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Receive Him!

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This coming Lord’s Day, we plan to continue to work through John’s Advent account and specifically hone in on John 1:11-13. In these verses, we are told something shocking on one level: Jesus’ own people rejected Him. Humanly speaking, it is almost unfathomable that the Creator of all things could come to His people and they would reject Him, but that is precisely what happened. But, Jesus was received. He was received by those who believed in His name and lest those who believe start to puff themselves up in self-righteous thinking, John reminds those believers that it wasn’t some magic decision they did of their own will, but it happened because they were born of God. This holiday season, have you received Jesus or rejected Him. Receive Him by believing in His name and in so doing prove that you are born of God.

Christmas with Capital “C”

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It seems that with all the church’s preoccupation with keeping “Christ” in Christmas (which is a good thing) we can be dangerously close to missing Him ourselves.  I could agree more than with what Jared Wilson recently wrote in a post entitled This Christmas, Don’t Let Jesus Distract You from Jesus.  He writes: 

There is a great danger this Christmas season of missing the point. And I’m not referring simply to idolatrous consumption and materialism. I’m talking about Christmas religiosity. It is very easy around this time to set up our Nativity scenes, host our Christmas pageants and cantatas, read the Christmas story with our families, attend church every time the door is open, and insist to ourselves and others that Jesus is the reason for the season, and yet not see Jesus. With the eyes of our heart, I mean. 

I suppose there is something about indulging in the religious Christmas routine that lulls us into thinking we are dwelling in Christ when we are really just set to seasonal autopilot, going through the festive and sentimental motions. Meanwhile the real person Jesus the Christ goes neglected in favor of his plastic, paper, and video representations. Don’t get distracted from Jesus by “Jesus.” This year, plead with the Spirit to interrupt your nice Christmas with the power of Jesus’ gospel.

I wonder if we aren’t guilty of missing the True Light of this season ourselves?  So how about it?  Will you “plead with the Spirit to interrupt your nice Christmas with the power of Jesus’ gospel”?  Do this and see if this doesn’t end up being a Christmas you’ll always remember.

Weekend Recap – 12/11/11

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After fighting off the flu all day Saturday, God seemed to smile upon me and I was able to fulfill all my “pastoral duties” on Sunday.  So, the sermon from 12/11/11AM is now online.  It was entitled True Light from John 1:9-10.  Specifically, it focused on how Jesus the True Light of the world entered the world, demanded a response and was rejected by the world.  I think this gives us confidence in taking our witness to the world and encouragement in awing the Savior this holiday season.

All the items up for affirmation at our church’s Annual Meeting passed as well, which means we are bringing David Lansdowne back on as a lay elder and Cameron Wood will enjoy his first term as a deacon.  The 2012 Budget was also affirmed.  Exciting stuff.

In the PM we had one small group to unite them all (meaning all the small groups came together at church) for a holiday party.  We enjoyed fun, fellowship and food.

Hope you had a great Lord’s day and continue to awe your Savior this holiday season.

Pujols, My Heart & The Gospel

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Well, you have probably heard the news that caused my heart to sink this AM: Albert Pujols would be signed by Angels of Anaheim in a 10 year $250 million some odd contract.  My first thoughts were ones of frustration.  After my friends Scott Lamb and Tim Ellsworth wrote Pujols: More Than The Game, I’ve really worked hard to say that Pujols wasn’t like the other money-hungry guys.  He uses the money God gives him in good ways to bless others.  I was bummed that the focus was on the contract and amount of money “he deserved” etc.

But, as I noticed the response by so many on Facebook and other places, especially Christian people, I realized that this was another opportunity from God to look at my own heart, cravings and desires and see what God might want to teach me.  You see, I naturally default to thinking that I am more righteous than Albert because I would never be about the contract, or so I think.  Yet, undergoing feedback and evaluation by my elders each year and wanting more money for the services I give (and fighting against sinful cravings like greed more and more) I know that I can be guilty of greed just as easily.  It is an expression of self-righteousness to conclude and even boast, “Thank God, I’m not like Albert Pujols selling out for more money.”  Rather, I should confess, “God be merciful to me, the sinner.”  Even if this is true (and most of us aren’t close enough to the situation to know Albert’s heart), I know that my heart’s exalting itself is a sinful response.

Then, there’s the issue of putting faith in man.  I loved watching Albert play the game.  When he messed with Brad Lidge’s head a few years back hitting that homer off Lidge that is still probably flying, I went running through the house screaming.  I love the Cardinals.  I love winning World Championships and Albert’s been a huge part of this.  However, I have to be careful I’m not ascribing to Pujols worship and praise even trust only deserved for Jesus.  This is my heart’s problem.

So, today has proven a good opportunity to grow in grace for me.  Maybe like me, you could grow through this, too.  Therefore, today, lift up your eyes to the hills where your help comes from.  Not a maneuver at baseball’s winter meetings, but from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

True Light – Weekend Preview 12/11/11

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This coming Lord’s Day, 12/11, we hope to continue our movement toward Christmas by celebrating Advent Week #3.  Our text will be John 1:9-10, which speaks of Jesus being the true light and one who must be responded to.  What do you think of Jesus?  Who do you say that He is?

I think Charles Simeon said it best when he asked these two questions about Jesus the True Light:
1) What light have you received from the Lord Jesus Christ?
2) How far are you reflecting this light to those around you?

Think on this and come expecting God to be glorified in our corporate worship this coming Lord’s Day.

Weekend Recap – 12/4/11

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My sermon from 12/4/11 entitled Word in Creation from John 1:3-5 is now online.  I love it when God turns the light on and I experienced a most amazing thing in delivering this sermon.  It was almost as if while I was delivering it its truth became more clear and I was moved to see it in deeper and richer ways.  I praise God for moments like this.  It is truly very humbling to see God move in such amazing ways.

The sermon itself sought to show just how God got messy when He came to earth.  Specifically, we saw that we were made by the Word (and, as a result made for Him).  We also saw that He is the source of life and His life-giving work can’t be stopped.

In the evening, my small group met and we discussed the Respectable Sin of Anger.  Very convicting and helpful discussion.  What a full Lord’s Day.  I trust and hope that yours was a blessing as well.

Weekend Preview – Word & Creation

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This coming Lord’s Day, 12/4, we hope to return to John 1:3-5 and pick up where we left off last week.   Last week, we saw in John 1:1-2 that the Eternal Word is God and has existed in a personal relationship to the Father forever.  This week, though, we transition to see how this Word came near to us.  Specifically, if He was there in creation, how does He relate us.  The sermon will unfold how Jesus is related to creation as Creator, Life-Giver and Evil-Conquering Head.

There’s a reason that Revelation 3:14 announces that the message to that church was from “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.”  We all owe our existence to Christ. We truly live to the degree that we function in this reality.  Come hungry this Sunday to see the greatness of Jesus Christ, the Word, as He relates to His creation.

Gospel Balance & Growth

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I’ve been one of those Gospel-Centered guys for a few years now, meaning that I see Jesus on every page of the Bible and believe that the Gospel is the message of first importance.  I’m preached hard against the cold, lifeless and sometimes dead religious works that many do simply out of duty.  When my work on earth is done, I want the greatness of Jesus and not something else to be the motto of all that I was about.

Therefore, I was greatly helped recently by a post on the Biblical Counseling Coalition by Stuart Scott.  The post is entitled Gaining A Balanced Picture on God’s Counsel.  Trying to summarize an article that is so excellent is very difficult.  But, what I would say is, if you’ve ever wondered how being Gospel-centered helps inform your living out the Christian life or if you’ve ever felt a tension in being about the Gospel and “disciplining your life for the purpose of godliness,” then this article is for you.  I can’t recommend it highly enough.  There’s a MS Word version and a PDF available.

I hope it helps you as much as it did me.

Weekend Recap – 11/27/11

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My sermon, The Word, from John 1:1-2 is online.  The sermon sought to show how Jesus, the Word became flesh, has always existed in personal relationship to the Father and is God.  It was a message that should give good theological support structure to those amazing promises we love about how God will never leave us or forsake us.  I hope it was encouraging.

In the evening, our church gathered to Hang the Greens.  Always a good time of fellowship and service, we enjoyed time with other people in the church.