Epiclesis

We've been thinking about the ascension of Christ lately and, more particularly, the "offices" that Jesus fills. In this message, Pastor Chris looks at a passage from Deuteronomy where Moses is described as both a servant and a great prophet. Have you ever thought much about the ways that Moses foreshadowed the prophetic role of Jesus, our Ultimate Prophet? Along the way we also took a look at a helpful passage in Hebrews.

How comfortable are you with mystery? There's a wonderful Bible story where Moses wants to see God. Do you remember it? God's gracious choice is to let Moses see part of His nature, but also protects Moses in the "cleft of the rock." Pastor Chris takes a look at the event and says, in the end, thank God for mystery! Thank God for the cleft! Why? Did you ever stop to think that God hides ineffable and even dangerously holy things in mystery? If that's true, then that should change the way we look at (and sometimes avoid) mystery.

Jack Van Marion was the guest for this Sunday's teaching as he capped off a wonderful weekend retreat on the ascension of Jesus. In this sermon, titled "Go to the Advocate," Pastor Jack called the people to look to the ascended and eternally-incarnate Christ as the ultimate advocate and mediator. Though we may not have access to lawyers and high places of power here on earth, we do have access to the highest of court in heaven because we are seated with Christ and can approach the throne of grace, boldly and with confidence.

Dr. Jack Van Marion was in town to lead a retreat for Epiclesis on the topic Christ's bodily ascension. The miracle of Jesus' bodily ascension into heaven gives us a beautiful picture of our future inheritance, but does his eternal Incarnation have meaning for kingdom living in the here and now? Join us for a great conversation.

Pastor Chris continued a look at the importance of the bodily ascension of Christ with another passage from Philippians. Paul talks about our "upward call" to heaven, for surely that's from where our savior will come. But what does His ascension mean for us in the meantime? Belief in the bodily ascension of Christ requires a deep sense of responsibility for believers. Along the way we also took a look at some thoughts about heaven from C.S. Lewis.

What does it mean that Christ "emptied himself"? Did he set aside his divinity? And what might all this have to do with his bodily ascension? Join Pastor Chris for a look at what Jesus let go of-- and how we should have the same mind. (And, there's this: Pastor Chris burst into song during the sermon. It's a poetic passage that might have even been a hymn of the early church. Could it have sounded like the pastor sang it?)

You've heard the phrase, "What goes up must come down." But when it comes to God's big story-- and Jesus most especially-- what comes down must go up. God fed the Children of Israel with miraculous food from heaven-- the bread of angels, the Bible calls it. Of course, the Israelites called it "What is it?" Join Pastor Chris as he takes a look at the wonderful similarities between manna and the Son of Man.

Less a sermon and more of a bold sharing of the heart, Pastor Chris had just come back from a recent trip fired up and ready to share some encouragement and his passion for what we're doing at Epiclesis. Along the way, he also talked about our annual activity report, gave some sharp rebukes about what church growth experts would have us do, presented a kind of "State of the Church" assessment, and made two important announcements about pastoral ministry at Epiclesis.

Did you know that there's a biblical prescription-- a template-- for worship? In a summer-long series on "What makes us Ancient-Future?" Pastor Chris takes a look at a couple of familiar places in Scripture to show why we worship the way we do at Epiclesis. Want to know what comprises biblical worship? Want to know how God orders worship? Join us!

On this particular Sunday, Pastor Chris continued a look into the notion of "thin places" with this question: What if all of life is meant to be a thin place? Along the way we talked about the pagan Caesarea Philippi, the god Pan, Paul's admonition that we offer our lives as living sacrifices, and, finally, heard some practical advice for sacrificial living from the great A.W. Tozer. Sound interesting? Join us!