“A righteous God and a Savior” Isaiah 45:20-24

“A righteous God and a Savior,” God calls himself in Isaiah 45:21.  And that is exactly the mystery, the conundrum, the fascinating divine puzzle that the prophets and the angels (even the fallen ones and Satan) were trying to figure out. 

• How would God be a righteous Savior?  How could God save people without violating his righteousness? 
• How could God show mercy yet maintain his justice? 
• How could God act in grace towards his creatures without bending the truth, even just a little bit? 

It seemed impossible!  And yet God promises through the prophets to accomplish just this.  The prophets wondered with great curiosity and anticipation just how God would pull this off. 

Satan may well have thought he had God over a barrel, so to speak, on this issue. 

No one (except God, of course) could have anticipated the answer:  the cross.  On the cross we see clearly and dramatically both God’s justice and his saving grace.  God satisfied his righteous wrath against our sin and rebellion by placing our punishment on Jesus.  And in that same act of holy justice, he also shows His infinite love and grace and mercy to us.  He forgives and saves us. 

What a great God!  Let’s show our awe, gratitude, and thanks to Him by choosing to obey Him today. 

Kip

About Manning and Basketball Officials, kind of (1 Peter 1-5)

There is a major theme running through First Peter that, because of our cultural bias, we can easily miss completely.  It is interesting to note how many times Peter uses the words “submission,” “serve,” and “humility.” 

This morning I went with Lucas to “Dads and Donuts” at Jefferson Elementary School.  The gym was a sea of royal blue, as at least half of the crowd was wearing Peyton Manning jerseys.  I felt a little under dressed with no number 18 on my chest.  Why do I bring this up?  I’m certainly not against the Colts.  I’m as big a fan as the next guy (or gal).  I bring it up to demonstrate that we are a culture that celebrates winners.  We’re into victory, not “submission,” ”service,” and “humility.”    

Back to Peter.  He followed Jesus around for three years, from the shores of Galilee to the cross on Golgatha.  He walked, talked, and ate with Jesus.  He experienced Jesus more directly and more closely than just about any other human being.  And this, it seems, is what he came away with from watching Jesus:  submit yourselves, serve others, humble yourselves, love each other deeply. 

OK, so we all know this is true, even if it feels “cross-cultural” for us.  But what does it look like?  Here’s just one example out of an infinite number of possibilities.  

Last night I went to my son’s basketball game.  It was a close, hard-fought game.  It’s in these kinds of games that it’s all too easy to over react to the officials when they make calls against you.  Once, an opposing player stepped fully on the black out-of-bounds line while handling the ball, right in front of our section.  The official didn’t call him out.  It’s moments like these that prove how well we understand submission to authority.  I’m not going to tell you how I reacted, except to say that I have room for improvement…and not only at basketball games.  Life throws much more serious injustices at us.  However, how we handle the small things gives us a clue how well we’ll do with the big ones. 

God will give you a chance to submit, serve, humble yourself, and love today,  Will you notice it?  How will you choose?

Kip

Love each other deeply (1 Peter 3-5)

Peter continues to stress concepts that are key to the church body and, quite frankly, are helpful in a marriage relationship. Curiously enough, the church is described as the bride of Christ so I guess those concepts that work within the body of Christ would be similarly helpful in a relationship between two people who have pledged their lives to each other. We are to approach each other humbly and love each other deeply. Those two keys pave the way for all that follows. It might be worth remembering before each interaction we have until it becomes second nature. Then you will allow the Spirit to rock your world!

Doug Jeffreys

Past, Present, and Future Hope (1 Peter 1-3)

Peter says that we have been born into a “living hope.”   This hope is rooted in the past, active in the present, and oriented toward the future.

Our hope is firmly anchored in historical realities, namely the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Without these past truths, there would be no future hope. 

Our hope is also active in the present.  As a people who belong to God right now, our hope is evidenced when we set Christ apart as Lord in our hearts, as we submit to earthly authorities, when we endure suffering for what is right, and, most of all, as we deeply and genuinely love one another.

Hope, however, is intrinsically future-oriented.  So is our Christian hope.  Christ’s resurrection opens the door to a hope that goes beyond this lifetime.  This eternal hope involves an inheritance in heaven whose worth infinitely exceeds the griefs of this life.  When Jesus returns, the full glory of this grace and salvation will be revealed.  Then hope will become sight.  Hallelujah!

It is all too easy to focus our attention on avoiding pain and grasping at the alluring glitter of our culture and, in doing so,  forget the unseen glory promised when Christ comes.  But the pleasures of the moment don’t provide a solid, lasting hope.  Only Christ gives a real, lasting hope that covers the past, the present, and the future.  Let’s hold on to HIM!

Kip

P.S.  For more on chapters 1, 2, and 3, check out Doug Jeffrey’s comments below (click on the word “comments” directly below).  Thanks Doug!

Changed! (Acts 4:1-31)

Can this be the same Peter who shrunk in fear before the words of a servant girl?

Can this be the same Peter who denied the very Jesus with whom he spent so much time?

Can this be the same uneducated fisherman now before the greatest intellectuals and priests of his time?

It is, indeed. Well, then again, it isn’t completely. It IS the same person but there is a world of difference in his spiritual nature.

Peter is a weak vessel no longer. He and John boldly proclaim the truth of their, and our, risen King…and are arrested for their trouble. They stand accused before this threatening group of men but do not shrink before them. Instead, they are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ah, there is the difference.  It is the Spirit that gives them the words to say.

Peter puts these men squarely in disagreement with God when he refers to Jesus as “the man you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead.” That must have stung! It is not Peter and James who leave this encounter defeated but rather the members of the Sanhedrin. They can only muster a few threats before letting them go.

Peter and John return to the other believers and they pray. This may seem kind of anticlimactic to our American senses, but look at the results. “After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they preached God’s message with boldness.” What an absolute blessing and affirmation that must have been to everyone there. Without a doubt, God was, and is, running the show.

Doug Jeffreys

Like Us (Matt. 26:31-35, 69-75)

Peter jumped out of the boat in faith and then sunk in the waves because of fear.

Peter spoke words revealed to him by the Father when he called Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.  Then he turns around and speaks the words of the Devil in trying to persuade Jesus not to pursue the path of death, which was God’s will for Him.

Peter passionately and sincerely affirmed that he would never fall away from Jesus, but then he vehemently denies Jesus before the evening is out.

Faith and fear, truth and lies, courage and cowardice were all jumbled together in Peter’s experience.  It’s what makes Peter so real, so believable…so like us.  Here’s the great news:  JESUS LOVED HIM.  It’s great news because it means Jesus can love people like me.  Not only does Jesus love us, he can change us and use us.

As we’ll see tomorrow, the indwelling Holy Spirit empowers faith, truth, and courage in Peter’s life.  Peter changes.   God can do that in us, too.

Kip

The Mountaintop (Matthew 16:13-23)

From Doug Jeffreys:

The Mountaintop:  Imagine being told by Jesus, the Son of the living God, that He was going to build His church on you.  Are you kidding me? Flying high, baby!  I’m being given the keys of heaven, and I will not be done in by all the powers of hell, a not inconsiderable force.  I’ve got it all.  Oh, wait.  Does that sound prideful?

The valley:  Peter loses sight of the big picture.  Jesus was up front about what would happen, about what must happen to Him in Jerusalem. Maybe Peter didn’t hear Jesus say He would be raised on the third day. Maybe he forgot the lessons of the past. Maybe he was intimidated by the religious leaders and their knowledge of the law. He thinks he’s doing Jesus a favor by advising Him (the Son of the Living God and the One who did all the miracles for which he had a front row seat…yea, the same One) against what He was proposing. Jesus was pretty straight forward in His reply. “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from Gods.” Ouch!  

Apparently, God doesn’t play favorites. This pillar of the future church hit bottom. God’s ways aren’t our ways. Sometimes sickness is just sickness but sometimes bad things happen to pull/push/drag people into the Kingdom. Hey, if that’s what it takes, who am I to argue?

Lord, help me to see the bigger picture outside of my own comfort and safety. Help me to take the way less traveled if that’s what it takes. Help me to take the busy highways and byways if that’s what it takes. Help me to see where you’re working and to join you there, no matter the cost.

Doug Jeffreys

Peter’s Faith (Matt. 4:18-20, 14:22-32)

Peter ran a profitable fishing business.  He even had a lake house with a view.  Really.  I walked through Capernaum just a couple months ago and saw the place where Peter’s house once stood, literally a stone’s throw from the Sea of Galilee whose  waves gently lapped at the basalt pebble beach.  It is a beautiful spot.  A place someone could get used to.  Be comfortable in.  Make home.

And then Jesus comes along and says, “Follow me.”

And Peter did.  He left his nets behind.

Once Peter even left the boat behind…when it was still out on the water!  I cannot imagine what possessed Peter to say, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” The boat was his security, his safety, his sense of control, the place he belonged.

Nonetheless, Jesus replied, “Come!’

And Peter did.  He left the boat behind.

Eventually Peter left it all behind.  “We have left everything to follow you!” he later announced to Jesus.  The pride behind that statement would soon be broken, but the truth of it would remain.  Peter did leave everything behind, including his life, to follow Jesus.  This was faith.  And by this faith Peter gained infinitely more than he ever lost.

This is the faith that Peter wants to see worked into his hearers…into us.  It’s not really about leaving things behind.  That’s actually looking at it backwards.  It’s about valuing Jesus so much that we choose to follow, and then, as the song goes, “the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”

Kip

We Care Warsaw: What’s Your Story?

We praise God for blessing this year’s “We Care Warsaw” event.   More than 700 people came to receive free goods and services, a delicious, hot meal, and care.  Over 300 individuals from our church body and other organizations helped make this a meaningful and Christ-honoring day.  

Those are some great numbers, but each number represents an individual.  Here is your opportunity to share with others how last Saturday impacted individuals, both those who served and those who were served.  So, what’s your story?  You can leave a reply below.  We’d love to hear it!

WLGBC

Comments on David Series

In his sermon on Sunday, Pastor Bruce encouraged people to leave comments about how the Spirit used the “After God’s Heart” sermon series in their lives.

You can leave a comment below by clicking on the “comments” link right below this entry, then scrolling to the bottom of the comments (feel free to read them!), and writing your thoughts in the box provided.