deep spirited friends

The Jesus Letters: Revelation 1-3 | Summer 2009

2009-07-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

The Jesus Letters is a series which will begin at DSF on Sunday July 7 and run through the summer. It will explore Jesus letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation.

#1: The Cosmic Jesus
#2: First Love
#3: Faithful unto Death
#4: Battle for the Mind
#5: Wake Up! - Jesus the Thief
#6: Always on the Brink
#7: An Open Door
#8: Let Me In!

The Prodigal God

2009-06-14T23:38:00.000-07:00

This is the video we made called The Prodigal God (based on the book and concepts of the same name by Tim Keller)

http://vimeo.com/5159382

I hope it is a blessing to you.

DSF Live - Internet Stream

2009-05-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

We are now steaming DSF live for the benefit of those who can't join us on a Sunday night in Delta. Both those who are not a part of our church community and those who are but who are in far off in places like the Northwest Territories, Ontario, Chile, Bolivia, Germany, Wisconsin, and beyond.

The DSF service (every Sunday night at 7pm) will be live over the internet at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dsf-stream - please join us!

By God's grace we use this medium in the spirit of 1 Cor. 9 - that we would use all means necessary to reach as many people as possible with the gospel of Jesus.

The Jesus Scandals: Scandal #2 - The Offensive Parties

2009-05-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

"Birth is cause for celebration."

// Elizabeth Kubler Ross, Psychologist

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey!"

// Barbara Hoffman

18 Now k John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, l “Why do John's disciples and m the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, n “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 o The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and p then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old q wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” [3]

// Mark 2.18-22

33 For John the Baptist has come p eating no bread andq drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man has come r eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, s a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet t wisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

36 u One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. 37 v And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears andw wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If x this man were y a prophet, he z would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him,“Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred a denarii, and the other fifty. 42 b When they could not pay, he c cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; d you gave me no water for my feet, but e she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 f You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to g kiss my feet. 46 h You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, i which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, j “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among [1]themselves, k “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”50 And he said to the woman, l “Your faith has saved you;m go in peace.”

// Luke 7.31-50

The Wedding at Cana

2 On h the third day there was a wedding at i Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with j his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, k “Woman, l what does this have to do with me? m My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Now there were six stone water jars there n for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirtyo gallons. [1] 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted p the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested q his glory. And r his disciples believed in him.

// John 2.1-11

The Jesus Scandals: Scandal #1 - The Offensive Arrival

2009-05-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Scandal (sk’ndl): “a publicized incident that brings about disgrace or offends the moral sensibilities of society.”

“And they were offended by him…”

// Matthew 13.57

“We preach Christ crucified…a skandalon.”

// 1 Corinthians 1.23

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of skandalon; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

// Romans 9.33

“If I preach circumcision and yet suffer persecution than the skandalon of the cross has ceased.”

// Galatians 5.11

The Scandal of the Birth

"And the will be born of a virgin, and you shall call his name Immanuel which means God with us."

// Matthew 1

The Word was with God, and the Word was God... and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

// John 1.1, 14

The Scandal of his Baptism

“And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

// Mark 1.11-12

“God loves you and has a difficult plan for your life.”

// Mark Galli, Author

The Scandal of his First Sermon

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 y “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to a proclaim good news to the poor.
b He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and c recovering of sight to the blind,
d to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 e to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and f sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were g fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today h this Scripture i has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at j the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?”

// Luke 4. 17-22

"Repent and believe for the kingdom of God is at hand."

Mark 1.15

“The first step toward God is a step away from the lies of the world. It is a renunciation of the lies we have been told about ourselves and our neighbors and our universe. The word used to describe this step is ‘repentance.’ It is always and everywhere the first word in the Christian life.”

// Eugene Peterson, Theologian

The Jesus Scandals | starting Sunday May 10

2009-05-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

Scandal #1: The Offensive Arrival
Scandal #2: The Offensive Parties
Scandal #3: The Offensive Miracles
Scandal #4: The Offensive Teaching
Scandal #5: The Offensive Stories
Scandal #6: The Offensive Prophecy
Scandal #7: The Offensive Death

south delta baptist church | 7pm

Dying Young (2 Samuel 12)

2009-04-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

2 Samuel 12:15-24

¹⁵After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. ¹⁷The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, "While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate."

¹⁹David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. "Is the child dead?" he asked. "Yes," they replied, "he is dead."

²⁰Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

²¹His servants asked him, "Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!"

²²He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' ²³But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

²⁴Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him;

Do children who die in infancy go to heaven?

Genesis 18.25

Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

Romans 1.19-20

¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Jonah 4.5-11

⁵Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. ⁶Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. ⁷But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. ⁸When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."

⁹But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."

¹⁰But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

Luke 18.16

But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Job 1.21

and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

Now, let every mother and father here present know assuredly that it is well with the child, if God hath taken it away from you in its infant days. You never heard its declaration of faith - it was not capable of such a thing; it was not baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ, not buried with him in baptism; it was not capable of giving that “answer of a good conscience towards God,” nevertheless, you may rest assured that it is well with the child, well in a higher and a better sense than it is well with yourselves; well without limitation, well without exception, well infinitely, “well” eternally.

// Charles Spurgeon

If death in infancy does depend on God's providence, it is assuredly God in His providence who selects this vast multitude to be made participants of His unconditional salvation . . . This is but to say that they are unconditionally predestinated to salvation from the foundation of the world.
// B.B. Warfield

Heaven

A proper Christian understanding of heaven is not as a place remote from the present world but rather as a dimension normally kept secret of present reality… Heaven is God’s dimension of present reality.
// N.T. Wright, Scholar

Revelation 1:10, 12

¹⁰On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,

¹²I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

2 Kings 6.17

And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Heaven in the invisible world of reality so far inhabited by God, the departed saints and two categories of angel—those loyal to him and those in rebellion against him.
// David Lawrence, Theologian

Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Acts 1:11

"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

Going to Heaven when we Die

2 Corinthians 5.8

We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Luke 23.43

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

“New Heaven & New Earth”

Philippians 3:20-21

²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Revelation 21:1-4

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

The presence of spiritual wickedness is in the heavenly places which his why the Bible says that not only will the earth be cleansed and renewed, but the heavens will also be judged and purified.
// David Lawrence

Matthew 19.28

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, 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.

Romans 8:20-23

²⁰For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

1 Corinthians 15:42-43; 51-43

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

The resurrection body is not an abstract, spiritual existence having nothing to do with the earth, but something that has a place and a manifold function in the earth.
// G.C. Berkouwer

Questions About Heaven:

· Will we know everything in heaven?

· Will we be equal in heaven?

· Do those in heaven see us now?

· Will we be bored in heaven?

Community Group Questions

Discuss classical understandings of heaven vs. a Biblical one

Why is a proper understanding of heaven important?

Discuss the idea that not everyone’s experience of heaven will be the same – use 2 Cor. 5.10 and Luke 19.11-27 in your discussion.

How does a view of the restoration of creation rather than the abolition of it change the way we view the world, physicality and stewardship of the earth?

Read Revelation 21-22 and discuss what is different about this view of heaven than the classical non-physical view.

Discuss how Jesus views heaven and earth: use the Beatitudes, and the Lord’s Prayer in your discussion.

Reborn (2 Samuel 12)

2009-04-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

2 Samuel 12

And the Lord sent x Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, y “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, [1] and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, z “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb a fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, b ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 c Why have you despised the word of the Lord, d to do what is evil in his sight? e You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and f have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, g but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 13 h David said to Nathan, i “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, j “TheLord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

Parables are stories used to explain or convince. They are stories with intent. Parables are the means Jesus used most frequently to explain the kingdom and to show the character of God and the expectations that God has for humans.

// Klyne R. Snodgrass, Scholar

Perhaps the most common overemphasis is the confessional reduction of the gospel to Jesus’ death, forgiveness of sin, and imputed righteousness leading to eternal life in heaven…it neglects Jesus’ exemplary life, resurrection and imparted life of regeneration. Tragically many Christians have lost the understanding of the new life of the Spirit. Rather than living out a joy-filled life flowing from their deepest desire to be like Jesus, they settle for being sinners saved by grace obligated to do all they can to keep the law of God by duty rather than delight.

// Mark Driscoll, Pastor

Many people today understand justification as the only essential result of the gospel, and the gospel they preach is that your sins can be forgiven. That’s it! In contrast, I make bold to say, the gospel of the entire New Testament is that you can have new life now in the Kingdom of God if you will trust Jesus Christ…If you preach a gospel that has only to do with the forgiveness of sins you will be as we are today stuck in a position where you have faith over here and abundance over there, and no way to get from here to there because the necessary bridge is discipleship.

// Dallas Willard, Theologial

The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.

// CS Lewis, Philosopher

Romans 8.14

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Colossians 1.13

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

Matthew 5.48

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

1 Jn. 3.9:

No one who is born of God practices (habitual) sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

1 Jn. 3.6:

No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.

1 Jn. 5.18:

We know that no one who is born of God sins;

Rom. 6.6:

We should no longer be slaves to sin…

“Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus…present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead” (Rom. 6.11-13).

“We serve in the newness of the Spirit” (Rom 7.6)

“Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God who raised Him from the dead…He made you alive” (Col. 2.12-13)

“If you have been raised up with Christ keep seeking the things above” (Col. 3.1)

“Anyone in Christ is a new creation!” (2 Cor. 5.17)

Life as a House (2 Samuel 7)

2009-04-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

2 Samuel 7.1-14:

s Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord t had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to u Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell v in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwellsw in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, x “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” 4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: y Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house z since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about a in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where b I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with c any of the judges [1] of Israel, whom I commandedd to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, e I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 f And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel g and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place h and be disturbed no more.i And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 j from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And k I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that l the Lord will make you a house. 12 m When your days are fulfilled and n you lie down with your fathers, o I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 p He shall build a house for my name, and q I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 r I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

This is one of the most important chapters in the Bible.

// Bill Arnold, OT Scholar

Mark 3.31-35

31 q And his mother and his r brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers [2] are outside, seeking you.”33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Ands looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 t For whoever u does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

As the prophets had foretold many would come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God. Once Jesus had symbolically redefined Israel in terms simply of loyalty to himself this move was in principle open.

// N.T. Wright, Theologian

If someone asked my to summarize the effect the gospel in three words: adoption through propitiation.

// J.I. Packer, Theologian

Mark 9.1-6 (NIV)

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not l taste death m until they see the kingdom of God after it has come n with power.” 2 o And after six days Jesus took with him p Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was q transfigured before them, 3 and r his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one [1] on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, s “Rabbi, [2] it is good that we are here. Let us make three t tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For u he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

Psalm 72.17

May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
s May people be blessed in him,
t all nations call him blessed!

Matthew 28.16-20

16 Now the eleven disciples f went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they g worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, h “All authority i in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 j Go therefore and k make disciples of l all nations, j baptizing them m in [1] n the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them o to observe all that p I have commanded you. And behold, q I am with you always, to r the end of the age.”

2 Samuel 5.1-10: The City of God

2009-02-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

Church Leadership

1 Timothy 4.12-14

Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.

“Jonathan Edwards was the greatest evangelical mind in American history.”

// Mark A. Noll, Historian

Colossians 1.18

He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

1 Peter 5.4

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Philippians 1.1

Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:

1 Timothy 3.1-5

^{It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).}

Titus 1.5-9

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

Jerusalem: Past, Present and Future

Matthew 21.7-14

And brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. ⁹The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" ¹⁰When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" ¹¹And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee." ¹²And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. ¹³And He said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN." ¹⁴And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

Matthew 23.37-38

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

Revelation 21.1-5; 8-11

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." ⁵And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new " And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." ⁸"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." ⁹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." ¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹having the glory of God Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

The Bible is about Jesus

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, "Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me," now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, "Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us."

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God's justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people's victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn't just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn't just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He's the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible's really not about you – it's about him.

Small Group Questions:

· Why do we not like spiritual leadership?

· Talk about why church leadership is important?

· How important is it to recognize Jesus as the Messiah? Include John 20.30-31 in your discussion.

· What does believing in Jesus as the suffering/rising Messiah mean? Include Isaiah 53 in your discussion.

· Discuss Revelation 21.1-2; 9-10: The holy city, Jerusalem, is also the bride—the church. Talk about what it means to prepare ourselves for the great wedding to Jesus? Morally, theologically, and missionally?

· Discuss Revelation 21.8: this is a description of those who are not part of the Bride who will marry Jesus. The key to this list of sins is “unbelieving” – What do you think about the point of “continuing sin in our lives comes back to a gospel issue (i.e. ‘believing the gospel’)?

· Talk about Martin Luther’s idea that if we were to never break the first of the ten Commandments we would never break any of them – Read the Ten Commandments in your discussion (Exodus 20)

· Talk about the ‘functional saviors’ in your life – the things you put above Jesus which cause the hurt, pain, sin in your lives.

2 Samuel 2.1-4: The Usual Suspects

2009-02-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

Does the Bible encourage Polygamy?

Genesis 2.24

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh

Genesis 4.19

Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

“The attempt to improve on God’s marriage ordinance (Genesis 2.24) sets a disastrous precedent, on which the rest of Genesis is comment enough; and the immediate conversion of metal-working to weapon-making is equally ominous.”

// Derek Kidner, Theologian

Exodus 20.14

You shall not commit adultery.

Deuteronomy 17.17

He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.

1 Timothy 3.2, 12

An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households.

Titus 1.6

Namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.

“It is possible that David’s marriages to Ahinoam and Abigail were politically motivated. These were both prominent women from the surrounding countryside. Their presence helps David make the transition from ally in a foreign land to candidate for the throne. It is possible even that Ahinoam was the first wife of Saul, so that David’s marriage to her was tantamount to a claim to the throne.”

// Bill Arnold, Theologian

Messy Spirituality

There is nothing wrong with the spirituality of monks but what about the rest of us? Who live in the city, have a wife or husband, three children and broken washing machine? Those of us who are working, single, have friends who make more money than we do? If there a spirituality for the rest of us who are not in a monastery? The answer is Yes! What landed Jesus on the cross was the preposterous idea that common, ordinary, broken, screwed-up people could be godly!

// Michael Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality

Mark 2.17

And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.”

// C.S. Lewis, Philosopher

Doers of the Word, Not just Hearers

David inquires of the Lord and having heard him and understanding his will he obeys.

// Bill Arnold, Theologian

James 1:22-25

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Matthew 28.18-20

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

2 Samuel 1.17-27: The Sound of Music

2009-02-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

Lament and Mourning

Laugh with those who laugh, mourn with those who mourn

//Romans 12:15

Compassion constitutes a radical form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken seriously, that they hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humanness.

// Walter Bruegemann, Theologian

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, Saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. //Luke 19:41-42

"Jesus understands grief as the ultimate criticism that had to be addressed against Jerusalem. Without it there is no newness."

// Walter Brueggemann, Theologian

"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept.

//John 11:33-35

"The riddle and insight of Biblical faith is the awareness that only anguish leads to life, only grieving leads to joy, and only embraced endings permit new beginnings. “Jesus wept.” I understand the depth of that verse. Jesus knew what we numb ones must always learn again: that weeping must be real because endings are real; and that weeping permits newness. His weeping permits the kingdom to come. Such weeping is a radical criticism, a dismantling because it means the end of all machoism; weeping is something kings rarely do without losing their thrones. Yet the loss of thrones is precisely what is called for."

// Walter Brueggemann, Theologian

And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.

//Revelation 21:4

Man in Black – Johnny Cash

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black, 

Why you never see bright colors on my back, 

And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone. 

Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on. 

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, 

Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,

I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, 

But is there because he's a victim of the times.  

I wear the black for those who never read,

 Or listened to the words that Jesus said, 

About the road to happiness through love and charity, 

Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me. 

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose, 

In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes, 

But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back, 

Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.  

I wear it for the sick and lonely old, 

For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,

I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,

 Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.  

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died, 

Believen' that the Lord was on their side,

 I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died, 

Believen' that we all were on their side.  

Well, there's things that never will be right I know, 

And things need changin' everywhere you go, 

But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right, 

You'll never see me wear a suit of white.  

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day, 

And tell the world that everything's OK, 

But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back, 

'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

2 Samuel 1.1-16: Wag the Dog

2009-02-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

Honesty and Integrity: Being People whose “Yes” means “Yes”

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

// Matthew 5.33-37

But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

// James 5.12

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

// John 8.44

"What difference does it make if it's true? If it's a story they're gonna run with it."

// Conrad 'Connie' Brean, “Wag the Dog”

"Integrity is not something you can take off the shelf and use whenever you want it."

// L.A. Law (for those of you who do not know, was a television show in the 80’s)

"The Pharisees shifted people’s attention away from the vow itself and the need to keep it, to the formula used in making it. They argued that what the law prohibited was not taking the name of the Lord in vain, but taking the name of the Lord in vain. ‘False swearing’ they concluded, meant profanity (a profane use of the divine name), not perjury (a dishonest pledging of one’s word)."

// John Stott, Theologian

"Deception is nowhere more common than in religion…The religious leader is the most untrustworthy of leaders; in no other station do we have so many opportunities for pride, for covetousness, for lust, or so many excellent disguises at hand to keep such ignobility from being found out and called to account."

// Eugene Peterson, Pastoral Theologian

"Avoiding oaths is inadequate, the issue is telling the truth because God witnesses every word one speaks."

// Craig Keener, Theologian

"Parents shouldn’t lie to their children—not even when they think it’s for their own good. Even a little lie is dangerous; it deteriorates the conscience. And the importance of conscience is eternal."

// Pablo Casals

Prayer: God’s Knowledge and Our Growth

For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

// 1 Cor. 3:9

Process theology [including Open Theism] has done much to bring God down to the human level. God is still supreme but not absolutely sovereign. For the fulfillment of his purposes he depends on human cooperation. We contribute to the enrichment of God just as he contributes to our own growth and enrichment. We are not only enlisted by God in his service but also included in God as necessary ingredients of his creative advance.

// Donald Bloesch, Theologian

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

// Rom 10:14-15

"We do not pray for God’s good, we pray for our own good."

// Philip Yancey, Prayer

"The emphasis today is not on the almightiness of God but on his vulnerability, his empathy rather than his majesty… One of the salient features of the contemporary theological panorama is the pronounced discomfort with the traditional notion of God’s almightiness. A God who is all-powerful contradicts the democratic ethos in which decisions are arrived at by consensus."

// Donald Bloesch, Theologian

And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, "Is it I, Lord?" He answered, "He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

// Matthew 26:22-24

This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

// Acts 2:23-24

For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

// Acts 4:27-28

But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)

// John 6:64

Don't Waste Your Cancer: John Piper

2009-02-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

I post this a head of other messengers because since last night many have asked me for it. Blessings:

I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.

1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.

It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.

2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

The blessing comes in what God does for us, with us, through us. He brings his great and merciful redemption onto the stage of the curse. Your cancer, in itself, is one of those 10,000 ‘shadows of death’ (Psalm 23:4) that come upon each of us: all the threats, losses, pains, incompletion, disappointment, evils. But in his beloved children, our Father works a most kind good through our most grievous losses: sometimes healing and restoring the body (temporarily, until the resurrection of the dead to eternal life), always sustaining and teaching us that we might know and love him more simply. In the testing ground of evils, your faith becomes deep and real, and your love becomes purposeful and wise: James 1:2-5, 1 Peter 1:3-9, Romans 5:1-5, Romans 8:18-39.

3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.

The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.

4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.

We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly.Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” How can you lay it to heart if you won’t think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.

5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.

Satan’s and God’s designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to know that therefore, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).

6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.

It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth ofDaniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.

7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.

When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.

8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.

Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss—loss of body, and loss of loved ones here, and loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different—it is permeated with hope. “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don’t waste your cancer grieving as those who don’t have this hope.

9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.

Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination—all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25).

10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.

Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

saints & SINNERS: #1: Samuel: The Voice of God, Calling and Church Discipline

2009-01-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

Have you never read what David did?

// Jesus (Mark 2.25)

Text: 1 Samuel 3.1-19

Saints & Sinners

The human mind has no more power of inventing a new value than of imagining a new primary color, or, indeed, of creating a new sun and a new sky for it to move in.

// C.S. Lewis, Miracles

The obvious fact is that man is a child of nature, subject to its ways, compelled by it necessity, driven by impulses, and confined within the brevity of the years which nature permits its varied organic forms. The other less obvious fact is that man is a spirit who stands outside of nature, life, himself, his reason and the world. In its purest form the Christian view of man regards man as a unity of God-likeness and creatureliness in which he remains a creature even in the highest spiritual dimensions of his existence.

// Reinhold Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man

Psalm 8.3-6

what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

God’s Speaks: Creation & Scripture

Romans 1.20

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

"God our maker knows all about us before we say anything (Ps. 139.1-4); but we can know nothing about Him unless He tells us. Here, is the reason why God speaks to us: not only to move us to do what He wants, but to enable us to know Him so that we may love Him. Therefore God sends His word to us in the character of both information and invitation. It comes to woo us as well as instruct us; it not merely puts us in the picture of what God has done and is doing, but also calls is into personal communion with the loving Lord himself."

// J.I. Packer

HYMN: “O Word of God Incarnate”

O Word of God O wisdom from on high

O truth unchanged, unchanging, O light of our dark sky;

We praise thee for the radiance that from the hallowed page,

A lantern to our footsteps, shines from age to age

O make thy church, dear Savior, a lamp of purest gold,

To bear before the nations thy true light, as of old.

O teach thy wand’ring pilgrims by this their path to trace,

Till, clouds and darkness ended, they see thee face to face.

// William Walsham How, 1867

Church Discipline & Accountability

Matthew 18.15-17

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

1 Timothy 1.20

20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

1 Corinthians 5.9-13

9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you.

James 5.20

20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Revelation 2.20

20Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

Failure to keep reconciliation as the primary goal of church discipline has led to many abuses of the process in the history of the church, but for true reconciliation to happen there needs to be honest change in the person or person being disciplined.

// John White and Ken Blue, Church Disciplines That Heals

Skeptics Forum #5: Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?

2009-01-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

The existence of Jesus of Nazareth is undeniable.

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Hebrews 2:14

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…

John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.

// Josephus - Antiquities of the Jews xviii 3.3

Second Fact: The death of Jesus of Nazareth is undeniable.

Matthew 27:44-50

The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words. Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

On the eve of the Passover, Yeshu [Jesus] was hanged. Forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried: "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf." But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.

// The Talmud Sanhedrin 43a

Third Fact: The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is debated but undeniable.

The Swoon Theory: Jesus didn’t die he simply passed out and woke up in the grave.

Logic: Roman soldiers…

Perils of crucifixion…

The fear of leaders…

Biblical Proof:

Matthew 27:57-60

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.

Stolen Body Theory: The Roman Soldiers were sleeping and the disciples stole the body.

Logic: Disciples in disarray…

Rome’s elite guard…

Biblical Proof:

Luke 24:10-12

Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.

Matthew 27:65-66

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”

And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.

Wrong Tomb View: The disciples went to the wrong tomb-no wonder Jesus wasn’t there.

Logic: Women had just been there…

Peter knew exactly where to go…

Biblical Proof:

Matthew 28:1-8

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.

What if I don’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 15:3-14

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I amthe least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yetnot I, but the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

What if I do believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

1 Corinthians 15: 42-45, 47-49

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body…As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heaven so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

Question: Where’s the body?