January 2022
Reawakening to the Mission of Christ, 30 January 2022
Reawakening to the Mission of Christ
Series—40 Days of Prayer with The Alliance
Luke 14:12-23
Series Big Idea: The aim of this 40-day focus is to fix our gaze on Jesus, remember who He is, what He has done, what He has given us to do, and what He will do in the future.
Big Idea: We’ve been invited to join Jesus on his mission to seek and save the lost.
My all-time favorite movie is The Blues Brothers (the TV version!). I love music, comedy, and Chicago and it blends them together seamlessly. Perhaps the most famous line in the movie is the mantra of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd: “We’re on a mission from God.”
What is your mission? Why on earth are you here? What is your calling?
Today we’re continuing our 40 Days of Prayer series with The Alliance. The theme is awakening and we’ve talked about awakening to the glory of Christ, the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, and the Church of Christ. Today we’re going to reawaken to the mission of Christ…and you might reawaken to your mission in the process.
Many of you know the story of Zacchaeus, the wee little man who was the chief tax collector in the region, a rich, greedy, despised man who climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Jesus over the crowd. How surprised he must’ve been when Jesus not only sees him but invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house.
Have you ever invited yourself to someone’s house?!
Has anyone ever invited themselves to yours?!
Zacchaeus has a truly life-changing encounter with Jesus, declares his intention to pay back everyone he has cheated four times and give half of his wealth to the poor. Is that a transformation or what?!
Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (Luke 19:9-10, NLT)
Did you catch it?
The mission of Christ is to seek and save the lost.
I realize lost can be a negative term, but it’s the most common English translation of the Greek word apollumi used by Jesus, a word also indicating destroy, die, lose, mar, perish. They are the ones Jesus came to seek and save. They were his mission. They are his mission today. If you can sing the words of Amazing Grace—“I once was lost/but now am found”—it’s your mission, too.
The mission of Christ is to seek and save the lost.
The mission of Christ’s followers is to seek and save the lost.
Obviously, you and I can’t save the lost on our own, but we can introduce them to the one who lived, died, and rose from the dead, offering them an opportunity to be with God for eternity and inviting them to the greatest party in history!
Why don’t we have the reputation of being the greatest partiers on the planet? It seems like Christians are known as the most boring, judgmental, self-righteous people! How did that happen?
For thousands of years, the Jews have thrown some of the best parties, measured not in hours, but days! In the eighth chapter of 1 Kings, there’s an account of a week-long party to celebrate the temple’s dedication. Then it was extended another week! Have you ever been to a fourteen-day party?
I’ve run a DJ business for more than eighteen years as a side hustle and I can tell you my favorite events are Jewish weddings…by far!
The mission of Christ is to seek and save the lost.
The heart of his message is literally an invitation to a party, a feast, something the book of Revelation calls “the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Some have said his first miracle—turning water into wine at a wedding in John chapter two—was an example of the marriage feast. Jesus himself tells a similar story in Luke chapter 14 while he is at a fancy dinner.
Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. (Luke 14:12, NLT)
Back in the day—and often still today—hosts invited guests either to pay them back for a past invitation or to put them under their debt in order to receive an invitation in the future. The motivation was not selfless hospitality, but rather social status.
Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. (Luke 14:13, NLT)
What? Who does that? Kingdom people! People on the mission of Christ. In the first century, it was not proper to invite the handicapped and poor to a public banquet…or women, by the way! Jesus’ teaching is radical! What kind of repayment can these outcasts offer to the host?
Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” (Luke 14:14, NLT)
Someone once said, “You can’t get your reward twice!” We either earn the applause of people or God.
Not long ago I was asked to do a favor. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was inconvenient and involved some expense of time. I wrestled with whether to say yes or not and then I thought of that word I mentioned a few weeks ago…die. Someone told me they’ve now made that their word for the year! Death is the first step in following Jesus, but we don’t remain dead. When we give, serve, love, sacrifice for others, God sees. There may be no financial benefit or social reward now, but God sees everything we do…even those done in secret. This is what separates worldly people from Jesus people. They are motivated by present returns rather than eternal treasures.
Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!” (Luke 14:15, NLT)
Amen! Family, this is a sneak preview of what’s ahead for us. Remember three weeks ago I said although are present is not certain, our future is! Many think heaven will be angels playing harps on clouds! Jesus’ Jewish peers saw the future kingdom as a great banquet featuring Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets at the table.
Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ (Luke 14:16-17, NLT)
In Jesus’ day, invitations stated the day, but not the hour of the meal. The host needed people to RSVP so he knew how many animals and food to prepare. The guests in this parable had already said they were coming.
What was the servant’s job? Was it to get people to come to the banquet? No! It was to let people know the banquet was ready. The master did the heavy lifting, buying the food and preparing the great feast. He represents God in the story. We are the servants told to let people know it’s time to party! Who wouldn’t respond to that, right?
But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ (Luke 14:18-20, NLT)
You’ve got to be kidding! These people are choosing to miss this great feast? What an insult to the host! It’s not like they got a flat tire on the way! They were given plenty of notice. The invitations were sent out days ago, probably weeks ago. Maybe longer. But they made excuses. Lame excuses! Billy Sunday once said an excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie!
“The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ (Luke 14:21, NLT)
Did you catch the emotion of the host—of God? He’s furious! God gets angry. He never sins, but those who reject His invitation will suffer the consequences.
This food will not be wasted! The show must go on, with or without the invited guests. If they’re too busy, it’s their loss! I’m fascinated that it doesn’t say go and invite anyone. It specifically says the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Maybe even Gentiles!
That’s the Kingdom of God!
The reason Jesus cautioned the rich is because they can become busy with their wealth and toys. They can turn money into an idol, a tool for power, an object of pride. The people in the parable making excuses were consumed by their field, their oxen, their marriage. Like so many today, there’s no room in their lives for God.
The poor can certainly make money and other things idols, too, yet they often recognize their needs more readily than those insulated by comfortable living. Is it any surprise the early church grew largely through down-and-outers being shown love and compassion? Steve Taylor once sang, “Jesus is for losers,” and he’s right, though winners are welcome to follow him, too.
So What?
Jim Sappia, an Alliance International Worker, notes three things about this passage. First, we are invited to the party (Luke 14:16-17), and what a party it will be! He wants you there. He wants everyone there (1 Timothy 2:4). God so loved the world, not just Americans or people from a particular class. You are invited to the table, the place where we can connect with Almighty God. Jesus said,
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. (Revelation 3:20)
Have you opened the door? Have you responded to the invitation? Do you have a relationship with God? If not, you can begin by simply saying, “Jesus, I give you my life.” Doing so won’t make your life instantly easy, but it will launch the greatest adventure imaginable. Life with Jesus is…the greatest!
Many make excuses. Believe me, no job, spouse, child, hobby, addiction, tv show, social media app, or treasure can compare to the Jesus journey. As I said a few weeks ago, let go and let God. Joining God’s family, coming to His party is the greatest blessing. Remember what the man said?
Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!” (Luke 14:15, NLT)
Secondly, we are sent to be a blessing (Luke 14:21).
There’s no need for a scarcity mentality. We don’t need to hoard it like toilet paper or N95 masks! There is no end to the abundance, the banquet, the party! It’s a never-ending, all-you-can-eat buffet! The greatest gift you can give another human is an invitation to the party. The greatest blessing to others—and us—is introducing people to Jesus. I love that God shows no favoritism. You don’t have to be special to receive an invitation…and yet so many have never received theirs. Many have no clue a party is being prepared at this very moment. Billions have never even heard the name of Jesus! That’s why…
Finally, we are called to go and compel (Luke 14:23). The servant invited the poor, crippled, blind, and lame.
After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. (Luke 14:22-23, NLT)
We are to go! Jesus said in Matthew 28 to “go” and make disciples…of all nations. That’s what we do in the Alliance. You might need to go around the world, fly across the country, …or simply walk across the street. There’s a place for mail, e-mail, and texting, but the master said to go…and urge them to come. The NIV translation says compel them to come. We can’t force them, but we can implore them. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth:
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:20, NLT)
He wants everyone at the feast. You. The poor. The rich. The lame. The doctors. The orphans. The single parents. The widows. The refugees and immigrants. Even the Republicans and Democrats!
God wants us to go and take the invitation to everyone…both here and around the world.
We’ve been invited to join Jesus on his mission to seek and save the lost.
Will you respond?
One more thing…
Tony Campolo story read by Mark Clark: https://youtu.be/JMWa24DdY2Y
We’re on a mission from God. Maybe you need to go…throw some parties. Warren Wiersbe wrote, “The Christian life is a feast, not a funeral, and all are invited to come.” We all need to go invite people to the ultimate party.
Invite people to dinner. Invite them to your table, whether that’s at the Mac Café, in your home, the school cafeteria, or your favorite restaurant. Meals are one of the greatest places to share stories, to listen well, to love well, and to share God’s story. Sharing meals makes disciples.
Our friends at Bowling Green Alliance are planning to share 1000 meals this year, mostly just inviting friends and neighbors over for dinner. We could do the same.
In addition, you can invite people to our Dinner Church table on the second Sunday of the month. We have an exciting opportunity to welcome Afghan refugees to our tables in partnership with Water for Ishmael (contact the office for details).
I confess I don’t know a lot of people to invite, so this month I took on a new, very part-time job for the purpose of rubbing shoulders with non-Christians and inviting them to meals and parties.
For God so loved the world. I’m so glad that includes you and me…and our neighbors.
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
You can watch this video and others at the First Alliance Church Video Library here.
Series—40 Days of Prayer with The Alliance
Luke 14:12-23
Series Big Idea: The aim of this 40-day focus is to fix our gaze on Jesus, remember who He is, what He has done, what He has given us to do, and what He will do in the future.
Big Idea: We’ve been invited to join Jesus on his mission to seek and save the lost.
My all-time favorite movie is The Blues Brothers (the TV version!). I love music, comedy, and Chicago and it blends them together seamlessly. Perhaps the most famous line in the movie is the mantra of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd: “We’re on a mission from God.”
What is your mission? Why on earth are you here? What is your calling?
Today we’re continuing our 40 Days of Prayer series with The Alliance. The theme is awakening and we’ve talked about awakening to the glory of Christ, the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, and the Church of Christ. Today we’re going to reawaken to the mission of Christ…and you might reawaken to your mission in the process.
Many of you know the story of Zacchaeus, the wee little man who was the chief tax collector in the region, a rich, greedy, despised man who climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Jesus over the crowd. How surprised he must’ve been when Jesus not only sees him but invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house.
Have you ever invited yourself to someone’s house?!
Has anyone ever invited themselves to yours?!
Zacchaeus has a truly life-changing encounter with Jesus, declares his intention to pay back everyone he has cheated four times and give half of his wealth to the poor. Is that a transformation or what?!
Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (Luke 19:9-10, NLT)
Did you catch it?
The mission of Christ is to seek and save the lost.
I realize lost can be a negative term, but it’s the most common English translation of the Greek word apollumi used by Jesus, a word also indicating destroy, die, lose, mar, perish. They are the ones Jesus came to seek and save. They were his mission. They are his mission today. If you can sing the words of Amazing Grace—“I once was lost/but now am found”—it’s your mission, too.
The mission of Christ is to seek and save the lost.
The mission of Christ’s followers is to seek and save the lost.
Obviously, you and I can’t save the lost on our own, but we can introduce them to the one who lived, died, and rose from the dead, offering them an opportunity to be with God for eternity and inviting them to the greatest party in history!
Why don’t we have the reputation of being the greatest partiers on the planet? It seems like Christians are known as the most boring, judgmental, self-righteous people! How did that happen?
For thousands of years, the Jews have thrown some of the best parties, measured not in hours, but days! In the eighth chapter of 1 Kings, there’s an account of a week-long party to celebrate the temple’s dedication. Then it was extended another week! Have you ever been to a fourteen-day party?
I’ve run a DJ business for more than eighteen years as a side hustle and I can tell you my favorite events are Jewish weddings…by far!
The mission of Christ is to seek and save the lost.
The heart of his message is literally an invitation to a party, a feast, something the book of Revelation calls “the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Some have said his first miracle—turning water into wine at a wedding in John chapter two—was an example of the marriage feast. Jesus himself tells a similar story in Luke chapter 14 while he is at a fancy dinner.
Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. (Luke 14:12, NLT)
Back in the day—and often still today—hosts invited guests either to pay them back for a past invitation or to put them under their debt in order to receive an invitation in the future. The motivation was not selfless hospitality, but rather social status.
Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. (Luke 14:13, NLT)
What? Who does that? Kingdom people! People on the mission of Christ. In the first century, it was not proper to invite the handicapped and poor to a public banquet…or women, by the way! Jesus’ teaching is radical! What kind of repayment can these outcasts offer to the host?
Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” (Luke 14:14, NLT)
Someone once said, “You can’t get your reward twice!” We either earn the applause of people or God.
Not long ago I was asked to do a favor. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was inconvenient and involved some expense of time. I wrestled with whether to say yes or not and then I thought of that word I mentioned a few weeks ago…die. Someone told me they’ve now made that their word for the year! Death is the first step in following Jesus, but we don’t remain dead. When we give, serve, love, sacrifice for others, God sees. There may be no financial benefit or social reward now, but God sees everything we do…even those done in secret. This is what separates worldly people from Jesus people. They are motivated by present returns rather than eternal treasures.
Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!” (Luke 14:15, NLT)
Amen! Family, this is a sneak preview of what’s ahead for us. Remember three weeks ago I said although are present is not certain, our future is! Many think heaven will be angels playing harps on clouds! Jesus’ Jewish peers saw the future kingdom as a great banquet featuring Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets at the table.
Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ (Luke 14:16-17, NLT)
In Jesus’ day, invitations stated the day, but not the hour of the meal. The host needed people to RSVP so he knew how many animals and food to prepare. The guests in this parable had already said they were coming.
What was the servant’s job? Was it to get people to come to the banquet? No! It was to let people know the banquet was ready. The master did the heavy lifting, buying the food and preparing the great feast. He represents God in the story. We are the servants told to let people know it’s time to party! Who wouldn’t respond to that, right?
But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ (Luke 14:18-20, NLT)
You’ve got to be kidding! These people are choosing to miss this great feast? What an insult to the host! It’s not like they got a flat tire on the way! They were given plenty of notice. The invitations were sent out days ago, probably weeks ago. Maybe longer. But they made excuses. Lame excuses! Billy Sunday once said an excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie!
“The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ (Luke 14:21, NLT)
Did you catch the emotion of the host—of God? He’s furious! God gets angry. He never sins, but those who reject His invitation will suffer the consequences.
This food will not be wasted! The show must go on, with or without the invited guests. If they’re too busy, it’s their loss! I’m fascinated that it doesn’t say go and invite anyone. It specifically says the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Maybe even Gentiles!
That’s the Kingdom of God!
The reason Jesus cautioned the rich is because they can become busy with their wealth and toys. They can turn money into an idol, a tool for power, an object of pride. The people in the parable making excuses were consumed by their field, their oxen, their marriage. Like so many today, there’s no room in their lives for God.
The poor can certainly make money and other things idols, too, yet they often recognize their needs more readily than those insulated by comfortable living. Is it any surprise the early church grew largely through down-and-outers being shown love and compassion? Steve Taylor once sang, “Jesus is for losers,” and he’s right, though winners are welcome to follow him, too.
So What?
Jim Sappia, an Alliance International Worker, notes three things about this passage. First, we are invited to the party (Luke 14:16-17), and what a party it will be! He wants you there. He wants everyone there (1 Timothy 2:4). God so loved the world, not just Americans or people from a particular class. You are invited to the table, the place where we can connect with Almighty God. Jesus said,
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. (Revelation 3:20)
Have you opened the door? Have you responded to the invitation? Do you have a relationship with God? If not, you can begin by simply saying, “Jesus, I give you my life.” Doing so won’t make your life instantly easy, but it will launch the greatest adventure imaginable. Life with Jesus is…the greatest!
Many make excuses. Believe me, no job, spouse, child, hobby, addiction, tv show, social media app, or treasure can compare to the Jesus journey. As I said a few weeks ago, let go and let God. Joining God’s family, coming to His party is the greatest blessing. Remember what the man said?
Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!” (Luke 14:15, NLT)
Secondly, we are sent to be a blessing (Luke 14:21).
There’s no need for a scarcity mentality. We don’t need to hoard it like toilet paper or N95 masks! There is no end to the abundance, the banquet, the party! It’s a never-ending, all-you-can-eat buffet! The greatest gift you can give another human is an invitation to the party. The greatest blessing to others—and us—is introducing people to Jesus. I love that God shows no favoritism. You don’t have to be special to receive an invitation…and yet so many have never received theirs. Many have no clue a party is being prepared at this very moment. Billions have never even heard the name of Jesus! That’s why…
Finally, we are called to go and compel (Luke 14:23). The servant invited the poor, crippled, blind, and lame.
After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. (Luke 14:22-23, NLT)
We are to go! Jesus said in Matthew 28 to “go” and make disciples…of all nations. That’s what we do in the Alliance. You might need to go around the world, fly across the country, …or simply walk across the street. There’s a place for mail, e-mail, and texting, but the master said to go…and urge them to come. The NIV translation says compel them to come. We can’t force them, but we can implore them. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth:
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:20, NLT)
He wants everyone at the feast. You. The poor. The rich. The lame. The doctors. The orphans. The single parents. The widows. The refugees and immigrants. Even the Republicans and Democrats!
God wants us to go and take the invitation to everyone…both here and around the world.
We’ve been invited to join Jesus on his mission to seek and save the lost.
Will you respond?
One more thing…
Tony Campolo story read by Mark Clark: https://youtu.be/JMWa24DdY2Y
We’re on a mission from God. Maybe you need to go…throw some parties. Warren Wiersbe wrote, “The Christian life is a feast, not a funeral, and all are invited to come.” We all need to go invite people to the ultimate party.
Invite people to dinner. Invite them to your table, whether that’s at the Mac Café, in your home, the school cafeteria, or your favorite restaurant. Meals are one of the greatest places to share stories, to listen well, to love well, and to share God’s story. Sharing meals makes disciples.
Our friends at Bowling Green Alliance are planning to share 1000 meals this year, mostly just inviting friends and neighbors over for dinner. We could do the same.
In addition, you can invite people to our Dinner Church table on the second Sunday of the month. We have an exciting opportunity to welcome Afghan refugees to our tables in partnership with Water for Ishmael (contact the office for details).
I confess I don’t know a lot of people to invite, so this month I took on a new, very part-time job for the purpose of rubbing shoulders with non-Christians and inviting them to meals and parties.
For God so loved the world. I’m so glad that includes you and me…and our neighbors.
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
You can watch this video and others at the First Alliance Church Video Library here.
Reawakening to the Life, Death, & Resurrection of Christ, 9 January 2022
Reawakening to the Life, Death, & Resurrection of Christ
Series—40 Days of Prayer with The Alliance
Hebrews 2:10-18; 9:11-15; 10:12-14, 19-25
Series Big Idea: The aim of this 40-day focus is to fix our gaze on Jesus, remember who He is, what He has done, what He has given us to do, and what He will do in the future.
Big Idea: The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are an example for us to appreciate and follow.
Today we’re beginning week 2 of 40 Days of Prayer with The Alliance. Last week we talked about reawakening to the glory of Christ. We said you can seek your glory or God’s glory, but not both. I believe the reason the Church in America is so weak, anemic, asleep is that we try to sprinkle a little Jesus into our lives. If we just give God an hour on Sunday or a quick prayer before meals or like an Instagram post of a scripture or listen to a few Christian songs on the radio, we’ll experience a little more happiness in our lives.
NO! Jesus’ message was to die…so we can truly live. I think the reason so many Christians live miserable lives is because they’re still trying to be in control, do things their way, play the role of God. We must die first. We must pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus. Then we are ready to experience true joy, peace, and contentment. The resurrected life is infinitely greater than any tweaking or self-improvement of our sinful lives.
Speaking of resurrected life, today we’re jumping ahead to Holy Week. Our topic is reawakening to the Life, Death, & Resurrection of Christ. You’ve heard of Christmas in July? This is Easter in January! I’m thankful for Steve Grusendorf’s sermon outline as we fix our gaze on Jesus today.
If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of dying—and aren’t we all?!—remember Jesus set the perfect example for us. He never asks us to do anything he hasn’t already done for us. That’s what it means to follow someone, right?
Jesus isn’t looking for fans. He doesn’t need casual friends. He’s looking for followers, and he’s inviting you and me to follow him…daily. The challenge is Jesus is not safe…but he’s good!
Tragically, many have been told the lie that the safest place to be is the center of God’s will. It’s the most dangerous place to be…but also the most rewarding. If you remain close to Jesus, you will experience both death and resurrection more fully than if you’re just a spectator. Paul wrote to the church in Philippi,
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)
There is no Easter without Good Friday.
There is no resurrection without a death.
There are no shortcuts for followers of Jesus. He wants all of you!
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are an example for us to follow. This is NOT the American Dream! It’s not popular or politically correct. But it’s the greatest way to live. It’s the way to truly be human. It’s the pathway to true peace, hope, and joy.
I must admit God’s plan for us—for humanity—is not what I would’ve imagined. If I wanted to rescue the world from its sin and death, I probably would’ve tried to create something or someone to do the dirty work, to fight the battle, to pay the price. Instead, God sent His one and only son, Jesus, the uncreated one to not only die and resurrect, but also to live for more than three decades in our world, experiencing the same temptations, trials, triumphs, and tragedies we face every day.
I. Jesus lived with us so that He could relate to us in our uncertain lives. (Hebrews 2:10–18).
The writer of Hebrews describes it like this:
God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. (Hebrews 2:10, NLT)
Not only were you made by God and for God, everything was made by God and for God…and He invites us into glory.
I was struck by the second sentence about Jesus’ suffering. In our culture, we will do just about anything to avoid suffering, yet in God’s vision, suffering has a purpose. God doesn’t waste anything! As a student of leadership, I’m fascinated by the link between suffering and leadership here. At its core, leadership is not about a title or position, but rather influence. Suffering was the preparation for Jesus’ mission…and I believe it’s true for all great leaders. Suffering reminds us of our weakness, of our dependency upon God. It forces us to slow down, reflect, get on our knees, and become passionate for God. It is never pleasant in the moment, but it often produces wonderful fruit in the lives of those seeking God’s glory above their own.
So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. For he said to God,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
I will praise you among your assembled people.” (Hebrews 2:11-12, NLT)
If you are a follower of Jesus, he calls you a brother or sister. We have the same Father. Isn’t that amazing?!
He also said,
“I will put my trust in him,”
that is, “I and the children God has given me.” (Hebrews 2:13, NLT)
I find these to be words of intimacy, of relationship. Jesus truly is our big brother and he not only loves us, he proved it by going to the cross.
Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. (Hebrews 2:14a, NLT)
That’s the message of the incarnation. Jesus took on flesh. He became one of us.
For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. (Hebrews 2:14b-15, NLT)
Hallelujah! This is wonderful news!
We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. (Hebrews 2:16, NLT)
I love that!
Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17, NLT)
What a plan! What a mission! What a God!
Let me say again to anyone out there who thinks you deserve to go to heaven when you die because you’re a good person, if you’re good enough—which requires perfection, by the way—it was foolish for Jesus to come, live, and die. Jesus even asked for Plan B when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane,
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
There’s one more verse in Hebrews chapter two we must not miss.
Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. (Hebrews 2:18, NLT)
One of the most abused and sometimes offensive statements in our culture is, “I know how you feel.” Really? We can have empathy for others, but unless we’ve had a similar experience, we really don’t know. I don’t know what it’s like to give birth to a baby…but many of you ladies do! I don’t know what it’s like to break my collarbone…but some of you do. I do know what it’s like to have a sick child for years, to lose a parent, to be laid off from a job, to see a negative balance in the checkbook…and therefore I can help others in similar situations.
Our FAC family has lost several members in recent years to death. One person who lost a spouse told me they recently spoke to a widow in our congregation to offer a word of sympathy, comfort, and encouragement. They understand what it’s like! They can help others in a similar situation.
Jesus has gone through suffering, testing and temptation to help us in ours. He understands! He gets it! I know of no other religion or faith or philosophy with such connection, compassion, and comfort. Jesus can uniquely help us in our trials and temptations because He’s been here and done that!
Hebrews has much more to say about the death of Jesus and what it accomplished.
So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. (Hebrews 9:11-12, NLT)
The book of Hebrews has some significant connections with the book of Leviticus, including references to the Jewish sacrifices. Jed Ostoich notes,
“The argument in Exodus and Leviticus was simply that humans could reenter God’s presence in costly fashion. The argument of Hebrews is that Jesus paid that high cost and more.”
Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. (Hebrews 9:13, NLT)
Can you imagine life before Jesus?!
Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. (Hebrews 9:14, NLT)
Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (see John 1:29). He is the perfect sacrifice. God died for you! I still can hardly believe such love!
That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15, NLT)
II. Jesus sacrificed Himself in order to secure our heavenly future (Hebrews 9:11–15).
Jesus’ death and resurrection make our future more certain than our present. Think about that for a moment! We don’t know when the pandemic will end or if the Walleye will win tonight, but our heavenly future is secure. We have a certain future which gives us hope in the present.
There are three types of people listening to me.
First, there are those who are investigating the claims of Jesus as LORD. I want to urge you to give your life to Jesus…today! He came to show us what it means to be human and demonstrated his genius through the greatest teachings in history. He died to prove his humanity and his love for you, offering to forgive your sins—past, present, and future. Then, as if that weren’t enough, he proved his deity by conquering death, rising from the dead, appearing to hundreds of people, ascending into heaven, and promising to return. What more could Jesus do to prove himself to you? Take it from me, Jesus is the greatest! He is everything to me! I have made him the leader of my life and I urge you to do the same, not for my sake but yours! His glory is magnificent. His grace is amazing. His love is unending. His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness stretches to the skies. His kindness is beyond description, …I could go on all day!
Second, there are some of you who have experience the glory and wonder of Jesus and have said yes to his invitation to follow him. It’s not an easy life, but it’s an exciting one! The benefits will last for eternity, and there’s nothing in this world which satisfies like Jesus.
But there’s a third group and, honestly, I often find myself here. It’s the comfortable, casual, and familiar. It has been said that familiarity breeds contempt, and it’s so easy to think of this death and resurrection thing as yesterday’s news. It’s easy to forget the radical sacrifice of God himself for pillars of dust like you and me. This is why Jesus said, “Remember me.” It’s why we celebrate communion on the first Sunday of the month. It’s why we gather to sing, to give, to serve, to praise, to study, to worship.
We need to reawaken to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I can’t do that for you, though I can encourage you. I can’t force it upon you, though I can invite you to experience it. Finally,
III. Jesus resurrected Himself in order that He might support us in our uncertainties today (Hebrews 10:12–14, 19–25).
There’s so much we don’t know about this crazy world, but if we fix our eyes on Jesus rather than social media and cable news, we’ll find hope, joy, and peace. Right now, Jesus is seated next to the Father, praying for us (Romans 8:34). How cool is that?!
Jesus is our Savior, but also our sanctifier, healer, and coming King. We have a hope. We have a future! We also have the Holy Spirit with us now to comfort, guide, and lead us.
Let me remind you again of what Jesus has done.
But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:12-14, NLT)
So What?
Jesus suffered for us. He died for us. He knows pain, storms, loss, grief, and uncertainty. He wants to be with us in the storms and the victories of life. It’s just a question of whether or not we will trust and follow Him.
I’ll let Hebrews wrap us up. It needs no explanation.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22, NLT)
This is such good news!
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23, NLT)
Amen! Here’s more…
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. (Hebrews 10:24, NLT)
There’s your homework for this week! Finally,
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25, NLT)
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
You can watch this video and others at the First Alliance Church Video Library here.
Series—40 Days of Prayer with The Alliance
Hebrews 2:10-18; 9:11-15; 10:12-14, 19-25
Series Big Idea: The aim of this 40-day focus is to fix our gaze on Jesus, remember who He is, what He has done, what He has given us to do, and what He will do in the future.
Big Idea: The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are an example for us to appreciate and follow.
Today we’re beginning week 2 of 40 Days of Prayer with The Alliance. Last week we talked about reawakening to the glory of Christ. We said you can seek your glory or God’s glory, but not both. I believe the reason the Church in America is so weak, anemic, asleep is that we try to sprinkle a little Jesus into our lives. If we just give God an hour on Sunday or a quick prayer before meals or like an Instagram post of a scripture or listen to a few Christian songs on the radio, we’ll experience a little more happiness in our lives.
NO! Jesus’ message was to die…so we can truly live. I think the reason so many Christians live miserable lives is because they’re still trying to be in control, do things their way, play the role of God. We must die first. We must pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus. Then we are ready to experience true joy, peace, and contentment. The resurrected life is infinitely greater than any tweaking or self-improvement of our sinful lives.
Speaking of resurrected life, today we’re jumping ahead to Holy Week. Our topic is reawakening to the Life, Death, & Resurrection of Christ. You’ve heard of Christmas in July? This is Easter in January! I’m thankful for Steve Grusendorf’s sermon outline as we fix our gaze on Jesus today.
If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of dying—and aren’t we all?!—remember Jesus set the perfect example for us. He never asks us to do anything he hasn’t already done for us. That’s what it means to follow someone, right?
Jesus isn’t looking for fans. He doesn’t need casual friends. He’s looking for followers, and he’s inviting you and me to follow him…daily. The challenge is Jesus is not safe…but he’s good!
Tragically, many have been told the lie that the safest place to be is the center of God’s will. It’s the most dangerous place to be…but also the most rewarding. If you remain close to Jesus, you will experience both death and resurrection more fully than if you’re just a spectator. Paul wrote to the church in Philippi,
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)
There is no Easter without Good Friday.
There is no resurrection without a death.
There are no shortcuts for followers of Jesus. He wants all of you!
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are an example for us to follow. This is NOT the American Dream! It’s not popular or politically correct. But it’s the greatest way to live. It’s the way to truly be human. It’s the pathway to true peace, hope, and joy.
I must admit God’s plan for us—for humanity—is not what I would’ve imagined. If I wanted to rescue the world from its sin and death, I probably would’ve tried to create something or someone to do the dirty work, to fight the battle, to pay the price. Instead, God sent His one and only son, Jesus, the uncreated one to not only die and resurrect, but also to live for more than three decades in our world, experiencing the same temptations, trials, triumphs, and tragedies we face every day.
I. Jesus lived with us so that He could relate to us in our uncertain lives. (Hebrews 2:10–18).
The writer of Hebrews describes it like this:
God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. (Hebrews 2:10, NLT)
Not only were you made by God and for God, everything was made by God and for God…and He invites us into glory.
I was struck by the second sentence about Jesus’ suffering. In our culture, we will do just about anything to avoid suffering, yet in God’s vision, suffering has a purpose. God doesn’t waste anything! As a student of leadership, I’m fascinated by the link between suffering and leadership here. At its core, leadership is not about a title or position, but rather influence. Suffering was the preparation for Jesus’ mission…and I believe it’s true for all great leaders. Suffering reminds us of our weakness, of our dependency upon God. It forces us to slow down, reflect, get on our knees, and become passionate for God. It is never pleasant in the moment, but it often produces wonderful fruit in the lives of those seeking God’s glory above their own.
So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. For he said to God,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
I will praise you among your assembled people.” (Hebrews 2:11-12, NLT)
If you are a follower of Jesus, he calls you a brother or sister. We have the same Father. Isn’t that amazing?!
He also said,
“I will put my trust in him,”
that is, “I and the children God has given me.” (Hebrews 2:13, NLT)
I find these to be words of intimacy, of relationship. Jesus truly is our big brother and he not only loves us, he proved it by going to the cross.
Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. (Hebrews 2:14a, NLT)
That’s the message of the incarnation. Jesus took on flesh. He became one of us.
For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. (Hebrews 2:14b-15, NLT)
Hallelujah! This is wonderful news!
We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. (Hebrews 2:16, NLT)
I love that!
Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17, NLT)
What a plan! What a mission! What a God!
Let me say again to anyone out there who thinks you deserve to go to heaven when you die because you’re a good person, if you’re good enough—which requires perfection, by the way—it was foolish for Jesus to come, live, and die. Jesus even asked for Plan B when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane,
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
There’s one more verse in Hebrews chapter two we must not miss.
Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. (Hebrews 2:18, NLT)
One of the most abused and sometimes offensive statements in our culture is, “I know how you feel.” Really? We can have empathy for others, but unless we’ve had a similar experience, we really don’t know. I don’t know what it’s like to give birth to a baby…but many of you ladies do! I don’t know what it’s like to break my collarbone…but some of you do. I do know what it’s like to have a sick child for years, to lose a parent, to be laid off from a job, to see a negative balance in the checkbook…and therefore I can help others in similar situations.
Our FAC family has lost several members in recent years to death. One person who lost a spouse told me they recently spoke to a widow in our congregation to offer a word of sympathy, comfort, and encouragement. They understand what it’s like! They can help others in a similar situation.
Jesus has gone through suffering, testing and temptation to help us in ours. He understands! He gets it! I know of no other religion or faith or philosophy with such connection, compassion, and comfort. Jesus can uniquely help us in our trials and temptations because He’s been here and done that!
Hebrews has much more to say about the death of Jesus and what it accomplished.
So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. (Hebrews 9:11-12, NLT)
The book of Hebrews has some significant connections with the book of Leviticus, including references to the Jewish sacrifices. Jed Ostoich notes,
“The argument in Exodus and Leviticus was simply that humans could reenter God’s presence in costly fashion. The argument of Hebrews is that Jesus paid that high cost and more.”
Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. (Hebrews 9:13, NLT)
Can you imagine life before Jesus?!
Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. (Hebrews 9:14, NLT)
Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (see John 1:29). He is the perfect sacrifice. God died for you! I still can hardly believe such love!
That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15, NLT)
II. Jesus sacrificed Himself in order to secure our heavenly future (Hebrews 9:11–15).
Jesus’ death and resurrection make our future more certain than our present. Think about that for a moment! We don’t know when the pandemic will end or if the Walleye will win tonight, but our heavenly future is secure. We have a certain future which gives us hope in the present.
There are three types of people listening to me.
First, there are those who are investigating the claims of Jesus as LORD. I want to urge you to give your life to Jesus…today! He came to show us what it means to be human and demonstrated his genius through the greatest teachings in history. He died to prove his humanity and his love for you, offering to forgive your sins—past, present, and future. Then, as if that weren’t enough, he proved his deity by conquering death, rising from the dead, appearing to hundreds of people, ascending into heaven, and promising to return. What more could Jesus do to prove himself to you? Take it from me, Jesus is the greatest! He is everything to me! I have made him the leader of my life and I urge you to do the same, not for my sake but yours! His glory is magnificent. His grace is amazing. His love is unending. His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness stretches to the skies. His kindness is beyond description, …I could go on all day!
Second, there are some of you who have experience the glory and wonder of Jesus and have said yes to his invitation to follow him. It’s not an easy life, but it’s an exciting one! The benefits will last for eternity, and there’s nothing in this world which satisfies like Jesus.
But there’s a third group and, honestly, I often find myself here. It’s the comfortable, casual, and familiar. It has been said that familiarity breeds contempt, and it’s so easy to think of this death and resurrection thing as yesterday’s news. It’s easy to forget the radical sacrifice of God himself for pillars of dust like you and me. This is why Jesus said, “Remember me.” It’s why we celebrate communion on the first Sunday of the month. It’s why we gather to sing, to give, to serve, to praise, to study, to worship.
We need to reawaken to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I can’t do that for you, though I can encourage you. I can’t force it upon you, though I can invite you to experience it. Finally,
III. Jesus resurrected Himself in order that He might support us in our uncertainties today (Hebrews 10:12–14, 19–25).
There’s so much we don’t know about this crazy world, but if we fix our eyes on Jesus rather than social media and cable news, we’ll find hope, joy, and peace. Right now, Jesus is seated next to the Father, praying for us (Romans 8:34). How cool is that?!
Jesus is our Savior, but also our sanctifier, healer, and coming King. We have a hope. We have a future! We also have the Holy Spirit with us now to comfort, guide, and lead us.
Let me remind you again of what Jesus has done.
But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:12-14, NLT)
So What?
Jesus suffered for us. He died for us. He knows pain, storms, loss, grief, and uncertainty. He wants to be with us in the storms and the victories of life. It’s just a question of whether or not we will trust and follow Him.
I’ll let Hebrews wrap us up. It needs no explanation.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22, NLT)
This is such good news!
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23, NLT)
Amen! Here’s more…
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. (Hebrews 10:24, NLT)
There’s your homework for this week! Finally,
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25, NLT)
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
You can watch this video and others at the First Alliance Church Video Library here.
Reawakening to the Glory of Christ, 2 January 2022
Reawakening to the Glory of Christ
Series—40 Days of Prayer with The Alliance
Matthew 19:27-30; Exodus 20:3; Habakkuk 3:2
Series Big Idea: The aim of this 40-day focus is to fix our gaze on Jesus, remember who He is, what He has done, what He has given us to do, and what He will do in the future.
Big Idea: The bottom line of our mission is God’s glory, not ours.
What’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen, the most majestic, beautiful, splendid thing? Maybe it was a vibrant sunset, the birth of a child, the Grand Canyon, or a starry night away from the city. There are things so beautiful, so honorable, so incredible words can’t begin to describe them. You might say they are glorious.
Happy New Year!
We’re beginning 2022 on our knees…literally. Today we begin a series along with Christian & Missionary Alliance churches across the country. For the next forty days, we’re going to pray like never before. One of the Alliance Core Values says “Prayer is the primary work of God’s people.” For the next 40 Days we’re going to fix our gaze on Jesus, remember who He is, what He has done, what He has given us to do, and what He will do in the future. We often say around here it’s all about Jesus…not religion or rules or being perfect, but Jesus.
I’m frequently heartbroken when I hear the tragic stories of people walking away from the faith because of an abusive priest, a corrupt pastor, or other sins committed by so-called Christians. If that’s you, I’m deeply sorry. But no matter what has been done to you or those you love, I can assure you Jesus has never harmed you. In fact, he was harmed for you! We don’t worship tradition or even the Bible, but Jesus Christ who lived, died, and rose from the dead…for you and me. That’s amazing! That’s marvelous! That’s glorious!
Much of what I plan to say today I’ve said before, but it bears repeating…especially as we begin a new year. Much of what I plan to say is incredibly challenging…especially for me! So let’s begin with prayer!
The key word during these 40 Days is reawakening. It means to emerge or cause to emerge again; awaken again. I think that’s obvious looking at the word. It implies sleep or slumber followed by a renewal of an interest or feeling.
The late Keith Green penned these prophetic lyrics in his song Asleep in the Light:
Do you see, do you see all the people sinking down? Don't you care, don't you care are you gonna let them drown? How can you be so numb not to care if they come? You close your eyes and pretend the job's done Open up, open up and give yourself away You see the need, you hear the cries so how can you delay? God's calling and you're the one but like Jonah you run He's told you to speak but you keep holding it in Can't you see it's such a sin? The world is sleeping in the dark that the church just can't fight 'Cause it's asleep in the light How can you be so dead, when you've been so well fed Jesus rose from the grave and you, you can't even get out of bed
I believe the problem in our world today is not the world, but the Church. We can complain about the evil and darkness “out there,” but the world is simply acting like the world. The problem is the Church is, too! We’ve fallen for the idols of money, sex, pleasure, and power. We’ve become obsessed with our rights rather than loving others well. By many measures, the Church in the United States is dead…just like the world…filled with individualistic, narcissistic, consumeristic people who will do anything possible to be happy. If we’re not dead, we’re at least asleep, apathetic…maybe even pathetic!
We need an awakening! We need to wake up from our comfortable, selfish ways of living. [I’m sorry, hopefully I’m just preaching to myself!]
Perhaps you’ve heard of the Great Awakenings in our nation’s history. God used people like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield to wake up the lukewarm Christians, convict the godless, and stir the first of two major revivals in the US and England. The stories are remarkable. Christianity.com notes,
The Great Awakening in America in the 1730s and 1740s had tremendous results. The number of people in the church multiplied, and the lives of the converted manifested true Christian piety. Denominational barriers broke down as Christians of all persuasions worked together in the cause of the gospel. There was a renewed concern with missions, and work among the Indians increased. As more young men prepared for service as Christian ministers, a concern for higher education grew. Princeton, Rutgers, Brown, and Dartmouth universities were all established as a direct result of the Great Awakening. Some have even seen a connection between the Great Awakening and the American Revolution --Christians enjoying spiritual liberty in Christ would come to crave political liberty. The Great Awakening not only revived the American church but reinvigorated American society as well.
If I have one prayer for 2022, it’s that we would experience a spiritual awakening. By “we,” I mean First Alliance Church. I mean the Church of Toledo. I mean the USA. I mean our world. I’ve been praying for spiritual awakening for years, but I was especially hopeful when the pandemic began nearly two years ago. I thought the fear, sickness, death, uncertainty, and chaos of COVID-19 would be the perfect opportunity for the light of Jesus to shine through His Church, for His people to come together and unite to bless the unchurched, to offer faith, hope, and love to a desperate world.
Instead, …well, you know what happened. Tragically, the world sees the Church as part of the problem rather than part of the solution! I often go back to one fundamental question: do we look like Jesus? That’s what a Christian is! Does my life and yours look like Jesus? If not, we need to change our lives…or our label!
I don’t mean to beat up anyone—except perhaps myself—but I do want to acknowledge the state we’re in. It’s not good. I have four prayers I’ve been praying for years…direction, protection, unity, and passion. I want God to lead us. We need protection from the very real enemy who wants to steal, kill, and destroy. He loves to bring division—and he’s doing a very good job these days—which is why I specifically pray for unity (which was also Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17). Finally, I pray for passion, a hunger for God, a thirst for righteousness and justice, a zeal for the widow, the stranger, and the orphan. I long to see us known as the most humble, kind, generous, loving people on the planet!
I believe praying for awakening is the first step, but we can’t stop there. Prayer is not simply asking a genie for wishes. It’s so much more than talking to God. It’s even more than talking with God. Prayer is doing life with God. It’s relational, not religious. It’s about knowing and obeying God, trusting that He has a better vision for our lives than we could ever imagine. When it comes to spiritual awakening, I can pray, but I also need to take action.
There’s an old story about a man who prayed, “God, why don’t you feed the hungry people in the world?” to which God replied, “Sir, why don’t you feed the hungry people in the world?” We must pray for spiritual awakening, but we’ve also been invited to participate with God in His plan for the renewal of all things. In a famous interaction with Jesus,
Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?” (Matthew 19:27, NLT)
This is a classic, selfish, human response, isn’t it? What’s in it for me? What do I get out of the deal? Why should I follow you, Jesus? I want to do things my way!
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28, NIV)
I love that phrase “the renewal of all things” in the NIV translation. The original Greek word for renewal, paliggenesia, (pal-ing-ghen-es-ee-ah) is from two words:
paling, “again”
genesia, “beginning”
Jesus is speaking of the world made new, recreated. It’s not a picture of clouds in the sky, but all things being renewed, including our planet. Scripture refers to new heavens and a new earth (Is. 65:17, 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1).
Jesus is saying a day is coming when there will be no more sickness, pain, viruses, political stalemates, violence, tears, hatred, homelessness, injustice, or apathy. Jesus will sit on his glorious throne, and for all followers of Jesus, it will be glorious! He invited his followers—and continues to invite his followers today—to participate with him in the renewal of all things.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29, NLT)
Jesus is casting an eternal vision for them, saying if they truly surrender their lives to following Jesus, they will ultimately experience something truly remarkable…for eternity! It will be glorious! Then he utters these famous words:
But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then. (Matthew 19:30, NLT)
We all like that verse…until we are the ones going last! We like the idea of loving our enemies…until we have one to love. We all believe in the value of forgiveness…until there’s someone to forgive. What Jesus is really saying—and what his overall message was—is summarized in one, simple, three-letter word. I believe this is the secret to true satisfaction. It’s the pathway to meaning and purpose. It’s the way to experience the abundant life Jesus spoke of, and the most important step in following him. It’s a very unpopular word, but if you can grasp it, you will be able to not only experience reawakening and renewal in your life, it will be contagious for the benefit of others, too. If we can take this one step, it will change everything for us in 2022…and beyond. Are you ready?
Die!
Happy New Year! I know death is the one thing most of us avoid at all costs—except for those struggling with suicidal ideation (please call 800.273.8255). Of course, I’m not speaking of physical death. That will eventually happen for all of us. I’m speaking of dying to yourself.
I haven’t heard much about it recently, but there have been some court cases over the Ten Commandments and their placement in certain public places. We don’t have time to explore God’s Top Ten today except to say I struggle with the first one…every day! No, it’s not “thou shall not murder.” You can relax, it’s not “thou shall not steal.” It’s actually the first one:
“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)
I want to be God. I want to be in control. I want it my way. I want to be happy at all times and do whatever possible to avoid suffering and pain. But despite my ability to fool myself, I’ve recognized I’m not god! Hopefully you’ve come to the same realization about yourself! No offense! Here’s the mantra of my boss and dear friend, Rev. Thomas George, our District Superintendent:
You were made by God, for God, and for God’s glory.
Most of you can probably accept that you were made by God. Even if you believe in certain types of evolution, every creation has a creator, and God the Artist created you in his image with dignity, value, and worth. For details, see Psalm 139.
You were made for God. That means you have a purpose, which is greater than your own desires. It’s not that God doesn’t want you to be happy, but His higher priority is for you to be holy, to be set apart, to trust and obey, not because He’s a control freak, but because Daddy knows best. His will and plans for you are far greater than anything you could imagine.
There have been numerous movies about robots taking over the world, somehow gaining enough intelligence to overrule their programming to cause destruction rather than assistance. If you had the ability to design a robot, how frightening would it be if it turned against you and did whatever it desired?
God has created us. He has designed us. Yet we’re not robots. He has given us free will, the ability to make choices. Just like I can’t make you love me, so God can’t make us love Him, obey Him, follow Him…but that’s His desire for us. There’s nothing God wants more than your heart. In fact, every commandment, rule, and law in the Bible was summarized by Jesus.
He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27)
That’s my new year’s resolution! But I’ve learned it’s not about trying harder. I can’t achieve it on my own strength. Even though spiritual practices such as prayer, Bible study, and fasting are useful tools, the first step is to die.
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
I have the hardest time with the word “daily” here! I wish I could say a magical prayer, get a Get Out of Hell Free Card, and be done with it, but that’s not what it mean to follow Jesus. It means every day we are to pick up our cross…die to ourselves, our rights, our will…and follow Jesus.
The good news—the great news—is that following Jesus is the pathway to true greatness, true purpose, true meaning, true life. He’s not out to get you, but rather died to prove his love for you. The message of Christmas is that God became one of us, lived on our planet, showed us what it means to be human, gave everything for us, and shows us the pathway to enlightenment, wisdom, peace, freedom, hope, and joy. Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people come to life.
I know of no greater picture of this than baptism. Some churches sprinkle, which is fine, I guess, but the ancient tradition involves dunking a person completely in what is symbolically a water grave. They die to their old self, their sinful nature, and then are resurrected with Jesus, new life in Christ, recreated, reawakened. In one sense, we need to die daily…and be renewed daily.
To borrow a phrase, we need to let go and let God. Some of you have been trying so hard to be good, striving, and struggling. You can’t impress God. You can’t manipulate God. You certainly can’t compete with God. But you can love Him. You can let go and surrender. You can trust and obey. You can seek first His Kingdom rather than your pleasure.
You were made by God, for God, and for God’s glory.
As long as you pursue your own glory, you’ll be frustrated. Despite what all of the self-help gurus want you to believe, it’s not all about you. It’s all about God! We need to reawaken to the glory of Jesus, and what a glory it is!
In the Old Testament, the word for glory is hod. It means splendor, majesty, beauty, vigor, authority. The prophet Habakkuk wrote,
LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. (Habakkuk 3:2, NIV)
I can’t think of a more timely prayer…and that was written around the 7th century BC!
We are a Jesus-centered family restoring God’s masterpieces in Toledo and beyond for His glory.
The bottom line of First Alliance Church’s mission statement is the glory of God.
As we begin this new year, I want to challenge you to make God’s glory your highest priority. It goes against everything the media and social media want you to believe. It is counter-cultural. It is radical. It is the true alternative lifestyle!
Yet I believe if we reawaken to the glory of Jesus rather than our own glory, it will transform our lives, it will transform this church, it might transform our city, and it could even change the world. Jesus said,
…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16, NIV)
You can seek your glory or God’s glory, but not both! What will you choose in 2022?
The Wonderful Cross (song)
O the wonderful cross bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
You can watch this video and others at the First Alliance Church Video Library here.
Series—40 Days of Prayer with The Alliance
Matthew 19:27-30; Exodus 20:3; Habakkuk 3:2
Series Big Idea: The aim of this 40-day focus is to fix our gaze on Jesus, remember who He is, what He has done, what He has given us to do, and what He will do in the future.
Big Idea: The bottom line of our mission is God’s glory, not ours.
What’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen, the most majestic, beautiful, splendid thing? Maybe it was a vibrant sunset, the birth of a child, the Grand Canyon, or a starry night away from the city. There are things so beautiful, so honorable, so incredible words can’t begin to describe them. You might say they are glorious.
Happy New Year!
We’re beginning 2022 on our knees…literally. Today we begin a series along with Christian & Missionary Alliance churches across the country. For the next forty days, we’re going to pray like never before. One of the Alliance Core Values says “Prayer is the primary work of God’s people.” For the next 40 Days we’re going to fix our gaze on Jesus, remember who He is, what He has done, what He has given us to do, and what He will do in the future. We often say around here it’s all about Jesus…not religion or rules or being perfect, but Jesus.
I’m frequently heartbroken when I hear the tragic stories of people walking away from the faith because of an abusive priest, a corrupt pastor, or other sins committed by so-called Christians. If that’s you, I’m deeply sorry. But no matter what has been done to you or those you love, I can assure you Jesus has never harmed you. In fact, he was harmed for you! We don’t worship tradition or even the Bible, but Jesus Christ who lived, died, and rose from the dead…for you and me. That’s amazing! That’s marvelous! That’s glorious!
Much of what I plan to say today I’ve said before, but it bears repeating…especially as we begin a new year. Much of what I plan to say is incredibly challenging…especially for me! So let’s begin with prayer!
The key word during these 40 Days is reawakening. It means to emerge or cause to emerge again; awaken again. I think that’s obvious looking at the word. It implies sleep or slumber followed by a renewal of an interest or feeling.
The late Keith Green penned these prophetic lyrics in his song Asleep in the Light:
Do you see, do you see all the people sinking down? Don't you care, don't you care are you gonna let them drown? How can you be so numb not to care if they come? You close your eyes and pretend the job's done Open up, open up and give yourself away You see the need, you hear the cries so how can you delay? God's calling and you're the one but like Jonah you run He's told you to speak but you keep holding it in Can't you see it's such a sin? The world is sleeping in the dark that the church just can't fight 'Cause it's asleep in the light How can you be so dead, when you've been so well fed Jesus rose from the grave and you, you can't even get out of bed
I believe the problem in our world today is not the world, but the Church. We can complain about the evil and darkness “out there,” but the world is simply acting like the world. The problem is the Church is, too! We’ve fallen for the idols of money, sex, pleasure, and power. We’ve become obsessed with our rights rather than loving others well. By many measures, the Church in the United States is dead…just like the world…filled with individualistic, narcissistic, consumeristic people who will do anything possible to be happy. If we’re not dead, we’re at least asleep, apathetic…maybe even pathetic!
We need an awakening! We need to wake up from our comfortable, selfish ways of living. [I’m sorry, hopefully I’m just preaching to myself!]
Perhaps you’ve heard of the Great Awakenings in our nation’s history. God used people like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield to wake up the lukewarm Christians, convict the godless, and stir the first of two major revivals in the US and England. The stories are remarkable. Christianity.com notes,
The Great Awakening in America in the 1730s and 1740s had tremendous results. The number of people in the church multiplied, and the lives of the converted manifested true Christian piety. Denominational barriers broke down as Christians of all persuasions worked together in the cause of the gospel. There was a renewed concern with missions, and work among the Indians increased. As more young men prepared for service as Christian ministers, a concern for higher education grew. Princeton, Rutgers, Brown, and Dartmouth universities were all established as a direct result of the Great Awakening. Some have even seen a connection between the Great Awakening and the American Revolution --Christians enjoying spiritual liberty in Christ would come to crave political liberty. The Great Awakening not only revived the American church but reinvigorated American society as well.
If I have one prayer for 2022, it’s that we would experience a spiritual awakening. By “we,” I mean First Alliance Church. I mean the Church of Toledo. I mean the USA. I mean our world. I’ve been praying for spiritual awakening for years, but I was especially hopeful when the pandemic began nearly two years ago. I thought the fear, sickness, death, uncertainty, and chaos of COVID-19 would be the perfect opportunity for the light of Jesus to shine through His Church, for His people to come together and unite to bless the unchurched, to offer faith, hope, and love to a desperate world.
Instead, …well, you know what happened. Tragically, the world sees the Church as part of the problem rather than part of the solution! I often go back to one fundamental question: do we look like Jesus? That’s what a Christian is! Does my life and yours look like Jesus? If not, we need to change our lives…or our label!
I don’t mean to beat up anyone—except perhaps myself—but I do want to acknowledge the state we’re in. It’s not good. I have four prayers I’ve been praying for years…direction, protection, unity, and passion. I want God to lead us. We need protection from the very real enemy who wants to steal, kill, and destroy. He loves to bring division—and he’s doing a very good job these days—which is why I specifically pray for unity (which was also Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17). Finally, I pray for passion, a hunger for God, a thirst for righteousness and justice, a zeal for the widow, the stranger, and the orphan. I long to see us known as the most humble, kind, generous, loving people on the planet!
I believe praying for awakening is the first step, but we can’t stop there. Prayer is not simply asking a genie for wishes. It’s so much more than talking to God. It’s even more than talking with God. Prayer is doing life with God. It’s relational, not religious. It’s about knowing and obeying God, trusting that He has a better vision for our lives than we could ever imagine. When it comes to spiritual awakening, I can pray, but I also need to take action.
There’s an old story about a man who prayed, “God, why don’t you feed the hungry people in the world?” to which God replied, “Sir, why don’t you feed the hungry people in the world?” We must pray for spiritual awakening, but we’ve also been invited to participate with God in His plan for the renewal of all things. In a famous interaction with Jesus,
Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?” (Matthew 19:27, NLT)
This is a classic, selfish, human response, isn’t it? What’s in it for me? What do I get out of the deal? Why should I follow you, Jesus? I want to do things my way!
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28, NIV)
I love that phrase “the renewal of all things” in the NIV translation. The original Greek word for renewal, paliggenesia, (pal-ing-ghen-es-ee-ah) is from two words:
paling, “again”
genesia, “beginning”
Jesus is speaking of the world made new, recreated. It’s not a picture of clouds in the sky, but all things being renewed, including our planet. Scripture refers to new heavens and a new earth (Is. 65:17, 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1).
Jesus is saying a day is coming when there will be no more sickness, pain, viruses, political stalemates, violence, tears, hatred, homelessness, injustice, or apathy. Jesus will sit on his glorious throne, and for all followers of Jesus, it will be glorious! He invited his followers—and continues to invite his followers today—to participate with him in the renewal of all things.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29, NLT)
Jesus is casting an eternal vision for them, saying if they truly surrender their lives to following Jesus, they will ultimately experience something truly remarkable…for eternity! It will be glorious! Then he utters these famous words:
But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then. (Matthew 19:30, NLT)
We all like that verse…until we are the ones going last! We like the idea of loving our enemies…until we have one to love. We all believe in the value of forgiveness…until there’s someone to forgive. What Jesus is really saying—and what his overall message was—is summarized in one, simple, three-letter word. I believe this is the secret to true satisfaction. It’s the pathway to meaning and purpose. It’s the way to experience the abundant life Jesus spoke of, and the most important step in following him. It’s a very unpopular word, but if you can grasp it, you will be able to not only experience reawakening and renewal in your life, it will be contagious for the benefit of others, too. If we can take this one step, it will change everything for us in 2022…and beyond. Are you ready?
Die!
Happy New Year! I know death is the one thing most of us avoid at all costs—except for those struggling with suicidal ideation (please call 800.273.8255). Of course, I’m not speaking of physical death. That will eventually happen for all of us. I’m speaking of dying to yourself.
I haven’t heard much about it recently, but there have been some court cases over the Ten Commandments and their placement in certain public places. We don’t have time to explore God’s Top Ten today except to say I struggle with the first one…every day! No, it’s not “thou shall not murder.” You can relax, it’s not “thou shall not steal.” It’s actually the first one:
“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)
I want to be God. I want to be in control. I want it my way. I want to be happy at all times and do whatever possible to avoid suffering and pain. But despite my ability to fool myself, I’ve recognized I’m not god! Hopefully you’ve come to the same realization about yourself! No offense! Here’s the mantra of my boss and dear friend, Rev. Thomas George, our District Superintendent:
You were made by God, for God, and for God’s glory.
Most of you can probably accept that you were made by God. Even if you believe in certain types of evolution, every creation has a creator, and God the Artist created you in his image with dignity, value, and worth. For details, see Psalm 139.
You were made for God. That means you have a purpose, which is greater than your own desires. It’s not that God doesn’t want you to be happy, but His higher priority is for you to be holy, to be set apart, to trust and obey, not because He’s a control freak, but because Daddy knows best. His will and plans for you are far greater than anything you could imagine.
There have been numerous movies about robots taking over the world, somehow gaining enough intelligence to overrule their programming to cause destruction rather than assistance. If you had the ability to design a robot, how frightening would it be if it turned against you and did whatever it desired?
God has created us. He has designed us. Yet we’re not robots. He has given us free will, the ability to make choices. Just like I can’t make you love me, so God can’t make us love Him, obey Him, follow Him…but that’s His desire for us. There’s nothing God wants more than your heart. In fact, every commandment, rule, and law in the Bible was summarized by Jesus.
He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27)
That’s my new year’s resolution! But I’ve learned it’s not about trying harder. I can’t achieve it on my own strength. Even though spiritual practices such as prayer, Bible study, and fasting are useful tools, the first step is to die.
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
I have the hardest time with the word “daily” here! I wish I could say a magical prayer, get a Get Out of Hell Free Card, and be done with it, but that’s not what it mean to follow Jesus. It means every day we are to pick up our cross…die to ourselves, our rights, our will…and follow Jesus.
The good news—the great news—is that following Jesus is the pathway to true greatness, true purpose, true meaning, true life. He’s not out to get you, but rather died to prove his love for you. The message of Christmas is that God became one of us, lived on our planet, showed us what it means to be human, gave everything for us, and shows us the pathway to enlightenment, wisdom, peace, freedom, hope, and joy. Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people come to life.
I know of no greater picture of this than baptism. Some churches sprinkle, which is fine, I guess, but the ancient tradition involves dunking a person completely in what is symbolically a water grave. They die to their old self, their sinful nature, and then are resurrected with Jesus, new life in Christ, recreated, reawakened. In one sense, we need to die daily…and be renewed daily.
To borrow a phrase, we need to let go and let God. Some of you have been trying so hard to be good, striving, and struggling. You can’t impress God. You can’t manipulate God. You certainly can’t compete with God. But you can love Him. You can let go and surrender. You can trust and obey. You can seek first His Kingdom rather than your pleasure.
You were made by God, for God, and for God’s glory.
As long as you pursue your own glory, you’ll be frustrated. Despite what all of the self-help gurus want you to believe, it’s not all about you. It’s all about God! We need to reawaken to the glory of Jesus, and what a glory it is!
In the Old Testament, the word for glory is hod. It means splendor, majesty, beauty, vigor, authority. The prophet Habakkuk wrote,
LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. (Habakkuk 3:2, NIV)
I can’t think of a more timely prayer…and that was written around the 7th century BC!
We are a Jesus-centered family restoring God’s masterpieces in Toledo and beyond for His glory.
The bottom line of First Alliance Church’s mission statement is the glory of God.
As we begin this new year, I want to challenge you to make God’s glory your highest priority. It goes against everything the media and social media want you to believe. It is counter-cultural. It is radical. It is the true alternative lifestyle!
Yet I believe if we reawaken to the glory of Jesus rather than our own glory, it will transform our lives, it will transform this church, it might transform our city, and it could even change the world. Jesus said,
…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16, NIV)
You can seek your glory or God’s glory, but not both! What will you choose in 2022?
The Wonderful Cross (song)
O the wonderful cross bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
You can watch this video and others at the First Alliance Church Video Library here.