glenscriv – Page 75 – Christ the Truth

From the overflow of the heart...

What do you picture when you think of an evangelist?

Now describe someone who helped you trust Jesus.

Why is there a difference?

Evangelist means “Teller of Good News”

Who needs to hear the gospel?

Me!

What do I need to do with the gospel?

Believe it!

Does the world need more evangelists?

That depends!

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Matthew 23:15 – Evangelism can grow Satan’s kingdom!

Garbage In – Garbage Out!

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Matthew 12:34 – Evangelism needs to flow from the heart

Gospel In – Gospel Out!

Full script here

Evangelism Training Course Outline

glenscrivSeptember 13, 2011Leave a comment

Here's the 12 week outline for Outgoing. It's based around four questions:

What kind of God?

What kind of gospel?

What kind of people?

What's stopping us?

Introduction

From the overflow of the heart - The first thing I need to do with the gospel is believe it. When my heart is full, then I will overflow to others (Matthew 12:34). But the first person who needs the gospel is me!

Part one. Part two.

What kind of God?

The Jesus-Shaped God – The big question for Christian and non-Christian alike is “Which God?” Most people believe in God, billions pray to God, trouble is no-one knows who they’re praying to. And everyone’s God seems different. Will the real God please stand up? He has, and His name is Jesus.

Part one. Part two.

The Surprising God – When we see the God revealed by Jesus, that ought to shock us, because He is very different to the God people talk about in the pub or the philosophy department. We might find ourselves having to give up the God we grew up with, because Jesus reveals the Surprising God.

Part one and two.

The Triune God – people often think of the Trinity as a problem in evangelism. How do we explain the Trinity? The Trinity is not the problem. The Trinity is the solution to all our other problems.

Part one. Part two.

The Outgoing God – If God is Jesus-shaped, if He’s cross shaped, if He’s Three Persons United, then He is thoroughly outgoing. His posture to the world is “Arms outstretched.” And that has huge implications for my Christian life and for evangelism.

Part one and two.

What kind of gospel?

Dead – We need to know who we are as the Outgoing God meets us. Who are we? We’re under judgement. We are sinners condemned under a terrible death sentence.

Part one and two.

Buried – More than this, all our solutions are false hopes. They actually mire us even deeper. We try to give ourselves life but we find ourselves addicted to all the wrong things. We try to clean up our act and find ourselves trapped by the law. We have no hope in ourselves. All our hope comes from Jesus

Part one. Part two.

Raised – Christ saves us. And He does it completely and without assistance from us thank you very much. Christ alone saves us, out of His own sheer mercy and grace alone.

Part one. Part two.

What kind of people?

Priestly People – we’ll think of the Priesthood of Christ and the priesthood of all believers. I find who I am in Jesus and in the family of believers – and both those things are priestly realities. Priestly means outgoing – a priest is a go-between. We are a priestly people.

Part one and two.

Proclamation People – We are people of the word. The gospel Word creates us, sustains us and flows through us to the world.

Part one and two.

What’s stopping us?

Problems of the head? – Do we fail at evangelism because we don’t know the answers? That might explain some of it. Certainly we all need to know the gospel better. But we need to figure out the place of “right thinking” in bringing someone to Christ.

Part one. Part two.

Problems of the heart – You know why I don’t share my faith? Because I’m scared, I’m selfish, I feel superior and I’m spiritually dry! Those are my real problems. And what’s the answer? Return to Christ as He’s offered to me in the gospel.

Part one. Part two.

9 minutes with Mike Reeves

glenscrivSeptember 12, 2011Leave a comment

A heart-warming video interview on the love of Christ by Dave Bish. Go watch now!

Religion Causes Wars – Man is the Answer. A sermon for 9/11 8

glenscrivSeptember 11, 20118 Comments

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon Audio Here

Yesterday I had two different conversations with people who called themselves atheists.

“Why are you an atheist?” I asked each of them. They both answered in exactly the same way. I wonder if you can guess what they said:

“Religion causes wars” they said.

It’s a common accusation isn’t it? Days after the September 11^th attacks, Richard Dawkins wrote in The Guardian, “To fill a world with religion... is like littering the streets with loaded guns. Do not be surprised if they are used.”

That thinking is very prevalent. And on a day like today it might seem difficult to argue with. 10 years after the planes flew into the buildings, 10 years of war, surely it proves the atheists right, doesn’t it? Religion causes war.

Well now, let’s think about that for a second. The last hundred years have been called the murder century. Over a hundred million people have died violently in those 100 years. But do you want to hear the top three perpetrators who account for the great majority of the deaths? Stalin, Mao, Hitler. Add to this Mussolini, Tito, Pol Pot, Idi Amin. All of them atheists either dogmatically or practically. They have killed more in a century than religion ever has.

If we’re going to compare body counts, there’s blood on everyone’s hands. You cannot flee from the evils of religion to the safety of atheism. You cannot escape the human problem because the problem IS humans. Religious humans or irreligious humans – we are the problem. God is not the common denominator in war. Man is.

I say “man”, and I use that politically-incorrect label for a genuine reason, as we’ll see shortly. But God is not the common denominator in war, man is.

Man might use God to justify war. But man might also use godlessness to justify war. It seems that people can come up with any justification for war. What’s the problem? The problem is with us.

After so much war and suffering and terror, people have wanted to ask “How can you believe in God after the last hundred years?” But that is not the question is it? The question is, “How can anyone believe in man?”

That seems to me to be an obvious observation. But let’s think a little more biblically. Because actually, in the Bible, there is hope for man. And actually in the Bible religion does cause wars.

But we’ll have to come at the issue the way Paul does. We’ll do it by studying Romans 5 together and by thinking about that little word “man.”

...continue reading "Religion Causes Wars – Man is the Answer. A sermon for 9/11"

Just deserts

glenscrivSeptember 10, 2011Leave a comment

Judging by the title and blurb, this author deserves the egg on his face!

In Jesus’ name [repost] 19

glenscrivSeptember 8, 201119 Comments

Jesus praying What does it mean to pray in Jesus' name?

Here's Jesus Himself using the phrase 'in my name':

Many will come in my name, saying 'I am He' and will lead many astray. (Mark 13:6)

This is a very strong understanding of 'in my name'. Here to act "in Jesus' name" is to act as Jesus and to appear to others as Jesus.

Well now - Jesus Himself asks you to pray to the Father 'in His name' (John 14:13,14; 15:16; 16:23). So when you come to the Father, come as Jesus. Come as son, come as christ (anointed one). Call on God Most High with Jesus' own cry - 'Abba, Father' (Mark 14:36 <=> Gal 4:6). By the Spirit, you are so identified with the Son in prayer that you pray as Jesus. And the Father hears you as His very own Beloved.

Jesus does not point the way to prayer, nor simply blaze a trail and ask you to follow along. He incorporates you into Himself in His own self-offering to the Father. As you pray you are not outside the Trinity. But neither are you a fourth member of the Trinity. You are in Christ, filled with the Spirit of adoption, calling on your Abba, Father.

That's prayer "in Jesus' name." But of course we do all of life - whether in word or deed - "in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17). We don't only approach the Father "clothed in Christ", we approach the world "clothed in Christ." That's our true identity. More true than any phony masks we wear.

I say this stuff with glib assurance but as I write I realise I have no idea of the magnitude of Christ's mediation both to God but also the world!

Daddy’s Rich [repost]

glenscrivSeptember 1, 2011Leave a comment

gold

Maybe your earthly father had short arms and deep pockets. Or long arms and shallow pockets. Or crossed arms and closed pockets.

Your Father in heaven is different.

He's rich beyond your wildest imaginings. 6 times Paul says it in Ephesians (1:7,18; 2:4,7; 3:8,16).

He's rich - rich I tells ya. And it's just the normal word for wealthy. Loaded. Rolling in it. Stinking, filthy rich. Like Abraham (Gen 13:2), like Solomon (1 Kings 3:13), like 'the rich man' (Mark 10:25). Your Father is no pauper.

And neither is He a miser. He lavishes His children with every treasure at His disposal. First, He commits all things into the hands of His Son (John 3:35). The nations are His inheritance (Ps 2:8). The whole creation is a love gift for Him (Col 1:15-16). But for the sake of His Son, and so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers (Rom 8:29), the Father brings us into His inheritance. We become objects of the Father's lavish philanthropy.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. (Eph 2:4-5)

We weren't just dirt poor, we'd bitten the dust - dead in transgressions and sins. Yet even in that lowest of gutters God's riches were lavished on us - His riches in mercy - to make us alive with Christ. Not only this...

In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us (Eph 1:7-8)

Now in Christ we are lavished with freedom and forgiveness of our sins. And we stand as witnesses to heaven and earth of how generous is our Father in bestowing such treasures:

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Eph 2:6-7)

God is rich and will be known as rich.

But perhaps you don't feel able to appreciate this wealth. Maybe you're not feeling the benefits of this incredible union with Christ? Well God's riches aren't just for the bestowal of grace, they enable you to appreciate these blessings too:

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (3:16-17)

You know what this means? God even has riches that awaken us to the riches He's already bestowed! Talk about grace upon grace.

And if we despair that we don't already possess these riches in their fullness, Paul has another prayer:

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (Eph 1:18)

What a day of sumptuous opulence and overwhelming prosperity when we are heirs of God, co-heirs of the cosmos with Christ and when God Himself inherits us His saints.

What can we do in the meantime except...

...to preach to the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8)

Christ is the storehouse of the Father's overflowing bounty. We beggars, who've gotten rich quick, tell the world where to find true wealth.

So rejoice. Daddy's rich.

The Sermon on the Mount according to the King’s English

glenscrivAugust 12, 2011Leave a comment

Blessed are the poor in spirit...

Blessed are they that mourn...

Blessed are the meek...

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness...

Blessed are the merciful...

Blessed are the pure in heart...

Blessed are the peacemakers...

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake...

The salt of the earth

Ye are the light of the world

Hiding your light under a bushel

Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth

Our Father which art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done...

Give us today our daily bread

Forgive us our debts

Lead us not into temptation...

For thine is the kingdom...

Where your treasure is there will your heart be also

Ye cannot serve God and mammon

Take no thought

Consider the lillies…

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

Judge not that ye be not judged

The Mote and the Beam

P earls before swine

Seek and ye shall find

Do unto others...

Strait and narrow

Wolf in sheep’s clothing

By their fruits ye shall know them

Building on sand

The Teacher is not an atheist – he’s just a crummy christ 7

glenscrivAugust 9, 20117 Comments

I'm preaching on Ecclesiastes on Sunday so I've been listening to some other preachers. They pretty much all preach Ecclesiastes as the futility of atheism. And of course when you preach it like that, what's the solution? Good old theism. Yay theism.

And one or two preachers have even suggested that Christian theism gives the most amount of meaning. So yay Jesus too. (Although the last preacher I listened to -- BIG NAME -- was way too excited about theism to get around to that Jesus nuance.)

Anyway, just thought I'd state something that's pretty darned obvious but it seems like it needs saying. The Teacher aint no atheist. He's a hard-core theist. Check it:

Ecclesiastes 1:13; 2:24-26; 3:10-22; 5:1-7, 18-20; 6:1-2; 7:13-14; 18,20; 8:2, 11-17; 9:1,9; 11:5,9; 12:1-14;

Here's just a sample of what he says:

God has set eternity in the hearts of men.... He's done it so that men will revere him... Stand in awe of God... God made mankind upright but men have gone in search of many schemes... I know that it will go better with God-fearing men who are reverent before God... God will bring you to judgement... Remember your Creator... Fear God and keep his commandments.

He's a theist right? A pretty ardent one.

But what do you expect from a son of David, a king of Jerusalem? (Ecclesiastes 1:1) Here is a christ - an anointed king. But, here's the thing, he's not the King of Heaven. He's a king under heaven (notice how 'under heaven' and 'under the sun' are parallel 1:3; 3:1). He's not the One full of the Spirit without measure, instead he seeks to shepherd the Spirit (or chase the wind, e.g. 1:14) while he must receive his teachings from the true Shepherd (12:11).

The teacher is self-consciously not the Messiah (he's a very naughty boy!). He's not the Christ with a capital C certainly. But he is a christ with a small c. And so he embarks on a sustained meditation of life in which the king is subject to all the forces that we are. This christ is also under the sun and therefore under the powers that enslave mankind and even nature itself. This king, for all his wealth and power and wisdom cannot pierce through the shroud of sin, law, judgement and death. And so what hope is there? None! Not with this king. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. And then we are judged - by the God is who is ever-present in Ecclesiastes. But ever-present as Judge. And who knows how we will fare under His judgement.

That's life under the sun. Here's what we can expect if the Teacher is our christ.

But if that's the problem, what's the solution? The glories of theism? The truth that God knows us and has a wonderful plan for our lives? The thought that my actions have eternal significance? The Teacher knows all these things and declares them utterly meaningless. Our only hope is Christ. The true Christ. The Christ from Heaven. The Christ who conquers sin and law and judgement and death and bursts through into resurrection hope. That's the answer to Ecclesiastes' meaninglessness.

Any other solution is vanity of vanities.

“There’s no room for me!” 10

glenscrivJuly 23, 201110 Comments

Recently someone complained about the sermons at my church:

"You go on and on about 'Adam and Christ', but where do I fit in to that?? You say Adam takes us down to hell and Jesus lifts us up to heaven, but where's the place for me to make my decision about Jesus, and repent and turn to the Lord for times of refreshing. If it's all about Adam and Christ, there's no room for me."

But let's be honest, we all think it. This person just had the temerity to say it!