John the Apostle and John the Baptist: Two key witnesses testify to Jesus

John 1:19-34 ESV

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said." (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."

Rev. Charles Han

A large amount of our world is dependent upon eyewitnesses. From news to justice, witnesses play a very large role. After the apostles, no one saw Jesus. Your faith rests upon those eyewitnesses. There are two that we will look at today: John, the Baptist and John, the Apostle.

The Testimony of John, the Apostle

John had intimate access to Jesus' life and ministry. The other three gospels are very similar. They share details and events. John's goal in this testimony is to prove that Jesus was the Son of God and that people would know, have faith, and be saved. This book is his personal experience of walking with God. John never calls himself by the first person. He always calls himself as "the apostle that Jesus loved." This is not arrogance, it is John's conviction that he was a sinner loved by God. This is John reflecting upon the great, awesome-ness of God's love.

Are you overwhelmed by the love of God? Do you personally feel His love for you?

If you don't, here are some reasons.

Maybe we are going through tough times. It is hard to see God's love through the current dark times.

Or perhaps, we take His love for granted. We don't reflect on God's love for you.

The Testimony of John, the Baptist

All four gospels discuss him. Among those born, there is no one more important than John, the Baptist. He was the first prophet to see the one who was prophesied to come. The expectation of the Jews waiting for the Messiah was at a fever pitch. John was baptizing and had a large following. When John was asked who he was, he never focused on himself... he was always pointing towards Jesus, the one to come. When John finally sees Jesus, John calls Him: "Behold the lamb of God" But this is strange, the jewish people were waiting for a savior to crush their enemies, a mighty king. Jesus came to John to be baptized. This water baptism is for sinners to repent. Jesus does this to identify with sinners and wretched. Up till this point, the Messiah was not associated with the sacrificial lamb.

Jesus, the son of God

In their time and day, the Jewish people expected a mighty human king. They were not expecting God himself. Even John the Baptist was surprised. He only found out when the baptism occurred. The Holy Spirit comes down to Jesus. God himself testifies to Jesus being the son of God. This scene is an echo of creation. The dove of the Spirit, God the father, and Jesus making a new world. Jesus is making the world anew. Those things we give to Jesus will be remade and brought back to life.

The Gifts of Christmas

John 1:1-18 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Rev. Charles Han

This is covering the prologue of the gospel of John. Every other gospel starts with the birth of Jesus. John starts before it all, even before creation. In the beginning...

Jesus brings tangible compassion.

The word became flesh and tabernacles with us. In the old testament, there was an intermediate. Now Jesus is among us, no more is there a priest, but instead bone of our bones, flash of our flesh. Our weaknesses, shortcomings, vulnerabilities, and pain...is felt by God. Jesus experienced all these things first. He became like one of us.

Jesus brings tangible grace

We need grace. We have constantly broken God's law, even this past week. It not only comes to those who are undeserving, but the ill-deserving. Not just giving love to those unknown strangers... But giving to those who have wronged you.

Application/Response

Receive the light with trust

Light both draws us in attraction. But light also exposes us, it shows us as we are. So it both attracts and repels us. Jesus beckons us to come into the light fully.

Receive the person of Jesus, not the religious symbols

We hear about love, joy, hope, peace... But those words are not just abstractions... They come in a person. Jesus is the literal embodiment of these things.

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Set Us Free From Life Under the Sun

Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:17 ESV

I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
I said in my heart, "I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge." And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
For in much wisdom is much vexation,and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?" I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Life under the sun = the fallen, sinful world.
Qoheleth is one of the names of the author. This name means professor or teacher. He is a kingly figure. One who has received great success and worldly pleasure.

He sums it up this way. Everything is absurd and futile.

Futility under the sun

The futility of work - Ecc 1:1-11

What does man gain for all his toil? Nothing new happens. Like the sun, clouds, and rivers. After you die, the sun keeps going, just like the rivers, etc.

The futility of pleasure - Ecc 2

He jumped into pleasure of all sorts: fun, entertainment, relationships, even sex. He found it empty and ultimately, unfulfilling.

The futility of wisdom

Increasing wisdom increases sorrow
The wise and the fool both suffer death.

The freedom that Jesus Christ brings

Jesus steps down from heaven and subjects himself to this futile and meaningless life. He does not consider this life beneath him. Jesus is the most wise. Wisdom increases sorrow. So Jesus became increasingly sorrowful. He lived a most wise life that lead him through poverty & suffering, and ended in death in the prime of life.

Jesus redeems the futility of this life.

For wisdom, where's the payoff? Wisdom, for the christian, is the cross. Wisdom will be rewarded in the life to come. If there was no resurrection, then wisdom has no payoff.

Pleasure is redeemed.

Jesus brings himself, the source of all joy and pleasure. God is the creator of pleasure. If you make worldly pleasure your greatest pursuit, you will come out empty. If you make Jesus the center, then pleasure is something to be enjoyed.

Work is redeemed. - 1 Cor 15:30-32,57-58

Living for Christ is worth living. We now have a purpose.
If Christ is not risen, then we should just eat, drink, and be merry in our futility.

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Give Us a King

1 Samuel 8:4-22 ESV

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations." But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them." So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day." But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, "No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles." And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey their voice and make them a king." Samuel then said to the men of Israel, "Go every man to his city."

Rev. Dan Whang

We will be trying to build a full picture of the coming of Jesus. So we will start in the Old Testament and move through the word to get the full story.

Israel has been living in the period of the judges. Judges were sent by  God to Israel when they were in trouble. No royal line, no government. Israel is at their best during this period. Israel humbly cries out to God for deliverance during Philistine attack. God delivers them and they enjoy a period of peace. Samuel gets old and tries to appoint his sons as judges. They do a horrible job. So the elders confront Samuel and ask him for a king.

This request is okay, but the heart behind it was sinful. They wanted a king like all the other nations. This was a rejection of their invisible king, God. It was also a rejection of their call to be a holy nation, called apart from among those nations. They felt that a monarchy was better than what God had arranged.

What kings are we demanding? Money? Career? What do we look for security?

Lessons to learn

We may earnestly pray, but we hold tightly to the way we want Him to answer us.

We must learn to simply cry out to God in humble dependence.

So God lets them have their way...

Saul, David, Soloman... Civil war.
Israel has a problem: sin and rebellion against God. God's agenda is not to conquer the enemies of Israel, but to conquer the hearts of Israel. In sin, Israel was God's enemy.

Fast forward to the birth and we see God's solution to sin and rebellion, Jesus. Through Him we have restoration and reconciliation with God.

Jump back to the conversation between Samuel and the elders. God had Samuel warn the people. The king they ask for will exact a heavy toll. They will come full circle and this king that they ask for, will drive them to cry out to God again.

Summary

We think we know best, even when we cry out to God. We reject our King. So stop, receive our king, the perfect king, Jesus. He will take from us. He takes our idols. And He gives back...living water, peace, rest,freedom, and eternal life.

How Can They Hear?

Romans 10:14-15 ESV

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!"

Mr. Kevin Cain

The Missionary God

Genesis 12:1-4 ESV

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

This chapter marks a change from macro level perspective to just one man, Abram. Genesis now focuses on this man and his family line.

God's Missionary Heart

Throughout Genesis, we notice a pattern of human sin and judgement. But if we look closer, we should notice that each judgement includes an element of grace. Protection for a murderer, promise of life after the fall, dispersal of people who do wrong... God has a heart for sinners. God could simply end it for all of humanity. Yet He does not. The heart of God is underestimated. He wants and loves sinners. Especially those who grew up in the church, we can overlook the heart of God. The bible is about God, the great missionary, searching out sinners to bring them home. From creation to new creation. He takes on our clothes, our language, comes to us, so that we could be saved. A note of application, Abram was blessed to be blessed. It is the same for us, we are blessed to be a blessing. After you have met Jesus, there is only one reason why you are still here. You have a part to play in expanding the kingdom of God. This call does not end when you finish college, when you have children, when you get a job, when you retire... it ends when we go home or Jesus comes back.

God's Enormous Enablement for Missions

Abram is called to leave when he is an old man. He is called to leave his family. That meant leaving everything that meant security in those times. It is a crazy call. But what follows is a set of crazier promises. God calls him to leave his family to make a universal family. He is asked to leave his nation, but will become a father of nations. The promise for those who answer the call of God is much more than what we are leaving behind.

Mark 10:29-31 ESV

Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,  who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

In this life, missionaries will find themselves as spiritual parents. They are enabled by God to give birth to new believers. Also, missionaries will get more of God. The presence of God is with those who walk in the path of God. Our experience of God becomes richer with our walk in His mission and plan for the salvation of every tribe and nation.

God's Method for Missions

God uses very ordinary people to reach the nations. The foolish and the weak are those who he uses. He picks an old man with a barren wife. The nation of Israel was considered least of nations. Jesus was a normal guy, son of a carpenter. He chooses disciples...fishermen. Normal people. Weak, scared, and normal people...those are the ones God uses.

Genesis: "After the rain"

Genesis 8-9:17 ESV

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. Then God said to Noah, "Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
"Whoever sheds the blood of man,

by man shall his blood be shed,

for God made man in his own image.
And you, be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it." Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Rev Dwight Yoo

A Promise of Peace

God could have just ended the story of humanity here. But He does not. Instead God keeps His promise... What promise? The promise of love and intimacy from the beginning. He keeps His promise even when we break our part of it. God makes new covenants when the old one was broken.

God makes a promise not to flood the earth again. He will hang up His bow in the sky. He will no longer make war on mankind. Why? It comes after Noah's burnt offering. This sacrifice is not itself the reason. It is a symbol for the lamb of God. The one who would bring everlasting peace. The whole wrath of God is poured out onto Jesus. The judgement is taken by Christ. But there is a flip side. God will take up His bow again in the final judgement. The earth will end in fire.

A Pattern of Grace

You have to have storm clouds to see the rainbow.  This makes up part of the pattern for us too.  Israel went to the promised land after: slavery in egypt, the pharaoh's refusal and the sea in front of them.  And that's when they see God part the sea and destroy pharaoh's army.

Storms in life are not judgement for the Christian. They are so God can show us His character and His provision. We need rain for the rainbow. God shows up in the darkest of darkness. No storm of God's sending is permanent.

Proper response to Grace

After the flood, Noah sacrifices a burnt offering. This burnt offering is Noah surrendering his entire life to God. That is the only proper response to God's grace. Absolute submission to God. Giving the whole life over to God. His will be done. Not the Christian spin on the American dream.

Barriers II: Idolatry

2 Kings 17:1-17 ESV

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, "You shall not do this." Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets." But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

God's people have a tendency to go with their preferences. And their preferences are always end in idolatry.

This is a community gone wild. The community is no longer about God. Worship is no longer about God, but rather idols that they have fashioned.
Why?
They ignored God's instruction. Verse 14
They invested and found interest in idols. Verse 15
They became ignorant and instruments of idolatry. Verse 15b
They imitated a non-biblical way of life and instituted it. Verse 15c
They shared intimately and intentionally in idolatry. Verse 17

We are supposed to go from total depravity to total dependence, not independence.

Counterfeit gospels
Formalism
Activism
Socialism
Biblicism
Mysticism
Legalism
Psychologism

These all get in way of true community and being on mission.  Do not try to adjust your life to make this fit. You will have to lose something. Dreams. Parental expectations. Hobbies. Careers. Die to yourself and live to Christ.

Basics: A community in mission

Pastor Diddy

There is the Lostness to this world, emptiness, and a void. We as Christ disciples must own the lostness of the world. And we must also own the sentness by which Christ charges us.

The neighborhood is your context. It is not just an obstacle on the way to church. You should have a heart and compassion for west philly. That is the lost that we own. Not the pastors and the staff. But everyone who breathes of the Spirit is charged. We are not simply gathered, but primarily sent.

Missional Maturity

The church is an army of missionaries. To desire for the most known name in philly is not Michael Vic, but Jesus.

Missional Momentum

The church as a whole and individuals chasing the least, the lost.

Missional Mythology

The gospel is the center. We should worship Jesus rather than ideas about Jesus. We worship ideas rather than Christ. We are to love God rather than church hobby horses.

None of these things make disciples, Christ does
- coffee shops
- interactive web pages
- dressing down as opposed to dressing up
- saying church buzz words
- theological swag

Missional Mobilization

As the church scatters each day, they will create an environment of hope and grace. That those who have no hope, will see hope. At every point of contact, they see a kingdom beyond the pain and suffering. A place where broken messed up can worship God.

Practical ways to engage your Neighbors
+ Give holiday cards
+ Invite to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cookouts
+ Rake leaves, shovel snow
+ Ask them how your can pray for them, pray for them, and tell them that you always do
+ Find out their interests

Some practical ways to engage your City
+ projects together as a community
+ random acts of kindness as a group
+ sports activities as a group, inviting nonbelievers and people
+ participate in efforts of city renewal
+ volunteer at schools
+ shop at the same stores

Some practical ways to engage one another
+ live out the "one-anothers"of scripture

Pizza, pitbulls, and the power of God
http://thriveinthecity.org/pizza-pitbulls-and-power-the-of-god/

Barriers I: Individualism

1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27 ESV

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Pastor Doug Logan (Diddy)

This is not going to be an exegesis. The individual rules we learn from church can muddle our theology. What saves, what is appropriate...  In the garden at the fall, we see bad theology, pride, and radical individualism. We want to go solo, do our own thing. Salvation means we are now in a community. It is not a solo thing. Individualism is an effect of the fall. We need to fight it intentionally to move towards community.

A picture of individualism
- Self at the center
- Everything revolves around the person
- Desire the world to nurture, exalt, and gratify self
- Personal success at the cost of all else
- Driven by satisfaction of self
- Standing up for one's right
- Getting one's due/Getting mine

Aspects of community that can be perverted
Sanctification:
+ a  work of the spirit to bless the community
- a holy journey towards God
Sacraments:
+ strengthening affirmation and being brought to the corporate  unit of the church
- ones continual reaffirmation

History of Community: Jeremiah 29:4-9

Jeremiah 29:4-9 ESV

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.

Pastor Doug Logan

Background on Being a Community on Mission

There is a false dichotomy between holy living and mission minded. But we are in Christ, and in Him, we are missional as well as holy.

God sends the church into the world. Mission is the purpose and reason for the church. Mission exists because worship doesn't. The mission is hard to see as a movement of believers. We draw people through the unity in our church. We are convinced that we are posturing to convince people to follow God. But that is not missional. The community is not a bunch of lone rangers!

Mission is not going or getting, it is knowing. Unless you know God's sending mission, you don't get it. Understand the task, then you can get there. Not only is the church sent. But the holy spirit is sent as well.

The sending God sends the church
John 20, Hebrews 1, Acts 1

Mission is not about ideas or theology. It is about God who loves us saving our slimey stinking souls.

Genesis: A flood of evil, a flood of judgement, a flood of grace

Genesis 6 & 7

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Noah's ark is a story told to children. There are even toys. But it isn't really a cute story. There's depravity, death, and judgement. Noah's ark probably floated in a sea filled with bodies of men and animals. Our reaction should be awe rather than aww.

What God Sees

In creation, God saw and He saw good. Now He only sees evil. In mankind leaving God behind and turning our backs on Him, we have devolved to become less than human. Some evolutionists would say we are improving over time. Yet the bible describes the cancerous disease called sin.

Total depravity is a doctrine telling us that the total extent of us are corrupted. Not the amount but the reach. We are like a cup of water. Just a drop of poison pollutes the entire cup. Every aspect of ourselves is corrupt. Every inclination of our hearts are sinful. Everything is mixed motives, even christians. The heart of sin is turning from God and calling our own shots. It is the same heart in Adam and Eve.

What God Feels

God feels our sin. He is regretful and grieved. He feels it personally. We may feel God is distant and emotionally detached, but He is not. He decided to be connected to His creation. Our sin personally pains Him. The grief in genesis 6:6 is the most horrific emotion used in scripture. It is felt by the brothers of Dina, who was raped. The death of David's son, Absalom. The feelings of a deserted wife. Sin makes God feel like a rape, the death of a son, and the deserted wife. That is the pain God feels with each sin we do. God is patient and He endures. But at some point, God's patience runs out.

What God Does

God is love, but He is also just. God is patient, but He will also judge. God's judgement is not harsh, but just. Sin is turning from God, essentially treating God as if He was dead. Deicide, killing God. While we can't literally kill God. We live as if He was dead. So in taking a life, we are sentenced to death. Hell is simply God choosing to take Himself away from people who do not want Him. In doing so, God takes away life, love, joy, and all good things that He is the source of... The absence of God is what makes Hell hellish. The ruin of the world was already done, so God let them have their way. Utter destruction.

Noah found grace. This is the first mention of grace in the bible. Noah is far from perfect. (He gets drunk and wasted later...) God gives Noah his favor. Not only did Noah and his family go into the ark, but sin also went into the ark. So why the flood? God was pointing towards a future judgement and a future grace. Jesus, the seed of Noah, will save more than one family. The coming judgement will make sure that evil will be completely purged. Only Jesus will save us and stop these cycles of evil and judgement. He will usher in the new Eden.

Application

Believe

Pray for those who have yet to believe

Recognize the personal nature of sin

Genesis: Life East of Eden - Where Sin Abounds, But Grace Prevails

Genesis 4

Rev. Charles Han

These chapters show the spread and ramping up of sin. The area to the east of eden show how sin plays out.

The character of Cain's sin

Cain's offering is rejected, Abel's accepted. Cain brings a offering of produce. Abel brings the first-fruit of his animals. This can be interpreted to say that Cain brought a second rate offering. So Cain is rebuked for his cheap sacrifice. Hebrews 11:4 speaks of Abel's faith. Cain's sacrifice was to get God's blessing. Abel was seeking God. Cain was characterized by a faithless, loveless, & cheap sacrifice. Abel was giving a faithful, loving, and costly sacrifice.

Faithless and loveless towards God

When God rebukes Cain, he gets angry. Cain could have turned towards God and repented. Instead he gets angry and depressed. He doesn't get the reward he wanted. So the brokenness between God and Cain turns into brokenness between Cain and Abel. Envy is worse than covetousness. Covet makes a person steal. Envy makes us wish to destroy the thing someone has. In both cases, the person has empty hands, but in the case of envy...the desire is to empty the hands of the other person.

Envious and murderous towards Abel

The murder, the envy, the hatred is all forgivable. So why is the punishment so harsh? Cain has no concern for his brother. He excuses himself from that. He has more concern over the punishment than what he has fine. So God punishes hoping Cain will repent. Cain follows in the footsteps of his parents, Adam and Eve.

Stubbornly unrepentant

Consequences of sin

Sin is trying to destroy us. There is no middle ground with sin.

Sin devours.

Our relationships with others is distanced. Our walk with god is distant. We are never quite at home.

Sin alienates.

Sin gets worse. Adam and Eve sin. By the second generation, Cain murders his brother over a sacrifice. By the seventh generation, we see Lamech. Seven represents completion. Lamech can be seen as the finished endpoint of sin. Cain asked God for protection. Lamech has no such desire. He also introduces polygamy into the world. He breaks the institution of marriage. He is vengeful. He kills people for injuring him. He is without remorse. The disease of sin had run the full course. It ends with unloving and blind hearts, rock hard towards God.

Sin progresses.

Cure for sin

We bring second-rate sacrifices to God. So God brings the first-fruit sacrifice in our stead: Jesus.
Hebrews 12:22-24 Abel's blood cries out for justice, condemnation, and a curse. Jesus' blood cries out for mercy, forgiveness, and grace.

If the grace of God in Jesus dwells in your heart, you will bring first-rate sacrifices to God. You will walk closely with God.

Genesis: Free... Free fallin'

Genesis 2:1-24 ESV

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
These are the generations

of the heavens and the earth when they were created,

in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

"This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

The nature of temptation and sin

The serpent is crafty and has evil intent. Revelation 20:2 alludes to the serpent as Satan. Yet he was created and became evil by choice. And more importantly, he is not God's equal.

How does temptation work?
   Questioning God's word
   Questioning God's character
   Doubt the reality of consequences and judgement
   Twisting of God's word
   Prioritizing pragmatic values over God's word
   Delighting in Aesthetic Appearance and Sensual Desires over God's word
(Matthew 4:1-11 is another example)

The consequences of sin

Sin turns everything upside down. The serpent, representing creation, tells the woman what to do. The woman leads her husband into sin. Man is absent from guarding and leading his wife. The original hierarchy of creation is flipped.

Layers of brokenness
   Man's relationship with God
   Man's relationship with himself
   Man's relationship with others
   Man's relationship with nature

The nature of God

A pursuer of sinners: seeker of the astray
A promise keeper: He promises redemption in His curse on the woman
A prodigal God: covering sin, guilt, and shame with a sacrifice (wastefully extravagant)

Genesis: Made for relationship

Genesis 2:18-25 ESV

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

"This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Made for relationships

Consider creation up to this point. Everything is good. But then God says that Adam's alone-ness was NOT good. Adam goes through all the animals... Not one was suitable. So we can say this verse was to show the first feeling of loneliness. Not good. There is an innate need for relationship within us. This is from our creation in the image of God. God is himself a community, relating between the Trinity. Man is meant to live as a community with relationships. It is part of what makes us human. We want to be vulnerable, accepted, and loved faithfully. Not only in marriage, but also our friendships.

Mangling of relationships

We hurt others. Rejection, self-centered, not sharing and hiding ourselves, etc. That is what we do and what is done to us.

We are meant to be in relationship with God first.  When our relationship with God is broken, our relationships with others break down. As we will see next week, Adam and Eve reject God going into shame and divisiveness. One generation later, the culmination of broken relationship in the murder of Abel by Cain.

Mending relationships

Jesus died to repair relationships. Both our relationship with God and with others. He empowers us in our friendships and in our marriages. God is always with us. So in all these things God is with us. That is our Jesus. We move towards others as Jesus moved heaven and earth to be with us. So those of us who have seen and understand, can move towards others. We can be vulnerable because all our sins and weaknesses are covered by the blood and righteousness of Christ. We no longer have to care about what others think of us. We can be accepting. Considering that we are all sinners before God, we can accept others. Their struggles, their sins. We can forgive and be with them. Through all things.

Even when others are not loving in this way, we are still called to love this way. Persist in living this way, and we may have a softening effect on others. The other person may mature and emulate our way of loving others.

Maturing and modeling effect of relationship

We were created for relationship. When we entered into relationship with God, we have also entered into relationship with all others joined with Christ. All other christians! This is not voluntary.

It is through deep relational investment that you mature and grow. (Hebrews 3:12-13) Sin deceives. This deception hardens us. We have sins not yet uncovered. These deep relationships uncover our blind spots.

"intentional intrusive, Christ-centered, grace-driven, and redemptive relationship" - Paul Tripp

We are to mirror Christ, each in a different way with different spiritual gifts. Not a single person on mission, but teams of people working to reflect the glory of God. This will attract non-christians. A group that loves radically, shares intimately, accepts fully is different from the world.

John 13:35

Genesis: The Beginning of Everything

Genesis 1:1-2:3 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Why are we covering genesis?

Scripture is one large overarching story spanning all the books of the bible. Genesis gives some principles that are foundational.

Components of a Worldview

A Theory of Origins
An Explanation of the source of evil and suffering
Instill Hope by offering a vision of how to fix what is wrong

what is the christian worldview?
Creation, the fall, and the gospel.

We are told that there are people who are reasonable and then there are those who have "faith" blindly ignoring reason and science. This is not true. We don't need to blindly believe.

This passage had been debated long before evolution became a theory. Before Darwin, christians debated how to interpret these beginning passages. There are multiple ways to understand them.

One that appeals to me is this interpretation. This passage of genesis can be viewed through the lens of the author's intent and the genre of this writing. This writing has the marks of poetry: Repetition of ideas and parallelism. So genesis 1 is not a historical account, it is poetic verse. Genesis 2 is more like a historical account. To say that genesis should be a historic account is like trying to say that a picasso should accurately describe anatomy. It was never intended to do so. So it is here.

Application

Creation is good, but God is ultimate.

Matter is good. So are spiritual things. This world is meant to be enjoyed. Food is good. Nature is good. Sex is good. But there is more than just materialism. There is more than just created things. There is still God.

Creation is ordered and purposeful.

God created things in an orderly way. God is not simply an inspector, he enjoys it. God rested from his work to enjoy his creation. God delights in man and all of creation.

The word is the agent that God uses to create and redeem.

God's word has creative power. It redeems and brings things into order. Just like creation. It brings order and fullness of life. The word is not only in the pages of the bible, it came in the person of Jesus. The word became flesh and died to redeem us.

The reason for god - keller
Total truth - nancy percy

Your labor is not in vain

1 Corinthians 15:14-32, 56-58 ESV

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Rev. Dan Whang

Paul is presenting the evidence for the essential resurrection of Christ. This is central to those who believe  in the hope that is found in Jesus. All our prayers, ministry, and lives would be in vain. The resurrection is real and it powers our entire lives.

Application

We can live our lives recklessly.

In christ, we have final victory. No matter what happens, when jesus returns God will restore all things.

Paul lived his life in danger and trials. He placed all his hope in the final resurrection. He accepted a hard and painful ministry because he was convinced of Jesus' resurrection.

The safe and calculated life is contrary to the resurrection.

For those who are promised eternal reward, holding tightly to things of the world looks nonsensical.

Be immovable.

Do not be discouraged by setbacks.
Do not stop striving in ministry.

Fruitful friends of the conquering King

John 15:1-17 ESV

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.  These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.  "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.  These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Rev. Dr. Ed Gross

We are not called to plant churches. We are called to make disciples. Churches, we have. Disciplers, we have few. To be a disciple in the first century, there is a set of requirements. We are called to the same things as modern-day christians. We are called to teach people to obey christ.

It is not enough to hear and understand the words of Christ. We are to make it true in our lives. That is what we are to do.

True obedience comes from a heart of love. Obedience is not love. It comes from love. If we love God, then we will obey.

After obedience to God, Christ brings us into intimate friendship with Christ. The order matters. We are friends by our obedience in christ.

Do all this and we will have fruit. Rabbis would teach and then release disciples to become rabbis themselves. Rabbis then make more disciples. This is fruit. Fruit that remains attached to the vine.

Watch what you do for the weak

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 ESV

Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." This "knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one." For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Today's topic is on Christian freedom. Drinking, smoking, and clubbing. Paul is addressing the eating of foods sacrificed to idols. Corinth was multi-theistic and multi-demonistic. People believed that demons could enter the body through food. So people believed that sacrificing this meat to idols purged it from demonic presence. It was sold in the market. Much like organic foods in the modern day. Some believers were stumbled by this food; others were not stumbled.

There are differences between people in knowledge of faith.

There is a difference between people when it comes to theological knowledge. There were people in the Corinthian church who understood. But even though they were right, they had a proud attitude towards those who don't know. They were puffed up. In this, they were in the wrong. It is not simply a matter of possessing knowledge of God. There is more  to it than just theology. It must impact our lives. Knowing God means having theology that changes us.

There is a difference between POSSESSING KNOWLEDGE of the gospel and being POSSESSED BY KNOWLEDGE of the gospel.

The one who loves is the one who knows God.

There is a difference between christians in terms  of conscience.

While idols are nothing, there are people who worshiped these idols. They had weak consciences. The subjective truth in their mind is that idols are real. For these, the food was wrong to eat. Our conscience is based on our beliefs. So for those who have certain beliefs, doing things that are not sins (as delineated by the bible) causes them to stumble.

Guilting and pressuring those with weak conscience to do things that make them guilty IS a sin. We should avoid any actions that may stumble them. In our knowledge of other's  consciences, we are called to abstain from those things.

In addition, there are areas where a christian is weak. For these areas, the conscience is a good and right warning. They should abstain for their own good. This is not a weak conscience; it is a weakness that is to be respected.

When we ignore other's conscience and their weaknesses, we do three things:

We defile their conscience.

This teaches them to ignore their conscience...and disables their ability to avoid spiritual danger.

We stumble their faith.

We are tearing them down. Impeding their spiritual growth.

We sin against Christ.

Mark 9:42 ESV

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea."

There must be a difference in our choices and actions depending on who we are with.

For those who can handle alcohol maturely, grabbing a couple beers is okay. But for those who struggle with alcoholism, we should not drink with them or bring them into the bar.

Romans 14: if we don't have a clear conscience about something, then we shouldn't do it. Because all that we do should come from faith.

Can I?
Is it explicitly forbidden in scripture?

Should I?
Does it glorify God? (1 Cor 10:31)
Is it beneficial to me? (1Cor 10:23)
Is it beneficial to others? (1 Cor 8, Romans 14)

The driving force behind all this:

Philippians 2:4-8 ESV

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Church matters: sexuality

1 Corinthians 6:9-20 ESV

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

The world's view on sex has caused much damage, pain, and suffering. The church can some much light and restoration here.

God's design for sex

Paul was fighting this idea called dualism.  It saw the body and spirit as separate. This thinking meant that the body was seen as unimportant. Sex was just like eating; an appetite to be sated. Others saw sex as dirty and marriage something to be avoided.

Paul advocates neither of these. He told Christians that their body matters. It was not to be denigrated. It was the temple. In addition, we get a resurrection body.  Jesus was resurrected  with a body, with scars. He even ate fish. This implies the body is  neither bad or unspiritual. It is to be used for God.

By God's design, the only proper context  for sex, and any form of sexual contact is in marriage, between a man and a woman. Both sex and marriage serve as an illustration of the Gospel.

Sex illustrates the Gospel these ways:
For procreation (bearing fruit)
To communicate exclusive love (to give everything to another, no other)
For bonding (intimacy and union)

Distortion of sex

The culture tells us to just go with what feels right. To be true to ourselves. Waiting for sex sounds old-fashioned. Marriage, so outdated.

Our desires can be twisted. Pedophiles illustrate this.  Wanting sex with young children is wrong regardless of what we desire.

In addition,  we are free in Christ. We need not worry about dietary restrictions. But we cannot do what we wish without consequences. We find ourselves enslaved by our twisted desires. This is idolatry. We have placed our twisted sexual desires above God. Idols promise but cannot deliver. So the desires increase, but the fulfillment is not to be found.

Dealing with sex as a church

Sex and any sexual contact is reserved for marriage.

We are to treat those we date as a brother and sister in Christ.

When we dress consider how we might be stumbling others.

Be open about our sexual struggle; don't stigmatize those who have persistent sexual struggles.

Homosexuality is not something exclusive. It is listed along with adultery, thievery, greed, and idolatry. These lifestyles can disqualify you from the kingdom. Not the desire, but the consistent lifestyle of living this way. Fighting  these desires is hard and sometimes lifelong. But we win in Christ, for we have been sanctified, justified and raised in Him.

Church Matters: Disciple

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 ESV

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you."

A community that takes discipline seriously will do more for your spiritual growth than any interesting sermon will.

This message will not be popular with the culture around us.

How it is the mark of a gospel centered church

Paul is not surprised that this man is in a relationship with his step-mom. This was so beyond the pale even the pagans didn't tolerate it. Corinth is known for wild behavior, but even this is something they didn't tolerate.

Paul is appalled by how the church is acting in this situation. The church in Corinth had a gospel with grace that had no bound in behavior. It doesn't challenge or call people to live differently. This gospel does not call us to hate sin and cheapens grace.

The motivation of church discipline

We are God's holy people.

"Cleansing the old leaven" means instead of using yeast they used spoiled dough to make their bread rise. Why get rid of all the leaven? Because this can cause effects to the entire batch of dough. A little sin can cause contamination to the whole of the dough. We are not cleansing to become pure. God calls us pure, therefore cleanse yourselves of find. We are holy, so act accordingly.

We are God's family.

The LORD disciplines those he loves. All good discipline comes from love. We also need to be willing to cause some pain in the cause of loving them. We discipline those within the family, not non-believers. "Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? Our lifestyle is to match the faith we profess.

We are God's ambassadors.

Whether we like it or not, we represent God on earth. Non-believers look to the church for a glimpse of God. What appeal do we have for the glory of Christ to those who don't know Him? To act otherwise is to dirty the image of God to unbelievers.

The method of church discipline
Kicking people out and handing people over to Satan is not the first step of church discipline. This is the last resort.

How you go: gently and humbly

Galatians 6:1 ESV
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

This should happen informally and privately on a regular basis, especially within community groups.

Matthew 18:15-17 ESV
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

The process looks like this:

One-on-one (informal)
Bring one or two along (informal)
Tell it to the church (formal)
Treat them as unbeliever (formal)

To get from informal to formal discipline,  judgement comes from an unrepentant heart, as a characteristic. Not just fighting greed, but just straight greedy. There is not  any attempt to fight sin. There is no fruit that is found in those who have the Spirit. No evidence of life-saving faith. Then we are called to treat them as unbelievers; one in need of the gospel. The reason to push him out of the church is to show him or her that they have strayed from the path of Christ. We are not to be mean to them. We are to call them to repentance, just like any unbeliever. To follow the one LORD and Savior.

Church Matters: Division

1 Corinthians 3:1-9, 16-23 ESV

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

John Calvin, John Piper, Armenian?

Division impacts both those within as well as those without the church. It hurts people who are a part of the church. It adlai hurts the reputation of the church.

The character and cause of division

The corinthian church felt it was a theologically sound church. But Paul calls them children. He was looking at how they were acting and said this  spoke of their maturity. The division and contention  starts from this: Natural preferences become Exclusive Absolutes.

We see this often in worship. From traditional hymns to contemporary christian music, there is contention over the proper way to worship. Or introverted vs. extroverted christians. Or in myers-briggs, judging vs. perceiving.

What does all this come from? The need in our hearts to justify ourselves.

The consequence of divisiveness

Paul speaks of not only the church, but also the consequence for those who act divisively. "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him." The person who acts in a way to destroy the unity  and peace of the church will DESTROY this person. We should not soften the language here. God will destroy this divisive person. The church is called the children of God, the bride of Christ, and the body of Christ. God cares much more for the church than we can imagine.

The cure for division

How do we guard against division? The us vs. them mentality comes from worldly wisdom which is foolishness to God. Paul tells them that Paul, Apollos, and Cephas are all of the church and sent by God. They all have something to share, something to give. One LORD, one faith, one baptism. Whether presbyterian, pentecostal, or baptist, they are all given to us through Christ.

ABANDON ALL ATTEMPTS TO PROVE THEIR WORTH IN WORLDLY WAYS AND REST IN THE INFINITE WORTH WE HAVE IN CHRIST.

We are always striving to find sanctuary from insecurity. We want  someone to look down on. We want self significance. This is us trying to prove ourselves. God is unimpressed; it all seems so silly.

Church matters: Weak Fools

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 ESV

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

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

What mattered to the Corinthians

The city of  Corinth had a reputation for riches and worldliness. It was like Las Vegas and New York. They were concerned about image and reputation. People were about being self-sufficient and working hard. They were  proud of their philosophical history, being wise.

This concern about image and reputation lead to the rise of factions. People started saying they followed different people, Paul or Apollo. They divided the church.

What really matters

The church has forgotten the gospel. This is what really matters. The gospel acts as a rebuke to the world. "has God not made foolish the wisdom of the wise" But this applies just as much to us. We are also caught up in promoting ourselves.  This applies even to pastors and their sermons.

There is a spirit of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. It is not just a Corinthian thing, not just a 2012 thing; it is a human thing. We want glory for ourselves. So we look at the gospel and find the complete opposite. We find a humiliating and embarrassing way of salvation. Jews were looking for a messiah of power and might.  Greeks were looking for a glorious God. And they find a Jesus who submits himself to a shameful death. God is saying that His weakness is still stronger than man's strength. God picks the weak, the lowly, the despised.  This shows the world that reputation, wisdom, and image count for nothing in the kingdom of God.

What a church that matters looks like

1. A church that accepts looking foolish.

The church looks foolish to the world when it is preaching the gospel properly.

2. A unity in diversity.

The church should have a diversity of race, culture, socio-economic, status... What binds us is salvation though grace, a gift from God. We are unable to boast.

3.  Be willing to speak of our weakness

In true community, we are ready to speak of our weakness.  It is only in our willing vulnerability that true community, true accountability happens.We no longer need to hide.

4. Boast in weakness to show God's greatness.

The church speaks of weakness rather than our own strength. This gives glory to God.

The Apostolic Gospel

2 Timothy 1:13-15 ESV

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

2 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

2 Timothy 3:1-5, 10-15 ESV

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ

Rev. Ed Gross

This letter was written by Paul from prison to one who had struggled in the faith with him, Timothy.  Paul was passing the torch.

The disciple were  pledged to follow their masters. Wherever they went, how they understood the scriptures. The disciples were challenged in their hearts. They would be called to tough places and tough decisions.

Timothy is charged to protect and preserve the gospel with the help of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is not to be generalized or altered. In trying to be relevant, the temptations are to change the focus from Christ. The gospel is more than just words. We are guarding a pattern.

We are to pass on and entrust others with the gospel. It is not done at a distance; it is done up close. We are to invite people into our lives to see the gospel at work in our marriages, our workplace, our personal lives. This is the gospel we are called to pass on.

Training happens this way: Watch me, Do it with me, Show me, and finally, do it alone. This is how discipleship works.

We are called to live in the  gospel. By living in the word: memorizing, obeying, and meditating on it. This  is the path to victory over Satan.

The Spirit's Mission

Acts 2:1-4, 14-15, 22-24 ESV

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 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.

Rev. Bruce Finn
(PCA church planting coordinator)

Our mission is the mission of God, of Jesus. Understanding our roles will be helpful for us. The movement of the gospel moved throughout Judea, then to the next state, Samaria. Finally to the ends of the earth.

Wimps into witnesses

We are all wimps in sharing our faith. We do not have boldness in sharing our faith. We see Peter transformed into a powerful witness by the Spirit. Peter denied Jesus. He hid when Jesus was crucified, in great fear for his life.

Turns crowds into communities

The church is a motley crew of people. People who would not usually get along or like each other become a fellowship. A group of people who don't speak the same language and are from different places come together to celebrate a festival. When the Spirit comes, the people, the motley crew comes together into a mission-centered community.

Turns cities into saturation points

Jerusalem had 600,000 people. On pentecost, 3,000 became followers. Later 5,000 became believers. In meeting at homes, this would mean that there were at least two hundred house churches in the city of Jerusalem in a very short period. There was access to the gospel throughout the city in a very short period of time. The Spirit desires to saturate the city with Christians.

The Spirit of Witness

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Every Christian is empowered and commissioned to this, sharing the Good News.

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

We are also called to make disciples.

But how? How are we to do this?

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Witness

It tells us of our Father, our Abba. We are saved. It speaks of God's love.

The power of witness

When the Spirit is poured out, people testify and witness. Sure, there were miracles. But those miracles were for the sake of witness. The end is not a miracle, it is the verification of the disciples' witness. The spirit is living and working to open hearts to God and Jesus.

When we consider the phrase "do not grieve the Spirit", we generally think of overt sins. But if we are not living a life of active evangelism/witness, we are grieving the Spirit. Half of what the Holy Spirit desires is for Jesus to be known in us and through us.

By ourselves, we are apathetic. We don't want to be witnesses. Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the Spirit. The implication is that we are powerless without the Spirit.

The power of conviction for witness comes from the Spirit. We get this heart for witness from the Spirit. Otherwise, our witness is half-baked. It has little conviction behind it. It gives us boldness to share. It gives us wisdom to dispute. It also orchestrates opportunities to witness. The eunuch and phillip is an example of this. There is also the power of conviction for salvation. People are convicted of salvation through the Spirit. We do not convict people by our arguments or actions. The Spirit does it.

The Holy Spirit wants all the world for Christ

To stay in step with the Spirit, what do we do?

We are to be both locally and globally oriented. Glocally, as they now call it. We are living out our lives here in active evangelism and we are supporting overseas missions.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Holiness: Invincible Love

Romans 8:29-39 ESV

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

"For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

One of the hardest things is not just understanding God's love, but knowing in our hearts.

God's love Secures our holiness

Anyone who has fought sin knows how hard it is. It seems like an uphill battle. We don't need much for or hearts to wander from God.

But God holds us tightly in His hands. It does not depend on our grip on Him. He holds us securely.

Before we were even born, God loved us. Like a pregnant couple, loving and caring for a baby yet unborn.

God is the one who wants us holy. He always accomplishes what He promises. Our holiness is secure.

God's love Fuels our holiness

Even through big failures and trials, God is working through it all. Knowing this, we can keep going.

Before preaching on sin, there is all this talk of love. Why? They need to know the enormous greatness of the love of Christ.

Threats only work for the short term. Outward conformity does not work. Love is what we need. That is what grows us into holiness like Christ.

Sin struggles and life struggles make us doubt the love of God. We think that because of sin, we are less, we are condemned. But that is a lie. We are not second rate; we are God's chosen. We are bound by the guilt of our sins and struggles. Jesus wants to set us free from them. He paid for those sins.

Trying to assess God's love through our circumstances is how we run into trouble. He loves me, He loves me not. God gave us His most precious treasure, His son. That is how we assess God's love of us. Jesus is the love of God. In His life and death and resurrection, we see the love of God.

God's love Shapes our holiness

Holiness is not the same among all religions. We are to be shaped into Jesus' likeness. His defining work is humbling Himself according to will of the Father for the sake of others. That is holiness. We are called to suffer for the faith, for the will of God. It is not some sort of abstract concept. We are to suffer according to the will of Father for the sake of others. We are not to devote our lives to earthly comfort, rather we are to move towards need. We are secured in God, even when we lose comfort, we suffer.

Changed lives in Luke: From doubt, to dancing, to destiny

Luke 24:36-53 ESV

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!"  But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."  And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"  They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,  and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."  Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Deals with their doubt

It was very hard for the disciples to believe that someone would rise from the dead in the middle of history. They were expecting resurrection at the end, not the middle. They were expecting a winning Messiah who would deliver them from the Romans. The disciples couldn't wrap their minds around this idea. The women were confused at finding an empty tomb. The disciples didn't believe the women when they came back and recounted the visit to the tomb.

Jesus had to persuade them. He showed them his wounds. He did this patiently. He even ate some fish to prove that He was bodily risen. He was no ghost. He had physically returned from death. He gave evidence to address doubts. The Christian faith is a reasonable faith. We do not discard reason when we come to faith.

Jesus invites you to investigate the faith.

Gives them a reason to dance

If the resurrection is true, it is the greatest news. It means that we too will rise from the dead. Jesus' resurrection means we also will rise. Not only that, but also in the same manner. We will be bodily and physically returned. There will be much similarity to the current life. Eating, nature, cities, neighbors. But also important differences. No death, pain, or brokenness. Take your perfect day here and multiply out by infinity. It well pale in comparison.

Jesus had planned to suffer and die. That was why he came. In atheistic thinking, suffering has no meaning. Sucks to be you. Just bad luck. But Jesus shows us that suffering has meaning. When Jesus died, the disciples thought they had lost everything. They had wasted their years for nothing. Jesus came back to show them that suffering was for a reason. They and we were saved by Christ's suffering. The joy of heaven will be magnified by the suffering of this life. All the suffering and pain of Jesus plays a part in saving us. When we come to the resurrection, all of our sufferings and pains will make sense. Or joy will be even greater.

Sets them on their destiny

Jesus calls them to share the good news for the rest of their lives. This call is not only for the disciples. It is also for us. This is how we treat good news; we want to share it.

We are called to give up our lives. The truth is that we have everything in Christ. So we can lose status, money, power, respect, even our lives...because we know all the important things are secure in Christ. Even when we lose our lives, God will give it back to us.

Every menial task, when done with the heart and intention of sharing the love of Christ, is a great work. The Holy Spirit empowers all these things. It is not us, but the Spirit working through us.