"Year in Review" - August

Oddly, my favorite part of August was something I had nothing to do with ... relaunching the Pre-Teen Ministry in a brand new classroom. Looking back on life, I know that was a time in my life when I learned a lot about God and being a Jesus follower and I am excited there is a cool place where our younger Eastsiders can do that too. My favorite entry came from August 11th...

SUPREME

There are several different areas of concentration within the study of God, known as “theology”. One specific area is the study of Jesus or Christ, known as “Christology”. The following verses provide one of the most important passages for this study. Paul included this description of Jesus because the church in Colosse was being impacted by some false teachers that were basically creating their own religion by trying to harmonize aspects of several different beliefs. In the process, they were minimizing the importance of Jesus. Paul wanted to remind them of the absolute supremacy of Jesus.

Colossians 1

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.

17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.

19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,

20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Supreme. Interestingly, things have come full circle or maybe they never really changed. Today, we live in a culture where people “collect” aspects of a variety of faiths to create their own personal belief system. It is considered politically incorrect to say that Jesus is supreme over other faiths. I’m not suggesting you become militant in your beliefs regarding following Jesus; but I do hope that passages like these remind you of exactly who Jesus is and help you stand confidently while on your journey.

"Year in Review" - July

Picking my favorite moment in July was a bit of a challenge with Yoda showing up in one of Jonathan’s messages and kicking off Help Build Hope: Clermont (thank you to everyone that helped rehab Mattie’s home, especially John Corrigan for leading the project); but for me, it was volunteering with New Life Furniture on a Saturday morning with the guys from my RESET group. My favorite entry came from July 16th...

REJOICE

This week, we have been listening to Paul explain the idea of justification. Today, he offers a list of blessings that come with being made right in God’s sight. One of them will shock you. It did me.

Romans 5

1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.

4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.

8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.

10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Rejoice. According to Paul, one of the blessings of justification is the fact that we can “rejoice ... when we run into problems”. When you first read that phrase, you probably think it’s a typo. It certainly sounds like one. Who would ever rejoice about a problem? The beauty of Jesus’ sacrifice (verse 6) is that it solved THE most difficult problem we will ever face (verse 9) and offered us a new perspective on problems. If Jesus can handle our most difficult problem, He can handle any problem. If He can handle any problem, the question isn’t CAN Jesus handle this mountain of a problem I am facing right now; it is HOW is Jesus going to handle it. With this new perspective, problems become more like tutoring sessions that reveal to us more and more about God as they “develop” and “strengthen” us.

"Year in Review" - June

Today, we are going to continue our 2009 Year in Review by looking back at the month of June. My favorite part of June was launching some new community service projects ... like our partnership with Sauls Homeless Shelter. My favorite entry came from June 25th...

GIVE

Back to Paul’s letter ... Today, he offers what most would consider an oxymoron.

2 Corinthians 8

1 Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia.

2 They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

3 For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will.

4 They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.

5 They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

6 So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving.

7 Since you excel in so many ways - in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us - I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.

8 I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.

9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

Give. Most people would think that if you had “many troubles” you wouldn’t have “abundant joy” or that if you were “very poor” you wouldn’t overflow “in rich generosity” or that no one would ever “beg” to “share” (let alone consider it a “privilege”). For most people, none of that makes any sense! I think the key is in verse 5 ... if we are to ever understand this concept of giving (of generosity), we must first give ourselves completely to Jesus. When we do, I think we will see that most of what we thought about this life was upside down to begin with. When we begin to understand who he was (verse 9), we can stop being like most people and start being more like him.