Our reading today is very short, but vital to the ultimate course of events. The only event is Judas agreeing to betray Jesus it comes from Matthew 26:14-15.
As you read this, think about how matter of fact Judas is. It was his idea to go to the leaders. We know from previous places in scripture that Judas had a lust for money. It was an idol of his. Here he sells out his friend for 30 pieces of silver. He sacrifices Jesus at the altar of his idol.
We know that later Judas throws the money away and commits suicide. Our idols and the things we sacrifice for that are not Jesus, leave us as they left Judas. They become worthless and leave us empty.
Think today about your idols and what idols you sacrifice for. Ask God, as I am today, to expose your idols and shine a light on their lack of value.
Experience Easter Part 2
There is a lot to read today. But stay with us and read it all. Today is the day that Jesus is very active and setting up the rest of the week. He is actively picking a fight with five separate confrontations with the over religious Pharisees. Then he is preaching a long sermon and then the ball is rolling to the crucifixion. It is an exhausting day for him filled with harsh confrontation and preaching.
5 Confrontations::
1. Over His authority (Mt. 21:23-27)
2. Over paying tribute to Caesar (Mt. 22:15-22)
3. Over the doctrine of the resurrection (Mt. 22:23-33)
4. Over the greatest commandment (Mt. 22:34-40)
5. Over the Messiah (Mt. 22:41-46)
Jesus then preaches what is referred to as the Olivette Discourse. This the last sermon that he preaches. Give it that special attention because it is his last. His audience is not just the 12 disciples but also those who have been following him and those who have come as curious on lookers. The Olivette Discourse is Matthew 24-25.
The last thing to read today is Jesus predicting his death and the Pharisees resolving to plot to kill him. (Matthew 26:1-5)
Thanks for reading. We are praying that we all Experience Easter deeply this year. May God bless you with an encounter with Himself today.
5 Confrontations::
1. Over His authority (Mt. 21:23-27)
2. Over paying tribute to Caesar (Mt. 22:15-22)
3. Over the doctrine of the resurrection (Mt. 22:23-33)
4. Over the greatest commandment (Mt. 22:34-40)
5. Over the Messiah (Mt. 22:41-46)
Jesus then preaches what is referred to as the Olivette Discourse. This the last sermon that he preaches. Give it that special attention because it is his last. His audience is not just the 12 disciples but also those who have been following him and those who have come as curious on lookers. The Olivette Discourse is Matthew 24-25.
The last thing to read today is Jesus predicting his death and the Pharisees resolving to plot to kill him. (Matthew 26:1-5)
Thanks for reading. We are praying that we all Experience Easter deeply this year. May God bless you with an encounter with Himself today.
Experience Easter:: Monday
Each day this week we will offer a reading from scripture that chronicles the events of Jesus during that day of the Holy Week. The beginning of the week there is not much that is intense that is going on, but Jesus is setting up the end of the week. He is preparing his disciples, picking fights with religious people and teaching with symbolism.
Make sure to check this blog every day as we Experience Easter together and join us this Sunday at 11:00 AM at NCCS for our Easter service.
It might do you some good to listen to the podcast from the sermon yesterday if you missed it. You can also stream it here. This sermon sets up the events of Palm Sunday which was yesterday.
The reading for today is John 12:20-50. There is a lot of set up here. Those around Jesus are confused as to exactly who he is, but he is making claims the he is God here. We can relate to that. Many times we are confused as to what God is doing, but he is always at work doing things to bring us into a deeper relationship with him.
Make sure to check this blog every day as we Experience Easter together and join us this Sunday at 11:00 AM at NCCS for our Easter service.
It might do you some good to listen to the podcast from the sermon yesterday if you missed it. You can also stream it here. This sermon sets up the events of Palm Sunday which was yesterday.
The reading for today is John 12:20-50. There is a lot of set up here. Those around Jesus are confused as to exactly who he is, but he is making claims the he is God here. We can relate to that. Many times we are confused as to what God is doing, but he is always at work doing things to bring us into a deeper relationship with him.
Experience Easter Part 1
Easter is in less than two weeks. Easter is centered around a few things. First, there is the Easter bunny stuff like chocolate and eggs. A lot of Pastors like to rip on this part of Easter, I do not want to do that. My kids will dye eggs and eat chocolate and I hope to eat a Snickers Egg or a Cadbury Carmel Egg or two.
For church people, Easter is also about a new dress or a new tie. It is about shoes that you better not scuff up. It is about pink, light blue and yellow. It is about nice and new. Maybe that is because Jesus rose again and brought new life, so we like to look nice and new. But that is a stretch.
But it would do us some good to look into scripture for what was happening in the life of Jesus during the days leading up to Easter. Jesus was just about to enter into Jerusalem. Many call this the triumphal entry. He goes into Jerusalem and it is like a parade. People are cheering him and shouting, "Hosanna!" Hosanna is the Greek for an exclamation that you are the chosen one that has come to save us. They are shouting this to Jesus and all gathered around him.
It is also the week leading up to The Passover. For the Jews, Passover was the most important day of the year. Passover is the day that they celebrated their being freed from slavery under the oppression of Egypt. It is Christmas and Independence Day rolled into one; it is a religious and a national holiday. You can listen to a sermon on this here.
But Jesus spends his week picking fights with religious people and spending time with his friends. That sounds like a good time to me. Stay tuned to this blog this week and next week for more about the last week of Jesus' life. Walk with us through those last days as we seek to experience Easter in a deep way.
For church people, Easter is also about a new dress or a new tie. It is about shoes that you better not scuff up. It is about pink, light blue and yellow. It is about nice and new. Maybe that is because Jesus rose again and brought new life, so we like to look nice and new. But that is a stretch.
But it would do us some good to look into scripture for what was happening in the life of Jesus during the days leading up to Easter. Jesus was just about to enter into Jerusalem. Many call this the triumphal entry. He goes into Jerusalem and it is like a parade. People are cheering him and shouting, "Hosanna!" Hosanna is the Greek for an exclamation that you are the chosen one that has come to save us. They are shouting this to Jesus and all gathered around him.
It is also the week leading up to The Passover. For the Jews, Passover was the most important day of the year. Passover is the day that they celebrated their being freed from slavery under the oppression of Egypt. It is Christmas and Independence Day rolled into one; it is a religious and a national holiday. You can listen to a sermon on this here.
But Jesus spends his week picking fights with religious people and spending time with his friends. That sounds like a good time to me. Stay tuned to this blog this week and next week for more about the last week of Jesus' life. Walk with us through those last days as we seek to experience Easter in a deep way.
Two Points::Friday March 19
Point 1::The kingdom of God. What does that mean?
I want you to take a minute to read this and think hard and perhaps even pray and think about how God is pursuing you.
This is a question that I read in a book, "If Christianity was only about finding a group of people to live with, who shared openly their search for God and allowed anyone, regardless of behavior, to seek too, and who collectively lived by faith to make the world a little more like Heaven, would you be interested?"
The kingdom of God that Jesus spoke of is in that question. We live in a world of brokenness. Disease, broken relationships, divorce, pain, famine, earthquakes and tsunamis and so many other things are evidence of our broken world. We each contribute to that brokenness. Mine rubs up against yours and yours against mine. We are left more broken.
But Jesus came to bring this kingdom of God, to restore the brokenness, to redeem it. There is beauty in each of the things that are broken. The body that can be broken with disease is an beautiful thing; the brain, the form, its various systems, skin, the eye, these are all beautiful things. Relationships that can broken can be deeply meaningful. To look upon a wide ocean or a massive mountain can move the soul to poetry yet they can be broken and bring devastation. We are meant to live in th rhythm of that poetry, but our brokenness and the brokenness of the world breaks that rhythm.
Jesus came to restore that, to bring the kingdom of God. He invented gospel centered groups of people for the purpose of being the agents of change to bring about that kingdom.
Point 2:: Gospel Centered Community
If I were to use the term church, you might think of a building you knew as a kid or a place your grand mother took you on Easter. You might think of a place filled with judging people or a place that spends millions on a building or thousands promoting a political agenda while people around them go hungry.
The term church has been hijacked by religious people and by culture. What it really means is a group of people who come together around the fact that they are messed up and that Jesus offers them hope and love. This offer is not attached to any required behavior and is unearnable. It is just given.
People within a gospel centered community give room for other people to be messed up. They do this because Jesus gave them room to be messed up and still gave them relationship. They do this because they are messed up and will need to be given room to be messed up.
This is what Jesus is leading us to be at North Church. I want to be bold enough to ask you to come and give this community a chance, to give Jesus a chance.
I want you to take a minute to read this and think hard and perhaps even pray and think about how God is pursuing you.
This is a question that I read in a book, "If Christianity was only about finding a group of people to live with, who shared openly their search for God and allowed anyone, regardless of behavior, to seek too, and who collectively lived by faith to make the world a little more like Heaven, would you be interested?"
The kingdom of God that Jesus spoke of is in that question. We live in a world of brokenness. Disease, broken relationships, divorce, pain, famine, earthquakes and tsunamis and so many other things are evidence of our broken world. We each contribute to that brokenness. Mine rubs up against yours and yours against mine. We are left more broken.
But Jesus came to bring this kingdom of God, to restore the brokenness, to redeem it. There is beauty in each of the things that are broken. The body that can be broken with disease is an beautiful thing; the brain, the form, its various systems, skin, the eye, these are all beautiful things. Relationships that can broken can be deeply meaningful. To look upon a wide ocean or a massive mountain can move the soul to poetry yet they can be broken and bring devastation. We are meant to live in th rhythm of that poetry, but our brokenness and the brokenness of the world breaks that rhythm.
Jesus came to restore that, to bring the kingdom of God. He invented gospel centered groups of people for the purpose of being the agents of change to bring about that kingdom.
Point 2:: Gospel Centered Community
If I were to use the term church, you might think of a building you knew as a kid or a place your grand mother took you on Easter. You might think of a place filled with judging people or a place that spends millions on a building or thousands promoting a political agenda while people around them go hungry.
The term church has been hijacked by religious people and by culture. What it really means is a group of people who come together around the fact that they are messed up and that Jesus offers them hope and love. This offer is not attached to any required behavior and is unearnable. It is just given.
People within a gospel centered community give room for other people to be messed up. They do this because Jesus gave them room to be messed up and still gave them relationship. They do this because they are messed up and will need to be given room to be messed up.
This is what Jesus is leading us to be at North Church. I want to be bold enough to ask you to come and give this community a chance, to give Jesus a chance.
Two Points:: Thrusday March11
Point 1. A few words on community.- In Genesis the Bible starts with God creating. There is a rhythm that is going on. Each day there is something created and then God proclaims it to be good, it is very rhythmic. Then in Genesis 2:18 we see the words "it was not good". The reference is that man is alone. For the first time something is proclaimed to be not good and it is man being alone.
Simply put you were not meant to be alone. We were all meant to be in community. Community is is not a neighborhood. The root word of community is commune. When I use community in this context, I mean that we partake of life together and we partake of each other as we do life. You are meant to live this sort of communing life with people.
There is more though. As North Church, we seek to live in gospel centered community. What this adds to it is that we are fully aware that we are messed up and you are messed up and we do not hold back our acceptance of one another based upon being or messed up or the times that we mess up.
Do you see the freedom in this? There is no need to impress or perform. The analogy is we are free to wear our sweats and hoodies and slippers around the house. Communing with people is one thing, but hurt can come and come deep when it is not gospel centered. When it is not gospel centered, we are guarded and hold back our vulnerability and thus it is not real community.
I encourage you to engage in real community. I encourage you to think deeply about the relationships that are the most comfortable or healthy or vital to you. What characteristics are true of those relationships?
Point 2 a gospel centered community example
LOST SPOILER ALERT
This weeks Lost episode documents it perfectly. The episode is called Dr. Linus If you do not know Lost and Ben Linus, first off I pity you and second this will be irrelevant to you. But you can watch it anyway because there is background given. The scene I want to direct you occurs at 34:35. Ben has come to complete grips with his awful nature and says that he is going to join Locke because he is the only one who will have him. Ben is repentant about who he is for the first time in his life. He is really broken. The response of the one who has been pursuing him is, "I'll have you."
There is so much to this scene. So much about the gospel and repentance and idol worship and a struggle for power. But what is also here and demonstrated brilliantly is gospel centered community. Broken people who have done very hurtful things to each other, yet there is acceptance.
Simply put you were not meant to be alone. We were all meant to be in community. Community is is not a neighborhood. The root word of community is commune. When I use community in this context, I mean that we partake of life together and we partake of each other as we do life. You are meant to live this sort of communing life with people.
There is more though. As North Church, we seek to live in gospel centered community. What this adds to it is that we are fully aware that we are messed up and you are messed up and we do not hold back our acceptance of one another based upon being or messed up or the times that we mess up.
Do you see the freedom in this? There is no need to impress or perform. The analogy is we are free to wear our sweats and hoodies and slippers around the house. Communing with people is one thing, but hurt can come and come deep when it is not gospel centered. When it is not gospel centered, we are guarded and hold back our vulnerability and thus it is not real community.
I encourage you to engage in real community. I encourage you to think deeply about the relationships that are the most comfortable or healthy or vital to you. What characteristics are true of those relationships?
Point 2 a gospel centered community example
LOST SPOILER ALERT
This weeks Lost episode documents it perfectly. The episode is called Dr. Linus If you do not know Lost and Ben Linus, first off I pity you and second this will be irrelevant to you. But you can watch it anyway because there is background given. The scene I want to direct you occurs at 34:35. Ben has come to complete grips with his awful nature and says that he is going to join Locke because he is the only one who will have him. Ben is repentant about who he is for the first time in his life. He is really broken. The response of the one who has been pursuing him is, "I'll have you."
There is so much to this scene. So much about the gospel and repentance and idol worship and a struggle for power. But what is also here and demonstrated brilliantly is gospel centered community. Broken people who have done very hurtful things to each other, yet there is acceptance.
Past Tense of Salvation
Sunday I preached on the 3 tenses of salvation found in the Scriptures. Here is a video describing the past tense.
Two Points:: Thursday March 4
I have been thinking a lot about prayer in the last few days. So I wanted to make two points this week about prayer.
Point 1: Pray with Importunity. Read Luke 18:1-8 Jesus said, "Ask you will receive...seek and you will find...knock and the door will be opened." When Jesus is teaching about prayer he is always teaching us to be persistent.
::Don Carson says, "In prayer, we are like naughty boys who ring the door bell and run away."
::Andrew Murray says, "God trains us in the school of answer delayed. To teach us perseverance, he does this."
::Isaiah 30:18 says, "Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him."
::Read Psalm 130 here
All of these things are pointing to teaching us to wait on God, to pray with perseverance. We live in 2010 America and we want things to happen quickly. Comfort is important to us. As we learn these lessons of prayer not just in a scholastic way, but also in a practical and personal way, we learn to depend upon God.
We also learn that comfort for today is really quite over rated. This life is not about you and your comfort. Each day can be seized to attempt to bring more comfort or for deeper communion with God. Prayer can be a great teacher of this truth.
Point 2:Prayer is based on God's promises. Read Jeremiah 29:11-12 Many times we read Jeremiah 29:11 and get all excited about the promise that is there. We put that on coffee mugs and bumper stickers. But verse 12 brings more to the table. Meditate on verse 12.
I have heard people ask if God is all knowing and all powerful , isn't prayer redundant or what is the point of praying if God does what he likes? Terry Virgo said, "Praying not redundant, it is motivation to seek God. God's statements of promises are invitations to move."
Point 1: Pray with Importunity. Read Luke 18:1-8 Jesus said, "Ask you will receive...seek and you will find...knock and the door will be opened." When Jesus is teaching about prayer he is always teaching us to be persistent.
::Don Carson says, "In prayer, we are like naughty boys who ring the door bell and run away."
::Andrew Murray says, "God trains us in the school of answer delayed. To teach us perseverance, he does this."
::Isaiah 30:18 says, "Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him."
::Read Psalm 130 here
All of these things are pointing to teaching us to wait on God, to pray with perseverance. We live in 2010 America and we want things to happen quickly. Comfort is important to us. As we learn these lessons of prayer not just in a scholastic way, but also in a practical and personal way, we learn to depend upon God.
We also learn that comfort for today is really quite over rated. This life is not about you and your comfort. Each day can be seized to attempt to bring more comfort or for deeper communion with God. Prayer can be a great teacher of this truth.
Point 2:Prayer is based on God's promises. Read Jeremiah 29:11-12 Many times we read Jeremiah 29:11 and get all excited about the promise that is there. We put that on coffee mugs and bumper stickers. But verse 12 brings more to the table. Meditate on verse 12.
I have heard people ask if God is all knowing and all powerful , isn't prayer redundant or what is the point of praying if God does what he likes? Terry Virgo said, "Praying not redundant, it is motivation to seek God. God's statements of promises are invitations to move."
Some quotes on prayer
From Paul Miller's "A Praying Life"
"Helplessness is a door to God. The gospel uses my weakness as the door to God's grace. This is how grace works"
"Oddly enough, many people struggle to learn how to pray because they are focusing on praying, not on God."
"Jesus is not just the Savior of my soul. He's also the Savior of my prayers."
"Suffering is God's gift to make us aware of our contingent existence."
"Both the child and the cynic walk through the valley of the shadow of death. The cynic focuses on the valley and the child focuses on the shepherd."
"Even when the father turns his back on him, Jesus trusts. Faced with the storms of life, he tightens his grip on the father."
"Pray yourself into prayer" -Don Carson
"We are like naughty boys who ring the door bell and run away." -Don Carson
"God trains us in the school of answer delayed. he does this to teach us perseverance." -Andrew Murray
"Its as thought the promises of god are waiting on our prayers to release them." -Andrew Murray
"Helplessness is a door to God. The gospel uses my weakness as the door to God's grace. This is how grace works"
"Oddly enough, many people struggle to learn how to pray because they are focusing on praying, not on God."
"Jesus is not just the Savior of my soul. He's also the Savior of my prayers."
"Suffering is God's gift to make us aware of our contingent existence."
"Both the child and the cynic walk through the valley of the shadow of death. The cynic focuses on the valley and the child focuses on the shepherd."
"Even when the father turns his back on him, Jesus trusts. Faced with the storms of life, he tightens his grip on the father."
"Pray yourself into prayer" -Don Carson
"We are like naughty boys who ring the door bell and run away." -Don Carson
"God trains us in the school of answer delayed. he does this to teach us perseverance." -Andrew Murray
"Its as thought the promises of god are waiting on our prayers to release them." -Andrew Murray
Prayer
I would like you to take a moment and think about a question. What would you like for God to do in your life or change about yourself?
The question is to help me to know how to pray for you in a proactive way. So much of my prayer for people is reactionary to difficult times or circumstances. There is value to that sort of prayer. But it has gotten stale. I want to pray for you, help me to pray for you.
As you think about that question, I would like you think deeply about it and think dangerously about it. By deeply, I mean go beyond the surface thoughts. Get to the core of what you want God to do in you. By dangerously, I mean to ask for something that will require a change in you that may not be comfortable. Ask for something that you have found impossible to attain for yourself.
Leave your answers in the comments section. If you want to share something a bit more personal and do not want to comment here, email me at rik@northchurchstl.com.
The question is to help me to know how to pray for you in a proactive way. So much of my prayer for people is reactionary to difficult times or circumstances. There is value to that sort of prayer. But it has gotten stale. I want to pray for you, help me to pray for you.
As you think about that question, I would like you think deeply about it and think dangerously about it. By deeply, I mean go beyond the surface thoughts. Get to the core of what you want God to do in you. By dangerously, I mean to ask for something that will require a change in you that may not be comfortable. Ask for something that you have found impossible to attain for yourself.
Leave your answers in the comments section. If you want to share something a bit more personal and do not want to comment here, email me at rik@northchurchstl.com.
Prayer
As a way to more effectively pray and to be more active in my prayer life, I would like to ask those who read this blog to give me some things to pray for them about specifically.
A few guidelines for you. First, I want to pray proactively. That is to say I do not wish for this forum to be a place for you to write about issues that you are having with health or friends
A few guidelines for you. First, I want to pray proactively. That is to say I do not wish for this forum to be a place for you to write about issues that you are having with health or friends
