Mt. Lassen Community Church

The Cross speaks to our greatest needs in life. We have much to unpack in this most critical passage of the entire Bible!

One may almost feel badly for Pontius Pilate. Almost.

He faced pressure on all sides. There was no easy solution to the Jesus problem. No matter what he did, he was bound to make a blunder that could cost him his job, or even his life.

But he ends up making the worst choice of all in what seemed like a no-win situation—instead of saving Jesus’ life, he turned Him over to His blood–thirsty enemies for a horrific execution. And this has defined Pilate’s legacy for all of history—indeed for all of eternity!

If only Pilate had known what we know now—those things we should keep in mind whenever we face a hard decision—things we so quickly and easily forget!

See you Sunday!

~Jeff

What do we do in a crisis, when our world is falling apart? Quite often, the worst comes out of us.

In John 18, as the guards come to arrest Jesus, we see our Savior collected and in control. Everything is unfolding exactly as God planned.

Peter, on the other hand, is at his worst. Even after four chapters (John 14–17) of Jesus warning His disciples about what is about to happen and preparing them for the trauma, Peter completely fails the test. He is completely undone by Jesus’ arrest and responds in the flesh, instead of responding in the spirit. Peter fails to imitate Christ at the moment it matters the most.

Unlike Peter, though, we have the big picture. We see the cross and empty tomb of Jesus. We see Him ascending on high, to reign and rule from His heavenly throne. We’ve experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit, and we’ve been transformed so we can live the crucified life in Christ.

When the next test comes, we don’t have to be like a “Simon Peter"—we can be like Jesus!

Peace,

~Jeff

As we’ve been studying Jesus’ words to His disciples in John chapters 14–17, I’m struck by the relevancy of His warning of persecution. Consider John 16:2 • They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.

As a Christian teenager, I remember some jokes and mocking about my faith, but never outright persecution and threats of harm. It seems that for as long as I can remember, Christians were respected. Perhaps non–believers would consider us kooky or foolish, but they would admire our willingness to live according to our moral convictions. And Jesus was still honored by non believers as a good moral teacher, and His followers were well regarded for living upstanding lives.

No longer—the “hour” Jesus warned of is certainly here. Persecuting Christians is now seen as doing a service unto the “modern” god of Self. Self-pleasure, selfish-pride, self-identity, self–centeredness, etc.

In this new hour of persecution, churches are becoming a dangerous place to gather—so, gather we must! And gladly and boldly, we will take advantage of each opportunity God gives us to proclaim His name and His Gospel in our community.

My friends, now is not the time to shrink back. Surely we’ve been placed here “for such a time as this”!

Peace,

~Jeff

This week in our midweek Bible study, we considered: John 14:19b • because I live, you will live also! What a fantastic verse to wrap up our Resurrection Sunday week. And this sets up our study for this Sunday: Jesus’ critical exhortation in John 15 to stay connected to Him as the True Vine—the source of life.

John 15:1–17 is one of those passages of scripture every Christian should have on their regular reading list. It should be part of your “Christianity 101” curriculum: “I am the True Vine... you are the branches …abide in Me…"

Look through the passage: notice how often Jesus says “ME” or “MY” and how often He says “YOU”—you’ll be astounded by the repetition. And notice how often He says “ABIDE” and how abiding produces FRUIT.

To ABIDE IN CHRIST must be our goal and our lifestyle. How to get there and how this looks for each of us will be different and very personal—but the key thing—Get connected to the SOURCE OF LIFE: Jesus! Don’t become attached to any other worldly “vine.”

Are you abiding in Christ? What does that look like? When are you not abiding in Him? How can you allow God to prune the dead branches out of your life? How can you become more fruitful and abundant?

We’ve got a lot to consider this Sunday—but really only ONE THING: Abide in Christ!

Peace,

~Jeff

Happy Resurrection Sunday, MLCC church family.

HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

I’ve been listening to Tim Hughes’ great song, “Happy Day.” Give it a listen. Here are the words—

The greatest day in history

Death is beaten, You have rescued me

Sing it out Jesus is alive

The empty cross, the empty grave

Life eternal You have won the day

Shout it out, Jesus is alive

He's alive

And oh happy day, happy day

You washed my sin away

Oh happy day, happy day

I'll never be the same

Forever I am changed

I hope you can join us this Sunday as we rejoice together in the reality of Jesus’ victory over the grave, through which our faith was unshakably anchored and His triumph over our enemy has been eternally secured.

Blessings,

~Jeff