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Life Center
Life Center episodes
- 47 min
- The Compassion of Jesus
We can’t do everything, but we can do something.
TRANSCRIPTVideo story
Introduction and offering:Thank you Harry and Eric, Dolores and Shelbi for sharing your stories with us. We’re better together! Old and young, black and white, male and female—we’re better together. Move toward the other! I’m so grateful that Pastor Noel invested his life in me. What would happen if each of us would ask God who He wants us to invest in? Pray!Offering here. Your offering makes stories like you just saw possible. Thank you. Last weekend 18 people said yes to Jesus for the first time—your offering makes that possible. Thank you. Last weekend you heard from our missionaries in Fiji and their plans to plant 4 new churches—your offering makes that possible and you gave over $25,000! Thank you! Let’s dive into this talk…ILL: This true story was reported in Campus Life magazine a few years ago.Imagine a funeral. The preacher is giving the eulogy. And suddenly, the dead person pops up out of the coffin! Would that freak you out?It really happened! A guy named George in South Africa decided to fake his death as a test. “I wanted to know what people would say about me when I’m dead,” he said. “I’m satisfied they spoke the truth about me and not lies.”George says he’s gonna keep the coffin for his real funeral—which may be sooner than he thinks, if he keeps pulling stunts like this!We’re going to read a story from the gospel of Luke in which a bunch of people experienced a shock like this at a funeral—but it wasn’t faked.Welcome to our Summer Bible Series in the gospel of Luke. Today, we’re reading a beautiful little story in Luke 7:11-17 (p. 886) about a widow whose only son has died—she is alone in the world. Jesus happens to intercept the funeral procession, and something amazing happens. This story is only found here, in Luke’s gospel—none of the other gospel writers included it—and as we go along, we’ll see why Luke did. Here’s the story:Luke 7:11–17 (p. 886)Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being44 min - 32 min
- You and the Offended Other
Jesus calls us to take the initiative to make peace, just as He did with us! Matthew 5:9, Colossians 1:20
TranscriptIntroduction and offering:
Did you notice the new Bibles? There are about 1000 of them in the room—enough for everyone to have one, or to share with a neighbor. This has been several months in the making. Instead of us putting all the Scriptures up on the screen, we are going to help you find them in the Bible. We’ll still occasionally put Scriptures on the screen, but most of the time we want to help you find them in the Bible. Here’s why: we want to increase your Biblical literacy. We want to help you become more familiar and comfortable with the Bible.
Using a paper Bible helps you see the context. You see where the passage falls in the big story, and what’s immediately around it. You don’t see that on your phone, or digital device, or the big screens.
Using a paper Bible teaches you to navigate the Bible. The Bible can be intimidating. It’s over 1000 pages! It’s 66 books in one! Where is everything and how does it all fit together? You learn that better in a paper Bible. You may not learn it all in a digital device or on the big screens.Using a paper Bible makes all of us Bible students, not just the speaker. Last fall, I was at a conference and heard Pastor Larry Osborne explain why they didn’t put the Scriptures up on the big screen and why they used paper Bibles instead. He shared a new thought for me. When a new person sees everyone with a Bible open and following along, he thinks, “Oh, reading the Bible is normal. Everyone does it. Everyone knows where to look.” But if he/she sees the verses only on the big screen, then he thinks, “The pastor is the expert; he knows the Bible; the rest of us don’t.” In other words, it democratizes Bible reading and knowledge. It makes “experts” of all of us, not just the pastor.So here we go! This means that it will take us a few moments longer to get to a passage, but that’s ok. And to help you find the passages, we will put the reference on the big screen with the page number! One last thing: please don’t take these home—leave them on your seat when we’re done. If you really want one, we bought extras and you can buy them at the Welcome Center for $10. Ok—let’s get started! Turn to Matthew 5:9 (p. 830).T
36 min - 46 min
- Courageous Christians in Catalytic Times – Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil
Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil is the author of “Roadmap to Reconciliation.”
45 min - The Lord’s Prayer
We asked four of our young leaders to preach their hearts out over the Lord’s Prayer. To make things fun, we gave them an 8 minute time limit!
39 min - 44 min
- You and the Other
Jesus reconciles us to God and to each other. Jesus broke down the dividing wall between races. Now, we are ambassadors of His peace, building bridges not walls.
TranscriptApril 21-22 2018
Pastor Joe WittwerHe is Our Peace#2—You and the OtherIntroduction and offering
I said a couple weeks ago that there are two wings on the gospel plane: a spiritual wing and a social wing. We were made to love God and to love people. We are spiritual and social creatures. Jesus came to reconcile us to God and to each other. But many of us are more comfortable with the spiritual than the social.
- People have told me, “I could be a good Christian if you put me on a deserted island with just my Bible. Just me and God.” God yes, people no. By the way, it’s not true—you wouldn’t be a good Christian alone; you’d be a spiritual pygmy. We need each other.
- All of us want God to forgive us, but many of us are unwilling to forgive someone else. “I’ll never forgive that person.” God yes, people no.
- Lots of people like Jesus, but dislike Christians or hate the church. God yes, people no.
But that one-winged plane won’t fly. The gospel plane has two wings: love God and love people. Be reconciled to God and be reconciled to each other. Two weeks ago, we talked about You and God, the spiritual wing. Here comes the other wing, the social wing: You and the Other.
Originally I was doing a talk on three things: racial reconciliation, political reconciliation and reconciling with enemies. But as I wrote, I realized that I had too much to say on race, and I’ll have to circle back later on the others. So our big idea is:
Jesus reconciles us to God and to each other. Jesus broke down the dividing wall between races. We are ambassadors of His peace, building bridges not walls.
I have a deep conviction that Jesus cares about our racial divide and died to heal it. And because of that, we Jesus-followers ought to be taking the lead on racial reconciliation. I also think that race is a very difficult thing to talk about. The subject fills people with confusion, guilt, shame, and anger. It’s deeply personal and profoundly emotional. So I’m going to ask you to listen to your pastor who loves you and wants the b
53 min - 39 min
About Life Center
From the publisher's feed
Whether you’re looking for a sermon on forgiveness, love, or marriage, or anything else, we start by looking in the Bible. We hope you find encouragement and spiritual guidance, and most importantly…
that each one connects you with Jesus.
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