Treasured Truth

At the beginning of this new year, we don’t need resolutions or a list of things to accomplish. We need a revelation. We need to understand Who we have in Christ and then confidently cling to Him.

One of the most important questions you can ask yourself in life is who you’re going to serve. That’s because the answer to that question determines the answers to any and every other question you will ever have in life. And as we begin this study in Hebrews 4, Pastor Ford will remind those of us who have decided to serve Christ, Who it is that we are serving.

So you’re saved and you’ve been baptized—but is that it? Pastor Ford asks us all to consider if our Christianity is sincere and if our lives reflect the change that evidences true repentance and new life in Christ.

Unfortunately, sometimes there is misunderstanding that occurs in the church and in our interaction with each other as believers. But, even when the messages haven’t been clear, haven’t been concise, or haven’t been communicated well, we have to leave that stuff behind us, grow from it, continue to go forward, and try as much as possible to make things better.

As we begin to look at how to avoid misunderstanding, Pastor Ford explains that when we get a message, we need to receive the message as it’s given, and we shouldn’t try to read anything into it. Because misunderstanding can lead to a misfortunate response, since we tend to respond inappropriately in those situations.

Ultimately, the cross of Christ will silence those who think they are wiser than God. And although the wisdom of God can seem like foolishness to man, Pastor Ford will remind us today that God has actually made man’s wisdom to be foolishness, not vice versa.

The plan of God to redeem this world can appear like foolishness to man. The infant in the manger is the Infinite One? That baby is God on the throne? Does that really make sense to anyone? No, it does not. But that’s why accepting God’s plan requires us to have faith.

Pastor Ford will remind us today that despite all of the knowledge we have access to in today’s world, mankind ultimately lacks the wisdom to save himself. We have to realize that God is the One Who has all of the wisdom. And He’s provided man with wisdom, but many of us refuse to use it because it comes through the cross of Christ.

Today, Pastor Ford asks the question, “Who do you want for your Savior?”—Any of the self-proclaimed messiahs from centuries past (and even today)? Or Jesus Christ—the only one who is virgin born and who has no beginning and no end?

This time of year, we often sing the wonderful Christmas carol, “O little town of Bethlehem.” But how often do we sing those lyrics without reflecting on the theology behind them? Pastor Ford will challenge us to consider how, because Christ was born, that “the hopes and fears of all the years” were met in that little town on that first Christmas night.