Here are the other days...
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Words on Wednesday - J.I. Packer summarizing the Gospel
Just read this, chew on it, let it soak in, and then breathe deeply...
Were I asked to focus the New Testament message in three words, my proposal would be adoption through propitiation, and I do not expect ever to meet a richer or more pregnant summary of the Gospel than that.
~ J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p.214
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The Post-Easter Life
I am surprised by Peter pretty often. I have read his stories multiple times, have preached on them several times, and still I find myself surprised.
He has seen the Lord in John 20. He goes back to his old life in John 21.
Resurrection in 20. Fishing in 21.
That's surprising to me. At the very least, running away with all of your I-denied-Jesus-guilt to Siberia seems like a better option than sticking around. He's back from the dead. And if I'm guilty, I want to live somewhere that the only reminder of my guilt is the 1080p HD film of it in my mind. No need to see friends, family, servant girls, and geography that remind me of it too.
But he stays. And goes fishing. Old habits. Familiar contours of life. Patterns.
It's why the bottle stays our friend (or at least companion). It's why pain meds are our vitamins. It's why old flames don't really go out.
Surprised? But it's what happens when we live a post-Easter life without Jesus. The same patterns and habits and addictions continue to rule because we don't want to face up to the guilt of knowing Jesus offers something different and we're not courageous enough to take it.
So He comes to our lakeside and then pulls us aside. Do you love me? Then do what I say is best for you.
It's not just freedom. It's purpose.
But that's just me thinking thoughts...
He has seen the Lord in John 20. He goes back to his old life in John 21.
Resurrection in 20. Fishing in 21.
That's surprising to me. At the very least, running away with all of your I-denied-Jesus-guilt to Siberia seems like a better option than sticking around. He's back from the dead. And if I'm guilty, I want to live somewhere that the only reminder of my guilt is the 1080p HD film of it in my mind. No need to see friends, family, servant girls, and geography that remind me of it too.
But he stays. And goes fishing. Old habits. Familiar contours of life. Patterns.
It's why the bottle stays our friend (or at least companion). It's why pain meds are our vitamins. It's why old flames don't really go out.
Surprised? But it's what happens when we live a post-Easter life without Jesus. The same patterns and habits and addictions continue to rule because we don't want to face up to the guilt of knowing Jesus offers something different and we're not courageous enough to take it.
So He comes to our lakeside and then pulls us aside. Do you love me? Then do what I say is best for you.
It's not just freedom. It's purpose.
But that's just me thinking thoughts...
Saturday, March 30, 2013
The darkness and doubt of Easter Saturday
A repost from last year's Easter Saturday.
The air of Easter Saturday is heavy with the fog of doubt and confusion, grief and loss. Yet there is a tinge of the aroma of hope.
Just about everything we know about Easter Saturday can be summed up in one word: nothing. The silence is deafening. I can only imagine what's running through the individual and collective minds of the followers (and deserters) of Jesus.
"I guess we bet on the wrong horse here, didn't we?"
"All along I've been wrong. How can that be?"
"I thought He was someone else, someone special."
"What in the world am I going to do now?"
It strikes me that most of those thoughts and ponderings that I'm imagining have at their core how I am responding to what's happened. That's part of the problem I guess. Easter Saturday is not about how I'm feeling about what happened on Friday. It's about how God is at work even in the death, the grief, the loss, the devastation, the doubt, the silence.
There's a lot of patience required in those moments. And confidence that the One who promised is Faithful to see it through (1 Thes. 5.24).
Friday, March 29, 2013
Good (?) Friday
A repost of last year's reflections on Good Friday.
The man on the cross is no mere martyr who identifies with the oppressed - He is the Son of God being the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
Some would identify Jesus as the symbol of all who would suffer oppression, injustice, hardship, loss, grief, and hatred. He certainly did suffer those things and promised that those who follow Him would as well. But you can suffer and become bitter. You can endure hardship and come out hard-hearted. So no, He's no mere symbol.
He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's what He's doing on the cross. He can be more for us than that as He agonizes there, but it must start there. His atoning work becomes the portal for all the other things God will do (Rom. 8.32).
I write this at 3:01pm, the hour according to the Bible that Jesus cried His last words and breathed His last breath. Indeed, it is finished. Amen.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Maundy Thursday
A repost of last year's reflections on Maundy Thursday. They still hold true:
Jesus on Thursday: In the world you will have trouble, but take heart because I've overcome the world (John 16.33). That's a perfect picture of the coming Easter weekend.
No one claims the first half of that promise: in the world you WILL have trouble. That's not framed, not on anyone's fridge, not on a coffee cup or Bible cover or any of the other inane things most Christian bookstores sell. We love the back half. It's the front half we have problems with.
But Jesus not only spoke it - He modeled it. Thursday night into Friday is bloody and brutal. Friday is death and darkness and separation and wrath. Saturday is doubt and questioning and silence. But take heart, because He overcame the world on Sunday.
Prediction on the front end so we'll know He's faithful to His promise on the back end. That's (part of) what Maundy Thursday means to me.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Snakes are Scary, but so is this: Easter in the middle of September
Well, if His name is Jesus and He was crucified...
And fire the teleprompter operator.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Tree of Life Day 69: Romans 8
This chapter, more than any other didactic chapter that I can identify, transitions between the resurrection and Pentecost (which is our theme for this Sunday). Specifically, this verse I cling to and proclaim pretty often:
The resurrection was leading us to Pentecost. Amen.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (8.11)God raised Jesus from the dead. He did so by His Spirit. And that Spirit lives in us. And He's going to give life to our mortal bodies (today and for eternity) by that same Spirit. Not just existence. Life.
The resurrection was leading us to Pentecost. Amen.
Tree of Life Day 68: 1 Corinthians 15
The thing I love about the Gospel formulation in the first part of this chapter (specifically v.3-5) is the phrase that appears twice.
Did you see it?
"According to the Scriptures."
God had it all planned out. It wasn't an accident. He predicted it through the Old Testament prophets. Jesus Himself said it three times. This wasn't some contrived or cooked up Plan B. This was no contingency. It was according to the Scriptures - according to the plan of God.
That means God's in control. I need that word today. How about you?
Did you see it?
"According to the Scriptures."
God had it all planned out. It wasn't an accident. He predicted it through the Old Testament prophets. Jesus Himself said it three times. This wasn't some contrived or cooked up Plan B. This was no contingency. It was according to the Scriptures - according to the plan of God.
That means God's in control. I need that word today. How about you?
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tree of Life Day 66: Luke 24
I read Luke 24 today and tried to write myself into the Emmaus story. No, I don't think I deserve to be in a story like that. Just work with me here...
If I were walking along the road and that kind of thing happened to me, I would first have the tendency to write off the person who joined me as some sort of fool, or at the very least so disconnected and buried from the "real world" that they were not worth my time.
Don't miss that last phrase. That one stings.
Someone who has so little connection to the happenings of our day is obviously not an intellectual giant. They wouldn't be very fun to share a cup of coffee with or discuss the op-ed piece in the Times. They are...wait for it...beneath me.
That one stings too.
Because now the person I'm writing off is not some guy with bad hair, a gap in his teeth, and poor choice of colors in his wardrobe. Now the guy I'm writing off is Jesus. And He's talking about a world more real than anything I get from my news sites on the internet. He's talking about a world so real that it just turned death on its head and is making all things new. That's the One I'm judging.
But you'd do better, right?
If I were walking along the road and that kind of thing happened to me, I would first have the tendency to write off the person who joined me as some sort of fool, or at the very least so disconnected and buried from the "real world" that they were not worth my time.
Don't miss that last phrase. That one stings.
Someone who has so little connection to the happenings of our day is obviously not an intellectual giant. They wouldn't be very fun to share a cup of coffee with or discuss the op-ed piece in the Times. They are...wait for it...beneath me.
That one stings too.
Because now the person I'm writing off is not some guy with bad hair, a gap in his teeth, and poor choice of colors in his wardrobe. Now the guy I'm writing off is Jesus. And He's talking about a world more real than anything I get from my news sites on the internet. He's talking about a world so real that it just turned death on its head and is making all things new. That's the One I'm judging.
But you'd do better, right?
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Tree of Life Day 65: Mark 16
What do you do with Mark 16?
Well, first, you need to read it.
And secondly, recognize it for what it is. The so-called "longer ending" of Mark (v.9-20) has typically been considered by scholars and historians to be added later. It was probably added as extra material became available and more explanation was needed. It might have even been post-scripted in as a side note.
When something like that happens, folks who are hand copying the text don't know necessarily whether it's original or whether it's added or whether they should copy it or not. So some of our existing copies of Mark have the longer ending and some don't. When the King James Version of the Bible was published in 1611, it included it. So that's why it's in most modern day Bibles, even though it's noted in brackets.
The other side of recognizing it for what it is means that you realize that nothing that was said in the extra verses is contradictory to anything else in the Bible. In fact, it fits in quite nicely.
And besides that, the resurrection account in 16.1-8 is pointed and emphatic. Jesus is risen. Easter happened. And that news changes everything.
Well, first, you need to read it.
And secondly, recognize it for what it is. The so-called "longer ending" of Mark (v.9-20) has typically been considered by scholars and historians to be added later. It was probably added as extra material became available and more explanation was needed. It might have even been post-scripted in as a side note.
When something like that happens, folks who are hand copying the text don't know necessarily whether it's original or whether it's added or whether they should copy it or not. So some of our existing copies of Mark have the longer ending and some don't. When the King James Version of the Bible was published in 1611, it included it. So that's why it's in most modern day Bibles, even though it's noted in brackets.
The other side of recognizing it for what it is means that you realize that nothing that was said in the extra verses is contradictory to anything else in the Bible. In fact, it fits in quite nicely.
And besides that, the resurrection account in 16.1-8 is pointed and emphatic. Jesus is risen. Easter happened. And that news changes everything.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Tree of Life Day 64: Matthew 28
Have you ever noticed that those who deny the resurrection have the most to lose? For the Pharisees of the day, it was the power and prestige they held in society. They weren't about to give that up to a backwater Jewish rabble rouser. So hire some guys, spread some lies. Just a little PR damage control. Call it spin.
But that's just it, isn't it?
You can spin it. But you can't make it go away. You can lie about it. But you can't make it go away. You can deny it. But you can't make it go away. You can protect your power and prestige. But you can't make it go away.
We're not that different. Were we to surrender our lives to Jesus, there's no doubt we'd lose a lot. Power. Prestige. Control. Possessions. Desires. Dreams. Relationships. Any number of things. We'd lose them. All of them.
But that's just what Jesus commands: lose your life in order to find it. Die in order to live. And He won't hedge on those terms. He's relentless that way.
But then again, He did rise from the dead and conquer the grave.
But that's just it, isn't it?
You can spin it. But you can't make it go away. You can lie about it. But you can't make it go away. You can deny it. But you can't make it go away. You can protect your power and prestige. But you can't make it go away.
We're not that different. Were we to surrender our lives to Jesus, there's no doubt we'd lose a lot. Power. Prestige. Control. Possessions. Desires. Dreams. Relationships. Any number of things. We'd lose them. All of them.
But that's just what Jesus commands: lose your life in order to find it. Die in order to live. And He won't hedge on those terms. He's relentless that way.
But then again, He did rise from the dead and conquer the grave.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Sermon Notes from Easter Sunday, 4.8.12
Here are the sermon notes from Easter Sunday, April 8th, 2012. You can find these notes in PDF and the sermon audio at our website: sermons.heritagepark.org. You can also download the audio on iTunes via our podcast.
Tree of Life
Part 10 – The Heart of Our Faith
John 20.1-18
What is happening?
The horror of Friday has given way to the darkness of
Saturday.
The darkness of Saturday yields to the glory of Sunday
morning.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ becomes the cornerstone of the
Christian faith and message.
What does it mean?
God is making everything new through Jesus.
Jesus is not afraid of your
doubt.
- Doubts about facts.
- Jesus didn’t die.
- Someone stole the body
- The Bible isn’t true.
- Doubts about failure.
Jesus is willing to transform your
life.
Most people don’t stumble on the
facts but on the commitment those facts demand.
Everything changes when He calls your name (v.16)
Monday, April 25, 2011
Hallucination?
I intentionally left out a theory that seeks to discredit the resurrection of Jesus from yesterday's sermon. I did so because it's so pathetic that I just can't seem to get my head around it. If some of you have good explanations for it, please let me know.
This idea? It is the Hallucination Theory.
Essentially, the theory goes something like this: the apostles and others saw Jesus in their minds as some sort of mass hallucination. Here is my major issue with this line of thinking. Multiple times in the NT, we see the resurrected Christ appear to various people. A quick survey...
Women in the Garden (Mark 16, Luke 24, Matthew 28).
Two followers on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24).
A gathering of disciples behind locked doors (Luke 24, John 20).
Another gathering, this time with Thomas (John 20).
An appearance to seven disciples on the seashore (John 21).
The eleven in Galilee on the mountain (Matt. 28).
At least 500 at one time (1 Cor. 15).
At the Ascension (Acts 1).
So, just to be clear: all of these people in all of these settings with all of these different circumstances are coming up with one cogent, coherent mass delusion? Now you might see why I didn't bother giving it any press in the sermon.
But that's just me thinking thoughts...
This idea? It is the Hallucination Theory.
Essentially, the theory goes something like this: the apostles and others saw Jesus in their minds as some sort of mass hallucination. Here is my major issue with this line of thinking. Multiple times in the NT, we see the resurrected Christ appear to various people. A quick survey...
Women in the Garden (Mark 16, Luke 24, Matthew 28).
Two followers on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24).
A gathering of disciples behind locked doors (Luke 24, John 20).
Another gathering, this time with Thomas (John 20).
An appearance to seven disciples on the seashore (John 21).
The eleven in Galilee on the mountain (Matt. 28).
At least 500 at one time (1 Cor. 15).
At the Ascension (Acts 1).
So, just to be clear: all of these people in all of these settings with all of these different circumstances are coming up with one cogent, coherent mass delusion? Now you might see why I didn't bother giving it any press in the sermon.
But that's just me thinking thoughts...
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Happy Easter!
EVERYTHING CHANGES BECAUSE OF EASTER...
Today we celebrate Jesus' resurrection, by which He was declared the Son of God with power and through which He has become the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Jesus Christ beat sin on Friday and death on Sunday. There's so much that the Bible says about those. But our older brother, Christ Himself, also set the tone and pattern for us in being raised from the dead. Whoever looks on Him in confidence receives the same kind of life, indeed the very same Spirit that raised Him from the dead (Rom. 8.11).
What is ours because of this? We share with our older brother in the same inheritance from the Father. We are loved as He is loved. We are imbued with power as He has power. We are unionized with Him in His victory.
Happy Easter everyone. He is risen. He is risen indeed.
Today we celebrate Jesus' resurrection, by which He was declared the Son of God with power and through which He has become the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Jesus Christ beat sin on Friday and death on Sunday. There's so much that the Bible says about those. But our older brother, Christ Himself, also set the tone and pattern for us in being raised from the dead. Whoever looks on Him in confidence receives the same kind of life, indeed the very same Spirit that raised Him from the dead (Rom. 8.11).
What is ours because of this? We share with our older brother in the same inheritance from the Father. We are loved as He is loved. We are imbued with power as He has power. We are unionized with Him in His victory.
Happy Easter everyone. He is risen. He is risen indeed.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Easter Saturday
A repost from last year's Easter Saturday.
The air of Easter Saturday is heavy with the fog of doubt and confusion, grief and loss. Yet there is a tinge of the aroma of hope.
Just about everything we know about Easter Saturday can be summed up in one word: nothing. The silence is deafening. I can only imagine what's running through the individual and collective minds of the followers (and deserters) of Jesus.
"I guess we bet on the wrong horse here, didn't we?"
"All along I've been wrong. How can that be?"
"I thought He was someone else, someone special."
"What in the world am I going to do now?"
It strikes me that most of those thoughts and ponderings that I'm imagining have at their core how I am responding to what's happened. That's part of the problem I guess. Easter Saturday is not about how I'm feeling about what happened on Friday. It's about how God is at work even in the death, the grief, the loss, the devastation, the doubt, the silence.
There's a lot of patience required in those moments. And confidence that the One who promised is Faithful to see it through (1 Thes. 5.24).
The air of Easter Saturday is heavy with the fog of doubt and confusion, grief and loss. Yet there is a tinge of the aroma of hope.
Just about everything we know about Easter Saturday can be summed up in one word: nothing. The silence is deafening. I can only imagine what's running through the individual and collective minds of the followers (and deserters) of Jesus.
"I guess we bet on the wrong horse here, didn't we?"
"All along I've been wrong. How can that be?"
"I thought He was someone else, someone special."
"What in the world am I going to do now?"
It strikes me that most of those thoughts and ponderings that I'm imagining have at their core how I am responding to what's happened. That's part of the problem I guess. Easter Saturday is not about how I'm feeling about what happened on Friday. It's about how God is at work even in the death, the grief, the loss, the devastation, the doubt, the silence.
There's a lot of patience required in those moments. And confidence that the One who promised is Faithful to see it through (1 Thes. 5.24).
Friday, April 22, 2011
Good Friday
A repost of last year's reflections on Good Friday.
The man on the cross is no mere martyr who identifies with the oppressed - He is the Son of God being the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
Some would identify Jesus as the symbol of all who would suffer oppression, injustice, hardship, loss, grief, and hatred. He certainly did suffer those things and promised that those who follow Him would as well. But you can suffer and become bitter. You can endure hardship and come out hard-hearted. So no, He's no mere symbol.
He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's what He's doing on the cross. He can be more for us than that as He agonizes there, but it must start there. His atoning work becomes the portal for all the other things God will do (Rom. 8.32).
I write this at 3:01pm, the hour according to the Bible that Jesus cried His last words and breathed His last breath. Indeed, it is finished. Amen.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Maundy Thursday
A repost of last year's reflections on Maundy Thursday. They still hold true:
Jesus on Thursday: In the world you will have trouble, but take heart because I've overcome the world (John 16.33). That's a perfect picture of the coming Easter weekend.
No one claims the first half of that promise: in the world you WILL have trouble. That's not framed, not on anyone's fridge, not on a coffee cup or Bible cover or any of the other inane things most Christian bookstores sell. We love the back half. It's the front half we have problems with.
But Jesus not only spoke it - He modeled it. Thursday night into Friday is bloody and brutal. Friday is death and darkness and separation and wrath. Saturday is doubt and questioning and silence. But take heart, because He overcame the world on Sunday.
Prediction on the front end so we'll know He's faithful to His promise on the back end. That's (part of) what Maundy Thursday means to me.
Jesus on Thursday: In the world you will have trouble, but take heart because I've overcome the world (John 16.33). That's a perfect picture of the coming Easter weekend.
No one claims the first half of that promise: in the world you WILL have trouble. That's not framed, not on anyone's fridge, not on a coffee cup or Bible cover or any of the other inane things most Christian bookstores sell. We love the back half. It's the front half we have problems with.
But Jesus not only spoke it - He modeled it. Thursday night into Friday is bloody and brutal. Friday is death and darkness and separation and wrath. Saturday is doubt and questioning and silence. But take heart, because He overcame the world on Sunday.
Prediction on the front end so we'll know He's faithful to His promise on the back end. That's (part of) what Maundy Thursday means to me.
Good News: Jesus is Alive
Here's 2:23 worth of one of the best scholars in the world on the resurrection of Christ. His book on the resurrection (found here) is a tome of solid argumentation and thought. Key thought for me was this: you can assent to the facts but remain uncommitted. THAT, friends, is cognitive dissonance. Because if Jesus Christ rose from the dead, it changes everything. Watch and enjoy.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Invite me in...
This is a great reminder about Easter. People are predisposed to come. Why not invite them? Worth your 3:36, I promise.
To view this video, click here: SERMON SPICE LINK.
No ads, no registration. Just a poignant reminder.
To view this video, click here: SERMON SPICE LINK.
No ads, no registration. Just a poignant reminder.
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