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Resurrection Life, Week 2
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First Contact
When we meet the risen Christ:
Jesus honors our tears and meets us in them
Jesus reveals himself as Shepherd, Teacher, and Savior
Jesus calls us to testify to others that we have met the risen Christ
He Must: Be Lifted Up (Die), then Rise from the Dead
He must die. And he did.
He just ride from the dead. And he did.
You must be born again. Will you?
A Terrible Death
In this message from John 19:16-30, we see 3 important aspects of the crucifixion:
1) The sour wine Jesus drank
2) The phrase "to fulfill the Scripture" and
3) The inscription above Jesus' head.
The summary: Jesus bore the full weight of sin on the cross to rescue us and to proclaim himself King over sin, over death, and over us, his people.
Sorrow into Joy
How do sorrow and joy co-exist? Sorrow - with its accompanying grief, sadness, lament, pain, and suffering - can squash happiness. But not joy. Because joy is grounded in the character of God, the work of God, and the presence of God.
Abide: Friend vs Hated
We can endure being hated by the world because we abide in the promise of being a friend of God.
In this message from John 15:12-27, we discover what it means that Jesus would call us his friends.
1) Jesus chose you: He loves you, he likes you, and he chose you to be his friend.
2) Jesus appointed you: He gave you a task to bear fruit by inviting others to become friends of Jesus alongside of you.
3) Jesus died for you: No greater love has anyone that he lay down his life for his friends. And that is what Jesus did for you!
Alone vs Helped
Jesus promised us he would not leave us alone but sent the Holy Spirit to:
Be our Helper
Give us life
Give us union with God
Be our Teacher
Give us peace
Convict us of sin
Bring glory to Jesus
Deny vs Know
Peter's denial of Jesus is an invitation to look in the mirror at how we can be inclined to deny Jesus. And how do we resist that?
The antidote to denying Jesus is to know and believe more deeply - to know the character of God, the plan of God, and the promises of God.
Betray vs Love
Judas betrayed Jesus. But we are not Judas. So what do we do will the account of that betrayal? Judas' betrayal does become an invitation for us to ask:
1) How have we been betrayed and what wounds are still open, maybe many years later, because of that betrayal?
2) What loved once have you betrayed that God may be calling you to go in humble repentance to?
3) How have you betrayed God?
Our hope is not to avoid betrayal in this life. But that Jesus, our God, has experienced betrayal. He knows your pain, your hurts, your sorrow. And he is best to the broken hearted.
The most true thing about you is not your sin, or who has betrayed you or even who you have betrayed. The most true thing about you is that you are loved by God.
Radical Hospitality
Radical Hospitality is a command.
Radical Hospitality is an invitation to exceed expectations and surprise people with God's kindness.
Radical Hospitality is rooted in the work of Jesus who didn't just carry a bag an extra mile, but carried the cross to Calvary for us.
One Body: Ministry is a Team Sport
Building from Romans 12 and the picture of the church as one body, Pastor Steve explores our 4th core value: Ministry is a Team Sport.
Ministry as a Team Sport means:
1) Delegating
2) Developing people and providing opportunities
3) Everyone!
Serving Like Jesus
As Jesus washes the feet of his servants, we learn to serve like Jesus:
1) in love
2) in humility
3) in action
Whole Life Discipleship
Learning to love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is a lifetime journey of the work of God in you to form you and mature you and shape you into the likeness of Jesus. These verses form the foundation for two of our values as a church: holistic transformation and beauty and brokenness. Holistic transformation anticipates the work of sanctification where our whole being is changed by the gospel at work in us. And beauty and brokenness calls us to see what is beautiful and what is broken in the world around us, in us, and in the people we interact with.
Compassion with Conviction
"Do not judge" in Matthew 7:1 does not... cannot... mean to never judge. To rightly judge is a heart posture.
When we recognize the great mercy we have received through Christ, two things happen:
1) We recognize how great is our sin of which we have been forgiven and
2) Our hearts soften to the needs and shortcomings of others, freeing us to move toward them in ways that are genuinely helpful, not merely reactive.
Ambassadors: Our Strategy as a Church
In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says that "we are ambassadors." Powered by the gospel, we as a church represent the interests, purposes, and priorities of God to our community. And how? Through our 4 part strategy:
Connect. Belong. Thrive. Celebrate.
What's in a name?
Our new series, Foundations, begins with a look at 5 foundational truths of the church from Matthew 16:13-20.
1) Jesus is the Christ
2) The truth of Jesus is revealed by the Father
3) Jesus builds his church (not us)
4) The church is on the offensive and
5) The church has authority here on the earth