The Bridge Church (www.bridgechurch.ca) : Blog

Next Steps

The Bridge Church — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:09:00 -0700

Peter and his friends had been waiting for Jesus in Galilee and Peter looks for something to do, so he is going to go fishing and some of the other disciples decide to join in. The fish all night and don’t catch anything. The next morning, at daybreak, Jesus shows up and asks if they caught anything. Not knowing it was Jesus, they reply no and Jesus says ‘throw your nets on the right side of the boat’ and they catch a miraculous haul of fish. John, the disciple recognizes it is Jesus and Peter jumps out to get to him. The disciples drag their boats to shore along with the huge catch of fish and Jesus is there with breakfast for them. I picture them sitting around the fire, or leaning up against one of the boats or rock, tired from the night, eating and being amazed and Jesus comes up to Peter. Maybe he is over by the boat, looking at this amazing haul he just dragged ashore and Jesus brings him some breakfast…

Jesus goes straight to the point – no small talk

John 21:15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"

Peter is addressed by his old name, not the name Jesus gave him. Jesus is taking Peter back to the basics of who he is, he is going to deal with him at HIS heart level, not on the basis of their prior relationship or friendship, not on the basis of an assumed positon of status but at the very basic level of him, as a person. That is where Jesus deals with each of us – always, at the very base level of who we are.

“do you truly love me more than these”

Scholars has speculated who he was pointing to when he said ‘more than these’

Maybe it was the fishing boat that he had just ran to when he didn’t know what else to do, the nets, the fish, all the things he was comfortable with, the life he knew and understood, his career, his trade. A trade that was stable, secure. “do you love me more than these – these things you can do?” Peter had denied Jesus out of a sense of insecurity - ‘do you love me more than the things you find security in?’

Or perhaps he was pointing to the other disciples…

Do you love me more than you love your friends, your ‘buds’? the ones who have known you since you were kids, the ones you laugh with and fish with?

Or… ‘do you love me more than they do’ you see their doubts and fears, you have heard their uncertainties mixed with their devotion – do you love me like they love me or do you love me more than that?

Peter and John had both entered into the High Priests courtyard that fateful night, but Peter separated himself from Jesus and John and moved over to the fire with the world

Or was Jesus pointing to the world … ‘do you love me more than the crowds – as he pointed up to the nearby village. ‘are you any different than the average person – who comes to me to heal their sick but when everything is ok, they go on about their business?

Peter had denied Jesus out of fear of what the crowd around him thought. How much do you love me?

“do you truly love me more than these?”

"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."

Jesus had forgiven Peter on the cross, but Peter needs to come clean with Jesus by affirming his love. The two men had not dealt with that night and they needed to before Jesus was to leave them. Peter needed that night to be put behind him.

Perhaps there are things in your life that you know Jesus’ death on the cross forgave you for, but you still need to come clean with them with him. It’s not really dealt with until Jesus deals with your heart at the very base level, that bear honest naked level and Jesus lets you affirm your love for him again.

Three times Peter answered with an affirmation which rests its confidence not on the strength of his own love for Jesus, but on the sureness of Jesus’ knowledge. “You know everything; you know that I love you”

You can see past my prideful attitudes, you can see past my own fears, you know my sin, and you know I love you. If Jesus were looking at your heart, would he know that you loved him, he could tell if it were real or not.

Peter denied Jesus 3 times – 3 times, Jesus allows Peter to express his love and devotion to him.

Three times Jesus gives the grieved, humbled disciple the commission to be the shepherd, guiding, guarding, nourshing the flock which belongs to Jesus.

Love for God is demonstrated in service to God for the sake, benefit, care of others.

1. Love for the Lord is expressed in SERVICE

Jesus establishes this new relationship with Peter by putting him to work - into service…

John 21:15 "Feed my lambs."

John 21:16 "Take care of my sheep."

John 21:17 "Feed my sheep.

Feed , Take care of, tend to… - Peter will feed Jesus sheep out of what he has received from Jesus – God’s Word, his experience with Jesus and the truths Jesus taught him. Make sure they are looked after, they are your responsibility.

My Sheep – Jesus was clear - the sheep will always belong to Him – they were given to him by His Father. Children of God are that first – HIS, then they are friends, family, neighbours secondly – we must not get these relationships out of order.

Sheep / Lambs – they are vulnerable and valuable. They need caring for. There will be thieves and robbers who will come, there will be wolves that want to attack, there are also the hired hands that will run off when the wolves do come, but that is not to be you. I love my sheep, Jesus says and I want you to make sure they are cared for, make sure they are fed - It is work.

Jesus is entrusting His people to Peter, etal…

Jesus calls Peter to Agape love but Peter can only respond with phileo…

Jesus Peter

V 15 Agape phileo

V16 Agape phileo

V17 Phileo phileo

Agape love is a sacrificial kind of love that do what is best for someone else regardless of how it makes us feel. It is the kind of love that draws from the strength of our minds over our hearts – we choose to love regardless of how our hearts feel. / phileo is a brotherly, friendly kind of love, the kind of love that feels good to our hearts.

It is hard for us to embrace sacrificial living for others that Jesus calls us to live in.

Peter does not yet know what it is to love sacrificially, but he will

Then Jesus makes an interesting shift in his message - --

John 21:18-19

18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"

Peter will learn to sacrifice for God…

2. Maturity in the Lord is expressed in SACRIFICE

When we are young – we think we know best and think we can do it all – we determine where, when, what we do and how

Grow – we discover we don’t know what is best and we can’t do it all

Old (wisdom) – We know we can’t do it so we give ourselves –

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. NIV

The love and life of God is rooted in sacrificial giving / living

We have to learn and grow spiritually, we learn to give sacrificially – not naturally.. This is a mark of maturity

What are the ways to learn / path to growth is ‘follow me’ v19

Matt 4:19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Matt 16:24 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

One of the things about sacrificing – especially when you are not accustomed to it, you begin to look at others around you to see if they are sacrificing too, are they struggling with this sacrifice as well? We want to make sure everyone is carrying their load when the cost is going up for me. Peter sees John

John 21:21 When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."

Stop comparing yourself to others.

To follow Jesus is what it means to be a disciple. He called them from the beginning of this journey to follow him and now he is showing them the full extent of what it means to follow Him.

As a follower of Jesus – there is no room to look over the shoulder at someone else. To see if they are following as well as you are, in the same way, same direction. There is no room to compare yourself to someone else, or them to you.

Jesus rebukes Peter – again –

Discipleship means a single minded following of Jesus. There is no place for the speculation about the discipleship of others.

Peter has only one responsibility – to follow Jesus.

We are the left with the picture of two disciples. Both follow Jesus. One of them will glorify God by his death, and to him Jesus has entrusted the pastoral care of Christ’s flock.

The other, bears witness in another way. He was the closest to his master and who could discern the true meaning of his masters deeds and words. His legacy was the words we have journeyed through, and his words are true.

3. To follow the Lord is to fulfill the purpose of your life

We have learned that the good shepherd is one who “Lays down his life for the sheep” (10:11)

Peter has declared readiness to lay down his life for Jesus, and demanded on this basis the right to follow

John 13:37-38

37 Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."

38 Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

Now Peter has learned what following means. In the past he had followed according to his own desires and in his own strength. Now he will learn that following Jesus means going the way of the cross. And so now that he knows what following means he can hear again from the lips of Jesus “Follow me”

This following along the way of the cross will glorify God, for just as Jesus manifested the glory of God in his death, so the same glory will be manifested in the disciples who he sends into the world.

God has a purpose for each of our lives, and it is in the basis of following him. The call he has for each of is true – and it is his. As his follower, he has work for you and I to do. We don’t get to choose nor compare ourselves, ours is to obey. It will be good, it will fit in who we are, who he has made each of us to be, but we must follow him. It will cost us everything to follow him, regardless whether we live or die. As Paul wrote in

Rom 14:8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Next Steps – Jesus came to humanity - The Word became flesh … THE POINT…

Jesus restores people to purposefulness & calls us to love others by serving them and living sacrificially. That is when we look and live like God’s children

The next step is to follow Him – wherever he leads

Trusting him – with life, in baptism, in membership, in service, in attitude, where is he leading you to follow Him?

Believing the Un-Believable

The Bridge Church — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:36:00 -0700

Jesus had been crucified and placed in the tomb of Joseph with the help of his friend Nicodemus, two men of the Jewish Sanhedrin who secretly were sympathetic to Jesus. That would have been late in the afternoon of Friday.

Early Sunday morning, Mary, the Magdalene, had made her way to the tomb with a few friends. They went to mourn . In the culture of the day, they did not pretend that death did not exist and mourning was a human and proper thing to do, to go and weep.

But the body was not there, the tomb was empty. No anti-Christian writer in the first two centuries seems to have denied that the tomb was empty.

It must have been stolen. Tomb robbing was a common crime. The Jewish leaders and Pilate knew it was a very real threat and so they – together – conspired to officially seal the tomb and place guards at it to prevent the disappearance of the body. (Matt 27:62-66)

Mary had gone there, but the stone was rolled away, and the tomb was empty and so she ran back to tell Peter and John, the two who were the closest friends of Jesus and the apparent leaders of their group.

“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him” she cries. She assumed someone had taken the body.

When we don’t understand something, we fill in the blanks ourselves with what we do understand.

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

When we don’t know what to do – we do something. If we don’t believe what we have been told, we must see it for ourselves.

Peter & John went to check it out for themselves. It was important to them, they dropped everything and ran.

John gets there first. Sees the burial clothes laying there, but doesn’t go into examine. Trying to make sense of what is happening here. The body is gone but the burial clothes are still here. This doesn’t make sense. Why would someone strip the body just to take it. What has happened here?

Peter arrives right behind him. Peter doesn’t hesitate to charge right in. The man who had denied him a few days earlier.

6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.

8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

Peter and John saw the evidence of the resurrection – all the burial clothes, were laying there, now scripture doesn’t mention it, but Joseph & Nicodemeus who buried Jesus late Friday afternoon, used 75lbs of embalming spices, those were assumedly still there as well, so you have the strips of linen and a big pile of frankincense & myrrh (recognize those spices, they were commonly used in burial rituals in those days). Peter and John are examining the evidence the tomb is providing and trying to make sense of it

No one who cared about him would have unwrapped him like this, or could have. The clothes were laying where the body had previously been, like the body was laying there, with the spices still between the folds of the cloth.

No one who would have stolen a dead body would have unwrapped it to take a naked, messy, decomposing body, and even if they did unwrap it, they likely would have left a different kind of mess, they no doubt would have been in more of a hurry, there would be a trail of spices following them out of the tomb, things would have been very different.

But the body of Jesus is not there - and there is really only one conclusion – He is alive.

Based on the evidence they had, the disciples saw and believed – the un-believable. They didn’t understand everything, fortunately that has never been a prerequisite – actually that is the only thing in this whole thing that is impossible.

Peter & John didn’t understand all that had happened or how, but they believed he was alive. They didn’t understand how or what it meant, but they knew he wasn’t there and they believed.

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes,

11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

To Mary, it wasn’t the burial clothing missing a body that got her attention. She saw something that Peter and John seemed to miss – the angles! But she does notice they were sitting at the head and the other at the foot. – again, the burial clothing seems to indicate the direction the body was laying, so the cloths were not strewn about, but Mary sees an angle at each end of the spice encrusted strips of cloth and they speak to her…

13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

The angles speak to Mary with great compassion. The death of Jesus broke people’s hearts - This speaks to the level of relationship they had with the Lord

He had so impacted their lives they – like Mary – were grieving deeply. The kind of crying was not the “I am sorry to see him go” kind of crying, this is a wailing sort of crying, a grieving from the gut. Jesus had made such an impact into their lives these followers were not sure how they could go on

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

She turns around to go to look for the body of Jesus – and she finds the living Jesus…

15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"

Jesus is there and replies with the same words the angles had just said.

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

Mary was looking for a dead body, not a living one. Sometimes God is right there with us and we don’t see Him. He doesn’t fit what we think we are looking for. He doesn’t appear to us in the way we think He should show up and so we miss him…

16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

Jesus calls her by name and in an instant she knew it was him.

When Jesus called Mary’s name she knew and believed in an instant that He was alive.

God gives each of us exactly what we need to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and it changes our lives.

For some – like the disciples, the evidence of His resurrection was what it took to believe the unbelievable.

For others – like Mary – it took and experience to believe the unbelievable

But God knows us and gives each of us exactly what we need to be confronted with so we can respond to the reality of Jesus and His resurrection.

I have known people who the information and evidence of Jesus was not sufficient for them to respond to him, but when they had a vision or dream and saw Jesus – like the Muslim people I have met in other countries had – they believed and he changed their lifes.

Others I have known, they don’t ‘see’ the encounters with Jesus, but their minds and lives are attuned to the information – when they are honestly confronted with the evidence they cannot deny they believe. They may not have all the facts, all the information and understand everything, but there is sufficient information for them to believe – and I find eventually they ‘see’ Jesus too, like the disciple do a little further in the story for next week.

God knows each of us and what we need to respond to him – the question is will we. It is un-believable that a man would rise from the dead after being dead three days – but we believe it –

He has called our names and we responded to him, we know it is Him beyond a doubt. At His voice our souls leap. Or, We were confronted with the evidence and we believed – despite our questions our souls are satisfied.

John 10:3

3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. NIV

Jesus tells Mary

17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

A curious statement.

John, our author, is moving us from the empty tomb to what is the real meaning and implication of the resurrection – the creation of a new relationship between Jesus and those who believe in Him. The faith of a Christian has not really developed if it falls short of a direct personal relationship of love and trust between Christ and the person.

Mary wants to hold on to Jesus and never let him go again. She is the first of His followers to meet and recognize him as the risen Lord. But she doesn’t yet understand that the nature of their relationship was about to change – she is going to have to let go of the teacher – disciple relationship. He is not going to be their teacher any longer, that is not his role. They will soon have the Holy Spirit to be with them always and guide them – and us – from now on.

Jesus was to be the sign of the relationship that is to come. Jesus was the sign that re-directs lives and makes a way for them and us to live in a new way – in the Kingdom of God – that begins the moment we respond to him and begin living in God’s new way, and Jesus came to point us into that new way of living that is dependent upon God’s Spirit to guide us so we can live, act, love, like God would himself. We look like God’s children.

There have been many who have come and even called themselves Christians but did not look or act like God – the way of God is impossible when we miss the sign – Jesus shows us the way and that the way of God looks like Jesus – the God / Man – who came to show us that the impossible is possible with God. We can love our enemies, we can choose the good even when it hurts us, we can bless when others would curse because of the power of God’s Sprit that brought Jesus back from the dead and now can live in us because we believe. When we believe the un-believable – that Jesus – as God’s Son died and rose again,

Then the impossible become possible –

Even when Thomas saw the risen Lord he could not believe he was who he said he was until he examined the evidence himself until he saw the wounds and reached out and touched them himself. The evidence proved it for him and he declares “My Lord and My God”

Saul – did not believe, he couldn’t – for him the evidence – what he had heard – was not sufficient and so he purposed himself to rid the world of this idea – but when he encountered – personally the risen Lord and he called him by name – he instantly believed and his life was changed.

God knows what each of us needs to encounter so that we will believe – because when we believe in the un-believable, the impossible becomes possible.

What about you- can you respond this morning to the unbelievable. What do you need from God to take your life to a new level of possible?

Can you respond to the evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and because of that he changes everything

Can you respond to the experience of Jesus raising from the dead and defeating your sin

Do you hear his voice calling you – by name – saying trust in me – follow me – let me show you an entirely new way of living that will change your life for eternity

Can you – like Mary exclaim the news. ..

"I have seen the Lord!" and tell everyone what Jesus has done in your life.

God's Love For Us

The Bridge Church — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 09:53:00 -0700

We have a problem – God Loves You & I!

We most likely would not consider the fact that God Loves you as a problem, but for you and I today, it is.

Rom 5:6-8 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. NIV

The problem is this. You and I have a very hard time understanding the significance of what Jesus did for us on the cross. And even if we do ‘understand it’ intellectually we have a hard time a receiving it and living in that truth because we don’t often‘feel’ the impact of it and therefore we may not be sure it is real.

Some very significant things have changed in our culture that have shaped how you and I perceive God, who Jesus is, what he has done for us and what that means for us to live today.

Our problem –

Let me ask a question – a part from a relationship with Christ, have you ever received something of great worth that you were not worthy of receiving?

Have you ever been offered something of great value that you refused because you did not believe you were worthy of it?

As I was preparing for this message, I ran across a well known, scholar who wrote a commentary on Romans and this passage and in it he said…

“love is measured partly by the costliness of the gift to the giver and the worthiness / unworthiness of the recipient,… the greater the cost to the giver, the less the recipient deserves it.”

There was a day when that may have been the way people thought about love and themselves, but that is not today.

I have asked a number of people this week these questions, “have you ever received something of great worth that you were not worth of receiving?, and have you ever refused something because you were not worthy of it?” These questions speak to our own level of deservedness.

Oprah Winfrey is noted for giving members of her audience extravagant gifts, cars, trips, etc. just because they showed up, I don’t know this for sure, but I would be very surprised if someone refused to receive the free car.

We live in a world that says you deserve every good thing you can get - plus more.

We live in a time when we expect to be loved for who we are, regardless of the cost.

There is very little in our culture today that a person may say they do not deserve – we generally believe we deserve anything we can think of, anything we see or desire, we deserve it.

The problem is we have a very different perspective of ourselves from the way God views us.

1. The problem of perspectives - ours vs God’s

We have a perspective of our lives that is established by our world. It starts with our parents, then it is informed by our school, our friends, the books we read, the movies we watch, the media around us.

Our perspective tells us “Who we are”, what’s important in life, how we know when we are successful. Our perspective tells us who we think God is and how we are to relate to him

Then there is God’s perspective of us. He made us and knows us better than we even know ourselves. He sees us, he sees our hearts, our minds, our actions and our attitudes. He knows how and in what ways we look like him, act like him in the situations of our lives. He also knows when we don’t look and act like him, where we fall short of who he is and who we were made to be. This is what the Bible calls ‘sin’ and we live in the effects and power of sin.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

We are powerless –We are not used to thinking of ourselves as powerless, helpless to change our situation or rescue ourselves. The truth is there was nothing we could do to change our situation. We often think we are powerful, not helpless, we can manage on our own, deal with our weaknesses.

Not only were we powerless, but God views us – in our natural state as

We are ‘ungodly’ , sinners.

We are not like God at all, It is God who says

Rom 3:10-12

"There is no one righteous, not even one;

11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good, not even one."

We are ‘ungodly’ in that we have departed from the way of righteousness

i. Fallen short of God’s standard for his children

The world tells us we are ‘good’ on our own. And if we were good on our own, Christ would not have had to die for us, but He did “Christ died for the ungodly”

Our first problem is this – we view ourselves as better and more deserving than we are.

The ‘pay-off’ propensity – we get what we earn, what we work for; and if we work for it we deserve it.

7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die

This is a very curious verse and when most people read it we don’t understand it.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man…

‘righteous’ vs ‘good’

Righteous man wouldn’t ‘need’ someone to die for them, so this statement is irrelevant. “No one would need to die for a righteous man – they wouldn’t do anything wrong.”

Or they are ‘righteous’ in their own minds, a self-righteous person no one would die for

Or they are a person we might respect as a righteous man, but not care enough about to die for them…

a good man is someone we would love, and so someone might die for them. A Good man we care about.

The deal is we place values on people whether we think they are good or not and we are going to respond to them on that basis. We look at people’s lives and the works that they produce and we also assume everyone else looks at our own lives in the same way and so I have got to produce good too.

If I am a ‘good’ person then I deserve someone to pay a high price for me

Our next problem - We are works oriented in to prove our own value – we are ‘good people’ so we deserve good from others – and God

God brings this back around to His perspective – which is the one that really only matters…

3. God proved His love, despite the fact we didn’t deserve it.

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

When he demonstrates his love, he shows us what his love is – and it is not satisfaction but sacrifice

He gave His son – the most valuable, his best, his heart, what he loved he gave and it was not because we deserved it
1. i. Christ died for the ungodly – Only God is good,
2. ii. Instead of loving God with all our being we rebelled – we were made to love God, but we chose to love ourselves and rebel against God
3. iii. Christ loved God with all his being by sacrificing himself
4. We didn’t deserve it
  1. i. We were God’s enemies – we held a deep seated hostility towards God
  2. ii. Resentment of His authority in our lives
5. Jesus died for us, we didn’t deserve it and We can’t do anything about it – who we are and what Jesus has done for us…so

Our third problem -

4. We must respond – we can ignore (what most people do) or we can reject or we can respond in humility – of our hearts and minds, it changes our attitude about ourselves, God and others

What are we to do? For us to live in the power of the Gospel there are some things we must do. For us to live in the strength of the cross of Christ and realize it’s power to over come shame and guilt of what we have done and how we have lived, to experience the forgiveness of God that sets us free there are some things we must do.

Change our perspective to God’s perspective of us, our lives, who we are and what we have done. We must see ourselves as sinners in need of Christ’s death to experience God’s love and to respond to Him in Humility. Until we are able to see the crucifixion of Jesus as something that God did for us because he loves us and that we did not deserve it, but actually deserved his punishment, we will never be able to receive his great and valuable gift and the power that it brings into our lives. We can not experience the freedom Jesus purchases for us on the cross unless we see ourselves as slaves to our own sin that we can not escape from ourselves – we truly are powerless.

Preach the gospel to yourself – every day – apply the truth of what Jesus did for you to your own life. recognize before God – to yourself – you were not worthy of what God did for you by sending his own son to die for you. Acknowledge your own sin that the blood of Christ covered and it is only his blood that makes you righteous to come before a holy God.

This morning we are going to encounter the death of Christ from the book of John in worship. We are going to read John 19 and worship God with songs. During this time, you are free to worship as you want to / need to. Perhaps God will move you to pray, to confess sin, to acknowledge who He is. The prayer benches are along the sides of the room for you to use if you want, or perhaps you want to kneel where you are at. If you can stand before God and sing, stand, but come before him in worship acknowledging who you are and what Jesus has done for you. Afterwards we will share in communion, so use this time to prepare your hearts and minds to take the body and blood of Jesus in your life.

Jesus on Trial

The Bridge Church — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:04:00 -0700

Trials are designed to discover if the charges laid against someone are true or not.

In one short scene, Jesus was put on trial, but when he went on trial, so did we. How did this happen?

We start out with Jesus being taken to Pontius Pilate

In 26 A.D. the Roman Emperor Tiberius appointed Pontius Pilate prefect of the Roman provinces of Judaea, Samaria and Idumæa.

As a Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate was granted the power of a supreme judge, which meant that he had the sole authority to order a criminal’s execution. His duties as a prefect included such mundane tasks as tax collection and managing construction projects. But, perhaps his most crucial responsibility was that of maintaining law and order. Pontius Pilate attempted to do so by any means necessarily. What he couldn’t negotiate he is said to have accomplished through brute force. Pilate was known to be arrogant in his power and unconcerned and cruel in his actions. Just the man who could carry out the Jewish leaders desires.

So, Jesus is taken from the High Priests compound to the palace where Pilate was. Pilate’s primary residence was in Capernaum but when he was in Jersualem, archeologist believe he stayed in Harod’s palace, which was a large compound across the city from the temple.

When they reach Pilate, early in the morning, Jesus’ trial begins.

One of the first things that happens in a trial is you get the identities straight.

Pilate questions Jesus about his Identity - “Are you the king of the Jews?”

From the beginning of this trial, Jesus turns the trial around and puts Pilate on trial… Jesus challenges him… 34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"

Pilate goes on the defense, justifying and explaining what is going on here…

35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me.

Then Pilate attempts to regain authority in this trial – “What is it you have done?"

Jesus doesn’t answer the question directly but stays on the topic that He knows will actually get him killed, to accomplish His desired outcome…

36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."

Jesus clearly says He has a kingdom, He is a king, He is willing to fight if he was threatened, but he is not… Peter had already fought to prevent his arrest, but his disciples were not the servants he was referring to.

Jesus acknowledges He is a king, who is ushering in His Kingdom

37 Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

Jesus acknowledges this is why he was born - He is making a reference to His incarnation. He was not born a king from the worlds perspective, but that has no concern to him. He was born as the King of creation, the Son of God. When He was born, God took on flesh, he was destined from eternity to enter into humanity – to establish / reestablish God’s kingdom – His kingdom

He also said this is why he came into the world – there was purpose and mission in His life, he was sent for this purpose and He knew it. He came to bring salvation to all who would put their faith in Him. He came for this particular day when he was standing before Pilate, He came to die so that he could open the way for people to enter His kingdom – he was the gate, the way

John 10:17-18

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

The mission was to TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH

The purpose of trials is to ascertain the truth – to accurately find out what is or has happened and to make a judgment about it. Whether it fits with what should be, what the law says, what is right.

Jesus came to testify to the true reality of His kingdom, testify there is another, different, distinct kingdom. A kingdom that is true, a way of living that is righteous in the most pure and true way. A kingdom that has a king that is good, caring, loving, who is just and merciful – Himself – God.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus entered into a world where people make God to be who and what they want or need him to be.

The Romans did that certainly, they had a Pantheon of Gods, the Jews did that by making the rules for godly living into what they wanted them to be.

Jesus made a stark distinction here – he drew a line in the sand

“Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

To Jesus there are not shades of truth, but sides to truth, it is either true or it is not. There is no kind of truth, partial truth, - it is true or it is not and this is how you know the difference – they listen to Him.

Jesus is saying something important here for us to get and it is in the structure of his sentence, . He puts “everyone on the side of truth” before “listens to me”. He is speaking to people who have made the decision they want truth, they know the challenge of truth and they are willing to do the hard work ti find it. It is the treasure hidden in the field, it is the pearl of great price, and they are willing to do anything to get it. They will find the truth in HIM. They are not ‘disillusioned’ to find it in Jesus, they They don’t play games with truth.

Pilate asks the question the world always asks – 38 "What is truth?"

Sometimes we want to ask the questions but don’t want the answers.

With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.

What is truth? - “the actual acknowledgement of reality”

Our society is asking this question all the time – and answering it with “well what is true for you may not be true for me” “you have your truth, I have mine”

We live in a complex world, with all kinds of ideas, demands and desires. With the plethora of choices we have to make we try to do the best we can with what we have to work with.

Pilate was like that too. He was trying to hold a fine balance between the demands of Rome and the tensions of the Jews and factor into this his own ego.

But you and I live in a world in which falsehoods operate and therefore I am confronted by the word of Truth that demands I make a decision to accept or reject it on the basis of truth.

If I seek to evade total responsibility for that decision by looking for validation from the accumulated experience and wisdom of the world, I am in fact rejecting the truth.

If Jesus is simply a man making claims about himself and seeking his own glory, his message must be rejected as the claims of a disillusioned man and his subsequent death would be a sad end to a pathetic man. But if Jesus is the truth, the one sent by God his father, the one in whom is light and life, and the one who only seeks the glory of His Father, then Pilate, the Jews, the disciples, the people, you and I must acknowledge the reality that exists. We must either turn to the light or turn away into darkness. There are not fifty shades of gray when it comes to Jesus only truth.

So what are we to do?

Pilate responded by saying “I don’t want to deal with you” and so he goes out and declares “, "I find no basis for a charge against him.” And he put the whole matter back into the laps of the Jews who had brought Jesus to him in the first place. Pilate decided he wanted to ignore and avoid Jesus.

We do the same today. Jesus invites us to live in His kingdom, to live in His ways, and we prefer to manage life on our own terms.

This week I met a couple of men who told me just that. One man, after finding out I was a pastor, started out making some clever comment about trying to win over a “godless” culture. But as we talked he began to reveal his deep concern for the culture and the city we live in. He grieved over the changes he has experienced. “When I was growing up, almost no one I knew came from divorced homes, and now it is not unusual at all”. No one really cares for others he said, the sexuality is deforming our culture not freeing it like we thought it would, pornography is destroying lives and families,” he went on.

I asked him if he had any faith, any relationship with God himself.

No, none, but my wife is a Jew – maybe that counts

He acknowledged how the Christian influence of our past was healthy and beneficial for society, but when I asked him what he wanted to do about life today, what was he willing to do, if he wanted his life to make a difference – he said “well, there’s the problem isn’t it, the hypocrisy of my life.

He was responding just like Pilate “I find no fault in this man” - If you want him you can have him but I don’t want to deal with him.

Pilate knew, the man I met knew, that to trust in Jesus to be his king, to become part of God’s kingdom was going to change the way he lived, personally, and he didn’t want to deal with it himself.

“The rest of the world can go to hell, just leave me alone”

When Jesus went on trial – He put everyone on trial because he made it crystal clear who and what the truth was, but sometimes we don’t want to handle the truth.

Today, I challenge you to look into the eyes of Jesus – standing in trial, and realize you, yourself is also on trial. He is on his way to die for you so you can enter into and live in His kingdom, but will you – are you – trusting him?

Will you live seeking the good of others around you. Are you living bringing justice and mercy to people? Are you loving them.

If not, begin today, acknowledge Jesus is the truth and ask to live in His Kingdom.

Dealing with Spiritual Tests

The Bridge Church — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:03:00 -0700

When we talk to our kids about school, one of the invariable topics that comes up is about tests, how well they have done or not.

Tests tell us where we are, what we know, what we can do. It reveals our strengths and weaknesses.

No one likes tests. Almost everyone wants to avoid tests.

Socrates said “An unexamined life is not worth living”.

Peter was about to be examined, to be exposed. God was allowing Peter to be tested.

John 13:36-38

36 Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?"

Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."

37 Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."

38 Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

By Peter’s own account of the situation, which he conveyed to Luke who wrote it down for us, Peter shows us this test was planned, Jesus anticipated and prayed for Peter. ….

Jesus said…Luke 22:31-34

31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

33 But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."

34 Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."

Satan had asked to sift Peter as wheat… to sift something is to put it through a filter and see what is really there. You sift wheat after it has been ground to see if it is really ready to be used for bread, or does it need to be ground more.

This scene with Satan testing Peter carries a parallel to Job, when Satan asked God to test Job to see if Job would turn his back on God. Now Satan is going to see what Peter is really made of.

Peter has spent the last three years traveling with Jesus, following Him from place to place. Seeing him do amazing things, healings, casting out demons, multiplying bread, even raising the dead. Peter experienced the amazing night of walking on stormy water - He had seen Jesus do some very amazing things. He had also heard Jesus teach, words of truth that made so much sense and brought so much life. He listened as Jesus talked about God’s Kingdom with such clarity like it really was ‘right here’. He watched Jesus exercise extraordinary authority, nothing and no one could stand against him. When he said something you could count on it happening. When Peter was with Jesus, he felt so strong, confident, anything could happen when he was with Jesus and so he could say “I am ready to go with you to prison or death” - He was ready for his test – he thought.

Jesus had even how to handle the test when it came.

John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

One time when Jesus was teaching and declared that He was the “bread of life” He said…

John 6:39

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

Now Jesus prayed in the garden…

John 17:12

While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Then at Jesus arrest…

John 18:8-9

"I told you that I am he," Jesus answered. "If you are looking for me, then let these men go." 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have not lost one of those you gave me."

Jesus was going to make sure Peter was going to be okay, he would make it to be used by God to advance His kingdom - This is important and Peter would have to trust this truth to pass the test.

Now, just hours after hearing Jesus say this Peter is about to face a test and he doest pass it so well. Just like Jesus said, Peter denies Jesus – three times… How does this happen?

Sometimes failing a test actually begins before we face the test.

Two ways Peter set himself up to fail the spiritual test he was to undertake, (and how we set ourselves up to fail our own tests as well)

1. Being overconfident – It won’t happen to me! I won’t fail! I can’t fail!

Jesus told Peter the Satan was going to ‘sift’ him, but Peter strongly affirmed his commitment to go to prison or to death for Jesus. Surely Peter meant those words, as evidenced by his later willingness to defend Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when he takes a guys ear off. Within hours, though, he would deny knowing Jesus. Peter was overconfident and didn’t know it – and that’s the danger of overconfidence. Peter overestimated his strength and abilities and it set him up to fail. When we think we are an exception or believing “it won’t happen to me” is a huge warning sign.

Luke 22:33 But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."

Our natural, first response, when we are facing a challenge and our stress level is beginning to rise is to trust in ourselves, our own understanding, our own strength. But Jesus promises that He is with us and for us. That we can trust in Jesus.

Peter heard the message but didn’t get the message to trust in Jesus. He learned he had to trust in Jesus when he walked on water, but how easily we forget old lessons when we are faced with new challenges.

2. Failing to pray – I can handle it on my own!

Luke 22:46

46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

Temptation = ‘proving’ ‘testing’

“Pray,” Jesus commanded the disciples in the garden. Even if they wanted to, still sleep came easier than prayer. The problem here is simple: prayerlessness reflects self-dependence rather than dependence on God. Anytime we’re not praying, we are susceptible to a fall.

In fact, prayerlessness usually correlates to acting first and following God second – as Peter did when he first defended Jesus with a sword. He was doing what seemed right to do – according to his natural understanding – but not according to the ways of Jesus, not according to God’s plans. If Peter had been praying, he could have renewed God’s plan in his mind, but without that he had nothing but himself to rely on.

How Peter failed his spiritual test (and how we fail them too!)

1. Growing distanced from Jesus –

Peter and John followed Jesus after His arrest from a distance (Lk 22:54). When they got to the High Priest’s house only John was able to get into the courtyard, and Peter had to wait outside the door. He realized he was alone. When the door became closed to Peter something happened in his heart as well, it became closed too. He realized the seriousness of the situation and discouragement and fear crept in and his heart grew cold. How often it happens in a followers life, something happens, the door is closed to us, an obstacle arises, an opportunity is taken away, a circumstance presents itself that seems too big to overcome. Fear sets in, our hearts grow cold and our mind goes into overdrive to come up with a solution. Even after John, his friend, got the door opened for him, Peter’s heart stayed closed.

I have seen it happen many times in the life of a Christian. Something happens in their life and they begin to grow distant from Jesus, their heart closes up and grows cold. When you see this happen to someone recognize that fear has set in and they will have to open their heart up to Jesus again.

Jesus said… 14 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

James, Jesus brother said…James 4:8 “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”

The psalmist says… Ps 57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.

We can distance ourselves in many different ways…

Our schedule, time, family demands, money demands. Circumstances arise and instead of turning to God in prayer and trusting in His strength, we rely on what makes sense to us.

We can distance ourselves emotionally. Someone says something, or doesn’t say something, a look or an action is perceived, and our feelings are hurt, our image is challenged and we begin to close our hearts and distance sets in.

How do you struggle with distancing yourself from God? Things will happen that will seem like an obstacle, a door is closed - Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me

With spiritual distance from Jesus in a closed heart and a fearful mind Peter begins to LIE.

17 "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" the girl at the door asked Peter.

He replied, "I am not."

The second way Peter failed the test was by Lying – A servant girl looked intently at Peter and accused him of being a follower of Jesus; in fact, the wording in Luke from Peters recollection suggests she stared hard at the disciple. Face to face. Eyeball to eyeball. Accountability in action. Still, Peter lied to her. She challenged him with the truth of who he was, and he denied it. You know a fall is at full throttle if you lie when confronted with the truth of who you are or what you’re doing. He forgets the truth and settles for a lie he thinks he can manage.

When I pray for my kids when they are taking a test, I pray they are able to remember everything they know. Peter undoubtedly felt threatened, he may have even felt his life was in danger, but he forgot that Jesus said he would not loose any of his men. That Jesus had just prayed that they would be protected by God, but when we forget the promises of Jesus – Fear steps in and we will lie

Peter grew distant from Jesus, he started lying, then he moved closer to the world, the place that looked safer and warmer

18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. … 25 As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of his disciples, are you?"

He denied it, saying, "I am not."

Peter was Trying to hide in public – Peter did not hide well, of course, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t try. He warmed himself at the same fire that warmed the enemies of Jesus. Surely he hoped no one would see anything unusual in his presence. God’s people should not ignore this warning sign: if you’re tempted to hide, you are moving in the wrong direction. Peter was wanting to blend into his surroundings, hoping no one would notice. Instead of being the ‘light on the hilltop’. Try to hide in public. When someone tried to initiate a conversation with him about his relationship with Jesus Peter denied his association. What that revealed about Peter was He was more afraid of man than God. Peter would soon stand up in a crowd and proclaim to the world who Jesus is, but he is going to have to rely on the strength of Jesus’ promises and the nearness and filling of God’s Spirit.

How do you and I try to blend into our world?

Peter grew distant from Jesus, he started lying, then he moved closer to the world, the place that looked safer and warmer, then Peter began to hide his actions

26 One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, "Didn't I see you with him in the olive grove?" 27 Again Peter denied it

This was a stinging blow to Peter. Jesus had just chastised Peter for drawing his sword and cutting the fellows ear off, and Jesus had to ‘fix the problem’ and heal the man’s ear in the middle of being arrested. Peter may have felt embarrassed for his over-zealousness and now he is being called out for it again. Peter didn’t want his foolish actions to expose his relationship with Jesus - He let his pride win over his relationship with Jesus. Peters own pride his fear of what others thought of him, and his willingness to lie about himself revealed his heart had moved away from his relationship with Jesus and he denied him – turned his back on Jesus – three times.

Three times, others initiated a conversation with Peter about his relationship with Jesus; three times the disciple denied it. To admit he was a follower of Christ would have been to risk his own life, and he had forgotten the promise of his Lord that God was not going to allow anything to happen to him

Peter’s recollection of this event marked his life – he said at the third time he denied Christ…

Luke 22:60-62

60 Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

He had forgotten what Jesus had told him. He didn’t rely on His promises, He didn’t trust Jesus to be his strength, his protection, and he failed the test. He revealed – to himself – he wasn’t as strong as he thought he was, He needed Jesus who was on his way to die and it caused Peter to drill in deeper into who this Jesus was that he was trusting in.

Facing our own spiritual tests…

14 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Know His promises

Trust His promises

Stay close & pray

We will each face our own times of Spiritual tests, times when God will test us to see how much we are willing to trust in Jesus. When those times come what will you rely on. Peter allowed his heart to grow distant from Jesus – it only took a moment for fear to grip him and he began to rely on himself to deal with his circumstances. Instead of relying on the promises of what Jesus had said, he relied on himself and he failed. What will you rely on? Jesus said he had overcome the world and we could rest in his peace – peace that only comes from him – not the world.

Are you living in that peace – when your tests come.

Trust

The Bridge Church — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:36:43 -0800

Trust

I have had to ask myself how much I am willing to trust God this week. One factor in this questioning was the fact that I was given the text of John 18:1-11 to preach from last Sunday (read the sermon notes here; listen to the sermon here). This passage is about the arrest of Jesus by a mob of soldiers, priests, servants, and Pharisees. The main message that came out of the text was that "Jesus willingly and sacrificially lay down his life to do the will of the Father." It cost Jesus much to do the will of God. He had the ability to make a different choice. He could have walked away from the arrest. He could have fought his way out of the arrest. He could have called 72,000 angels to wipe out this mob. Instead, he trusted that God knew the right path. He trusted that the cup that was there for him to drink was uniquely his and represented the best way to live and die.

I have found myself analyzing this approach over the last week or so. What does this mean for my life? How do I willingly do the will of God, the Father? How do I sacrificially live my life for others?

I have read two articles which help with my perspective on this. One, about marriage, reminds me that I still have much to learn about living sacrificially toward my wife. Sarah Markley writes, ". . . it’s a struggle each day to love well and like wading through mud to suppress our own selfish inclinations. Each step toward Jesus and toward grace is harder than the last . . ."1 I can relate to "my own selfish inclinations" all too well. How do I really love my wife with whom I have journeyed for over 31 years. How do I give her the respect she deserves as a child of God? How do I set aside my stuff?

My own selfish inclinations say, I can do this my own way. Jesus says, "Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" There it is, that unswerving trust that says, "the Father knows best." He really has the best plan for our lives.

The second article that has been a help in this week's journey is one entitled, "Why I Don't Believe in God Anymore." Peter Enns has said, that rather than believing in God, he trusts God. This he says is far more demanding.2

Perhaps that is where it comes down to for me: trust. Can I trust this God whom I do not understand nearly well enough? Can I say, with Peter Enns and others, that I cannot get all of my beliefs about God to line up and make complete sense? I know I can say, "God, there is so much about you that is a mystery to me." "God, there is so much about how you reveal yourself to people that is still a mystery to me." "God, there is still much in the Bible that I do not understand." Many times I have echoed the words of a father with a sick child: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24); today I want to say to God, "I do trust you; help me overcome my un-trust."

1 (Markley 2013)
2 “The older I get, making sure all my “beliefs” of God are lined up as they should be loses more and more of its luster. I see the Bible focusing a lot more on something far more demanding: trust. Try it. Which is harder to say? I believe in God or I trust God?” (Enns 2013)

Works cited:
Enns, Peter. Patheos: Hosting the Conversation on Faith. March 1, 2013. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/peterenns/2013/03/why-i-dont-believe-in-god-anymore/ (accessed March 6, 2013).
Markley, Sarah. "When a Post-Crisis Marriage is Full of Imperfections." The Best Days of My Life. February 27, 2013. http://www.sarahmarkley.com/2013/02/marriage-imperfect/ (accessed March 6, 2013).

Surrender

The Bridge Church — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:43:37 -0800

The Dark Knight Rises is a retelling of one of the oldest stories written into the very fabric of the universe. Many of the great novels, odes, epic poems, and movies of all time tell the story of sacrifice. There are many variations on the theme but the powerful message of the king who lays down his life for his people; or the brother, husband, father, sister or mother, who substitutes his or her life for the loved one - is there in one form or another. In the Batman saga, it recurs in threes, as the Batman, this great symbol of justice and right, repeatedly sacrifices himself for others who do not deserve the sacrifice. If you are a fan of these movies I encourage you to go back to them and watch for the incidents in which Batman sacrifices himself for others. Now I am not suggesting that the authors of the screen-play or the directors of the movies were aware of it and were trying to tell the gospel story. Rather, I am suggesting that the concept of ultimate sacrifice is so built into the fabric of the universe, by the God who sacrificed himself for this universe, that story-tellers recognize truth and beauty in stories of ultimate sacrifice.

The story of all stories that is at the root of all the other stories of ultimate sacrifice begins is this passage we are looking at today. You have heard it read from John 18:1-11. Allow me to just highlight a few things.

The gospel of John relates much of the same information told by the other writers who wrote about the arrest of Jesus. Let's look at some of this in a table I have prepared:

The Arrest of Jesus	Matthew 26	Mark 14	Luke 22	John 18
Praying prior to arrest	X	X	X	X
Location: Garden/Gethsemane/Mount of Olives	X	X	X	X
Judas guides soldiers/crowd	X	X	X	X
Betrayed with a kiss	X	X	X	John has little to say about Judas
Jesus speaks to Judas	X		X	John has little to say about Judas
Who is it you want?				X - unique
Sword/ear cut off	X	X	X	X
Put your sword away	X		X	X
Healing of the ear			X
Resignation to the Father's will/prophecy	X	X		X
Disciples fled	X	X
Young man flees naked		X

When we study a passage like this it is important to pay attention to all of it and it is also particularly important to notice what John says that none of the other authors said. As we look at this passage today, we will do both and we will see that Jesus had the power to walk away. He could choose how things went at this juncture. He chose! He chose to lay down his life.

First of all, let us look at

I. Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?

Even in allowing himself to be arrested, Jesus power is evident. We are told that after a night of praying in the garden, Judas arrives with a crowd of people. We are not told how many people there were; but it was a large crowd consisting of soldiers, priests, servants, and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons. Jesus is not fearful. He takes the initiative and he steps up and asks, "Who is it you want?" They say, "Jesus of Nazareth." He says, "I am he." The crowd draws back and falls on the ground. This is the miraculous power of God expressed once more in Jesus. He shows this mob that he really could hurt them. If his words can cause them to fall on the ground, imagine what else he could do to them. Matthew 26 records that Jesus said something like. I could call 72,000 angels to help me. But he doesn't. Luke 4: 28-30 tells of how he could simply walk through hostile crowds when he needed to escape. He didn't. In John 7, they sent some temple guards to arrest him but he talks to them and they return without arresting him. He wants us to know that he has the power to get himself out of this situation but he chooses not to. Again he asks them, "Who is it you want?" They pick themselves up and say, "Jesus of Nazareth." Again he says, "I am he;" and this time Jesus surrenders to them. He asks that they leave his disciples alone.

But, about this time, pandemonium breaks out because Peter does a clumsy thing and pulls out a sword. It is likely that as he draws the sword he accidentally takes off the ear of one of the minor servants in the mob. If he was seeking to be brave and fight off the mob, he did not choose the best person to attack. No, he likely was just pulling out his sword and in the close confines of the space and the large crowd of people, he accidentally takes off an ear. I am sure this woke everyone up and generated a bunch of tension. The soldiers likely drew their swords and things were about to get ugly. It is a miracle that Jesus survives to stand trial and go to the cross. They might have all died right there in the garden. But Jesus calms everyone down and tells Peter to put his sword away.

What I want us to get from this is that it is evident that Jesus has all the power he needs at his command. He is indeed God in the flesh who has come with power. He speaks his name and the crowd falls. Then, he speaks his name and he quietly surrenders.

II. Jesus willingly and sacrificially lays down his life to do the will of the Father. - John 18:11

That is the second thing we see. Jesus willingly and sacrificially lays down his life to do the will of the Father. He puts it pretty simply. This is his cup to drink. He will take it. He will drink it. He surrenders. He lays down everything he could have relied upon and turns himself over to a mob; a mob that is intent on killing him one way or another.

He has already said in John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. He had prepared for this all of his life. He has already lived all of his life for others. Now he will die for others.

How unlike the world is this? Most of the time we look for ways to get out of difficult circumstances even if we know we deserve it. Not Jesus. He knows he does not deserve what is coming his way but he willingly sacrifices himself. He lays down his life for friend and foe. He does what he did not have to do but what he could choose to do. He sacrifices his life.

III. Jesus is our model whom we follow in sacrificial living.

And if Jesus is our model, what is the application of this passage in our lives?

For an answer to this question we could look to the words of Paul the Apostle in Philippians 2:5-8, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Like Jesus we can have this attitude. We can choose to surrender to the will of God. We choose to surrender to the will of God even if this means difficulty, sorrow, pain, or death. This is following after the model we have in this Jesus of Nazareth.

There are many examples of sacrificial living to which we could turn, but allow me to give us one more movie example. In the movie, "We Were Soldiers," Lt. Colonel Hal Moore speaks to the men he will command in battle and says, "I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God, that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. So help me, God." There is a picture of sacrificial living. What does sacrificial living look like in your life?

One thing it might look like is sacrificial prayer. Can we pray with others in mind before we pray for ourselves? This month at The Bridge we are emphasizing sacrificial prayer and encouraging each other to pray for others, to pray for those outside of our church, to sacrifice our time in praying for others before we ever pray for ourselves. What might that look like in your life?

There is one more aspect of this of which we must speak: repentance. Repentance is turning from following our own ways and instead following God's ways. Jesus surrendered his will and followed God's ways. You see,

". . . real repentance is not a threat. It is an invitation to allow more of God’s goodness into ourselves by giving up the fight to hide our sinfulness. Repentance allows God to dig through our bulky, embarrassing baggage that we’ve been hiding or avoiding. . . . After all, we all know that we are sinners already. But it is when we are ready to admit this and move on, through repentance, that we grow and bear the fruit . . ." - LENTEN Devotions, Goshen College, Real repentance is not a threat, Mar 01, 2013.

Today, I ask you to do something about the message of John 18: 1-11. Maybe you are at that place where you have never surrendered your life over to the will of God. It is time to follow Jesus' example and follow the ways of God.

Perhaps you have said, "I surrender all" and have made a commitment to follow the model of Jesus. How will you live a sacrificial life? How will you live and pray sacrificially for your friends, your co-workers, your spouse, your children, your parents, your grandparents, and your grandchildren?

Don't walk away from this service unchanged. Don't allow this to be one more sermon you have heard. Instead, may this be one more passage of scripture you have truly heard. May the words of the Bible change your life. May you go from this place to live a sacrificial life. Living your life for the sake of others. Living and dying a sacrificial life.

Becoming a Friend of God

The Bridge Church — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 14:27:00 -0800

This month we have been talking about relationships – what it is to build healthy friendships with others, healthy marriages, healthy neighbourhoods. One of the things we discovered is the kinds of relationships we want & need do not happen by themselves… they take our initiative. If we want a friendship like David & Jonathan we are going to have to be courageous and take initiative. Then we looked at building marriages that go the distance by looking at Ruth and Boaz. There we discovered that great marriage relationships are built on the foundation of your character. Last week we looked at healthy neighbouring relationships in the story of the Good Samaritan and discovered that godly neighbours take action, they do things even if it is hard or inconvenient.

This morning we are considering what It is to have a healthy friendship with God. Can you imagine being known as a person who is a friend of God?

Abraham was called the Friend of God and so he was. Abraham, the father of our faith, and beyond the normal recognition of a great man was known as the Friend of God. He was the head of the chosen race of believers whom Jesus would extend this same divine friendship to his faithful disciples.

We can read in Genesis 2 that the first job God gave Adam was to name all the living creatures of the land and air, and it says that “whatever the man called each living creature, that was it’s name (Gen 2:19). If man is able to name the creatures and so that is its name, we can be assured that whatever name the Spirit of God gives to a man, that is what he is to be known as. Abraham was known as the Friend of God.

James says not only was this his name, but that Abraham was actually called by that name.

2 Chronicles 20:7

O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?

Throughout the Jewish history, Abraham was known as and refered to as “the Friend of God”, but it goes beyond that.

Even today, among Arabs and other Muslims, the name of Abraham is not often mentioned explicitly, but they speak of him as Khalil Allah, or, “Friend of God” or more briefly as “El Kahil”, “the friend”. When God ascribes a name, it is a noble title that is not equaled by any other name of greatness. One maybe known as a president, king or prime minister; laureate, Nobel Prize holder, but all of these names are given by people to another person, but to be known as “The Friend of God” can only be given and confirmed to men & women by God Himself, and to have such a transcendent honor is indeed a high award.

Well, we could say “Yes, indeed it was a high honor bestowed upon Abraham” , and he was an extraordinary man in the things he accomplished, but it is not so high that we cannot attain it ourselves. To be known as a friend of God is not just a dream or other esoteric aspiration, but it is a real opportunity that we ourselves can experience. We also may be called “Friends of God”

John 15:14-15

You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

You see, it is within the realm of possibilities, that you and I may know God and be known by God and others as the Friend of God. Surely, none of us would turn our backs on the gracious privilege to be known as God’s Friend.

The point to this message is to call you to become a friend of God, and it doesn’t happen just because you were born into the human race, or even because you are here this morning, because believe me there are plenty of religious people who are not friends of God.

There are two things I believe we see in Abrahams life that must be present in our own lives as well if we are to be called a friend of God. We see thse same 2 things in Jesus’ teaching to His disciples through out His ministry so at the end, before his crucifixion, he would change their distinction and begin to call them friends of God.

First however, we must consider…

What does it mean to be a Friend of God

Adam walked with God in the garden, Enoch walked with God 300 years and God took him away, Noah was Gods friend, Moses, Elijah, David, Rehab. Jesus trained his disciples to be friends of God. Through the ages we have had godly men and women who were God’s friends. What does it mean to be a friend of God…

The divine friendship with God displays His pure love, since He has nothing to gain. God does not need friends like you and I need friends. We cannot lead a self-contained, solitary life; we are encouraged and refreshed by the companionship of a friend, we need the advise of a like-minded comrade.

Friendships are one of the sweet joys of life and to be a Friend of an all sufficient, powerful and loving God is an incomparable joy.

Can God have a friend? Can the deity of all creation be in such a relationship with as frail of a creature as us? Can the infinite and invisible Spirit become a friend of a finite physical human? What would it mean that the One who is complete in Himself – as Father, Son & Holy Spirit, seeks a friendship with His creation? It could only be the Lords idea to initiate such a relationship with His own creature and seek the love of a person, a man like Abraham. That the Creator of the heavens and earth should look to Ur of the Chaldees for a man and would separate him to Himself, and then tutor and train him till He made him His friend. This is an honor that not even the angles, the cherubim and seraphim have never experienced.

Psalms 8:4 “what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”

Friendship cannot be one sided. While we know that God was Abraham’s friend, Abraham was also God’s friend. Friendship is a two way street. God gave Abraham His heart and Abraham gave God his heart. They were knit together in love, the soul of Abraham was ‘bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord, his God. The Lord would speak to Abraham, as he also did with Moses

Ex 33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

Friendship with God is a real & perfect friendship that creates a level of equality within the relationship, not that absolute equality is necessary, for a great person can have a true friendship with a gardener – the one comes down gladly and the other rises up in sincerity. Friendship breeds fellowship and bridges over anything that divides and at the same time remembers each others place. There can never be the idea of equality with God as neither a condition nor illustration of friendship, but it is only when we see our true place as a servant that we can in actuality become a friend of God.

To be a friend of God is something to be admired, desired and pursued.

How was Abraham able to come about this friendship?

He was Chosen - God wanted to have a relationship with Abraham.

Nehemiah 9:7

"You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham.

We don’t know exactly all that God saw in Abram that would incline him to reach out to Abram, but at the least He saw a man who was in a position to move towards God. Terah, the father of Abram was moving his family from Ur to Canaan but settled in Haran

Genesis 12:1-3

12 The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

2 "I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you."

Abram was a man oriented towards God ;and God chose him. Abraham had a disposition that was favorable to God. God was not attempting to develop a friendship with someone who was running in a different direction but with a man who would look His way.

Many souls will be discouraged when they hear they can not become friends with God while they are intent upon running their life in their own way in a different direction than the way of God.

We look for friends who are going in the same direction we are.

The first of the two things present in Abrahams life that enabled him to be God’s friend..

Abraham demonstrated a Trusted obedience to God

Abraham trusted God and did what he said. This is the first thing that sets Abraham apart from many in the world Abraham was not worthy to be called the Friend of God in the sense of merit, he did not earn that place of relationship except by the grace of God that made him justified. He was justified by his faith that was demonstrated and proved by his actions. He trusted in the friendship with His God that fueled his obedience. When he was called upon to follow the directions from his divine spiritual friend he moved. When that same friend established a covenant that extended to his future generations, he looked for his heir and when called upon to sacrifice his son that would seem contradictory to God’s promise, Abraham trusted in His deliverance.

Trust is a tricky thing until it is complete. As long as there is the shred of doubt or a question allowed to linger the object of trust is divided. Distrust is the death of friendship. If the Lord brings a person close to Himself in friendly relations, it is necessary, at the very least that that person demonstrate his confidence in His divine friend. You cannot be his friend and challenge his commands or motives

When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his son, the promise of Gods covenant with Abraham, Abrahams response was to get up early the next morning. He didn’t argue with his friend, but he trusted his friend. He may not have understood how every thing was going to play itself out, but he trusted his friend to BE GOD.

Gal 3:6

"He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

Abraham Embraced God’s Righteousness

Abraham believed God to be good, always in all situations. He knew his divine Friend was righteous in all His ways.

When Abraham defeated a wicked king who was trying to take advantage of himself and others in the region…

When Abraham was given an opportunity by the king of Sodom to get rich, Abraham quickly responded that he was in a covenant friendship with God Most High whom he trusted. He was not going to take a shortcut to riches, nor was he going to give another person the opportunity to discredit God and His blessings upon Abrahams life. (Gen 14: 18-24)

What does it mean for us to be a friend of God?

As followers of Jesus, we have the incredible opportunity to become Friends of God. Jesus said…

John 15:14-15

Place our trust in God alone

Abraham was a perfect child towards God, and therefore, a complete man. Unless you are converted and become as little children, you shall in no way enter into friendship with God. God’s primary requirement to be His friends is they unquestioningly believe Him. God wants His friends to believe he is who He says he is and will do all he says he will do. So Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead and so he had nothing to fear in trusting God (Heb 11:19)

For us to be God’s friend we must be willing to trust Him. When He says to respond to Him in some way, we must do it. Not out of obligation or guilt but because I live openly before him, I want to be in a friendly relationship with him so I naturally do what he calls me to do. Perhaps that is to speak to the person on the other side of the room or call this person or take a meal to someone one. Perhaps it is to get up early and give up sleep so I can be with him or meet someone else. What ever He tells me to do – the answer is YES.

What if I got it wrong, what if I didn’t hear him – loving others , serving someone, living openly, giving freely is never out of vogue. We must always leave the outcomes to him. If someone doesn’t respond the way we think they should, we must remember, they don’t owe me a thing. I was doing what I believed the Lord wanted me to do, and I never fail at expressing love. We must trust him comepletely, not ourselves, someone else or the outcomes, those are in His hands.

The Second thing we must have present in our lives is…

We must Pursue His Righteousness

To be god’s friend we must be fully reconciled to Him. Of course you can not remain his enemy and be his friend. If you have received His forgivness, been brought into His family, if you are justified by His righteousness, if you are regenerated by His Spirit, then you are no longer His enemy, but that may not be called his friend. It will entitle you to call God your friend and your helper, but you must go further than that if you are to be called His friend, a Friend of God.

Jesus came preaching a gospel of righteousness and we are to be about right living, godly living, at all times and in all ways. – Not everyone will do this and it precludes them from being God’s friends.

To be a friend, you must value the same things in life. have you noticed how drinkers, gamblers and crousers seem to attract like people. Birds of a feather flock together. God values Righteousness, and so must we if we are to be his friend.

We cannot do it completely, our sin nature has had its effects on us and so God steps in and overcomes our weaknesses. Jesus came to die on a cross because we cannot attain the level of righteousness God requires to be in a close friendship with him. By trusting in Jesus alone he provides us our salvation, which is His Righteousness, He applies His righteousness to us, God credits us with Christ’s righteousness,

"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend

Love must be created in your heart,

Gratitude must open your hands to release the jewels of this world

You must rejoice in the Lord, when your heart springs into His and long for every moment of communion with Him.

To be frank – you must exercise a MUTUAL CHOICE - the God who has chosen you must be chosen by you. Deliberately, heartily, resolutely, undividedly – You must choose God to be your God and your Friend,

As David said…

Ps 86:11-13

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify your name forever.

13 For great is your love toward me;

you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.

There cannot be a friendship with God without your full consent and cooperation and desire.

Have you been a friend of someone who is not your friend – you drop everything to be with them but they do not show the same level of commitment to the relationship - you are committed, they are casual.

God is committed to you, he has dropped everything to be your friend, but we can treat him so casually.

Would God say you are His friend – would he not be ashamed to call you a friend?

What do you think it would mean if you were not His friend?

Being a Good Neighbour

The Bridge Church — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 14:25:00 -0800

A recent survey conducted by the Vancouver Foundation discovered that neighbourhood relationships in metro Vancouver while cordial, are not deep. People will generally say “Hello” and may know one another’s first names but it doesn’t go much further than that.

Across the board, most neighbours don’t talk to one another. 30% say they talk to their neighbor rarely, if at all.

Among renters, 39% do not know the first names of at least 2 of their neighbours, compared to 18% of homeowners. But it worse among people in highrises: 43% do not know at least 2 of their neighbours names.

It is one thing to smile and wave at a neighbor, but it is another to visit in each others homes. Most people do not get together with their neighbours. When asked “In the past 12 months, have any of your neighbours had you over for dinner, a barbecue or some other kind of get-together?” 72% NO; there is no real difference between length of time in the neighbourhood.

When it comes to doing favors for your neighbours like picking up mail or newspapers when they are out of town – 57% say it never happens, and it jumps to 77% among those living in highrises.

And when asked “Have any of your neighbours left you with a spare key to their home or told you where they keep a spare key in case of emergency?” 70% NO

The two major obsitcles to knowing people on your street or floor – the biggest reason is we seldom see our neighbor – 46% and the second biggest at 32% is indifference, a wish to keep to ourselves, there is little or nothing in common with the person next door so ‘why bother’.

Neighboring relationships really do matter. The solutions to the problems in our neighbourhoods aren’t ultimately found in the government, police, or schools or even in getting more people to attend church. The solution lies with us. God intends for us to live caring about others, we are to “Love our neighbor as ourselves”. It is within our power to become good neighbours, to care for the people around us and to be cared for by the people around us. There really is a different way to live, and we are finding that it is actually the best way to live.

You’ve heard the story of the good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37). One day an expert in the law decided he wanted to test Jesus, so the man asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Now, imagine this law expert was a guy just like most people we know: he preferred to hang out eith people like himself. Undoubtably, he crammed his day full of activities and didn’t want to be bothered by unexpected surprises. And this man asks, what do I have to do to gain eternal life – what do I have to do to be good with God?

Jesus turns the question back on the lawyer, making the lawyer answer his own question… “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”

The expert replied, in his best expert voice he could muster… “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘love your neighbor as yourself” He knew his Bible well, but what he proved he was not such a great expert on was the heart of God.

Who is my neighbor… wanting to justify himself so he asked Jesus to define this word neighbor in such a way that he would not be blameworthy. looking for an excuse to treat people however he determined best, probably hoping ot be able to prove that not all people (esp the kind that he doesn’t like) are his neighbours.

If his neighbor was someone he could choose, then he would be okay, the man was looking for a loophole.

There are people around us all the time, they are different than you are, maybe by nationality, or by education level. Maybe they have different family backgrounds or values systems. Maybe they are homeless, or disabled, maybe they are an AIDs patient or a refugee. Maybe they live next door to you or in the lane behind you. Maybe you see them – Maybe you don’t.

Think about it, are we also trying to find a loophole in what Jesus said is the most important thing for us to live out – loving God and others. Our first instinct is to make excuses, point out inconsistencies and rationalize away the clear teaching of Jesus. We can all do this and ask – “who is my neighbor” and it is in answering this question that Jesus teaches his listeners then and us today with a story.

A man was headed to Jericho from Jerusalem when he fell into the hands of robbers. They beat him badly, robbed him and left him for dead. Though two religious leaders passed him by on the road, they did not help the man. They were both people who prided themselves on doing the right thing, good spiritual people. But these people had other things to do, schedules to keep, agendas that couldn’t flex, and so they kept going. In Jesus’ story the obvious point is that they failed the test.

Finally a Samaritan man stopped and helped the injured man. This was the mans sworn cultural enemy, and both men knew that they were supposed to not only avoid one another, but they were supposed to hate one another, even though they didn’t personally know each other. But this Samaritan man bandaged the man’s wounds, loaded him on his donkey and took him to an inn. The Samaritan even paid the mans medical bills.

Now it wasn’t like the Samaritan man was on the road for the sights, he was going someplace, he had plans, he had places to go and people to see just like everyone else.

Neighbouring starts in our hearts – we develop flexibility and compassion for others if we are going to be a good neighbor. But unfortunately, we are often moving too fast to notice those who are right around us and need a good neighbor.

God knows that we most look like Him when we love our neighbours. What can we learn from the Samaritan man that will help us be godly neighbours?

The Samaritan man had a completely different perspective:

Luke 10:33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

1. Godly neighbours SEE the world differently…

He SAW the man - He didn’t look the other way like the other travlers did on the road, instead he looked at him. The number one reason people gave for not knowing their neighbours is they never see them. That begs the question, are we looking? We can get so caught up in our own lives – our own issues, concerns, calendars that we just don’t see anyone else and their lives.

Some see how the world impacts them and what they can get out of it. Godly neighbours see the world as an opportunity to bless and love.

This last week I was at the grocery getting some lunch, there was a young woman at the till in front of me counting her change to buy her lunch. The man running the till told her how much she owed and she was short about 2-3 dollars. She was trying to decide what to put back and I gave the man at the till $3. The young girl was embarrassed and grateful, the man was trying to make some silly comment about Karma, I said ‘it’s no Karma, as a follower of Jesus, I live to be a blessing to others. “Yea, that too” the man said. I had been looking for an opportunity to connect Christ into my day.

The next thing we learn from this Samaritan man about being a good neighbor…

2. Godly neighbours CARE about others

The man saw someone hurt and “took pity on him” v33 “he had compassion” (NAS) his heart was moved the word actually means he was moved in the inward parts. He felt compassion. It shook him. Where others would be calloused, he cared. This person mattered to him.

Isn’t that just like God – who sees Ex 3:7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

Over and over God shows that he cares, Jesus demonstrated compassion many times,

A godly neighbor notices others and cares about people. This last Thursday morning Diana & I were getting ready to leave and our doorbell rang. It was our neighbor, He was all excited. “Your car, the door is open…” I looked out and someone had broken into our car during the night. It had been raining and the seat and floor were all wet, the door had been open for sometime, many people had walked by our house no doubt, but our neighbor noticed and cared and came to tell me about the situation.

The third thing we can learn from the Samaritan man is:

3. Godly neighbours take action He was Moved into Action – “he went to him”

There are those who see something, and care in the moment, but do not do anything.

The Samaritan was not like that, he saw, was moved inside and then moved outwardly. This is what separates the well intentioned from those who get things done. This Samaritan man made time for this man. Godly neighbours are willing to be inconvenienced.

The Samaritan took action and was:

1. Willing to get dirty – he “bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.”

If this man was hurt as bad has it appears, he was unconscious, bloody, dirty. He was going to get another mans blood on him, maybe all over him. The Priest and Levite would have become ‘ceremonially unclean’ meaning they would not have been able to handle holy things for a period of time, the Samaritan was about to get completely unclean, you don’t want him to touch anything until he was cleaned up. But that was not the Samaritans concern, he knew he would be made clean again.

Jesus came to get dirty:

Mark 1:40-41 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”

The Samaritan was:

Willing to be inconvenienced - “34 Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day…”

The Samaritan man made himself available – he was in control of his own schedule, and he cleared his schedule for a man he did not know, who needed help. There was something more valuable to him than his time. And at that moment it was that man.

He put the injured man on his donkey – that meant he walked.

He took him to an inn and nursed the man, I believe if he had been close enough he would have probably taken him to his home and nursed him. He needed to get the man off the road and someplace safe. The man was beat up badly, just cleaning him up, and sending him on his way was not going to do it, so he spent the night with him.

He was busy –he had a schedule to keep – he left the next day, the man was not well enough to travel, but stable, he did all he could – He had brought healing to this man and now he went on to what he was doing.

The Samaritan was willing to be inconvenienced to bring healing, help, hope to someone who need that.

Another thing we learn from this story about being a Godly neighbor…

The Samaritan took action and was:

4. Godly neighbours are willing to give and be generous –

Luke 10:35 he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

He picked up the tab, he paid the bills, He paid to minister to someone else.

If it costs more – I will take care of it – he lived generously. He didn’t do the minimum required but ALL that he could.

His concern was not only for the injured man but that the innkeeper was not injured by the deal as well.

Sometimes it is the ancillary people who pay the price, pick up the loose ends. The Samaritan saw the care of the man all the way through – that is maturity, character, and integrity. He didn’t leave a mess for someone else to clean up.

That is what God did for us:

Rom 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Jesus came to give his life so that we might give and be generous with our lives.

To love God – and to love others - to be a good neighbor means we must be willing to see people and care about them. Being a good neighbor is a call to action and we get dirty and may be inconvenienced. And a good neighbor is willing to be generous to others around them.

Caring for our neighbours is central to living a life that honors God.

Jesus turns the question of the lawyer around – he asked “who is my neighbour" Jesus responds with “Whose neighbor am I” “do I respond as a neighbour to those who have need of my love & help”

Do I care and am moved to action, am I willing to get dirty and be inconvenienced? Am I willing to give and be generous with those God puts in front of my path?

The Art of Building a Marriage that Lasts

The Bridge Church — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 12:07:00 -0800

God has a great deal in store for us in the context of a marriage relationship.

“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord. Proverbs 18:22

There are no perfect marriages, only those in the process of being perfected. Marriage is not a science, you can not turn it into an equation, nor can any marriage be replicated any more than any day of your life can be re-lived, every marriage is unique and every day is a new adventure in this thing called marriage.

As a culture, we are trying to figure out what a marriage is – and for the most part we are struggling. God established and ordained marriage and if we follow His ideas of what a marriage is we will find the blessing of a lasting marriage.

What is a “Christian Marriage”?

Two Christians being married doesn’t make a Christian marriage

Some may say that a marriage is made in heaven, but so is thunder and lightening.

According to Stats Canada, in 2012 there were 71,000 divorces in Canada last year and 43% of all marriages won’t reach their 50^th wedding anniversary.

Focus on the Family conducted a survey and found that 79% of husbands and wives held “maintaining a good, stable marriage” as one of their top two priorities, while 83% said they wanted their elected leaders to make “encouraging strong families” their own primary concern.

This weekend we are celebrating the first “Family holiday” in our province – I think that is a great thing.

Why? Because 78% believed that “the importance of family life is undervalued in Canadian society today.” Further, 73% “strongly” rejected the suggestion that marriage is an outdated institution.

Study after study shows that cohabitation is in fact a far less stable relationship than marriage. To cite just one recent example, University of Montreal researchers found that children born to a common-law couple in Quebec were four times more likely to see their parents separate by their sixth birthday than those born to married parents.

A major study by the Barna Research Group found that professing Christians have slightly higher divorce rates than the general population, including atheists and agnostics. Twenty-seven percent of those describing themselves as "born-again Christians" are currently or have previously been divorced compared to 24% of the general population.

Christian marriages are just as likely to split up as non-Christian marriages.

What is this thing called marriage? What is the purpose of a Christian Marriage and how do we build it to last through the storms of life?

Is it simply two people who enjoy being together, have fun together, and so they want to be together for the rest of their lives?

Perhaps they “like” each other and want to help the other enjoy life. They “LOVE” each other - a big word that may mean who knows what.

Jesus said of marriage when asked if it was okay for people to divorce…

Matthew 19:4-9

4 "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' 5 and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? 6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

7 "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"

8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Two people are to become one – a great mystery for sure, and most couple spend their entire life discovering what that means and how it works itself out in their lives

Eccl 4:12

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

God intends to be an integral part of the relationship and this oneness comes about by the man and woman changing to become more like God himself. He is the one that brings strength into a person’s life and into the relationship that will help it stand the test of time.

There are a number of things we can learn from the story of Ruth and Boaz about how these marriages come to be. One of the first things we discover in the story of Ruth & Boaz is that a godly marriage is built on the foundation of who God has made you to be, what you bring to the marriage.

Marriage is built on the foundation of your character.

Ruth 1:16-17

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."

Ruth demonstrates the character qualities of Faithfulness and Commitment

When Ruth’s sister-in-law, Orpah kissed Naomi good-by, Ruth ‘clung’ to her (14). Orpah & Ruth were in a bad situation, and Orpah was going to do what seemed best for her – she was going back to the family, the people, culture, religion she knew and relied on to help her make it through, she was going to do what was best for her.

Ruth took a very different approach – Ruth was committed to Naomi and helping her. “where you go I will go” Naomi was going to set the direction and destination, “where you stay I will stay” - there was a commitment to share her home and her circumstances, however hard that might be. Ruth knew the likelihood of a nice comfortable life was not on the horizon, but for the sake of Naomi she was going to love her & help her. She was going to take on the challenge of adapting and adopting a new family, people and faith, a complete renunciation of her former way of life.

Naomi’s character and way of life during their years in Moab must have been so impressive to Ruth that it would cause Ruth to abandon her homeland and gods. Ruth was embracing Yahweh- the God of the Bible - wholeheartedly and she was making a sacred vow to love and live with Naomi.

This tells us something about Ruth’s character that prepared her for a beautiful marriage, she was going to be faithful in every area of her life. You cannot be faithful to your career and become lazy in other areas of life – That is what makes faithfulness a character quality – it is consistent in all areas of life.

We learn more about Ruth in the second chapter – Ruth embodied Humility and willingness to work

Ruth 2:2-3

And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor."

Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter." 3 So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

Life & marriage require work and her work ethic translated across all areas of her life. We are called to work physically, emotionally, relationally & spiritually, there is no room for laziness – only rest – and then together.

Boaz was also a man of character… He had a genuine concern for other people.

The character quality of Charity – the genuinely cared for the welfare of others

Ruth 2:4-9

4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The Lord be with you!" "The Lord bless you!" they called back.

Boaz noticed and cared for the people who worked for him

5 Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, "Whose young woman is that?"

6 The foreman replied, "She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter."

8 So Boaz said to Ruth, "My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled."

He didn’t know Ruth, but he kind to her and was going to help provide for her, look out for her and keep her safe.

Boaz was a man who trusted God to be good

Boaz looked to God and pointed his relationships to rely on God

Ruth 2:12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."

Boaz also began to protect and provide for Ruth.

Ruth 2:14-16

At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar."

When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, "Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don't embarrass her. 16 Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her."

Men – your wives should be flourishing under your care and love; they should flourish emotionally, physically, spiritually; do they feel like they are flourishing. They have been placed by God under your care and you will have to give yourself to them.

You cannot provide all that they will need for them to flourish, but what you lack God will bring to the relationship as you look to him and ask him to provide for your wives.

Both Ruth & Boaz proved to be people of good character and there was integrity in their lives. What they said and what they did were congruent – there was faithfulness in their lives, there was humility and respect for hard work, they cared about and for other people. There was a track record of character in their lives that was proven by their reputation with others and they were trusting God for their lives. This sets a great foundation for a healthy marriage that is to come.

A Christian Marriage is built on the foundation of the Personal Character. God desires us to look more and more like Him and live that out – especially in our marriages

Romans 12:2

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Many conflicts in marriage will be resolved if we would implement this principle, but too often we are ‘me’ centered and just want things to work out ‘my way’, but Jesus taught the opposite approach, to look more like Him and prefer others and to put the interests and needs of others above ourselves. Especially our spouses.

A Christian marriage is a new way of serving.

Our marriages would be revolutionized if we approached marriages as servants and not recipients. Ruth was a servant to Naomi and Boaz could see her character.

Ruth 3:9 "Who are you?" he asked."I am your servant Ruth,"

It is not so hard for us to understand the ‘oneness’ of our relationship when we have a need, that is how we end up taking each other for granted, expecting the other to understand our feelings, intuitively if possible and either meet them or give us room to meet them ourselves. We easily get caught up in our own life miseries and completely loose sight of our first role in the relationship as a servant.

When we serve the other – we look for ways to ease their load. I clean the kitchen for Diana when she is tired and I can ease the load she may feel. That means I am aware of what she is going through.

A Christian marriage is a new way of loving

Love is more than a romantic tingly feeling. Tingles will come and go, but real love must go on every day in the trenches of real life. Love is love when it is lived out more than felt. An interesting thing about the story of Ruth and Boaz as they enter into a marriage that demonstrates genuine love for the other – the word ‘love’ doesn’t show up in the entire book, but it is evident in nearly every paragraph.

A Christian marriage is a deeper level of acceptance.

Ruth 3:10

"The Lord bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.

Because we live in real life it is easy to let the circumstances of life and our own twisted ness influence how we accept one another. Our culture places a great amount of value on appearance and image. We look to the surface because that is the easiest place our hearts get captivated.

At 5:54 P.M., Lieutenant John Blandford stood in Grand Central Station with his heart racing. In just six brief minutes he would meet the woman who had captured his heart. He had never seen her with his eyes, but his heart knew her through the words she had written. It all started when he picked up a book in the Army library. Of Human Bondage was littered with personal notes in the margins. He had always hated the practice of writing in books, but these remarks seemed to seize his heart. He found the name of Hollis Meynell on the bookplate and began his search for the woman to whom he was so attracted. When he secured her address, he wrote her and she responded. For the next thirteen months they corresponded, but she refused his every request to send a photograph. She explained, “If your feeling for me has any reality, any honest basis, what I look like won’t matter. When you come to New York, you shall see me and make your decision. Remember, both of us are free to stop or to go after that—whichever we choose.” They had agreed she would wear a red rose on her lapel to identify her among the sea of travelers. At one minute to six, he spotted a beautiful woman moving toward him. His heart leaped. She was young, slender, and blond. He started moving toward her without noticing she was not wearing a red rose. She gave him a provocative smile and asked, “Going my way, soldier?” He took one step closer then noticed Hollis Meynell. She was just a few feet behind the beautiful young lady. A red rose was on the lapel of a woman clearly past her forties, with graying hair tucked under a worn hat, and thick ankles thrust into low-heeled shoes. As the attractive young lady strolled away, Blandford felt as though he were being torn in two. He wanted to follow the beauty he had seen, yet it was the words of this unattractive woman that had so completely captured his heart. He responded as he felt he should and gripped the worn, blue copy of the book Of Human Bondage that would identify him to her. He realized what he would share with this woman would not be love, but it would be something special. They had established a friendship for which he was most grateful. With a twinge of disappointment, he squared his shoulders, saluted, held out the book and said, “I’m Lieutenant John Blandford, and you are Miss Meynell. I’m so glad to meet you. May I take you to dinner?” The woman extended a tolerant smile and remarked, “I don’t know what this is all about, son. The young lady, who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. She said that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you that she’s waiting for you in that big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test.”

1 Sam 16:7 Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Being a Christian does not give you instant marital success. It just is as hard for a Christian couple to be married as a non-Christian couple. All deal with the same struggles, fears, expectations and unfulfilled expectations. However when we pursue building the character of Christ into our lives, like qualities of faithfulness, commitment, humility, service, work & charity; looking to God to be good and providing for the needs of our spouse so they flourish in our marriages, we will find healthy marriages growing and going the distance and our hearts will be satisfied.

Making Friends That Last

The Bridge Church — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 11:49:17 -0800

Vancouver is a beautiful city, no one disagrees with that. Another thing I have found no one disagrees with is that it can be hard to make friends in Vancouver. Friendships are such an important part of our life. We are made for relationships – God made us that way – to have some great friendships in your life is a gift from God, but they don’t happen by accident.

Many of us might say we have lots of friends but let me ask you, if you were to find out you were losing your job or a significant health issue with you or someone close to you, or you just had a lot of expenses and you were struggling financially – who would you talk to? A friend of mine had another friend commit suicide this last week – it was a complete shock, he was 37 where were his friends? He was popular, but something was really wrong in his life, who knew, who would know if it were you?

There was a study completed and published last June by the Vancouver Foundation. Their survey on Connections and Engagement showed consistently that those in the 25 to 34-year-old age group feel more isolated and alone in the community.

They found that many in Vancouver are Isolated and alone

One of the surprises of this study was that people in the 25 to 34 yr old group were often the most affected. It might seem that 25 to 34-year-olds would make friends easier than people in other age groups but 41 per cent of the age group says that making new friends is difficult, compared to 24 per cent of people 65 and older. This is important because the quality of our friendships is a significant factor in the quality of our lives. We need significant connections with other people and 42% of Vancouverites report having three or fewer friends in their lives.

California Department of Health Mental Study discovered that if you’re disconnected to other people, there’s no one in your life that you really feel understands you, you are two to three times more likely to die an early death, you are four times more likely to suffer from emotional burnout, you are five times more likely to suffer clinical depression and you are ten times more likely to be hospitalized for an emotional or mental disorder. Human connections are good medicine. They’re not just something that are nice to have in your life. You need them – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You need people who understand you, who relate to you and who can connect to you. Learning how to really connect with people on a heart to heart, soul to soul, friendship level is important for you.

Everyone assumes we know how to make friends, but that doesn’t make it real. Most people have a lot more Facebook friends but they are still lonely at home. You may be brilliant in some subject but if you don’t know how to connect with people, you’re just not going to go very far in life. It is the most basic skill you need, how to BUILD REAL FRIENDSHIPS THAT LAST.

The Bible has a lot to say about how to build healthy friendships and we are going to look at a story this morning from the life of David and his good friend Jonathan. Our focus is going to be on Jonathan and I want to encourage you to become more like Jonathan in your friendships.

1 Sam 18: 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

The first step I building a healthy friendship is…BE COURAGEOUS AND TAKE THE INITIATIVE.

Jonathan took the initiative with David to become his friend. Jonathan was the king’s son, David was a no body from nowhere important. Jonathan saw someone who was the type of person he wanted in his life and it moved his heart so he took the initiative to reach out to David to become friends.

You do not have to be like someone to become their friend. Sometimes we don’t have friends because we look for the wrong people – people like me. It takes courage to reach beyond my picture of the group of friends I want to be part of and become friends with someone else.

The world tends to wait for the other person to take the initiative and no one does. In the Vancouver Foundation survey, it found that in the 25-34 yr age group 76% report being alone more than they would like to be and 97% of that group also said that ‘People who live here and do not speak English simply do not try hard enough to be part of the community.’ – We want the other person to be like us and to make the effort.

Friendships require initiative - You’ve got to be willing to take the first step. You don’t wait on somebody else to connect with you. You must take the initiative to connect with them.

Here is a current day story of a man who took the initiative and reached out to someone – even his enemy to become his friend.

Dan Cathy is a devout Christian business man who started and owns a successful business called ‘Chick-fil-A. in recent months Chick-fil-A has been targeted in the gay & lesbian community for their stance and charitable giving practices.

Where do you get the confidence, the courage, of taking the first step in connecting with someone, to build a healthy friendship? Where do you get that kind of courage?

You get it from God’s Spirit in your life. 2 Timothy 1:7 “For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, does not want you to be afraid of people but to be wise and strong [courageous] and to love them and enjoy being with them.” (TLB) How do you know when you’re filled with God’s Spirit? You’re more courageous in your relationships. You love people. You enjoy being with them.

So the starting point in connecting with anybody is to pause and pray and say, “God, give me the courage to take the first step.” Some of you need to do that this week with a person you need to connect to. “Give me the courage to take the first step.”

The second step to building healthy friendships is to MAKE THE SPACE.

Friendships take time and time is a precious commodity in our world. Our lives are full, with jobs, marriages, kids, school, family obligations, second jobs, household stuff, we are full of things that demand our time and attention.

To have friendships means we have to have space in our lives for other people and often, from what I can see, this is one significant reason many people don’t have friends today, they have no space. When your friend calls and needs you to pick them up across town because their car is in the shop, and they hear this wave of stress roll across your voice, they will end up just taking a cab.

To build friendships means you have to create margin in your life for people.

Friendships take time, and emotional space, when our lives are packed full of stuff we have little time for friends. When was the last time you had someone over to your home for dinner or a game or an evening?

Jonathan created space in his life for his relationship with David. When Jonathan gave David his robe, tunic, sword, bow & belt, He was showing David he would have a significant place in his life. David had access to Jonathans authority as the kings son, his protection, his provisions and his strength. He gave David access to his life. David began to eat at the kings table with Jonathan.

Who has access to your life, if they were to call you would respond quickly. Who do you have in your life that you know without a doubt that if you called them they would be there to help you move or meet a need in your life. Have you noticed how friends get sick at inconvenient times in your life, they move when you had other things planned that you need to do, they have things come up and need you to help.

To Help us make some space and have a great time, Games night Sat Feb 9 at The Suite

To build healthy friendships we must be willing to PAY THE PRICE

This is where we seek to put the needs and interests of others ahead of ourselves -

The Bible says in Philippians 2:4 “Look out for one another’s interests not just your own.” That is such a counter-culture verse. Everything in our culture from the moment you are born, you’re conditioned to think first of yourself. You don’t think about other people naturally. That’s something you have to learn to do. You naturally think about your needs, your desires, your goals, your ambitions, what you want in life. I’ve got to do what’s best for me. I’ve got to think of me first. As a result we have many, many millions of people disconnected because everybody’s thinking of themselves and not being considerate of each other’s needs.

Jonathan did not hesitate to put David’s needs ahead of himself, when he needed a friend – He was there.

1 Sam 20: 3 But David took an oath and said, "Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, 'Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.' Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death."

4 Jonathan said to David, "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do for you."

To be a good friend will require us to ‘go out of our way’, to change our schedules – to care more about my friend than what’s going on in my life. Most people enter into relationships for what they get out of it and those friendships never become lasting or healthy friendships.

Albert Einstein said: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile”

The Fourth step in building healthy friendships is to STAND THE TESTS

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out”

Friends stand up for their friends. They have their back, think the best of them – they speak up for them, publically and privately. Jonathan stood up for David when no one else would.

1 Sam 19:1-7

19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David 2 and warned him, "My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I'll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out."

4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, "Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly

Genuine friends take sides. If you ever get in an argument with somebody and you’ve got a friend who says, “I'm going to stay neutral in this. I'm not going to take sides.” They’re no friend. Friends take sides. Friends are in your corner when you’re cornered. They don’t say, “I'm just going to stay neutral in this.” That’s not much of a friend.

True friendship is not about being there when it is convenient; it is about being there when it is not. You find out who your true friends are when the popular people are against you, who would come to your side when others would leave, whose side would you run to – even if you didn’t agree with them, but because you loved them.

Real friendships are committed for the Long Haul – they GO THE DISTANCE

Good friendships take time. They don’t happen by accident. They take cultivation, work, a lot of time to build a deep connection with somebody. That requires commitment.

Everyone is going to go through good and bad times in life and a friend sticks with you

Memory Verse: Prov 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

You may have hundreds of Facebook friends, but who is going to be there when you need a friend to walk through life with you? Jonathan stuck by David and David stuck by Jonathan

Jonathan was later killed in battle along with his father Saul, and David grieved deeply but sometime after David became king over all the land

2 Sam 9:6-7

When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.

David said, "Mephibosheth!"

"Your servant," he replied.

7 "Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table."

The Bible says this in Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times.” Circle “all”. That means even when it’s inconvenient, when you don’t feel like it, even when they don’t deserve it, even at personal cost. That’s what real friendship is all about. When you’re blowing it and you’re making a mistake, friends are in your corner when you’re cornered. And they see you through when everybody else thinks you’re through. They walk in when everybody else walks out. They are there with you even when you don’t deserve it.

Here’s the bottom line:

We need friends in our lives, real friends and to build these kinds of relationships will mean you will need to be courageous and TAKE THE INITIATIVE. We have to be willing to MAKE THE SPACE in our lives for people and be willing to PAY THE PRICE because friendships will be demanding of us at times. When the challenges of the relationships come, and they will, we must be willing to STAND THE TESTS and be committed to GO THE DISTANCE.

I think we can all agree that to have these kinds of friendships are a huge blessing in our lives, but building these kinds of relationships is a tall order and the only answer is LOVE and it is the only the kind of Love that only Jesus brings into our lives…

Jonathan was able to be a real friend to David because he loved David, as himself

1 Sam 18:1 “Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.” The spirit of God and His love was flowing between these two men

Jesus said we would have the ability to love others because of our relationship with Him and His love for us.

John 15:12-13 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

Jesus showed us what it was to love and be a friend, that our lives are worth giving to others, to be a friend. I can assure you that if you begin living this kind of life you will find others coming along and being your friend.

If you are a Christian, I encourage you to be a friend to someone new. Ask God who he would want you to reach out to in love and the strength that Jesus provides. Let God use you to change someones life.

Probably the best known Christian psychologist in America, Larry Crabb, wrote in his book Connecting, which I highly recommend, “When two people really connect something is poured out of one and into the other that has the power to heal the soul of its deepest wounds and restores it to health. The one who receives experiences the joy of being healed. And the one who gives knows even greater joy of being used to heal. Something good is in the heart of each of God’s children that is far more powerful than everything bad in the world. It’s there waiting to be released and work its magic. But you have to be connected.”

If you have not yet experienced the kind of love that Jesus offers, I urge you to reach out and find he is a friend and savior that your heart and soul longs for and find him bring other friendships into your life that will make you a very rich person.

This morning as we have our prayer ministry time, If you would like to have someone pray with you or if you would just like to use this bench to pray before the cross, Maybe you would want to pray that God would bring someone into your life that would change your life and someone elses.

Lets pray

Important Words from the Chairman of the Elders

The Bridge Church — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:39:32 -0800

You have, in your packet, a copy of the revisions that we are proposing for this meeting. This revision presents a restoration of Jerry's salary to 2012 levels.

We’ve decided to make this revision because of feedback we received at December’s AGM. While many of us were marginally 'ok' with the budget, none of us were overjoyed to see Jerry voluntarily cut his salary because he felt this was the only option in order that we might balance the books.

After the last AGM, the directors realized we are at a crossroad. We need sustained growth in order to see further growth. But we also cannot grow effectively if we are constantly distracted by cash flow problems. We cannot battle cash flow problems unless either people give more or we have more people or both. Yet at the same time, a budget in a ministry organization - in a church - cannot simply be one that cowers in defeat. We must continually strive and plan for what God has called us to do. At the core of the financial issues that we are facing is an issue of the heart - a matter of trust and journey of faith - one that I believe God has tasked us all to move through this next year. When we look at money and budgets in a church, we must always look at it through the lens of what God has called us to do and the lens of the faith He has given us. We must trust that He will provide what He has called us to do.

During this month’s leadership meeting, I wrote our leaders imploring them to lead us well. We need leaders that are willing to put their trust in a God that provides. We need leaders that are going to help all of us grow in that trust so that our faith might be stretched. We need leaders that are going to have the guts to push us in the right direction this next year so that by this time next year, we won’t be debating things like how much we should try to cut off Jerry’s salary, or what type of paper might trim the budget, but instead we might be debating how much more we want to allocate toward missions, or youth, or helping those in our community.

And our leaders have agreed to do that. We must all together - deepen our faith, we must all encourage one another to trust in God’s provision more and we must all corporately realize His faithfulness -- both financially and spiritually.

I believe He wants to mature us, and I believe that He will bring us the people and the financial resources necessary to sustain us long term. He has done so in the past, and I believe He wants to change us and show Himself faithful again. Six or seven years ago, the Conners prayed that God would bring along new families to the Bridge - my family is one of those that God brought along to help the Bridge grow. In fact, all of you are in some form or another are a direct answer to prayer as we have journeyed through this planting process. He has answered us in the past, and I know He will answer again.

So in light of all this, the directors have crafted three separate "budget" revisions. Today we will be voting on the first of these revisions. This revision presents a restoration of Jerry’s salary to 2012 levels. In reality, this is the status quo budget - because it is nearly identical to last year EXCEPT that we have less income. This will be the first step of faith. Members - if you accept these revisions, will you also commit to prayerfully ask that God provide for the shortfall knowing this is what He has called us to do?

I believe that if we prayerfully ask for it - both personally and corporately - and if we encourage others to do the same, that He will show Himself to be faithful. He will provide the resources necessary so that we might maintain what we have been doing last year -- without deficit.

But I believe that He will do more. It is our prayer that in 4-6 months, we might be able to ask for another revision - confidently in faith. This revision would give Jerry a modest but long postponed cost of living increase of about 3.25%. It would also begin the process of building up a cash reserve so that when we become independent later this year, we will have some buffer room for months where we might fall short.

And finally, our hope is that by the AGM next year (that’s December 2013), we will be able to present a budget that represents REAL growth - one where we can start to fill out some of the zeroes that you see in the current budget with actual numbers. A very good point was brought up last meeting by a member who wondered what would happen if say for a youth event they wanted to spend some money on resources. Is there budget for that? This is a really good example. Youth is one area we've identified as a REAL growth need in our church. Yet, there is no room in our current budget to place expenditure there because we, as a church, are not yet in a position ready for growth. But we need to get there - and I hope these series of revisions to the budget over this next fiscal year will help us accomplish that vision.

These areas are all areas where this church has the potential to grow. Are you frustrated with how we lack in some of these areas? Me too. But let’s not just stay frustrated. Let us set our eyes in faith, and our feet in action so that we might see these areas grow over the next year - and that begins in our hearts, in prayer. Will you commit to asking the Lord to grow specific areas in our ministry?

These are great challenges, but no challenge is too great for God. Let us all commit this to prayer, that God would provide us clarity as we move on to vote, and as we discern where He wants to lead us this next year.

We Belong to Jesus

The Bridge Church — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:37:11 -0800

John 15:18-16:4a

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

²⁶“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. ²They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. ³They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them.

Introduction:

I will plainly confess to you today that I do not want to preach the message of this passage to you today. This is not a pleasant message of the Gospel. It is a true message but it is not a pleasant message. It is a hard message. For everyone of us there will be a tendency to soften the blow of this message. We will rationalize and find ways to say, "Oh, but Jesus did not mean for that to come out the way it sounds."

I seriously considered ways in which I could emphasize portions of this passage that are not so hard to hear. Those of us who preach know that for us to preach a passage of scripture we must allow that passage to get hold of us before we can ask others to take hold of the passage. I had to work long and hard to allow this passage to take hold of me in an appropriate manner. It has grabbed me. It has pierced me. It has made me question how I live my life. It has made me tremble.

I. The Vine and the Branches:

As we read this, we must remember that this passage comes after the section on the vine and the branches. Milne says,

The vine is an essentially utilitarian plant; it exists to bear fruit. . . . 'The vine lives to give its life-blood. Its flower is small, its fruit abundant, and when that fruit is mature and the vine has become, for a moment, glorious, the treasure of the grapes is torn down and the vine is cut back to the stem.' . . . the primary focus remains bracingly objective and missionary. Jesus by his exaltation in death and resurrection will be removed tangibly from the world. The disciples are sent into the world, as was Jesus, to carry on the task in his 'absence'. That is the principle implication of Jesus' saying, I am the vine; you are the branches.^{^[1]}

Thus, the vine does not exist to make a wonderful life for the branches. The vine gives itself for the production of fruit. Jesus did not come into the world as the vine to make a wonderful life for we who are the branches. He came to live as the vine and then allowed the vine to be destroyed after it had produced fruit.

The fruit that the vine produces is more than just one thing. We can see at least three types of fruit: winning the lost, justice, and the nine fruits of the Spirit.

Milne further says,

'Fruit-bearing' is primarily here the winning of the lost, but it is not exclusively so. In Isaiah chapter 5 the same imagery is applied to social justice (Is. 5:7). Nor can we forget Paul's employment of it in Galatians 5:22: 'the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control'.^{^[2]} Fruit-bearing is all of this.

So, as we read this passage and apply it in our lives let us continue to remember the thing for which Jesus is looking. He is looking for fruit!

Let us also remember that, just as Pastor Jerry reminded us last week, this fruit will come as God's people pray. Milne again,

Prayer is essential to the effective mission of the people of God. Sadly, the truth of many churches is expressed in a penetrating sentence in James 4:2, 'You do not have, because you do not ask God.' . . . but where hearts are set to conform to his will, and open to share his yearning for the world, prayer's potential is limitless. In the work of mission, the church advances on its knees.^{^[3]}

James 4:2b, 3 says, "You do not have because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

So that is all of the preamble that we must remember as we tackle this passage. What is the message of this passage?

II. The message of John 15:18-16:4a:

We Belong To Jesus! But right now you are saying, "Keith, why didn't you want to preach that message? What is so hard about that message?" The reality is best described by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity.

The ordinary idea which we all have before we become Christians is this. We take as a starting point our ordinary self with its various desires and interests. We then admit that something else – call it ‘morality’ or ‘decent behaviour’, or ‘the good of society’ – has claims on this self: claims which interfere with its own desires. What we mean by ‘being good’ is giving in to these claims. Some of the things the ordinary self wanted to do turn out to be what we call ‘wrong’: well, we must give them up. Other things, which the self did not want to do, turn out to be what we call ‘right’: well, we shall have to do them. But we are hoping all the time that when all the demands have been met, the poor natural self will still have some chance, and some time, to get on with its own life and do what it likes. In fact, we are very like an honest man paying his taxes. He pays them all right, but he does hope that there will be enough left over for him to live on. Because we are still taking our natural self as the starting point. . . .

The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’

It is like that here. The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self – all your wishes and precautions – to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain what we call ‘ourselves’, to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be ‘good’. We are all trying to let our mind and heart go their own way – centred on money or pleasure or ambition – and hoping, in spite of this to behave honestly and chastely and humbly. And that is exactly what Christ warned us you could not do. As He said, a thistle cannot produce figs. If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown.[4]

Now we are ready to look deeply at the words of this text.

"If the world hates you . . ." Wait a minute, if the world hates me - I did not sign up for this. " If the world hates you, remember that it hated Jesus first!

"If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

Thus, there is one sure way to not be hated by this world and be loved by it instead: belong to the world. But, we do not belong to the world. We belong to Jesus. This means that we belong to Jesus and are his to do his will whether others tolerate us or hate us. In Canada, it may be too extreme to say that people hate us for our faith. There are certainly some who would say that our faith is bad for Canadian culture but not very many people truly hate us.

Yet, in other parts of the world, Christians are hated to the point of being killed for their faith.

Again we read in Milne,

It is estimated that in the twentieth century to date somewhere in the region of 26 million Christians have lost their lives for Christ's sake, in places like China, the Soviet bloc, Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola, Ethiopia and Uganda. Faced with Jesus' teaching and these contemporary realities, those who profess Christ's name in the comfortable West need to hear the words of Yugoslavian evangelical leader Peter Kusmic. 'So much popular Western evangelical religiosity is so shallow and selfish. It promises so much and demands so little. It offers success, personal happiness, peace of mind, material prosperity; but hardly speaks of repentance, sacrifice, self-denial, holy lifestyle and willingness to die for Christ.' Every reader of this commentary, along with its author, needs to face the question soberly - am I ready to die for Christ? It is not a theoretical question: Jesus has the clear right to ask it of us, and he gives no guarantee that he will not. Following Jesus is not a game.^{^[5]}

III. Skirting the Issue:

Christianity in North America is often very different from this. In the book by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat called Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, there is a chapter which focuses on Joel Osteen, the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, the largest congregation in the United States.

There is a chapter called "Pray and Grow Rich" – Chapter 6 – and he headlines it with Osteen. He says that he preaches an upbeat gospel where "God gives without demanding, forgives without threatening to judge, and hands out His rewards in this life rather than the next. … Osteen embodies the refashioning of Christianity to suit an age of abundance, in which the old war between monotheism and money seems to have ended, for many believers, in a marriage of God and mammon." In short, Douthat is saying Osteen embodies the prosperity gospel and is promoting Christian heresy.

Before we get to hard on Mr. Osteen, isn't it true that we tend to think of Christianity as a faith where "God gives without demanding, forgives without threatening to judge, and hands out His rewards in this life rather than the next." It is all too easy to ask for a comfortable life, a life free of financial stress, a life free of sickness, a life free of heart-break. Take a look at most of the prayers we pray. are they not about such things?

Conclusion:

But Jesus says, "You belong to me. I want you to work with me to produce fruit." Don't ask for a trouble free life. Ask for Kingdom fruit. Ask for people who will come to know Jesus. Ask for justice in the world. Ask for fruit of the Spirit. But, don't ask for an easy life. If this life gets hard and the world hates you, keep on asking for Kingdom fruit.

When I started this sermon I told you that this passage has taken hold of me. It has challenged me in ways in which I am still wrestling. What does it mean for me to live out this life in a way that whether or not the world hates me I will seek Kingdom fruit? What does it mean to belong to Jesus every day? We may say that we would die for Christ; but, what does it mean to live each day for him?

John 16:1 says, "All this I have told you so that you will not fall away." Jesus prepares us for difficult times. When difficult times come, he wants us to know that this too is part of the plan. We will not be surprised and tempted to abandon our faith in Jesus. We belong to him.

Now you too must work this out in your own life. I wish that I could tell you that after reading this passage you must do this, that, and the other thing. The reality is, each of us must work this out in our own life with fear and trembling.

Poem by Amy Carmichael,

No Scar

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star,
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,
Leaned me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed me, I swooned:
Hast thou no wound?

No wound, no scar?
Yet, as the master shall the servant be,
And, pierced are the feet that follow me;
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who has nor wound nor scar?^{^[6]}

[1] (Milne 1993, 219, 220)

[2] (Milne 1993, 222)

[3] (Milne 1993, 222)

[4] (Lewis 1978, 164, 165)

[5] (Milne 1993, 226)

[6] As quoted in (Milne 1993, 226)

Prayer Team

The Bridge Church — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:08:15 -0800

The Sovereign Lord declares—he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.” Isaiah 56:8

Though Charles Spurgeon was known as a great preacher, it was not preaching that made Spurgeon great. Mr. Spurgeon repeatedly acknowledged his success as the direct result of his congregation's faithful prayers. It has often been remarked that the whole church helped produce Spurgeon. When visitors would come to Spurgeon's church he would take them to the basement prayer-room where people were always on their knees interceding. Then Spurgeon would declare, "Here is the powerhouse of this church." Some heard him playfully refer to this room as the furnace-room of the church.

At the Bridge, many of us have been developing prayer as an essential part of our church. The Prayer Bootcamp is a group in which the principles of prayer are taught, modelled, and shared. Regular prayer for each service occurs when the weekly participants pause to ask God to intervene in our gatherings. In 2013 we want to keep growing a praying church. We want prayer to saturate everything we do. We will continue to do tasks and work hard at the mission of the church and keep it all bathed in prayer.

Keith is seeking people who desire to pray and are willing to be part of a prayer team that will pray before each Sunday morning service and pray with people at the end of each service. The team will pray from 9:30 am to 10:00 am Sundays and then will be available at the end of the service to pray for the needs of people who attend The Bridge. Please let Keith know if you would like to join this team. You can speak to him on Sunday morning or reach him at Keith@BridgeChurch.ca or 778-839-3215.

Living a Fruitful Life

The Bridge Church — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 12:12:00 -0800

What does it take to live a life that pleases God? That honors him? That brings Him glory?

I can often struggle with this – and I suspect you do too. I want my life to please God, but how do we actually do that? In this passage, Jesus teaches his disciples – and us – if we are also disciples of Jesus, what the Father desires of our lives and how to do it.

Jesus is clearly using a metaphor of a grape vine to describe the relational connections between us, himself and God the Father. The Father and Jesus are very different – no one knows that better than Jesus because he knows the father like no other. He does not claim to be like him or equal to him.

Jesus is the ‘true vine’ - God, the Father is ‘the gardener’ - We are ‘the branches’

Each has a role to play in this fruit bearing venture.

The gardener’s interest is in producing fruit. – not just any fruit, He wants a particular kind of fruit, the fruit that will bring him glory; 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Being a follower of Jesus is not just a matter of acknowledging who Jesus is; it is having Jesus spiritually connected to our inner lives.

Is the Christian Experience – a commitment to doctrinal beliefs concerning God and Jesus? Is it a way of life, a way of “love” perhaps, that sets disciples apart from the world? Or is it an experience, a mystical spiritual encounter that transforms who we are? I believe it is all three: Discipleship is a way of thinking (doctrine), a way of living (ethics), and a supernatural experience that cannot be compared with anything else in the world. Remaining in Christ, having an interior experience of Jesus (as a branch is nourished and strengthened by a vine) is a nonnegotiable feature of following Jesus

God expects our lives to bear fruit

We cannot bear fruit on our own. We do not have what it takes within ourselves to bear the kind of fruit that God is looking for. This maybe disappointing to you to hear but it is true.

The connection means we will be pruned. Pruning happens through the integration of God’s Word into our lives. It challenges us – it changes us – and the products of God’s Word begins to show up in our lives.

Fruitfulness will be the inevitable outcome of an interior spiritual life with Jesus

What is the Fruit that God is looking for? - It is the fruit that proves the Presence of God in our lives – Each of us has a predisposition to look out for our own self interests

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

When our lives are bearing fruit that honors God then our lives begin to look more like him – His presence begins to show up in our lives, our families, our relationships, our communities,

Can you imagine a family where joy and peace and patience were the norms

Can you imagine a marriage built on kindness, gentleness and self-control

My step-mother told me before we left how amazing it has been to watch our family over the years. She said she has noticed the ways I have loved my daughters particularly, showing them affection and kindness and the joy it has produced in their lives – she grew up in a Christian home, but her step-father was bi-sexual and never knew how to love her in a right and healthy way, married a pastor who cheated on her multiple times,

God’s Word is the catalyst that develops fruit in our lives

3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

Jesus himself is the word – jn 1:1

Who became flesh and lived among us Jn 1:14

He taught his disciples who he was, how to live – His word led to life

Jesus’ words are truth – and lead us to life – We think we know the way to live but we don’t Jesus came to lead us to real life… When Jesus speaks- His words change things in us

John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

We have a role to play in this interaction – We have a choice to respond to his word –to continue to live in – abide – remain in his ways or not – but Jesus’ words are the very words of God

John 12:48-50

There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. 49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

John heard Jesus tell the story of the sower

Luke 8:5-8

5 "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown."

Luke 8:11-15

"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Our relationship with Jesus brings God’s Word into our lives.

5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Our relationship is not based upon what I know, but what I am relying on for my life and what my life is producing.

We are to be that living branch attached to a living vine. It is the vine that gives life to the branch. Nourishment from the vine enables the branch to bear fruit. He brings wisdom from the depth of the roots of God’s Word. He brings truth from the timelessness of the Word. He brings life from it’s holiness

One should be able to look at a branch and see it’s fruit and say “This branch is really alive, it is attached to a vine that is producing good, sweet fruit.”

Christianity is not just about believing the right things – though that is important

Nor is it simply a matter of living a Christ-like life – though that is important too

There are many people who have read the Bible, other books, listened to sermons – they have the basic understanding of the Christian faith but they go about living their lives based on their own understanding of how live is supposed to work – and it never works out the way they think it will.

There are many people who are ‘good’ people, who care for others, who don’t steal, cheat, kill, harm the environment.

But there is still something about them that is not real, not God-like. Something that just doesn’t seem alive,

Where is their joy? Where is their peace? Their patience with others is thin, what about their kindness when everyone else around them is harsh? Is there some supernatural ability within them to withstand challenges when everyone else would walk away – that’s called longsuffering, or perseverance.

These are the evidence of life – life that only comes by living in – abiding in – remaining in Jesus

Finding life in Him and not in the success offered by the world. Finding the joy that Jesus experienced in the midst of great suffering. This is the life of love – this is what love looks like.

It means having a supernatural, internal experience that is completely unlike anything else available in the natural world. To be a disciple means having the Father, Son and Holy Spirit living in you (Jn 14:23-26)

The way we remain in him is by letting His Word live in us.

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

Physical Realities have Spiritual Consequences

How I treat other people, spend my money, think about circumstances affects the joy, peace, kindness of my life

Spiritual Realities have Physical Consequences

The amount of spiritual fruit of patience, goodness, self-control affects how quickly anger flares up in my relationships, or how judgemental or critical I become of others.

These come together in the fruit that is produced through our connection to Jesus

Let me ask you a question…

In what ways is your spiritual life different from where you were this time last year? Is your spiritual life stronger or weaker, is your life bearing more fruit or less fruit?

We live in a world that needs to change – we see so much violence around us – children are shot in schools – Human trafficking is on the rise – terrorism is a reality of our world. The world seems to be fed by greed and materialism.

But for most of us that is not what colors our days.

We live in a world where offenses are inflicted, personalities have clashed, hurts have been retained.

Preferences were violated and forgiveness was withheld; “My peace was disrupted…”

God’s Word points us to our relationship with Jesus. His Word calls us to apply kindness & patience to one another and the world around us.

The world is looking for the real God to show up in the lives of real people who say they know him and have a relationship with him. The world is looking for followers of Jesus to treat others like God would treat them, make decisions, run their businesses, and raise their kids like God would.

When we go our own way, in our own thinking, our own feelings, emotions – we will not receive the strength of God’s word that changes us and the relationships around us – and we will not experience the fruit of God in us – we will not produce the fruit that God is looking for out of our lives.

Take God’s Word into our lives – let it be food for your soul – let it transform you and begin to change the way you live and think and see the fruit of God’s strength grow in your life.

Would you be willing to…

Commit to build God’s Word into your life by reading, meditating, memorizing and letting it bear fruit in the ways you live?

I have a gift for everyone who would be willing to take this challenge of taking God’s Word into your life and see it begin to bear fruit that will not only build strength in your spiritual life but more importantly, honor God in the way you live and bring Him glory.

I Will Not Leave You as Orphans

The Bridge Church — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 08:53:26 -0800

Introduction

If I were to ask you what sets a Christian apart from the follower of any other religion, what would you say? Last week, Robin encouraged us to think about how God himself came in the form of a baby in a manger: Emmanuel - God with us - something that would have otherwise been feared [being in the very Presence of God] - was God’s answer for our sin. He came as Jesus, the Son of God - and as it says in Colossians 1:15 and 17 - the firstborn over all creation holding all things together.

This week, as we resume our study of the gospel of John, we see the other bookend of Jesus’ life on earth. Here, Jesus is about to go to the cross. He is about to fulfil the mission for which He came. He has spent the last few chapters preparing and telling his disciples about what is going to happen, yet the disciples do not really know, do they? We have seen a zealous Peter who claims he will go to the death for Jesus (John 13:37) yet we know that he will deny Jesus three times (John 13:38, 18:27).

Surely, the disciples must have felt rather alone at this point. Thomas says in verse 5, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”. And it is here that Jesus famously answers “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” While hindsight provides us with a clearer picture of what Jesus meant, I cannot help but wonder how confusing these words must have been for Thomas at the time. Of course, we know that it isn’t until Jesus eventually shows Thomas his wounds (John 20:27-29) does he finally believe that this was not in fact the end, but rather a new beginning.

Although the disciples did not and could not fully understand what Jesus was about to do, they knew enough that Jesus was going away, and they were probably left wondering what they were going to do next. After all, they had dropped everything to follow Jesus because they thought that in so doing they might see the Father. Philip says in 14:8 “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us”.

It was merely three years ago that Jesus had called each of the disciples out of their profession and into this incredible journey of walking with the very presence of God! What would they do now that Jesus was about to go?

[Let’s speculate for a moment here...] Perhaps if I were an original disciple of Jesus, I might have had some of these thoughts go through my head: I’ve now spent three years walking with this Jesus, and three years less perfecting my craft of fishing, or tax collecting. What are my peers going to think of me when Jesus is gone? Will I become the laughingstock of my community? How would I carry on what Jesus had began - this “God-sized” mission?

Little did they know what God would do to transform these eleven (twelve minus one [Judas Iscariot]) human disciples. They were not going to be left as orphans! (14:18) Rather, Jesus was going to provide them with something previously unimaginable - the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the heart of each and every believer, and with that they were going to do even greater things than these. (John 14:12 - I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.)

You need to understand how revolutionary this was. First, only God could grant such a thing. And second, while the Holy Spirit had made appearances in the past (Luke 3:22, 4:1, and various times in the OT), the Holy Spirit did not permanently dwell in people prior to the Pentecost in Acts 2. The perspective of the disciples needed to change from a band of a dozen men to the bride of Christ - his Church.

Jesus’ mission: bringing us into the family - a royal engagement

Jesus’ mission was so much more than just showing believers the Father.

(You may recall Jesus saying John 8:34-36 - “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”)

Jesus’ mission was so much more than just performing miracles.

Jesus’ mission was so much more than just running an “orphanage” where orphans are cared for. Jesus’ mission of redemption was to show the extent of God’s love for us, then transform us, enabling us to love Him and love others by giving us the Holy Spirit. His mission was to bring us back as full-fledged members of God’s family. The disciples, indwelled with the Holy Spirit, would change humanity forever.

The scene that Jesus sets up isn’t one of palliative care. He did not announce his imminent death as a means to sort of wrap things up, say his goodbyes and make his will. Rather, the scene Jesus sets up in Chapter 14 is that of a wedding engagement. Even John the Baptist alludes to this in John 3:29 when he says: “The bride [the Church] belongs to the bridegroom [Jesus]. The friend [John the Baptist] who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.”

Isn’t it ironic that Jesus began his ministry with a wedding [the one at Cana] and here, he begins the next phase of ministry with an engagement? The scene that Jesus sets up is a new beginning!

We read in 14:2 - “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?”

In the Jewish tradition, grooms would propose by offering a deposit and then would go back to their father’s house to prepare a room for them to stay. In our modern day tradition, it is customary for the groom to offer the bride an engagement ring - symbolizing his promise to her.

Likewise, this is what Jesus is doing. He is saying that his death on the cross is only the beginning of what will be a new family in Heaven - that of Jesus and the Church - his bride. And he’s leaving the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come (Eph 1:13-14). Much like a groom gives his bride an engagement ring, promising he will marry her, so Jesus gives us the Spirit.

My sister, as some of you know, now lives in Ottawa working as a special legislative assistant. (That’s fancy terminology for political staffer.) Just last week, Stephen, a man whom she had been dating gave her an engagement ring and proposed to her. It was a wonderful time to see both of them celebrate what is about to become a new union.

Now of course as family, one of the immediate questions we had was “Who is this guy?” If this guy is going to soon be part of the family, will he find himself foreign or will he find himself at home. How does this person treat my sister? How does he relate to his new future in-laws?

I’m sure members of his family are probably thinking the same thing: “Who is this girl?” If this woman, is going to soon be part of the family, will she fit into our culture?

And as I’m sure most married couples begin to think about - how will their family look like? How do they want their new family to act? What will represent their new name? What will be their legacy?

Jesus describes what being part of the family looks like

You see when an engagement takes place, people begin to act differently. The bride begins to switch into “wedding mode”. She starts thinking about how to sign her new name. They think about wedding planning; finances; whether they are going to have kids. For the guys, he thinks about new responsibility. How is he going to provide for his new bride? His new family? What values will their family possess? What will be their legacy?

The scene Jesus presents to the disciples here reflects that as well. If we are not to be orphans, Jesus describes what his family does or will look like, and it is summed up in what he says in verse 15. This, if you will, is his legacy.

● He says in verse 15: If you love me, you will obey [keep my] commands.

This is an important point. In fact, it is so important that Jesus mentions it four times, just in these few verses. He says it in verse 15, but again in verses 21, 23 & 24 and 31.

21 Whoever has my commands and obeys [or keeps] them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.

...

23 Jesus replied, Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

…

31a but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me...

Let me unpack this for you a little bit … and I want to start off by clarifying what the text is NOT saying.

What the text is not saying...

First, love is not commandment keeping. Even if you keep all of his commands, that does not mean that you love him. (Reference 1 Corinthians 13)

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Consider a similar sentence: If you turn on this flashlight at night, you will see. Or, if you take this medicine, you will get well. One brings about the other, but light and seeing are not the same thing just as medicine and wellness are not the same thing. So it is with what Jesus is saying. He’s saying that if you love him, that will bring about keeping his commands.

Secondly, the text is not saying that we earn Jesus’ love by our love. It does not say that he loved us because we first loved him. Taken out of context, it is easy to misinterpret verses like 21 and 23 to mean that somehow Jesus’ love for us is conditional on our love for him. But we know that isn’t the case because there are so many other places in the Bible that give us context to what Jesus means. Verses like: 1 John 4:19 - “we love because he first loved us”.

What these verses are saying is this:

So if these are things that the text is not saying, what is it saying then?

We hit here one of the great mysteries of the faith. We are still left with what seems to be a Catch-22. On the one hand we are told that if we love Jesus, we are to obey his commands. In other words, God expects that people who are part of God’s family to act like it. They keep on loving and they keep on obeying. They are remade so that they might obey. They demonstrate their love for Jesus by obedience. This is made no clearer by Jesus’ own example of obedience as he allowed himself to be crucified for our sin!

On the same token, I’ve just told you that only by loving him will that bring about keeping his commands. But if we are not able to keep his commands apart from His love, and Jesus is going away, the logical question becomes how do we do this? We enter into a logical dilemma.

Fortunately, God enters into this prisoner’s dilemma. Jesus resolves this by promising that He will ask the Father to send another Counsellor - someone exactly like the person of Jesus except forever.

The greek word for what is translated "Counsellor" or "Advocate" is paraclete. Tongue-in-cheek, I like to remember this by thinking it is like a "pair of cleats" (as in the ones that soccer players wear). Like those knobby shoes that players wear on the field, the Holy Spirit gives us strength when running and they dig into the ground giving us stability. They also (sometimes painfully so) remind us that we are still playing soccer!

But joking aside, Jesus promises that God Himself will be our “paraclete”, our Advocate - guiding us and giving us the power to carry out his commands. God Himself will transform us so that we might love Him.

But wait, there's more!

Jesus also says that (verse 17) the Spirit will indwell every believer permanently. From the time Jesus told this until the Pentecost in Acts 2, God’s presence would be with them. But after the Pentecost, God’s presence would be IN them. He would illuminate our thoughts from within, would create new emotions and stimulate them from within. He would empower a weak will from within to make decisions and stand by them (Phil 2:13). In short, we would be rebirthed from within.

The Spirit would act as their guide, reminding the disciples of what is true and reminding them of Jesus' words (verse 26). We owe our canonized Bible today to the Holy Spirit as it is He who reminded the early apostles about what Jesus did and what Jesus said. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10).

What is the result?

The promise of the Holy Spirit represents a new beginning. As Jesus went to the cross, this important seal would transform the disciples, and eventually all believers - you and me.

What is the result? Here is a sampling. Without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we would not have....

● founding of a church (Acts 2, 9:31)

● the gospels - an account of the very words that Jesus spoke - as the Holy Spirit reminded them.

● the acts of the apostles that we read about in Acts, including the proclamation of the gospel, the freeing of imprisoned apostles, nor the writing of the letters of Paul.

● disciples like John writing a testament in His Word on how to live (John 21:24-25)

● God’s presence in us. We would not be his temple (1 Corinthians 3:16), God would not dwell in us, we would not be able to love nor obey his commands; we would be orphans or worse - castaways.

● the power (the only life-changing, God-honouring power) that is able to help us live the way God created us to live.

● the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23)

● Spiritual Gifts. Robin would not be up here today leading us in worship, I would not be here teaching you, Della would not be interceding for you in prayer, Mr. Logan would not be enthusiastically telling others about Jesus, Sylvia and Jen Nathaniel would not be showing mercy to others, and Karen would not be offering hospitality to strangers and friends alike… just to name a few.

Challenge and Conclusion

Brothers and sisters in Christ. The promise of the Holy Spirit was a significant and life-changing moment - a new beginning that would differentiate us from followers of any other religion....which brings me back to my original question.

If I were to ask you what sets apart you as a Christian from the follower of any other religion, what would you say? I would say that what differentiates me - is that as a Christian, I am indwelled with the Holy Spirit. Think about what that means to you for a minute. It means that if you are a Christian, the very presence of God dwells within you. It means that you are able to carry out His commands, to make right judgments, to love one another, to show the love of God to those that do not know Christ because His very being dwells inside of you. It means you are able to speak, not words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:13)

Let me be clear. This isn’t just some airy fairy new-age notion of some nice spirit. It isn’t “the force” as George Lucas describes in Star Wars. Nor is the Holy Spirit an angel as some imply. The Holy Spirit is not an “it”, but a “He”: a member of the trinity, working in unison, inseparable from the Father and the Son. He is, as Jesus describes in 14:16, another person exactly like Jesus, who remains forever.

My challenge to you this morning:

Corporately - Are we, as a church, working toward beautifying the bride of Christ? Do we, as a church, treasure the promise of the Holy Spirit keeping our eyes focused on what is to come?

Personally - Are you running around more like an orphan or are you going through life in expectation of being a full-fledged member of God’s family?

How has the Holy Spirit been active in your life? How does He illumine your thoughts, guide your decisions, remind you of Christ’s words? How is He, working inside of you, cause you to be incarnational in your family? In your workplace? In your spheres of influence? Do people see the very presence of God through you? Do people recognize why you do things the way you do things and give Him glory as a result? Let’s Pray.

Your King is Coming

The Bridge Church — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:31:00 -0800

We have an incredible scene on the outskirt of Jerusalem as people gather to celebrate Passover.

Historians tell us that during this time of history, they estimate there were about 50,000 people living in Jerusalem, but during Passover the city would swell to 2-3 times the size.

Let’s look at what is happening in this scene, then we’ll consider what it means for us today.

ð When you think of Jesus as your king – what does that mean to you? What kind of king is he

There are three groups of people in this story, who consider Jesus “a king” the first group we meet are the Jews in Jerusalem…

John 11:55-56

55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, "What do you think? Isn't he coming to the Feast at all?"

These people were looking for Jesus, they were talking among themselves. Jesus was a hot topic of conversation, who is he, what is he about, could he possibly be the next ‘Messiah’ leader Israel needs to free us from the oppression of Rome, to restore our nation to its former strength and glory?

They get the news that Jesus is on his way there and the excitement reaches a fever pitch.

“Triumphal entries” were common in the ancient world. A conquering hero or king would return to the city, bringing excitement and the spoils of his battles and stories of conquests. The crowd would carry in their hands the palm branches which were the widely acknowledged symbol of welcome to a king. Palms were used to welcome Simon Maccabaeus when he captured the city and established the Hasmonean Dynasty was founded by a resolution, adopted in 141 BCE, at a large assembly "of the priests and the people and of the elders of the land, to the effect that Simon should be their leader and high priest forever, until there should arise a faithful prophet" (1 Maccabees 14:41).

and then Judas Maccabaeus received the same kind of welcome when he purified the temple after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes.

Now with these same symbols in their hands, the crowd welcomes Jesus as the king of Israel

"Hosanna!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Blessed is the King of Israel!"

This blessing comes from Ps 118:25-26

O Lord, save us;

O Lord, grant us success.

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

From the house of the Lord we bless you.

"Blessed is the King of Israel!" is not in the psalm and departs considerably from it’s intent, but it tells us what they were looking for, the crowds are greeting a national liberator.

These were people looking to Jesus to bring political and social reform to their culture. They were looking for a King that would establish their prominence and bring social justice to their culture.

The scene is full of Jewish political fervor, the palms, the entry and cries of Hosanna from the crowd remind us of what happened when Jesus feed the five thousand the year before by the sea of Galilee

John 6:14-15

After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

“This is a man who knows how to feed everybody without raising our taxes. We need him to lead us.”

This time there is no place for Jesus to withdraw, so he rides into the city on a donkey – his mission is coming quickly to a climax

The next group of people in this story is the crowd that accompanies him from Bethany where he had just preformed the incredible miraculous sign of raising Lazarus from the dead. They were the emotionally and spiritually excited…

17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.

This is an emotionally excited crowd, singing the praises of this miraculous marvel of a man. If there had ever been an emotionally high, spiritual mountain top, they certainly had been to it. This man is capable of meeting all their needs, even raising a person back to life. The perfect picture of a god, the one who knows you, loves you and meets all your needs, who couldn’t sing the praises of Jesus. He has got to be the Messiah – he cares about our hurts

Then there is the Priests who want him eliminated, they want him dead

19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"

They were frustrated, Jesus was coming into the city with an unprecedented popularity and there was nothing they could do about it so it seemed. When John uses the word “world” he is generally referring to the men and women who stand in disbelief, refusing to acknowledge God or His Son.

Their words, “the world has gone after him” is an ironic twist, because it points to the very fulfillment of Jesus’ mission all together. Jesus said his whole mission was

John 3:16-17

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Now he is entering Jerusalem for the last time to bring his life’s mission to it’s completion.

In the middle of these three groups of people we have Jesus -= In fulfillment of prophesy, Jesus rides a young donkey - - a great contrast to calm the zeal of the crowd…

Zech 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!

Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and having salvation,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jesus humbly and obediently comes to restore our relationship with God by going to the cross, and it is for that – that He is the Resurrection and life – that he looks for our praise.

He is not here to make our lives comfortable, to solve our emotional or relational challenges but to bring us life in the midst of them.

He is not here to solve our political or social problems but to bring a new kingdom of resurrected souls in righteousness.

Jesus cuts through the noise of the day and humbly enters the milieu of humanity with a calmness and confidence that he is about to change human history and the eternal destinies of a world who is intent upon seeking the satisfaction of their own agendas.

This scene pictures an amazing clash of multiple agendas – we deal with all three of these…

Political / social reform agenda that wants to make our society a better place
Personal spiritual agenda that wants to make my personal life a nice experience
Remove the threat of power agenda that allows me to continue to stay in charge.

Jesus responds with “Get out of my way” without uttering a word – He makes his way to Jerusalem.

John reveals what is really going on in this scene – They didn’t have a clue…

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

John acknowledges he and the other disciples didn’t know understand at all what was really going on here. No doubt they probably got caught up in the fervor, and they may have even at the time thought they knew what this was all about – Jesus, the Messiah, taking his rightful place to rule Israel, but they later discover they were not only wrong, but their thinking was far too small. It was after Jesus was crucified and raised to life did they understand what he was really doing – He was bringing them salvation and spiritual life of which they had no idea of the significance of.

What does this mean for us today…

In what ways do we likewise use Jesus to fuel our own visions for social and political change? Do we ever take up the name of Jesus and attach it to our own agendas?

A gay lobbyist in the Presbyterian Church (USA) making a claim for gay ordination: “Jesus loved everyone, and today he would stand with the gay community affirming its rights in society and the church. Anyone who does not stand with us stands against Jesus.”

A political misuse of the name of Christ –

Jesus wants our praise and celebration. But too often we only see him through the issues of the day, issues about which we are confident he stands with us.

We also use Jesus to fuel our own visions of our personal fulfillment and happiness. We can take up the name of Jesus here and attach it to our own decisions about our personal likes and dislikes.

We can say “Jesus wants me happy and fulfilled as a person” and we can chase the illusive spiritual highs of life. When our current situation isn’t doing it for us then we look for a new city, or job, or spouse or church or friend, because “Jesus wants me happy”.

There are also times we will keep Jesus confined to our personal understanding of how life is supposed to work and we eliminate him from having to much influence in our life because we still want to remain in control of our lives. We can be like the Pharasees who don’t want Jesus disrupting my plan for my life,

All three of these are real and exist in our lives and all three of them are completely wrong and incomplete understanding of who Jesus is and what his mission was about.

John and the other disciples did not understand what this was all about until after Jesus was “glorified” and we can’t either. They and the crowds hailed Jesus as King, but what they didn’t understand was that his sovereignty was defined by Calvary, not his power or popularity.

His kingship is understood in terms of washing one another’s feet, but that requires a complete upheaval of our human ways of thinking about Jesus, ourselves and others. That is why Peter will not, and cannot, understand why Jesus washes his feet, until after his crucifixion and resurrection.

We don’t get it, unless we look at Jesus in light of his crucifixion and resurrection. We think He is about us, and our lives now, as we are, and Jesus comes to die for our sin. He intends to change us and that strips away the power of our emotions, or of our social and cultural influences.

Jesus is the king who comes to die for our sin so we can experience real life, and that is better than making your life nicer or our world a better place. When His life is fueling you, then your life will become the blessing of God to our world and there is no better way to live.

Where are you letting Jesus change you today – can you give up the power of control and let Jesus lead you? Can you give up the idea that Jesus is supposed to make the world a better place in the political and social arenas and he is creating whole new creations of people to live in this world. Or that He is here to make you an happier person with a series of spiritual highs for you to ride on, but he is offering you a spiritual life force to guide you through the highs and lows of life.

Which are you receiving from Jesus today?

How Followers of Jesus REALLY Live

The Bridge Church — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 11:31:00 -0800

How a person lives, tells the story of their life. When lives change, the stories change too.

The story of Martha, Mary & Lazarus changed when they personally experienced Jesus as the Resurrection & Life and it had significant on how they lived their life from that point forward. They started out as people intrigued by Jesus and who became people who loved Jesus, like a good friend, but something happened in John 11 when Jesus dramatically showed them that He was not just their good friend, but he became their “Resurrection & Life” when He brought Lazarus back to life.

Martha –

Luke 10:38-42

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." NIV

Martha was a hospitable woman. She opened her home to Jesus and served him, but she complained about how much she was having to serve while Mary sat with Jesus. She was overwhelmed with the preparations for a meal – but now she has changed. Now she is serving him a dinner of honor.

Martha serves because she can, it is who she is, it is what she does. Where once she served because she was a hospitable woman and did what she ‘felt’ was expected of her, NOW she serves to honor her Lord. She is honoring Jesus in her service. A disciple of serves to honor Jesus

Colossians 3:23

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, NIV

When we serve others, do we see ourselves as serving and honoring Christ himself?

Mary –

Mary sat at Jesus feet, she wanted to learn from Him, she wanted to know Him, she wanted to be with Him. NOW she sacrifices her BEST and her future on His feet. Mary pours

. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Pure nard – was a very expensive perfume. It came from the leaves and shoots of the Spiknard plant found in India. Nard smelled like gladiolus, it was often used by a young woman on her wedding day, it was that special and valuable.

Where once she hung on to every word of Jesus now she pours out every tear. Mary sacrifices greatly, extravagantly, for Jesus. She held nothing back. Judas complains that the money is being wasted – there are more efficient uses of this money – what about the poor? This is not a story of money or poor but of devotion and sacrifice. Mary is the perfect person to demonstrate devotion because whenever we see Mary she is at the feet of Jesus. This is a symbol of her interest as a devoted disciple of Jesus and it is significant that Jesus defends her.

Nard was also used as an embalming spice and Mary’s anointing of Jesus points our attention forward. While Nard was sometimes used by women on their wedding day – then a little would do the trick – just enough to keep her husband close to her, but a pint or pound was a large amount and would be sufficient to saturate the entire body. Mark’s version of this story says Mary anointed Jesus’ head and likely both writers were right, Mary could have easily anointed his entire body with the perfume as if she were preparing him for his grave.

Such sacrifices don’t make sense to the world. Judas complains. He is not getting his ‘cut’. But Jesus encourages Mary. The sacrifice is worthwhile. She is honoring Him in her sacrifice.

If Mary models for us what it is to be a devoted disciple of Jesus by honoring him with her sacrifice how can you and I emulate her deed? What does one pound of nard – a years wage – equate to your sacrifice and devotion to Jesus?

Lazarus –

Lazarus reclines at Jesus’ table. He honors Jesus by his fellowship. Lazarus has been given a whole new life, he has been brought back from the dead and now he brings the joy of life to their fellowship.

He listened to Jesus, He laughed with the other disciples, he shared the meal with them and shared the stories. He was with Jesus and the other followers of Jesus. There would be no place else that he would rather be than with Jesus and the other disciples. It is a time that he would want to never end.

Disciples of Jesus NEED one another. They share life, they pray, they eat together, they worship together, they play together, they work together with Jesus. They are an encouragement to one another by being together.

Hebrews 10:25

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

“All you want to do is be with those ‘church people’” ~ ‘but I am with you right now, come with me’

It could be this experience of seeing Lazarus raise from the dead that John, our author discovers that what they have seen, and heard, by following Jesus has so changed their lives that it has banded the disciples together and causes John to write later in his letter..

1 John 1:3-4, 7

3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

…if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

You know that when kids come out of High School, they have close bonds with friends because of what they have experienced. Then, a few years later, those who go to University develop great bonds with their friends because they have shared significant experiences, they have served one another, they have sacrificed with and for each other and it bonds them together. That same sort of experience happens in churches as well, but it can happen at a much deeper level. We have fellowship with one another that knits our hearts together at deep levels, so that when someone leaves it ‘rips our hearts’.

We need one another to encourage us and to help us grow in Christ. But it happens as you open your life up and serve one another and sacrifice together for the Kingdom of Christ. Disciples of Jesus NEED one another.

How followers of Jesus REALLY live…

Lazarus, Martha & Mary were each changed by Jesus – the “Resurrection and the life”. That changed the way they lived the rest of their lives.

They Served Christ and one another with a new purpose – to Honor Jesus – Martha stopped complaining but served out of who she was.

They sacrificed extravagantly – to Honor Jesus – Mary sacrificed her best and most valued.

They fellowshipped with a new purpose – to Honor Jesus – Lazarus, and Martha and Mary NEEDED on another and the other disciples now in ways they never needed anyone else.

This is the “end game” of discipleship. This is what it looks like to live as a follower of Jesus.

It starts with being personally impacted and utterly dependent upon Jesus, the resurrection and life for your own life. Jesus is personally ‘grounding’ you, fueling everything in us

Devoted disciples of Jesus – serve, out of who they are, that they can, and desire to honor Christ in how they live,

Sacrifice – greatly, extravagantly from what they have. They desire to honor Christ with their futures and fortunes

They fellowship – because they are in a new family and they need to be with this family

Outcomes of living this way…

John 12:9-11

Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

Attracts people to Jesus

People were coming to Jesus and placing their faith in him because Lazarus had been raised from the dead. His life was changed and it was hugely attractive. He lived his faith openly, publically and it invited others to discover the power of Jesus

Attracts attacks from people

They wanted to kill Lazarus and Jesus now. People will want to discredit you, kill your reputation, your ‘social life’ they will try to ‘fit you into their mold’ of how life is supposed to work according to them, but

1 John 3:13-14

Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.

Our response

Let Jesus be your own ‘resurrection and life’ – let him change you, the things and ways you are motivated, why you do what you do

Begin to worship God, honor Jesus in your service, and in your fellowship with others. Look for ways to sacrifice for the Lord, extravagantly.

Let your life attract people to Jesus - and accept the risk of attacks. Accept the challenge of being a disciple of Jesus.

Matters of Life and Death

The Bridge Church — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 12:28:00 -0800

This chapter is an important teaching about the work of Jesus, exactly what God sent him into this world to do. John includes this story in his account of Jesus’ life so that Jesus’ message does not sink into a general symbolic mysticism. His work is concrete and has real life implications. He is not just the light, but he gives sight to a blind man. Jesus is not just the resurrection and the life; he brings a man out of the tomb. The revelation of Jesus has a real place in history and in our lives. It is a matter of death and life.

Many of us have never seen death – up close and personally, but once you do it has a profound effect on you. My mother died before my eyes. It had a profound effect on my life and faith.

John 11 is a story intended to encourage us, to give strength to face our own mortality (or the death of someone near to us). Resurrection is not an idea imposed on human life, but a person who is the resurrection has overpowered death.

Jesus demonstrates that this is an important life matter by sharing in the grief of this family. He loves them and he shares their pain with them. By joining in their grief he gives generous permission for the expression of this pain. It is right to describe death as terrible and painful, and horrible without compromising the quality of our faith. Death is a foe that we cannot avoid facing.

Martha is a dear friend of Jesus who had sent a message for Jesus to come, but he does not until after Lazarus has died. She meets Jesus just outside the village of Bethany and she affirmation her faith in Jesus’ healing ability.

21 "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

She does not expect Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead since in 11:39 she objects to Jesus rolling back the stone. Instead she is expressing faith, not wanting to criticize Jesus for not being in Bethany to heal her brother. Her words could be paraphrased as…

“If you had been here, you could have healed Lazarus. Nevertheless, I still believe in you, that God works through you mightily.” Martha continues to be confident in Jesus, despite her circumstances.

But Jesus pushes Martha to a deeper conversation. For Martha, Jesus is the supreme ‘miracle worker’, but she doesn’t yet recognize him as God, savior and provider of life beyond death. For Martha, Jesus was the ‘fixer of human problems’ but not the one who will change the human condition.

We can be like that, we pray that circumstances are changed, I prayed my mother would be healed

23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

These words could be words of comfort, appealing to the common Jewish belief in the end-time resurrection, popular among the Pharisees. – we say “Well, he’s in a better place”

Jesus was about to show Martha that what we may think is the end does not mean things are over. Jesus is himself, in his own person, the eschatos, Lord over the beginning and the end. What she (and we) may believe about the resurrection will no longer merely be a doctrine of belief. Resurrection is real, it has a name and face and it is about to change human history for real people.

To follow Jesus by faith is to share in the life that goes beyond death.

Jesus teaches Martha with one of the most significant and important “I am” statements in John’s gospel

25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even

though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

Jesus does not say he can provide resurrection and life (though implicit). That, in itself would be astounding. In fact the Synoptic recount stories of Jesus’ authority over death and his ability to recall someone back to life – (the widows son in Nain in Luke 7:11-17; Jairus’s daughter, Mark 5:21-43)

But Jesus says HE IS resurrection and life

Eternal life and the rescue from the finality of death are not mearly gifts to be obtained because we ask God, they are aspects of what it means to live a life in relationship with Jesus. If Jesus is life, then those who believe in Him will experience the confidence and power over death that is known by Him.

This does not mean that followers of Jesus won’t experience a physical death but that

life will be theirs beyond the grave; they will not suffer death in eternity.

More than that, they will have life NOW it is a present reality - and do not have to wait to die or await the end of human time and history to enjoy the benefits of Jesus’ power.

When Jesus asks Martha “do you believe this?” it has little to do with Martha’s faith in Jesus’ abilty to bring her brother back from the dead. Nor is Jesus pointing to a commitment to the end-time resurrection. Nor is he asking her to agree philosophically with the whole nice idea of a resurrection. Jesus is asking Martha if her faith can embrace a belief in Jesus’ lordship over death itself.

27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

In the midst of the pain of her grief, she recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah from God who is life. He has power over death and the ability to bring life that transcends any pain of this life. Martha is now able to return home with a calm peace care for her sister. There is strength in her faith in Jesus.

28 And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you."

Martha gently takes her grieving sister into private moment and whispers words of life to her. “Jesus is here and he is asking to see you”

In this intimate scene, Jesus demonstrates there is no gender barrier for him. He is giving this complete attention to these two close friends who he loves and cares deeply about. The women regard him as “the teacher”, they have utmost respect and reverence for him as a rabbi, but women of the day did not have this kind of access to a typical rabbi, but Jesus is anything but a typical rabbi.

In the midst of our life’s greatest challenges, is it not comforting to know that Jesus is calling us to himself, He wants us to be with him in the midst of our pain. He wants grieve with us, he cries with us and walks with us through it, we are never alone.

Mary runs to him and makes no request but falls at his feet in love and worship and pours out her tears before him. John says Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 "Where have you laid him?" he asked.

The greek word used there is a verb that classically means the snort of a horse (like in war or in a race). For humans it would describe outrage, fury or anger. John further describes the scene as Jesus was angry and “troubled”. What arouses Jesus’ anger and deep emotional outrage?

He is certainly not upset with Martha or Mary, or the mourners. But instead, might he not be outraged by the futility of this sorrowful scene in light of the reality of the resurrection. God’s people possess knowledge of life; they should possess a faith that claims victory over the grave, but instead they stand overcome in defeat. Jesus is angry at death itself and the devastation it brings

Have you ever felt anger over nonphysical conditions – I have been angry at cancer, because I have seen the death that it causes. I have been angry at addictions because I have seen the devastation it causes. We can be angry at HIV, hunger, I cant watch movies where children are hurt,

Jesus was angry at death – not only physical death but death that goes beyond the grave, that separates us from life eternally. He hates our sin, because it leads to death. He knows how death really works.

Matt 10:28-29 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

We are afraid of our physical death – but Jesus knows there is so much more to death than our bodies, the death of your soul is worse still.

Jesus’ tears (11:35) were not for Lazarus, whose removal from the grave is about to occur and whose life is going to reveal God’s glory. He knows what good surprises are instore for his friend. Jesus’ tears should be connected to the anger he feels so deeply.

He came to bring life and bring it abundantly (Jn 10:10)

He came that we would not perish but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16)

that “In him was life, and that life was the light of man” (Jn 1:4)

But our sin is the darkness that leads us to death

John 3:19-20 Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Jesus comes to Lazarus grave to defeat death. Yes he loves his friend, Yes he wants to express compassion to Martha & Mary, but there is something much more significant happening here. Jesus demonstrates he has the power and authority over death and he has the ability to give it to humanity and it is transmitted by faith. He does this for his friend Lazarus and in a short time he will do it for the world when he dies on a cross, defeats death for us all and resurrects to eternal life that he gives all who believe in Him.

Jesus goes to Lazarus grave. And in the midst of his own emotions, he asks that that stone be rolled away. He is about to raise a dead man – he could certainly move a rock. Martha expresses the thoughts that is going through everyone’s mind, this doesn’t make sense and it is just going to make a bad situation worse and Jesus challenges the absurdity with their faith.

40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

Sometimes Jesus is going to ask us to do things that in our own thinking don’t make sense, but he wants to know will we trust him and do what he says anyway.

Once the stone is rolled back, then Jesus begins to pray. For Jesus, nothing is done without prayer.

Jesus is never going to take the spotlight, he always points everything back to his Father. All the glory is for and due him – alone. Jesus never tries to share in the glory and so he looks up. He points everyones attention upward – all eyes are on Jesus and he lifts them higher still to the Father.

He addresses God as “Father” – not “our Father” In the midst of his own emotional anguish He didn’t use “abba” = ‘daddy’ – Jesus had much more reverence for his father and so he used ‘pater’ = ‘father’.

Jesus demonstrates to everyone present that his work is done in concert with God’s will, for he never acts autonomously. Jesus had already been praying about what he was going to do – “I know you have already heard me” but now when it is time to do the work the Father has for him – he wants to make sure everyone’s eyes are on God and the connection the Father and Son have.

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out,

Jesus raised a dead man back to life again. His physical life is only going to last a short while – Lazarus eventually dies physically – and stays in the tomb, but despite that he lives beyond the grave.

For us who believe in Jesus – that is our story as well.

The power of God resident in our lives today as a result of our faith in Jesus is the same power that will enable us to live for eternity.

Leon Morris “Death is but a gateway to further life and fellowship with God.” “It means that the moment a man puts his trust in Jesus he begins to experience that life of the age to come which cannot be touched by death.”

Many people today are afraid of death, we do not like to think or talk about death or what happens when we die.

I had a conversation not long ago with a principal of a local high school about death. He wanted to talk to me about it because he was dealing with the death of his own parent.

I told him, we spend lots of money and effort to train our children about sex education because we believe they will engage in sex, but what do you do to train these young people about death, they will experience the death of their friends, siblings, parents, grandparents, spouses, kids – themselves – but we have not prepared them to deal with it.

I watched my mother pass from this physical life, but her spiritual life never missed a beat. Her physical heart stopped but her spiritual heart only gained in excitement.

Resurrection can only be experienced after a death. We are to live today, here and now in the power of the resurrection Jesus gives us - He says He is the resurrection and the life and if we believe in Him we will live – even though we die physically. There is a power from God himself that empowers our lives and enables us to live in today that is greater than anything life can bring us – even death. But the question is – Do you (and I ) live in that resurrection power? Is it overcoming the fears and challenges of our lives. I am talking about the fears of our futures, the fears of our finances, the fears of life alone. I am talking about the bondage from our addictions, the pain of difficult relationships,

There can only be resurrection power after a death. Maybe today, you need to let something die in you and trust Jesus to bring you life again. It will be a different kind of life, it will be life that is truly alive.

Trusting Him and not yourself, letting him lead you and not your own understanding, is what it looks like to put that area of your life to death and follow him.

God's Timing

The Bridge Church — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:20:28 -0800

November 4, 2012

Sermon for The Bridge Church

John 11:1-15

God's Timing

The Death of Lazarus

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²(This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) ³So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

⁴When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” ⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, ⁷and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

⁸“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. ¹⁰It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

¹¹After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

¹²His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” ¹³Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

¹⁴So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Introduction:

Chapter 11 of the Gospel of John starts a section regarding the raising of Lazararus from the dead. We have spoken before of the seven signs of Jesus in this gospel. There are seven miracles that John records which all point to the fact that Jesus is the Christ in whom we might believe and have life in his name.

John 20: 30, 31 says, "Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

I will refresh our memories of the seven miraculous signs:

Water Into Wine … 2:1-11

Healing the Official’s Son … 4:43-54

The Healing at the Pool of Bethesda … 5:1-9

The feeding of the 5000 … 6:1-5

Walking on the Water … 6:16-25

Healing The Man Born Blind … 9:1-41

Raising Lazarus From The Dead … 11:1-44

This is certainly the most spectacular of the signs and John saves it as the climax for his gospel. It is this miraculous sign that will set in motion all of the things that will lead to Jesus arrest and death. In this sign we will see that it is by the giving of his own life that Jesus is able to conquer death and raise Lazarus and indeed all of us to life. We see that Jesus chooses the timing to go to Judea and lay down his life.

In John 10:17, 18 Jesus says, "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

However, I am getting ahead of myself, for today, we will just look at the death of Lazarus and I plan to leave you hanging on the edge of your seat until you come back next week when Jerry will tell us the rest of the story. The circumstances of the death of Lazarus are challenging for us.

Let's simply look at it as a story to start with. Jesus receives word from two sisters Mary and Martha. From other gospel accounts we know these two women and know them to be friends and followers of Jesus. We will also see this family again in chapter 12 when Mary will anoint Jesus' feet with perfume. We are told that Mary and Martha have a brother who is sick and we are told that Jesus and this entire family are close. Lazarus is described as "the one you love." We are told that Jesus loved all of them: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. But Jesus says, this sickness will not end in death. Notice, he does not say, Lazarus isn't going to die. He just says that is not the end. But again, I get ahead of myself.

So, Jesus knows that Lazarus is very sick. He knows he is going to die. He loves them very much and yet, he stays two more days. Now, I am sorry, but that does not sound like someone who loves someone very much. When we know a loved one is about to die, what do we do? We try to get there as soon as possible to see them one more time; and certainly, if we had the ability to prevent them from dying, we would race to them and make them well. Jesus has the ability to make Lazarus well. He has already demonstrated this with other people. But he stays put and does not go to help or even be there for Lazarus' final breath.

I suspect that often we look at a passage like this and it makes us wonder what is going on. Perhaps we have even felt like Mary and Martha and Lazarus might have felt. Yes, Jesus says he loves me but he seems a little slow in responding to my needs?

I. God's Timing is Not Our Timing:

If we are honest with ourselves we have probably all wrestled with this issue. We ask God for miracles and sometimes they come quickly, sometimes they take a long time to happen, and sometimes they don't come at all. We all know that bad things happen to followers of Jesus. We have likely all seen people die of cancer or some other nasty disease. We ask questions about that. Where were you Jesus? You say you love us but why did this bad thing happen to me. Cam Taylor, a friend of mine, a pastor who loved soccer and running marathons, was out for a ride on his motorcycle with his wife on behind him and through no fault of his own, a car turned across his path. He and his wife slid underneath that car and Cam has had eight surgeries in 18 months. They saved his leg but it is always going to be shorter than the other one. The foot will always toe out a bit more than the other foot. Why does something like that happen. He now blogs about how he understands a lot of this by God's grace.

So how does this passage help us with such things? It shows us that Jesus' timing is not our timing. Mary and Martha wanted Jesus to get on with it and save their brother. Jesus had a better plan in mind. Jesus had healed lots of people. He could do that again, but Lazarus would be one more person Jesus had healed. Because he loved this family so much he wanted to use them for greater purposes. Lazarus got to be one of the few that Jesus raised from the dead and he got a special place in the sequence of events that led to Jesus' death on the cross that allowed for everyone to be raised from the dead. Mary and Martha and the disciples were looking at things on the surface. Jesus saw the big picture; and so he waited a couple more days before going to Lazarus and Mary and Martha.

How many times might we be seeing the immediate picture and Jesus sees the big picture in our lives? This can be illustrated with two incidents from my life. In 2001, my friend John Wilson called me and asked if Maureen and I could join him and a few friends at another friend's house. He said he had some news. We knew it wasn't good. John told us that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of bone cancer. The doctors suggested that he might only live for a year. This began a ten year journey in which I walked beside my friend through numerous treatments and many ups and downs. At times we questioned why God would not heal John. At other times we were thankful that John had survived a bout of pneumonia that could have killed him. John remained faithful to his God through the ten year battle but then God took him home to heaven. God's timing was not the timing that we had prayed for. We had asked God to give John a long life; but instead he died at 57 years old.

In the middle of this journey with John, I experienced my own close brush with death. Around the middle of March in 2007, I began having some pain in the right side of my head. It was consistent with something called trigeminal neuralgia. Basically a nerve gets inflamed for some reason and sends pain signals to the brain. This may be caused by a tumour pressing on a nerve, it may be caused by a virus, or some other less obvious cause. As my doctor investigated, a CT scan indicated a possible mass on the Pons of my brain. No one wants to hear the words “possible mass” on any portion of the brain. Was this a cancerous lesion? Was this something that might grow? Could we be looking at the thing that would usher me out of this world? Many questions and fears went through our minds as we did our best to trust God with the future.

This brought us to a period of waiting for an MRI which would be a better form of imaging for structures inside of the head. During this period of waiting we asked many people to pray that God would take away the pain and take away anything that might be causing the pain. Many people did pray for healing. On about April 10th the pain began to subside and within four weeks the pain was completely gone, never to return again.

On Monday, May 7th I had an MRI. The next day, my doctor gave me the results. The MRI results were absolutely normal. There was no evidence of a mass of any sort. There was nothing abnormal in my brain.

Whatever the CT scan showed, it was no longer there. Had there been something there and God removed it? Was there an artefact on the CT results? We will never know for sure. However, if God chose to miraculously heal someone, this is likely what it would look like from a medical, scientific, perspective. Here was an instance of God bringing healing in a miraculously quick time. I have often asked God why I got a miracle but my friend John did not.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were people with emotions like our own. They too wrestled with God's timing in this situation. But Jesus saw the big picture and knew that he had a better outcome planned for them. Can we trust Jesus with our lives regardless of what it looks like from our limited perspective?

II. Walk in the Light

The other thing we learn from this passage is there in verses seven through ten.

and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

The disciples know what happened last time Jesus was in Judea. The Jewish leaders tried to stone him because he had claimed to be God. They were rightfully scared for him. His answer to them is, "Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light."

These words sound a bit cryptic at first. They might even sound a little out of place. What is he talking about here? Jesus is reassuring his disciples. In effect he is saying, "It will be alright. If we walk in the light, God will take care of us." Jesus, for his part knows that truly he is walking toward his own death. But he also knows that he is walking in the light and not in darkness. He knows that there is much suffering ahead for him. He knows that his followers will be scattered and many of these disciples will eventually be killed for their faith. But he is saying to his followers, right now, you have me, the light of the world with you. He is also saying, if you walk in the light it does not matter what this world might do to you.

Conclusion:

The death of Lazarus allows us to see at least two things about God's timing. First, God's timing is not our timing because we see only the immediate picture. God sees the big picture. Second, if we walk in the light with Jesus it does not matter what this world might throw at us. We will be with Christ in this life and in the life beyond.

We can trust God who came in the flesh. We can trust Jesus to care for us.