who centered their lives on the living Christ. They had a personal and vital relationship to the Lord. It transformed them and the world around them. Then the Church moved to Greece, and it became a philosophy. Later it moved to Rome, and it became an institution. Next it moved to Europe and it became a culture. Finally, it moved to America, and it became an enterprise. We’ve got far too many churches and so few fellowships.”

I think there is unfortunately a lot of truth to this quote. There have always been exceptions, but the church in Greece, and then in Rome, and then in Europe, and then in America, has had its struggles. In each of these setting, the trouble begins because people try to “do” church without first and foremost submitting their lives to Christ, living in submission to Him day by day, depending on the Holy Spirit to convict, teach, and guide them. Apart from Christ, the church starts to look like the institutions of the world. Although I think the illustrations of Jesus’ first disciples and the early church in Scripture are more descriptive than proscriptive in terms of the organizational details, from looking at the letters to the churches in Revelations, as well as Paul’s letters, it is clear that individual relationships with Christ must always be the foundational bedrock of “church.”