Christian Life Community Church - online podcast

Christian Life Community Church - online podcast

Christian Life Community Church - online podcast

This week we are beginning a new series on the book of Philippians. I have entitled the series: "Happy, Happy, Happy." An expression made popular by "Duck Dynasty’s" Phil Robertson. In the popular A&E series the Robertson family live out their faith in God in a "red neck" environment that combines love of family and love of God in a joyful kind of environment. In a similar way Paul's epistle to the church at Philippi is loaded with expressions of joy in the midst of real life.

Paul is under house arrest in Rome. He is writing a very friendly and heart-warming letter to the church at Philippi which he founded some 10 years earlier. The story is told in Acts 16:6-40. In our text this week the Apostle tells his friends of the joy he has in praying for them. This series will look at all of the expressions of joy that Paul mentions in the letter.

Looking carefully at the text we discover Paul's reasons for his joy. He is writing to friends. These folks have demonstrated their friendship in many ways, beginning with the hospitality Lydia and the Philippian jailer offered him and his companions when first planting the church. The people at the church in Philippi had supported him financially several times and had come to his aid at very opportune times. One of their members had recently visited Paul (Epaphroditus) and now Paul was sending him back home with the letter and his heartfelt thanks. Good friends bring us joy.

The Philippians had also demonstrated their partnership in the Gospel and his missionary endeavours. They helped him carry the load of the burden he had for lost people. Another reason for joy. Friends who work together with us are a great reason for celebration, especially when the going gets tough. These friends "shared in God’s grace" with him. An interesting expression. This "sharing of grace" gives us an important insight into what it means to extend the Kingdom of God. It implies abundance. It suggests that Christians have more than enough and their fullness results in spillage in others. I think we all want to be the kind of Christ follower who spills grace on others.

This week we are beginning a new series on the book of Philippians. I have entitled the series: "Happy, Happy, Happy." An expression made popular by "Duck Dynasty’s" Phil Robertson. In the popular A&E series the Robertson family live out their faith in God in a "red neck" environment that combines love of family and love of God in a joyful kind of environment. In a similar way Paul's epistle to the church at Philippi is loaded with expressions of joy in the midst of real life.

Paul is under house arrest in Rome. He is writing a very friendly and heart-warming letter to the church at Philippi which he founded some 10 years earlier. The story is told in Acts 16:6-40. In our text this week the Apostle tells his friends of the joy he has in praying for them. This series will look at all of the expressions of joy that Paul mentions in the letter.

Looking carefully at the text we discover Paul's reasons for his joy. He is writing to friends. These folks have demonstrated their friendship in many ways, beginning with the hospitality Lydia and the Philippian jailer offered him and his companions when first planting the church. The people at the church in Philippi had supported him financially several times and had come to his aid at very opportune times. One of their members had recently visited Paul (Epaphroditus) and now Paul was sending him back home with the letter and his heartfelt thanks. Good friends bring us joy.

The Philippians had also demonstrated their partnership in the Gospel and his missionary endeavours. They helped him carry the load of the burden he had for lost people. Another reason for joy. Friends who work together with us are a great reason for celebration, especially when the going gets tough. These friends "shared in God’s grace" with him. An interesting expression. This "sharing of grace" gives us an important insight into what it means to extend the Kingdom of God. It implies abundance. It suggests that Christians have more than enough and their fullness results in spillage in others. I think we all want to be the kind of Christ follower who spills grace on others.

Our text this week contains perhaps the most familiar verse in the Bible: "For God so loved the world…" The verse comes at the end of a conversation between Jesus and a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. John's Gospel contains many personal conversations or interviews with Jesus. Just as John refers to himself as "the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved" so his portrayal of Jesus tends to be more intimate than that of the synoptics. His teaching takes the more personal approach of one on one conversations with various people and his interactions with the disciples tends also to be one on one.

Each of the conversations in John's Gospel have a common theme. They are about the nature and consequences of belief. John points out that unbelief is the essence of sin. It is the line of demarcation between those who are Kingdom people and those outside the fold. John records Jesus using the expression "believe in" some 13 times while the other Gospels combined only mention this once.

In our text Jesus focusses on the outcome of belief. Those who believe in him will have eternal life. This is an often misunderstood idea especially since the old King James translations rendered the phrase "everlasting life" which tended to put the emphasis on the duration of the life and leads us to think of heaven. Actually, the phrase has more to do with the quality or kind of life belief brings rather than its duration. Eternal life is a new kind of life inaugurated by Jesus. In First Century Jewish thinking, it is the life of the age to come. They divided time into this present age and the age to come. The Age to Come was one that would be characterized by peace, justice and healing. A return to Eden so to speak. The expression Eternal Life means that this age to come has arrived. While not yet fully realized, today, people can experience the age to come while living in this present world. It is not a make-believe world or a timeless heavenly bliss. It is a real, substantial life, to be lived out in the real world with Jesus as Lord.

Living the Eternal Life existence is a growing and developing kind of life. Belief in fact is also not a static kind of thing because it has to do with a relationship with Jesus and no relationship is static. They ebb and flow. At times belief feels strong and vibrant, at other times it struggles to hold on. The opposite of belief is not doubt, it is indifference. At times doubt and belief stand side by side as we struggle to understand the Lord’s will and his work in our lives. But we continue to face him in dialogue about the issues that cause our doubts. The worst thing is to become indifferent and opt out of the conversation. It is good that we have an advocate with Jesus the righteous, who knows, cares, and intercedes for us (1 John 2:1).

Our text this week contains perhaps the most familiar verse in the Bible: "For God so loved the world…" The verse comes at the end of a conversation between Jesus and a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. John's Gospel contains many personal conversations or interviews with Jesus. Just as John refers to himself as "the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved" so his portrayal of Jesus tends to be more intimate than that of the synoptics. His teaching takes the more personal approach of one on one conversations with various people and his interactions with the disciples tends also to be one on one.

Each of the conversations in John's Gospel have a common theme. They are about the nature and consequences of belief. John points out that unbelief is the essence of sin. It is the line of demarcation between those who are Kingdom people and those outside the fold. John records Jesus using the expression "believe in" some 13 times while the other Gospels combined only mention this once.

In our text Jesus focusses on the outcome of belief. Those who believe in him will have eternal life. This is an often misunderstood idea especially since the old King James translations rendered the phrase "everlasting life" which tended to put the emphasis on the duration of the life and leads us to think of heaven. Actually, the phrase has more to do with the quality or kind of life belief brings rather than its duration. Eternal life is a new kind of life inaugurated by Jesus. In First Century Jewish thinking, it is the life of the age to come. They divided time into this present age and the age to come. The Age to Come was one that would be characterized by peace, justice and healing. A return to Eden so to speak. The expression Eternal Life means that this age to come has arrived. While not yet fully realized, today, people can experience the age to come while living in this present world. It is not a make-believe world or a timeless heavenly bliss. It is a real, substantial life, to be lived out in the real world with Jesus as Lord.

Living the Eternal Life existence is a growing and developing kind of life. Belief in fact is also not a static kind of thing because it has to do with a relationship with Jesus and no relationship is static. They ebb and flow. At times belief feels strong and vibrant, at other times it struggles to hold on. The opposite of belief is not doubt, it is indifference. At times doubt and belief stand side by side as we struggle to understand the Lord’s will and his work in our lives. But we continue to face him in dialogue about the issues that cause our doubts. The worst thing is to become indifferent and opt out of the conversation. It is good that we have an advocate with Jesus the righteous, who knows, cares, and intercedes for us (1 John 2:1).

Teaching your son or daughter to drive is a frightening experience. You feel such a loss of control. You want an extra steering wheel and brake on your side of the car. You nervously watch as your offspring learns a brand new, yet dangerous skill. You have to avoid the temptation of grabbing the wheel or avoiding the experience altogether. It amazes me at times to think that the Lord has given us such a huge and dangerous responsibility in his Kingdom directing business. To a large extent, we have the wheel and control of the vehicle, while he is content to offer direction and support from the passenger seat. He seems to not share the same kind of angst that we do when teaching our children to drive, though there is certainly more at stake than a dented fender.

Our text this week is programmatic. By this, I mean it sets the stage for Jesus' Kingdom-Bringing ministry. The book of Luke shows how Jesus did in fact live out Isaiah’s prophecy. The book of Acts demonstrates how the Early Church followed suit. It is very clear that the church of every age is to see Jesus' words as a manifesto of sorts to help guide us in the Kingdom-bringing business. We too are anointed to proclaim the "Good News" and the "Year of the Lord’s Favour." To understand what it means to proclaim the Good News one merely has to read on in the Gospel. It means far more than to "preach." In fact, Jesus does very little of that, especially in the way we define preaching today. Especially when we note that "to preach" in our common vernacular is to talk down to someone or belittle another’s opinions. Jesus wasn’t about that at all. Luke presents Jesus as the great champion of the outsider. He illustrated the Kingdom’s presence and proximity by rescuing, restoring, forgiving and embracing the little, the lost, the least, and the lonely.

The Church, our church has much to learn from Luke's Jesus. It is difficult to break the paradigm that the church is against people who are outsiders. People outside the established church seem to perceive the would-be Kingdom-bringers as bad news bearers. They seem to be hearing us say: "You are not like us, therefore you are bad and can’t belong to our club." This is so unlike how Luke's Jesus is received by the common folks of his day. Yes, some did reject him. But it was the religious know-it-alls who couldn’t tolerate his inclusivity. Lord help us to be like Jesus.

Teaching your son or daughter to drive is a frightening experience. You feel such a loss of control. You want an extra steering wheel and brake on your side of the car. You nervously watch as your offspring learns a brand new, yet dangerous skill. You have to avoid the temptation of grabbing the wheel or avoiding the experience altogether. It amazes me at times to think that the Lord has given us such a huge and dangerous responsibility in his Kingdom directing business. To a large extent, we have the wheel and control of the vehicle, while he is content to offer direction and support from the passenger seat. He seems to not share the same kind of angst that we do when teaching our children to drive, though there is certainly more at stake than a dented fender.

Our text this week is programmatic. By this, I mean it sets the stage for Jesus' Kingdom-Bringing ministry. The book of Luke shows how Jesus did in fact live out Isaiah’s prophecy. The book of Acts demonstrates how the Early Church followed suit. It is very clear that the church of every age is to see Jesus' words as a manifesto of sorts to help guide us in the Kingdom-bringing business. We too are anointed to proclaim the "Good News" and the "Year of the Lord’s Favour." To understand what it means to proclaim the Good News one merely has to read on in the Gospel. It means far more than to "preach." In fact, Jesus does very little of that, especially in the way we define preaching today. Especially when we note that "to preach" in our common vernacular is to talk down to someone or belittle another’s opinions. Jesus wasn’t about that at all. Luke presents Jesus as the great champion of the outsider. He illustrated the Kingdom’s presence and proximity by rescuing, restoring, forgiving and embracing the little, the lost, the least, and the lonely.

The Church, our church has much to learn from Luke's Jesus. It is difficult to break the paradigm that the church is against people who are outsiders. People outside the established church seem to perceive the would-be Kingdom-bringers as bad news bearers. They seem to be hearing us say: "You are not like us, therefore you are bad and can’t belong to our club." This is so unlike how Luke's Jesus is received by the common folks of his day. Yes, some did reject him. But it was the religious know-it-alls who couldn’t tolerate his inclusivity. Lord help us to be like Jesus.

This week we are looking at another Gospel theme, one that is particularly emphasised in Mark's Gospel. Since Mark is writing to the church in Rome, which has undergone some serious persecution, Mark is interested in collecting sayings of Jesus that will help explain to his readers that suffering is part of Kingdom life. A casual reading of the Old Testament would give the impression that suffering is a sign of God's disfavour and prosperity is an indication of a holy life. This is because the covenantal relationship between God and the Children of Israel was tied to the land and since they did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit, they were told that the best indication of their faithfulness was the productivity of their land. Old Testament writers are shocked and dismayed by suffering. They conclude something must be wrong with their relationship to God if they suffer. New Testament writers have an entirely different view. They expect suffering and in fact embrace it as in sharing the suffering of Christ. They saw Jesus as their model of holiness and noted that he suffered and fulfilled God’s purposes, so therefore why would they also not suffer for the sake of the Kingdom?

So Mark is helping the Roman believers make sense of their persecution. He collects the sayings of Jesus that help accomplish that end. Our text is key to that understanding. By the way, Mark is an apprentice of the Apostle Peter who also served in Rome. It is not coincidental that he would write in 1 Peter 4:12-13 that the believers should not “be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon them.” Jesus tells the disciples and the crowd that true followers will deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow him. Of course this means suffering, since the crucifixion was at the end of the Via Dolorosa. He warns the disciples that giving up one’s life is truly worthwhile. The alternative is unthinkable. Denying Christ at the time of trial is also unthinkable because to do so would mean that at the second coming Jesus would in turn be ashamed of the disloyal Christian.

At the end of the text Jesus talks about seeing the Kingdom come with power. This is a reference to both the transfiguration which is the next story that Mark records, and of course the crucifixion. In Christ's suffering he brought the new age, the new Kingdom. He conquered death and established his reign. In a similar way, persecution is linked to power in Kingdom terms. The persecuted church sees and realizes this to be true. The Gospel advances powerfully when believers suffer.