Asbury Church

What if Christmas happened and you totally missed it?

In Matthew’s Christmas account—Herod and the Magi—only the Magi leave Jerusalem and go to Bethlehem to see Jesus. Everyone else stays behind. Why?

What are the reasons why we would miss out on the most important thing that’s ever happened?

What if the Lord sat down across the table from you and said, “This is what I have for you to do. At times, it’s going to be difficult; at times, it will seem unfair; at times it is going to cost you. But I need this done, and you’re the only one who can do it. What do you say?”

How would you answer?

In the Scripture, the angel Gabriel tells Mary God’s plan for the Incarnation, and her role in it, and she says, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to see your very life as your mission, and to live it for God.

What will you do?

Why do we assume that God’s desire is to make our lives smooth? What if God’s desire is not that our lives would be smooth, but that we would be strong?

Take Mary and Joseph’s situation before the birth of Jesus:

Mary finds out she will be pregnant through a miracle, not through human means;

Mary tells Joseph;

Joseph has to decide what to do; he decides to quietly end the engagement;

And only THEN does the Lord tell Joseph about the miraculous pregnancy.

Why?!

It seems that God’s will is for us to learn to exercise our wills in accordance with his will.

God’s will is for us to get stronger, and we get stronger when we have to struggle and wrestle and choose.

When there is a gap between what you have and what you think you need to move forward, you may be exactly where the Lord wants you to be.

It’s one of the most terrifying things Jesus ever said:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” [Matthew 7:7-8.]

In other words, you’ll get what you’re looking for.

This principle applies to gratitude. If you see your life and everything about it as a gift, you’ll find more and more reasons to be grateful. If you are ungrateful, you’ll find more reasons to complain.

In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus says that those who have reasons to be grateful now will receive even more reasons to give thanks in the future.

What would it look like for you to see your life as a gift today?

We wrap up our series on the parables of Jesus by looking at the explosive Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.

It’s explosive because of what Jesus shows us about human nature:

It’s the GENEROSITY of God that can provoke us to anger, an anger that can lead us right into the fires of hell.

Let’s turn around before it's too late.

Would you rather be bound by chains or set free? Would you rather harbor pain by others or grant mercy?

Jesus takes time in the “Unforgiving Servant” parable in Matthew 18: 21-35 to address this tension.

Are chains possibly binding us because of our un-forgiveness for others? What will we do with the mercy and forgiveness of God? What is at stake?

True freedom is only found in Christ. Who might you need to release from chains today to truly be set free?

What is God waiting for? Why doesn't the Lord just remove all evil from the world once and for all?

Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 13 that answers that question, and the answer he gives is really encouraging and hopeful: the reason God permits evil for a time is because if he were to remove it now, it would end up damaging the good.

This means that God is working for the good in all things, and no situation and no life is beyond hope. There is a final judgment coming, but if it hasn’t yet arrived, it means that God has more to do!

Why does the gospel have different results in peoples’ lives? Why do some people show so much spiritual fruit, and others refuse to believe?

We kick off our Parables series by looking at the parable about parables—the Parable of the Sower—and seeing how Jesus answers the question: Why doesn’t everyone accept the Good News?

What’s next for Asbury? How are we going to reach the next generation?

Asbury is an older congregation, and that’s a blessing. Our older members are a great resource, and it is with regard to our older members that Asbury’s future lies.

The next step for Asbury is to constantly encourage and challenge and remind our older members of a foundational truth:

Every breath is proof that God’s not done with us yet.

We are going to go after the hearts of our older members and challenge them to live their next years as their best years.

This matters because our older members matter. Period.

But here’s where it gets interesting: I believe that the way we’ll reach the next generation is through the hearts of the older generation! When young people see older Christians filled with joy and peace, that’s what God will use to draw them in.

So, buckle-up, Buttercup:

Let’s GO.

Have you been praying for a breakthrough in someone’s life or situation?

What are you doing to help them experience the deliverance of Christ?

Will you be as persistent as the “Canaanite” woman?

Don’t lose hope! The Lord is not done working!