THE JESUS PARADOX

When Jesus ministered on this earth, He shattered the misunderstandings that people had about the coming of the promised Messiah. It’s time for some of the misunderstandings of our culture to be shattered as well. Jesus is a paradox that we can ignore to our peril and pursue to our eternal joy.

The religious establishment of Jesus’ day did a lot of good things but, in the process, they lost sight of doing the most important things. Jesus refused to allow religious performance to be an acceptable substitute for godly living.

Motive for Missions

If we are going to fulfill the mandate for missions, we must personally have a reason for doing so. If we fail to understand our motive for missions, we’ll default to other activities that we think are more important to us. We need to wrestle with the “why” question if we’re ever going to be passionate and committed to missions.

Love for us, Freedom from bondage, Healing from the curse of sin, Paradise restored, People need to know! We are His messengers!

MISSIONS

If it weren’t for missionaries, you wouldn’t know Jesus. It was Jesus who commanded His followers to tell other people about Him. Because they did, we now have the privilege of knowing Jesus personally. But there are more people than ever before in human history who do not know Jesus yet. Will they have the opportunity to know Him? That depends on how we respond to His call to missions.

Mandate for Missions

Life is a gift from God. We only have one life to live on this earth, and God wants us to make it count for Him. There are many things we can do with our lives, but if we’re not careful we can squander the gift that has been entrusted to us. What is it that God wants us to do?

The Presence of the Spirit

It has been said that you tend to become like those you spend time with, so choose your friends wisely. Jesus instructs us to abide or remain in Him. We can do that through the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit

THE DEEPER LIFE

Entering into a personal relationship with Jesus is great. But continuing to grow in that relationship is greater still! One of the remarkable blessings of knowing Jesus is that there is always more of Him to experience. You were meant for more than a sprinkle of Jesus. He wants you to have more of Him because there’s always more of Him to be had.

The Fruit of the Spirit

In order to be the kind of people God created and intends for us to be, the Holy Spirit makes His character available to us. The Bible refers to these character qualities as the Fruit of the Spirit. The more we grow in the Fruit of the Spirit, the more the image of God will be reflected by us.

Message by: Pastor Travis Archer

Entering into a personal relationship with Jesus is great. But continuing to grow in that relationship is greater still! One of the remarkable blessings of knowing Jesus is that there is always more of Him to experience. You were meant for more than a sprinkle of Jesus. He wants you to have more of Him because there’s always more of Him to be had.

A treasure chest is meant to be filled with treasure. An empty treasure chest is of little worth. The more treasure it holds, the greater its worth. We are God’s treasure. He created us to be filled with His Spirit, which is the greatest treasure of all. In order to be filled with more of Him, we need to be emptied of ourselves first.

2020 has been quite a year. We’ve all faced adversity one way or another. We wonder where God is during all of this chaos. We can get angry and frustrated, even question our faith at certain times. But we must remember, the birth of Jesus seemed chaotic and messy, but yet it was God plans all along. Sometimes, things in our lives are out of our control. But we must continue to run the race of trusting God for the future.

What makes a gift special is the personal touch. A gift exchange between unknown recipients isn’t as meaningful as one that is given specially for you. Imagine if under the Christmas tree there was not as single present with your name on it. The card or tag attached to the present is what identifies who the gift is for. Most people don’t keep those cards or tags, but God has provided more than a card for us to enjoy.

Video referenced:

wingclips.com/movie-clips/the-chosen-christmas-pilot/full-episode

Wrapping a gift takes skill. That’s why many people just use bags! A gift doesn’t just wrap itself. The paper needs to be cut to fit and stuck in place. Cutting and pasting is part of what it means to be a Christian. Our self life needs to be cut out, and the life of Christ needs to be secured.

If you’ve ever been to a Christmas gift exchange, you know that most people eye the gift that either has the biggest box, or the nicest wrapping. But sometimes a nicely wrapped gift isn’t what you expected. The worth of a gift isn’t defined by its wrapping. When Jesus came to this earth, he was wrapped in human flesh, but many people didn’t appreciate the gift that was given in Jesus.