Jesus is the Word of God
Last week I heard Leon Sims' pure nard on Church: where heaven meets earth.
This Sunday I went to St Andrew's to hear the glory man Marcus (Channing) Nelson on Malachi 4. An absolute corker on Christ's return - DOWNLOAD HERE.
Later that day, Steve (Woody) Nichols preached on Galatians 4: A choice of religions. DOWNLOAD HERE.
Highly recommended.
321-GO!
THE WORLD’S TWO-NESS
What’s the big problem with the world?
DISCUSS: “You and I do bad things and fail to do good things. If we don’t sort out this sin problem now we’ll be in trouble when we die.”
What’s good and bad about this statement?
How would you improve it?
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1 Corinthians 15:20-23
In Adam we – and the whole world – are taken down to death and curse
In Christ we – and the whole world – are raised to life and blessings
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Shaped by our families
In Adam we share:
family history – disconnection from God.
family traits – defects: suspicion, slavery, selfishness, stuff-ups
family inheritance – death.
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Our problem is not so much our behaviour, it’s our being.
How will this affect our evangelism?
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O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.
Praise to the Holiest in the Height, J.H. Newman
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How does Jesus solve our disconnection, defects and death?
John 3:1-18
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A Sentence Up Your Sleeve...
“That problem is beyond me. I don’t think I/we can ever solve it, do you?”
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QUESTIONS
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321-GO!
THREE God is Three Persons united in love
TWO The story of the world is the story of two representatives
ONE You are one with Adam. Will you be one with Jesus?
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GOD’S THREE-NESS
What was there “in the beginning?” John 1:1-18
Nothing
Chaos
Power
Love
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From His Family to Our Failures Matthew 3:13-17
He joins us in our filth to invite us to His Family.
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It All Begins With Jesus John 1:14; John 14:5-10; Colossians 1:15
Which God do you believe in?
Which God don't you believe in?
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A Sentence Up Your Sleeve...
“That’s what I love about Jesus...”
QUESTIONS
Sorry I haven't been posting much new content in the last week or so. I'm in the middle of two university mission weeks - first in Plymouth and, next week, in Falmouth. Please pray for open doors, open hearts and an open mouth for me.
In the meantime, let me re-post this video. I used it again recently in evangelism training and it really made an impact. It beautifully introduces that crazy evangelistic strategy of... inviting people to church!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxKGGven9_U]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__EBp8AtO5Y]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmi7p1E8eZk]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXZspFW71kI]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5acDTfjJsV4]
Are you imagining it right now?
What was Adam's work according to Genesis 2?
Well verse 15 says he was rested in the garden to serve it and keep it. What's that going to look like?
Well we're all thinking of hoes and ploughs and honest labour and thank God for Genesis 2 and the Protestant work ethic etc, etc,.
Now clearly there's a time and a place for all of that and certainly Adam is made a co-creator with the LORD, a co-gardener too (v5). None of what follows should be read as anti-physical labour or anything of the sort. But probably our picture of Adam's garden work is massively distorted by the fall.
Just for starters, we probably imagined him clothed. And we probably imagined him sweating. (cf Gen 3:17-19). It's actually very hard to disentangle our thinking from the all-pervasive effects of the fall. But let's try to do it...
According to what we read in Genesis 2, what does Adam actually do in his pre-fallen state? He preaches (v19-20). He doesn’t just talk to the animals, he names them. Not at a distance but all the animals are brought to him to find their true identity. As head of the old creation, Adam graciously speaks their true Adam-determined identities into existence. And in this pre-fallen state, they simply receive his verdict and are constituted as who they are by his powerful word. By his effective speech-act he declares who they really are – he preaches to the whole creation (cf Mark 16:15).
You could even say that all Adam does in his pre-fall work is preach. He preaches to all creation and then 'dies' for his bride!
Through his words in Genesis 2, creation is brought under his feet. Through his silence in Genesis 3, creation unravels.
People often talk about God's creation agenda in a way that divorces it from His redemptive agenda. They talk of His cultural mandate in a way that divorces it from the great commission. But right from the beginning proclamation is at the very heart of all God's ways and works.
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God worked a universe out of nothing, He reworked it out of sin, death and curse. I reckon He can do something with you. #EnjoyYourDay
<< But it's worth remembering what you bring to the equation: nothing, sin, death, curse!
Are you a Christian? Luke 15 tells you your standing: weak and welcomed, wretched and robed, stinking and celebrated. #EnjoyYourDay
RU worried about UP? Jesus takes care of heaven. RU worried about LATER? Your Father takes care of tomorrow...
...RU worried about OUT? The Spirit makes our labours fruitful & multiply. UR called to HERE & NOW & THIS. Which is all we ever have anyway
<< by "OUT" I mean our worries about impacting *the world* (as opposed to concentrating on *this thing*).
Jesus is your salvation, your clothing, your food, yr shelter, yr reputation. Now those r taken care of, what do u want 2 do? #EnjoyYourDay
We're not called to keep the status quo, we're called to love. And love always rocks the boat
If u can finish these sentences, u can witness for Jesus: "That's what I love about Jesus/ my church/ Life in a world made by love..."
...Throw in some "I just can't handle /this/ about the world/ my life, can you?" and you're away.
The hypocrites 'bow their heads like a reed' before the LORD (Is 58). But real faith is when the LORD lifts your head (Ps3)
<< The former make a show of humility, but are really proud. The latter walk with head held high, but are truly meek.
Receive each word 'our Light & Momentary Troubles Are Achieving For Us an Eternal Weight of Glory that Far Outweighs them All' #EnjoyYourDay
Fallen Abram mopes around the wilderness, Gen13:3. When he returns 2the altar Then he calls on the Name of the LORD. Dont sulk #run2thecross
The Spirit gave you gifts to make you serve, not to make you superior.
Horrifying article: So What If Abortion Ends Life: "the fetus is indeed a life. A life worth sacrificing"
Your connection with God is Not up to yr prayers or yr piety. It's up to yr Priest. And He ever lives to intercede 4u #EnjoyYourDay
If you want to reboot your life, try holding your nose while depressing your belly-button for 5 seconds. Failing that, try Jesus.
A 60 y.o. who's grown up in evangelical churches told me today = 1st time she's understood how Jesus is the Lamb of God. Preach the basics!
He went for a fist-pump, I went for a handshake. You may say he was the cool one. I say paper beats rock.
It covers, cleanses & cries. It purchases, pacifies, purifies. It sanctifies, slakes, sets free. His blood availed 4 me #EnjoyYourDay
Idols are idle.
Their gods wait while they work. Our God works while we wait. Isaiah 64:4 #idolsareidle
No epistle talks numbers. Size of church = irrelevant 2 the Lord's assessment in Rev 2-3. Why is it 1 of 1st things we mention about a church?
Underneath it's not 'blind, pitiless indifference'. Underneath are the everlasting arms. Deut 33:27 #EnjoyYourDay
#1Sam16: Bad news- u've not been chosen as King. Good news- yr Brother has & He shares His royalty & victory with you #1Sam17 #EnjoyYourDay
#1John1 Pretend righteousness, unconfessed sin, lonely independence = darkness. The Fellowship, Blood & Family of God = light #EnjoyYourDay
God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1John5:11 #EnjoyYourDay
Tempted to groan under the weight of your "sacrifices"? Don't think sacrifice, think sound investment (Mark 10:29-30) #EnjoyYourDay
For Allah, creation brings relatedness into existence. For the living God, relatedness brings creation into existence.
If u knew Jesus was praying 4u in the next room u'd have confidence 4 today. Distance makes no difference, He's still praying #EnjoyYourDay
A member of Christ, 1 spirit w Him, purchased by His blood, a sharer in His resurrection, a temple of His Holy Spirit #1Cor6 #EnjoyYourDay
E V Hill preaching at his wife's funeral (he calls her 'Baby').
Devastating and exultant at the same time. You will be a blubbering wreck in 19 minutes time...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dubKFRf6etA]
Can someone with time and skills make an 8 minute typographied version of this?
Let me think out loud for a minute.
Jesus is the Radiance of God's Glory (Hebrews 1:3). He is not a second Light shining as brightly as the Father. And He is not simply the object of the Father's shining. He is the Father's Shining.
Similarly, Jesus is the eternal Word of the Father (John 1:1). He is not a second Word, as vocal as the Father. He is not simply the hearer of God's Word. He is the Father's communicative expression - a Voice crying out.
In other words, God is outgoing. And eternally so. The triune God flows outwards even before creation. Creation becomes the in-time expression of the Trinity's eternal life.
But, you might ask the question, Doesn't this make God dependent on creation? Since He shines out, perhaps creation is necessary as the thing (even the darkness) to be illuminated. Since He speaks out, perhaps creation is necessary as an audience for the Word. Have we made creation necessary to the expression of God's eternal nature?
Well before I attempt a half-answer to that, let's realise that there are problems on the other side of this question. You see if the triune God is not eternally radiant then what He reveals in, through and to His creation is something different to His eternal being. If God is self-contained pre-creation then He could A) remain self-contained (and true to His eternal triune life) or B) be over-flowing (and different to His eternal triune life). But if we want a God who is truly revealed then we need a God who is always expressing Himself - an eternal Word. Once we grant this, there is good news. For if the Father has always shone outwards in Christ then when I receive that shining I'm receiving the eternal God in His eternal nature. Jesus then truly reveals, not obscures, God.
Ok, so it's important to hold onto the outgoing-ness of God. But how do we speak of it without making creation necessary to God?
Well Jonathan Edwards in his unpublished essay on the trinity speaks of this eternal outgoing-ness like this:
[God's pleasure]... is a pleasure in diffusing and communicating to, rather than in receiving from, the creature.
Here Edwards is affirming the primordially gracious character of the Trinity. God is Giver. And forever has been. To the person who objects that this makes God dependent upon a recipient, Edwards makes this wonderful point:
Surely, it is no argument of [neediness] in God that he is inclined to communicate of his infinite fullness. It is no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain, that it is inclined to overflow
The Fountain of Life does not become something He's not in creation. Rather He is truly Himself in it. Creation does not fulfil a need in God, not at all. But it does express a super-abundance. It shows us a life-giving grace to the Father which goes all the way down and all the way back.
Leon preached a corker tonight at Emmanuel, Plymouth.
From Psalm 84 he answered the question, Why isn't church more exciting?
We're the only source of life for this dying world.
We're the only place where people can meet with God.
We're the only place where the broken and hurt can find healing and refuge.
We're the only place on earth where God lives.
