Month: December 2017

Fresh Start

We are beginning a new series called  Fresh Start with today being the introduction to the series. We are starting this series at the beginning of the New Year but I want us to think that we are not so much talking about resolutions as we are going to do a deep dive in considering what it means to experience God’s transformation.

But before I begin we have I want to introduce Parker Barriault and back up vocalist Moiria Hennessey as they perform a rap song called – Remember This by the artist NF

PERFORMED SONG

In that song we heard the idea about change and something new beginning – “Say goodbye to the old me

We ain’t friends anymore”

A FRESH START – THE PROMISE

That desire for something new is within all of us. Scriptures give us a promise of a Fresh Start – verse for today – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Cor 5:17

At the core of the gospel where we speak about what God is doing in Christ – this statement reminds us it is about something new – a deep change – transformation.

Think of what it means to be in Christ. The description of your life and my life in Christ is not based on resolution but re-creation, the re-creation that comes from new life in Christ.

The change people need most is not in their circumstances, but in themselves.  It is not the ability to try harder, but rather to have a soul rooted deeply in Jesus.

Let me quote Ed Stetzer – The very heart of the Christian faith revolves around change, but it is not turning over a new leaf—it is living out a new life.

Christian transformation always involves something old passing away and something new taking its place. Spiritual change is needed by everyone—the poor and the rich, the success and the failure. We are constantly in need of this change, no matter who we are.

But too many people misunderstand the words. They believe, “If I change, then God will like me more.” The bid to be be better accompanies the hope for divine blessing. But that is not the gospel.

Now the danger when we speak of change is that there is a make yourself better/improvement industry in our culture.

If we are not careful you may end up hearing that what we are offering is a entry level/low-stress therapeutic moralism sprinkled with a little bit of deism —where a faraway God makes life better and makes you a better person.

But we are not offering a religious idealism. We are not talking about about making religious people good. Read the gospel stories about how Jesus interacted with good religious people- they were called Pharisees – they were also called white-washed tombs.

The promise of God offered to us is that we can have a Fresh Start that begins with, to quote Stetzer again, “a New Life, Not Just A New Leaf.

A Fresh Start – A Problem

But with this wonderful spark of hope of a Fresh Start in Christ – we have a problem – the problem. Making changes in my life is really hard. Really living out a new life seems like an ideal not a reality. So often we do not see a change in people in churches so many walk away discouraged – our slogan for our lack of transformation – Christians aren’t perfect just forgiven.

Why is that even though we intend to be good and do the good it appears that we are prepared, ready, to do evil–should circumstances require it. And of course they do ‘require’ it, with deadening regularity.

Fresh Start is deeply difficult…

  • Genetics – what do we do with tendencies/traits that run in our families? I have my father’s hands – I whistle while I drive…I like to drive slow! What about deeper darker traits?
  • Past – what do we do with the past of our family systems and deep memories –
  • Stubborn/Pride – Perhaps you’ve heard the illustration of how to trap a monkey. All you need is a rock and a coconut. Drill a hole in the coconut large enough to put the rock inside, but not large enough for anything else. A monkey will reach inside to take hold of the rock, but its clenched fist around the rock will not fit back through the hole. The monkey will, in effect, trap itself because of a refusal to let go of the rock. We get trapped when we will not let go.
  • Comfortable – We get comfortable with sins that keep us from knowing Christ better. We get comfortable with irrelevant practices at church that keep others from understanding Who God is and what He is doing in Christ! We get comfortable with our standard of living, and it keeps us from the mission of God’s kingdom.
  • Afraid – Fear of the unknown is a primary reason people don’t change. Some think following Jesus will make them a fanatic or, at the very least, socially awkward. Not knowing what God will ask of them causes many to shy away from the new life offered by Jesus. It can even paralyze Christians from fully embracing the new life they have inherited.
  • Hurts – It is hard to change. Even good change costs some of a person’s security. Leaving the proverbial “comfort zone” will cause a pain effect that carries a price.

A Fresh Start – A Past Story

But here is where we need to look at how God has worked in the past where a fresh start was needed. This biblical story is where God’s people who had failed miserably and desperately needed renewal.  The story of Nehemiah is about the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down. But that was just an outward image of a much deeper problem – a need for renewal and God’s transformational change when are a community and lives are broken down.

Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah: a story that speaks to a greater reality – God’s intent for there to be renewal in our lives and Christ’s church.

So in the weeks ahead we are going to look at how change occurs when things look BLEAK, our basis for being RESOLVED, Why PERSEVERANCE matters, the ongoing Challenge to lasting CHANGE.

A FRESH START – A Path

But as we begin this journey on we need to pay attention to what lies on the path of a fresh start in God’s kingdom that impacts our lives, our families, our friendship our church, our communities.

GRACE – this change we want is not merely human attainment of self improvement – it is ultimately a gift from God – a divine act of grace – a gift of His love that we don’t deserve. This is the amazing grace

Grasping God’s grace – results in us giving up on changing our own lives. Rather than wasting our lives on self-initiated change, we give over our lives to God’s work to grant us a new life.

Tweet by Ravi Zacharias – Jesus Christ did not come to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive.

Our minds cannot even begin to dream up the radical new life that is needed.

Ed Stetzer in preaching on transformation points out in in John 3, Jesus was approached by someone who needed change. Nicodemus had the right pedigree, the right spiritual training, and the right position in society, but had not been transformed. He was most likely moral and definitely religious. But Jesus informed him of the need to be “born again” (John 3:3). Nicodemus did not need more rules but rather a new life.

Nicodemus, like many of us, had to unlearn the matrix in which he lived—the idea that rules and regulations bring about lasting spiritual change. They don’t. Rules can modify behavior, but only the gospel of Christ can impart new life. We should never be satisfied with merely a new way of life. Only a new life will suffice.”

Grace means we let go of the formula – “If I obey I am accepted by God. Grace tells me instead – “Because I am accepted – I move toward obedience”.

EFFORT – Dallas Willard made an important distinction – Grace is opposed to earning – Attitude of seeking God’s approval BUT grace is not opposed to effort – our Action.

We have to grasp where we must apply effort to our faith journey of experiencing a fresh start. This should not surprise us that life demands effort.

Let me go on and speak to where effort comes into our fresh Start. There is absolutely nothing in what Jesus himself or his early followers taught that suggests you can decide just to enjoy forgiveness at Jesus’ expense and have nothing more to do with him.

Some years ago A. W. Tozer expressed his “feeling that a notable heresy has come into being throughout evangelical Christian circles–the widely-accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need him as Savior and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to him as Lord as long as we want to!” (I Call It Heresy, Harrisburg, PA.: Christian Publications, 1974, p. 5f) Tozer goes on to state “that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred scriptures.”

This ‘heresy’ has created the impression that it is quite reasonable to be a “vampire Christian.” One in effect says to Jesus: “I’d like a little of your blood, please. But I don’t care to be your student or have your character. In fact, won’t you just excuse me while I get on with my life, and I’ll see you in heaven.” But can we really imagine that this is an approach that Jesus finds acceptable?

It takes effort to learn from Jesus how to do what he says – which is the central point of the New Testament doctrine of salvation and life.

We are called to take his yoke His way and learn from Him – so that our inner being – our spiritual being – our soul – begins to express this new life we have in Christ – and our outer life begins to show us as people who walk easily in the goodness and power of Jesus. (observation by DW in Renewing the Christian Mind)

Spiritual formation in Christ is not a passive process..Grace does not make us passive. but rather informs our soul and our actions and makes them effective n the wisdom and power of God.

Practicing Jesus’ word as his apprentices enables us to understand our lives and to see how we can interact with God’s redemptive resources,

CROSS – We all have a human desire for significance. But the way of Jesus changes us to see through the cross the divine nature of sacrifice. And as we learn this way of sacrifice we reject the way of the world and embrace the way of God’s kingdom which causes life to have true significance – which is reflecting the glory and love of God.

COMMUNITY – We need to encourage one another – love another – help one another – this journey of Fresh Start is not a solo expedition…we are called to live out this

MISSION – We need to take hold of something better: God’s agenda for a missionary people. We are called to go forth be kingdom living people where truth, justice, mercy and God’s love are the core expressions of who we really are.

Tim Keller – Jesus didn’t come primarily to solve the economic, political, and social problems of the world. He came to forgive our sins.

But in doing so the everything else is impacted...Mission includes our vocations and not just church ministry.

Conclusion

Fresh Start is about experiencing a Spirit Driven process where our inner beings – who we really are is changed in the likeness of Christ –

Our Fresh Start starts with deciding to follow Jesus – real change – transformation happens the moment we believe –

But God’s goal is now that new creation – where we become great souls learning to be like Jesus is our focus…

More Souls or great souls – the real journey is that we are becoming a community of great souls – that will draw more souls into the kingdom of God where we all learn to love like Jesus.  

“The alternative to this biblically mandated transformation is to pick a rut and make it deeper.” God holds a desire to bring transformation to life, the church, and your community. The transformation is there for the choosing. Of course, so is the rut of remaining spiritual static.

We’re not all of the decisions we’ve made in the past;
we’re what what we do next…

What Heaven Saw

Brent Hudson // Christmas Eve Message // Matthew 1:18–23

Rewind

So far this month we have looked at the VIPs of Christmas. In each case we see God revealing a plan that otherwise would not be known. We began with the story of Mary and how this young women when God’s plan faced her with a great challenge both to her safety and to her future – yet she responded to God in faith and in obedience.

We looked at the Shepherds and were reminded that we need to look up and actually notice what God is doing and revealing to us when we are doing ordinary things.

We looked at the Magi, the ancient scientists who saw the signs n the sky but needed to consult the scriptures to know the details of God’s plan. By their great trek from Persia we were reminded that the answer to our deepest problem is not found in an argument or facts, but in a person.

Joseph’s Story

Today, on this fourth Sunday of Advent — Christmas Eve — we will look at another Christmas VIP in our final scene of our Nativity story. Today we look to the story of Joseph.

Let’s hear from his story:

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” Matthew 1:18–25 NRSV

That first Christmas is unlike any I have ever experienced and I’m sure that is true for all of us here today. For most people when you say ‘Christmas’ we think of various things — but high on the list there is SPARKLE. Whether it is the first time the Christmas lights go up and you can’t deny that the colours are beautiful — worthy of a picture and post to Instagram — I know because I’ve seen a ton of Christmas lights on Instagram this season. The Lights, tinsel, ribbons presents, more light. . .Christmas sparkle abounds.

But we all know that sparkle is most often seasoned with STRESS. What are we going to get Dad or Mom or brother or sister. How many Christmas dinners do I have to eat before it just becomes unreasonable and punishing. How much is all this going to cost? Others have real family situations happening and it is causing stress.

On top of the stress is SADNESS. Many have lost loved ones and are experiencing that loss acutely at Christmas time. Others are sad because they are alone and as they look forward to the holidays they are already feeling lonely. There are many reasons why we may feel sad this time of year.

I’m sure that Joseph could relate to our stress and sadness on that first Christmas season. He was to be married but now his fiancee was pregnant and he was not the father! I didn’t matter that he didn’t do anything wrong, everyone would think he did – that he had sinned against God, against Mary, and against her family. He had to act.

But Joseph loved Mary and he was probably completely heartbroken and no doubt feeling betrayed. Making life-altering decisions when you are emotionally broken is a taxing reality. Yet, the Bible says that Joseph was a righteous man and his righteousness was of the variety that included mercy and love. His community and culture even popular religion would have supported him for publicly shaming Mary and her family. It was the only way he could be sure the rumours would stop about his moral character. With a grand display we would be seen as the victim in this marriage mess he found himself in.

But for Joseph righteousness moved him to divorce her but again, it was a righteousness tempered by mercy and love so he chose to divorce her quietly — discreetly — so Mary did not experience public shame.

There is no hint in the text that Joseph was doing anything wrong. Joseph is spoken of only as a man of virtue. But the reader of the story knows he making a mistake because we know what he didn’t know. He was operating on partial information because He didn’t know the whole story – his vision was limited.

In so many things God’s faithful are not so different from Joseph. Having put our faith in God and trusting in him for mercy and grace, we sometimes put our lives on auto-pilot. We do what we think is right things to do and go to where we think are right places to go. We try to say the things we think are ‘right’ and be the right kind of people. Most of the time, that’s just fine but it’s always those pesky other times that confuse us — when doing what would be seen as the right thing is actually be the wrong thing to do. When we operate on what we can see “out there” rather than what actually is out there.

No doubt Joseph would have looked great for making a big deal about Mary’s baby not being his and that he was innocent of wrongdoing and she was guilty of sinning against him and against God. Everyone would say “Poor Joseph, I can’t believe she did that to him”.

Joseph was in that kind of situation.  What is shocking is that it only took a minute to go from full steam ahead to full reverse.  Despite the fact that nothing objectively changed— the world and all its players were the same — Mary was still pregnant and Joseph was open to harsh criticism from his community. But in a sense, everything had changed because Joseph now saw what heaven saw.  He knew what Heaven knew because he finally saw what heaven saw.  When we see what heaven sees, everything changes.

In a recent lecture to the C.S. Lewis Institute, John Lennox — an Oxford mathematician — noted that while C.S. Lewis was not good at math, he did love geometry. He once made the analogy of the rule of squares not being able to compute cubes — that the logic of two dimensions cannot build a concept of a third and unknown dimension. The comparison was clear as we live in a world where there is another dimension layered on ours but we cannot compute or reason about it. Our “this world” logic does not allow us to rationalize “that world”. We see hints that there is something more than our dimension but we cannot transcend our thoughts to get there — we can no framework for our thoughts (cf., 1Cor 2:9). Lewis made a big deal that though we cannot attain to that dimension on our own but there is a door between our dimension and that dimension and that door is Jesus Christ. No one and nothing else can bridge the gap. For Lewis the Wardrobe door was a spiritual reality and while going through it may not land us in Narnia — it does land us in a world of wonder and newness that we had previously not even imagined.

John would write in his Gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John 1:1, 14 NRSV

Jesus is the door to a new spiritual reality — unexpected and to the logic of our realm, unnoticed.

Joseph thought Mary had sinned against heaven and him — but in just a single moment, he knew what heaven knew. He understood his Mary was the most righteous of all and even the most blessed among women. His well-thought “righteous response” was in fact a high-crime against God himself — for he would be abandoning and shaming God’s chosen servant and placing himself against God’s saving purposes for Israel and the world.

In the twinkling of an eye, Joseph’s logic was turned on its head because he knew what heaven knew. He was given a glimpse of a reality that he had only heard stories about. Now the stories had become his experience and that experienced changed his entire outlook — in fact, it changed his life.

As we celebrate Christmas once again. We see Jesus. And we also see Mary and Joseph — people who had their lives turned upside down by a new insight — they saw what heaven saw.

Jesus, Son of God;
Jesus, Saviour of the World
Jesus, God with us.

May we see Christmas with fresh eyes. With a new understanding let us enter into a fresh relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Let us ask him into our hearts and our minds afresh and go through that door to experience an entirely new reality in him. A reality of forgiveness, acceptance and even the privilege of being adopted into God’s family and becoming his Daughters and Sons.

The Angel said to Joseph — “they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.”

Is God with you this Christmas? Have you let him in? Have you gone through that door that connects you to another reality? A spiritual reality. Jesus is that door and he calls all of us to believe in him.

This Christmas, let us all see with fresh eyes so we can join Mary, the Shepherds, the Magi, and even righteous Joseph in seeing what heaven sees.

Ask him into your hearts. It will change your experience of life. It will bring you true and lasting joy. Indeed, it will change your destiny. Amen.

Prayer

Father, help us see this world is not the only world that exists.

Jesus help us to believe the Christmas Story:
that you were born to save us from our sin;
that in you God is with us.

Holy Spirit, help us to see what Heaven sees
that we would live as you want us to live,
so we are becoming who you want us to be

What Heaven Saw

Dave Morehouse: Detailed Outline

Introduction

  • Bottom Line Statement – What you believe about Christmas determines what you do with Christmas. Let me ask you that about Christmas – what do you see? What you believe about Christmas will determine what you do
      1. Some believe the SPARKLE
      2. Some believe it is about see STRESS
      3. Some believe it now about SADNESS
      4. Some see an outdated and untrue STORY

Today/tonight, I want you to believe something differently about Christmas. In order to do that I want you to see it through fresh eyes.

  • Dramatic moment – in these weeks leading up to this service we have been looking at the story through the key people involved in this Christmas Story.
      1. Mary – “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Matthew 1:38
      2. Shepherds –  When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:15
      3. Wiseman – About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1b-2
      4. Finally we want to see what heaven saw. Angels

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son,and they will call him Immanuel,  which means ‘God is with us.’”

    1. When we hear this account about the angelic announcement of Jesus’ birth to Joseph – we are reminded that Joseph made a great switch – what he initially believed about this first Christmas changed which in turn changed what he was going to do.  

Joseph’s Great Switch

    1. Joseph was righteous man – he had moral compass.
    2. Joseph believed his fiance cheated on him!
    3. In the ancient world of Israel, morality would require that he publicly divorce her to protect his family honor – but he chose to show mercy because he loved her so he decided to do it quietly.
    4. God revealed to him what heaven saw – that Mary did not cheat on him, but had experienced a miracle — she would give birth to God’s Son.

Gospel Presentation

  • We all need a great switch – Believing the Christmas story requires a ‘Joseph’ moment – where we see what heaven saw – which changes everything we do!
  • Heaven saw in the birth of Jesus – this world is not the only world that exists. There is more to life than just this life. The ultimate fact of life is not this material universe but God. This story threatens secularism of our age. For some the fact that there is a door that takes us beyond this world may feel terrifying.
  • Heaven saw that Jesus is more than a baby – He was God made flesh. He came to show us what this greater world was all about. Either Jesus was myth, a lunatic or what He claimed to be…and that makes Jesus unique Therefore what He said, what He did and what He was able to accomplish sets Him apart from everything and everyone.
  • Heaven saw in the birth of Jesus what our greatest need is in humanity. What did the angel tell Joseph to name the baby? “You are to name him Jesus”

In that day names describe the purpose of one’s life – what does Jesus mean? I’ve hear Jesus used as a curse word. I know people in church say it is the name of God’s one and only Son. But that is not the question. What does the name of Jesus mean?

Jesus means “the Lord Saves” Saves us from what? “Save his people from their sins.”

Jesus didn’t come primarily to solve the economic, political, and social problems of the world. He came to forgive our sins.

Sin is making anything but God our idol. Sin is thinking that we can come to God on our terms. Sin is making ourselves the center of our universe and taking control. Sin is saying there is no God.

But Jesus came to take away our sin and make us spiritually alive

1 John 4:9-10 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Jesus is our Savior. It means we are not left alone to figure out our greatest problem. Because of Jesus we now can proclaim God is with us.

Our Response

  • Celebrate and Rejoice
  • Decide to make a switch like Joseph and believe

A CHRISTMAS PRAYER

“Jesus help me see this world is not the only world that exists.  Jesus help me to believe the Christmas Story: that you were born to save us from our sin and that God is with us. God help me to see and believe what Heaven saw.” `

(Worship team comes up!)

  • Keep investigating = New Year Eve Combined Service

What you believe about Christmas determines what you will do with Christmas!

Now we will take our offering – if you prayed that prayer – write your name on the next step card – I prayed! We can follow up with you on the next steps…