“Just Keep . . .”
Galatians 6:9
December 30, 2018

Let us not grow weary in doing good.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
-Galatians 6:9

Part of what “good” means in Galatians is described in the Fruit of the Spirit.

“Do not grow weary” means you are already doing good.

Paul says “do not grow weary” because it is sometimes hard to just keep going.

Sometimes it hurts.

Sometimes it is counter culture.

Sometimes I don’t want to.

Sometimes I don’t think about it.

Sometimes I don’t see results.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
-Galatians 6:9

We all need others to spur us on so that we do not grow weary and just keep doing good.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
-Galatians 6:9

“God Reveals Love”
Ephesians 3:14-20
December 23, 2018

Hope: living with the expectation and promise of something better.

Peace: the one all-encompassing word which describes the something better.

Joy: the action and attitude with which we live because of the promise and presence of something better.

Love: the foundation/reason for God’s action.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
-John 3:16-17

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
-Romans 5:8

The reason/foundation for God’s action is found in the fact that God is a loving God.

Loving people care.

Loving people were loving people before we knew them and they will be loving people after we’re gone.

Loving people are not self-promoting.

God is a loving God.

God cares.

God was a loving God before we were around and God will be a loving God after we’re gone.

God is not self-promoting.

Ephesians 3:14-20

We often have to pay attention, ask questions, look around, and listen to catch how high, long, wide, and deep is the love of God.

“‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ –which means, ‘God with us.’”
-Matthew 1:23

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
-Luke 2:11-12

I can choose to live in, around, and enjoy the love of God or I can choose to turn my back and ignore the love of God? Either way, it does not change who God is.

“God Reveals Joy”
Isaiah 35:10; Luke 2:8-14
December 16, 2018

Our Mission: "Recover and Maintain Focus”

Creation

Godlessness and Wickedness

God Gave Them Over

God Reveals Hope

The Coming of Jesus

The King Is in Place

God’s Patience

Jesus Revealed and Return

Judgment and Destruction

Return and Renewal

We live here: The Prince of Peace has come.

“And the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
-Isaiah 35:10

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’”
-Luke 2:10-14

The Coming of Jesus is reason for great joy.

How do I recover and maintain focus?

I can have joy knowing everything will be okay because God is here.

“God Reveals Peace”
Zechariah 6:12-13
December 9, 2018

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
-Isaiah 9:6

“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’”
-Luke 2:13-14

Peace: “everything is okay”

Peace: “not the absence of evil, but the presence of God”

Peace is that one all-encompassing word that includes all that is good that we hope for.

The world has longed for peace, worked for peace, and fought for peace.

Israel had a hope and a promise of a peace that was to come.

The Bible begins and ends with a tree.

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”
-Isaiah 11:1

Zechariah 6:12-13

“Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’”
-Zechariah 6:12-13

This Branch that brings peace is both a King and a Priest.

We don’t just live in this peace, we are active participants in this peace.

“All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”
-Acts 2:44-47a

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
-Acts 1:8

We don’t just live in this peace, we are active participants in this peace.

In the middle of the mess there is peace.

Because God is present, everything is okay . . .

Because God is present, everything is okay and this peace is real.

"God Reveals Hope"
Isaiah 11:1, 10

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit."
-Isaiah 11:1
"In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him and his resting place will be glorious."
-Isaiah 11:10

Jesse is David's father

Stump of Jesse = family tree

"See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax;"
-Isaiah 10:33-34

Israel had become like a stump.

This is a picture of hope.

Hope = This sense that with God, new life is possible.

"Hoping does not mean doing nothing . . . It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulations, of scurrying and worrying. And hoping is not dreaming. it is not spinning an illusion or fantasy to protect us from our boredom or pain. It means a confident, alert expectation that God will do what He said He will do. It is imagination put in the harness of faith. It is a willingness to let God do it His way and in His time."
- Eugene Peterson (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction)

The King will come from the stump of Jesse and He will change everything.

“A Kingdom We Did Not Create, Pt.2"
Romans 3:21-31
November 18, 2018

There is a universal longing for a different kind of life and a different kind of world.

God will make all things right.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”
-Romans 1:16-17

How do we included in what God is doing in the world?
Romans 3:21-31

There is a way to have a right standing before God which is not dependant on being pefect or perfectly keeping the law.

This way is open to all people who beleive.

Justice: “Someone has to pay!”

Just and Justifier: Jesus did pay.

That’s not fair, it is more than fair. Especially, when I think in terms of me.

We have nothing to boast about.

The law has not been set aside, but upheld.

My response should be one of humility.

How do I feel about the people out there?

“A Kingdom We Did Not Create”
Romans 3:21-31
November 11, 2018

The Gospel is the Bigger Story of what God has done, is doing, and will do in the world.

Creation
Godlessness and Wickedness
God Gave Them Over
God Reveals Hope
The Coming of Jesus
The King Is in Place
God’s Patience

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
-2 Peter 3:9

Jesus Revealed and Returns
Judgment and Destruction
Re-Creation and Renewal

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”
-2 Peter 3:13

How do we get included in the Bigger Story?

Everyone is part of the story.

How do we get included in the redemption story?

Even though we are the ones who broke it, we are not the ones who can fix it.

Romans 3:19-20

We cannot be included in the redemption story based on our own merit.

The only way to be included in the story is to be invited in by Jesus based on who He is and what He has done.

The only reason any of us are included in the story now is because of Jesus.

“Becoming a Christian Nation Will Not Fix Our Problem”
Romans 2:17-3:20
November 4, 2018

How can we fulfill Jesus’ prayer: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven?”

It will not happen through the power of the human spirit.

We are not that good.

What if we can get everyone to obey God’s Law?

Wrong answer!

Even those who know and have God’s Law can’t do it.

History proved it to be impossible for the Jewish nation.

As long as we believe we can fix our problem by getting everyone to live in obedience to God, not only will we be disappointed and frustrated at the world and at ourselves, but we will never grab hold of the one true answer.

It won’t work, because we can’t do it.

Rome became a Christian nation under the Emperor Constantine, but it didn’t fix their problem or fix the world.

Living and governing according to Christian principles, God’s Law, and the ways of Jesus is better in every way!

Those who say they’re Christian, but do not follow the ways of Jesus do not take away from the truth of God.

Until we can fully come to grips with the reality that becoming a Christian nation will not fix our problem, we will not grab hold of the one way that will work.