theTURN Pre-Roll....

SANTA PARTY TOM NIGHT!

Be sure to join us tomorrow night - yes Tuesday night not Thursday night - for a Christmas party like no other! One catch: we are asking everyone to come dressed up as Saint Nicholas! That's right - get your best Santa outfit, grab your friends, and join us for Part Three of "The Christ of Christmas!"

Free Chik-fil-a sandwiches tomorrow night as well - going to be a December to remember!

See you soon!

pc

"Christ, Ruin My Christmas"

So below are the message slides from tonight's message "Christ, Ruin My Christmas" part two of our December series "The Christ of Christmas."

Another Look at Jesus

1. Jesus the Divine Son

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son.” – Hebrews 1:1-2

The first two chapters of Hebrews beautifully balance each other in that chapter one gives us a portrait of Jesus Christ the divine Son, while chapter two adds a portrait of him as the human being. Hebrews one speaks of his uniqueness. It tells us five major truths about Christ. First, Jesus Christ is the climax of God’s revelation. Of course, God has been revealing himself throughout history through prophets, but it was in a way that was partial and progressive, whereas his self-revelation in Christ was final and complete. So Jesus Christ is God’s last word to the world. It is inconceeivable that there could be a higher or fuller revelation than he has given us in his Incarnate Son. No, Jesus Christ is the climax of his revelation.

Second, Jesus Christ is the Lord of Creation. God has appointed him “heir of all things” (v.2), since through him he had made the universe. So he is its beginning and its end, its source and its heir, and in between he is “sustaining all things by his powerful word” (v.3).

Third, Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father. He is both “the radiance of God’s glory” (light from light, one in being with the Father) and “the exact representation of his being” (distinct from the Father as an impress is distinct from the seal) (v.3).

Fourth, Jesus Christ is the Savior of sinners. Having finished the work of purification for sins, he sat down at the Father’s right hand.

Fifth, Jesus Christ is the object of the angels’ worship. Indeed, he has become “as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (v.4). Angels are doubtless great and glorious beings, but they do not compare with Jesus Christ. The author now collects and quotes a chain of OT texts that speak in different ways of his supremacy. For example, “Let all God’s angels worship him” (v.6). The author concludes this section with a solemn warning that we must pay careful attention to the message of the apostles, lest we drift away from it (2:1-4).

2. Jesus the Human Being

’Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity.” – Hebrews 2:14

Unique as Jesus Christ is in his divine glory, which we considered a moment ago, this is only half the story. If we were to stop there, we would be guilty of serious heresy, affirming his deity but denying or neglecting his humanity. Hebrews 1 emphasizes that Jesus Christ is on with the Father sharing his being); Hebrews 2 emphasizes that Jesus Christ became one with us (sharing our being). He who is in every way superior to the angels became for a while inferior to them. Indeed, there is a fundamental appropriateness in the Son of God becoming human: “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God…..should make the author (pioneer) of their salvation perfect” (v.10). Four main truths are spelled out.

First, he entered into our humanity. He took our “flesh and blood” to himself (v.14). He experienced the frailty and vulnerability of a human being. For he had a real humanbody (eating, drinking, and getting tired) and real human emotions (joy and sorrow, compassion, anger).

Second, he entered into our temptations. “He himself suffered when he was tempted” (v.18). Indeed, he was “tempted in every way, just as we are” (4:15). By his incarnation he laid aside his immunity to temptation and exposed himself to it. And his temptations were real, like ours, except that he never succumbed to them and so never sinned.

Third, he entered into our sufferings. God made the pioneer of our salvation “perfect through suffering” (2:10). Not that he was ever imperfect in the sense of being sinful, but that his identification with us in our humanity would have been incomplete if he had not suffered as we suffer.

Fourth, he entered in our death. “We see Jesus…..now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (v.9). It is not that he needed to die, for he had no sin of his own. But he bore our sins, and it was for our sins that he died. As a result of the incarnation, Jesus Christ can represent us to the Father and can sympathize with our weaknesses.

Some thoughts from Hebrews,

pcraig

"Christ Goes Home"

So below are the message slides from tonight's message "Christ Goes Home," part one of our December series "The Christ of Christmas." The audio message will be available next Thursday night, Dec. 10. Blessings to you!

It is Always Preparation....

It is always us that needs the preparation. Sometimes we feel in our hearts it is time for God to use us in the way that we know He wants to; but we often still find ourselves waiting. Think of the story of Joseph. God was preparing the dreamer. The dream was ready to go, the dreamer was not. It is always us that needs the preparation. The Holy Spirit is ready to perform that which He desires - He just is waiting on us to go through the process.

The key part: you must always maintain and keep your passion. Keep your belly full of fire in the process. It is the forming us that fires God up. And there is no substitute for the fire and power of God. Do not ever lose it.

This is the truth: there will always be some form of crisis in our lives. It is what God uses to keep us dependent upon Him. It is always there....and the price must be paid for the anointing God wants to pour on your life. You will probably have to go to hell and back - but hey, what is five more yards once you have done that?

Don't get impatient with the pace of God. Stay committed and devoted. He who began a good work in you will indeed be faithful to see it to its completion. An obedient today ensures tomorrow's revelation.

See you all tomorrow night!

pcraig

Do Your Words Give Life?

"Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.'" John 6:68-69

Jesus has just shared with the crowd the difficult teaching that only those who drink His blood and eat His flesh will inherit eternal life. For most, it is too difficult to realize. They seem to be unable to expound or understand what Jesus is teaching.

Therefore, the Bible says, "from this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him (6:66)."

Can you picture the crowd deserting Jesus. They start leaving by the masses. This is church growth at its finest. When truth is presented, sometimes people leave. In fact, we may need to judge the reality of truth being preached to our church decline in attendance sometimes - that is what happened with our Savior.

The dust settles, and all that is left are the Twelve staring there at Jesus. And Jesus asks, "You do not want to leave too, do you (6:67)?" And Peter responds in the statement above in verse 68. To truly understand what Peter was saying though we must look back a few verses in this passage. Look at verse 63, "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."

Jesus all throughout the Scripture only spoke what He heard the Father say, and He only did what He saw the Father do. Therefore, the words He spoke were spirit, and as a result, they gave life. I love this!

Although the disciples don't truly understand what Jesus was teaching; although they can't fully expound on what has been taught; it is as if Peter is saying, "We may not fully understand, but we KNOW this: the words you speak Jesus make us feel more ALIVE!"

Who can we turn to other than Jesus whose words make us come alive? He alone has the words of eternal life. He alone is Savior of the world. He alone is Messiah.

So the question is: Do the words you share make people come alive? Do they bring life to those who hear? Are your words coming from His Word? If not, your words are not spirit and do not give life.

pcraig