Tag: light of the world

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Wake Up Everybody!

  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Philippians 4:19-20

In the created order, there is no greater display of power than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. No, not even the Atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki would qualify as such a great display of power. Bombs destroy everything within their blast zone, but resurrection creates life to infinity. In the resurrected life, there will never be another need unmet for all eternity. Let that sink in for a moment.

St. Paul knew that if the Philippian church could grasp the truths of the power of the resurrection, then they would fulfill their place in the kingdom. They would be the light of the resurrected Christ shining in the darkness. They would be supremely content no matter what happened in this life, because they would have the same mind as that of Christ Jesus. Such a witness would not be denied in their world – nor will it in ours.

The gift of resurrection power is yours and mine, and for all who have been re-born into faith in Jesus Christ. We need only wake up to them. We must wake up each day giving glory to God our Father for whatever comes our way, for nothing takes Him by surprise. In all things He will bring His good to us if we face this life and all its trials with confidence in the greatest power available – resurrection!

There are two billion Christians in the world. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all lived with such confidence? In his 1975 hit song “Wake Up Everybody”, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes asked the world to wake up to the possibilities of a world where we work together for change. (Listen to the song here) While I don’t know if Harold saw Jesus Christ as that change, he definitely called us preachers to wake up and preach the truth. All it takes for this world to be better is for Christians like you and me to wake up and live in the power of the resurrection.

So wake up everybody, Christ is risen…and so are we!

Grace & Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Wonderful, Merciful Father, thank you for sharing the power of the resurrection with me. Help me to wake up to all that you want me to be, and all you want to do through me for your glory. Amen. Alleluia!

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Show What You Know

“Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”

Philippians 2:14-15

This might be a bit controversial but hang with me. I think the most needed thing in our world today isn’t necessarily more people who know about Jesus…but more people who ‘show’ Jesus. Are you still with me? Let me explain.

Knowing Jesus is everything, but if it’s really everything to us we’ll show it in the way we live. St. Paul had already told the Philippians to “work out” their salvation, “with fear and trembling”. Then, he told them how to live as believers that make a difference in perverse world. We’re called to live holy lives that make a difference.

Christians, like it or not, are called to be different from the world. Complaining and arguing aren’t winsome in anyone, especially in people who are to be “blameless and harmless”. Sadly, churches are full of members who complain, grumble, and pretty much live like everyone else. It’s as if their faith makes no difference in their lives.

Right now you’re probably saying, “Yes Brad, but aren’t churches supposed to be hospitals for sinners? After all, we’re only human.” You’re right. But, there comes a time when we who follow Jesus must get serious about being intentional disciples who allow the power of the resurrection to transform us into lights that shine brightly in the darkness.

I told you this might be controversial. Right now you might be thinking that you’re not good enough, to be the kind of believer Paul describes. Don’t lose heart. Notice that he calls us to be “blameless”, not perfect. Blameless isn’t an excuse to not be transformed. Surrendering to Jesus’ transforming power shows how much we value His forgiveness. Here’s a link to a song by Dara McLean to help you think about what it means to be blameless, and forgiven: http://www.bing.com/search?q=Blameless+Dara+Maclean+Video&FORM=R5FD1

We can’t be as perfect as Jesus, but we can have hearts that perfectly love Him and are transformed by his resurrection power. And, the extent to which we live out of perfect hearts, our motives will be blameless. You see, the difference isn’t in what we know of Jesus, but in what we show of Jesus. Are you living in the power of His resurrection? It’s what makes all the difference.

Remember, Christ is risen…and so are you!

Grace & Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Lord Jesus, if there is anything in me that is not surrendered to you, let me give it to you now. Tune my heart to perfectly love you, that I may live as your light to a dark and lost world. Amen. Alleluia!

Image credit: http://www.daramaclean.com/updates/behind-song-blameless-62686

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Raised from the Ashes: Holy Week – Thursday

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John 1:5

Read John 1:1-13

Holy Week By Pastor Brad msc-1

A Night of Shadows

(From my Tenebrae Service Homily)

As we gather tonight in the shadows, we hear the words of scripture and we let our hearts and minds meditate on what it might have been like for Jesus and his disciples that Maundy Thursday night so, long ago. Everything they believed in and had spent three years learning to build, seemed destroyed in a matter of moments.

Of course we know it was not destroyed. Rather, it was changing…changing from an earthly, regional ministry of proclaiming the gospel, (which itself had to give way to death, in order to be raised up) into a life transforming ministry that would sweep the world for all of time to come. That change was only three days away, but must have seemed like forever as they scattered into the shadows in fear.

But, that night, the night on which Jesus was betrayed and arrested, there was only shadows…shadows of betrayal, agony, accusation, and death.

Tonight as we remember, let us contemplate the shadows that may be looming over our own lives. Perhaps some of you tonight have been living in the shadows. The shadows may be many; pain, disappointment, fear, broken relationships, perhaps even the shadow of death. Tonight, let us remember that no shadow can exist for long in the light of Christ’s presence.

It only seems as if the shadows have overcome us, but in John 1 we are reminded that, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcomea it.” (John 1:4-5)

John goes on to speak about our fellowship with this great light in his first epistle. He says it is the message he heard from Jesus himself, and he is now declaring it to those who read his letter, and he declares it to us tonight.

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But 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.” (1 John: 5-7)

We Must Choose to See the Light

John tells us we have a choice tonight. We can choose to walk in the darkness that inevitably falls upon us in this fallen world…or, we can choose to see a light that pierces the darkness. By faith we can claim the light of Christ and know that that light will shine in ever increasing measure in our lives as it dispels all darkness, until one day, one day we find ourselves in the light of his everlasting glory for all eternity. But, until that day comes, the choice is ours.

Tonight let us choose Light, even though we shall leave this room in a little while in darkness. And, just as the darkness didn’t last forever in the lives of the disciples, so too it will not last forever in our lives. We must choose to look for the light. I assure you…it is there. It is here.

There is however, one shadow in which we must forever stand. We stand in it because it’s shadow covers the known world, it’s inescapable. It’s the shadow of the Cross of Jesus Christ. God has shone his glorious uncreated light down upon the cross that all would see it and have hope.

It is in that shadow, the shadow of Calvary we come tonight in this service to bring all our others shadows, all our darkness and despair, all our sin and shame, and we sacrifice them to His Cross.

And, it is in that shadow that the blood of Calvary still flows, and the tide of that flow will raise us from the ashes.

Grace & Peace for a Holy Week,

Pastor Brad

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Matthew 5:6