Palm Sunday 2017

One week before Jesus died on the cross, he entered Jerusalem with shouts of salvation ringing through the streets. the people of Jerusalem responded to his arrival as recorded in Matthew 21:9 -

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

The reaction by most of the religious leaders of the day was fury! Quickly the schemed a plan to have this man killed. But why now? He had healed, preached, and taught for years in their city. Why would this entry on a donkey accompanied by shouts of salvation give them the ammunition they needed to conduct one of the greatest misuses of justice?

In 1 Kings 1 we read the story of how David's son Adonijah declared himself king. To make the announcement, he sent fifty chariots before him declaring his kingship. He was full of bravado, pride, and frankly - full of himself! He went through the town declaring his status and then threw a party. David heard of this and wanted his son Solomon to be the real king. He declared that Solomon would be appointed king and that instead of the pompous chariot spectacle, Solomon would ride in on a donkey - a lowly animal for a servant king. Solomon rode the donkey through town, was declared the rightful king, and assumed the throne.

So we see in Jesus the same approach - a servant king riding in on a lowly animal. How much that was in juxtaposition to the pomp and circumstance of the Roman leaders. The chariots, legions of soldiers, and fanfare was spared no expense. But here on Palm Sunday we read of the true king arriving as his ancestor had - humble but authentic.

The cries for salvation, "hosanna", were cries to a king. This salvation would come at a price. Jesus spent his last week before his death teaching and preparing his followers for his departure. He submitted himself to the authority of the Jewish leaders and the rule of Rome, resulting in his crucifixion. On the cross, Jesus completed his work here on earth. His final words summarize his effort and give us inspiration for our lives. His words, recorded for us in John 19:30 are a term most commonly associated with accounting. He tells everyone "it is finished" before he bows his head and gives up his spirit. The term for "it is finished" is an accounting term meaning "paid in full".

His completed work provides salvation from Death, Debt of Sin, and Damnation. Paul writes of these things to the Colossians in his letter to them (chapter 2):

"13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

We are made alive with Christ (verse 13)! This is amazing! We no longer have our life (one that begins at a certain point and will last forever) but we now share in the life of Christ (which has no beginning and no end). This means that God sees us in his son, the one who has no sin - and therefore will never face spiritual death!

Our debt of sin is cancelled by his death on the cross (verse 14). we are charged with breaking the laws of God, and God is a just God, demanding retribution for this injustice. But through the sacrifice of Christ our debt is canceled (the Greek term here means obliterated, erased, wiped out) and we no long can be held accountable for that debt!

This debt had a serious payment: damnation. All who sin will have to be paid the wages of sin with is death (Romans 6:23). Death is described here in Romans with a Greek word meaning misery of the soul. What greater misery wold there be than the total separation of us from God with no hope of reconciliation. This is the very judgement that awaits all who are not written in the lamb's book of life (have salvation). All who reject God's salvation will be cast out (Revelation 20:14-15). Thank God, the death of Jesus on the cross saves us from this eternal damnation!

The completed work of Christ on the cross also provides us with victory over evil. In Colossians 2:15 we read that God disarmed the powers and authorities by the cross. This is not speaking of the Roman rulers at that time. It is a spiritual victory! The cross disarmed the rulers, authorities, and the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms - ones that we truly fight against (Ephesians 6:12). Jesus alluded to this fact that he was fighting a spiritual fight and not a physical battle when he tells Pilate during his trial “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36). The cross provided victory over spiritual evil in a way that allows us to be free from all indenture-hood spiritually speaking!

On the cross, Jesus paid it all. We owe no further sin debt, we are truly free!  

CHURCH: Better Than Ever! Week Two

When we find ourselves in a place that we are comfortable, we have a tendency to seek the status quo. Seeing the church as a status quo organization is dangerous. It is a living organism - the body of Christ here on earth. The body is either growing or dying, As we get older, our natural bodies seem to expand with little to no effort. This expansion is not always healthy. True can be said of a local church. Explosive numerical growth can be both a positive and a negative. So the question is how can we work with God to build a faithful (healthy) church?

Healthy, faithful church growth is a result of God's power and authority. In Acts chapter 2 we read that "the LORD added to their numbers daily those who were being saved." God is the author and finisher of our faith. It is true for the church as a whole as well - he is the creator and sustainer of his future bride. Many books and articles have explored the concept of church growth, but I believe true growth must be both numerical and spiritual. Gary McIntosh addresses this issue in his book Biblical Church Growth. He begins with the premise that since the church is the embodiment of Christ here on earth, and given that Jesus is a life-giving savior, then his body (the church) should be life giving as well.

What makes a church a life-giving church? McIntosh present nine fundamental principles to use as evaluation of a healthy life-giving church.

God reveals himself in all of nature. Psalm 19:1 confirms that "all the heavens tell of the glory of God." But this glory is corrupted by the corruption of all creation by sin. Man needed further instruction, and so God provided it by His Word - the Bible. The bible is "God breathed" and good for teaching and training (1 Timothy 3:16,17). It must be the cornerstone of a successful church growth.

In John 15;8, Jesus tells us that his father "is glorified by this: that you bear much fruit and prove that you are my disciples." We glorify God by being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlling (Galatians 5:22,23). It is the chief and highest goal for man - to glorify God (Westminster Confession, 1647).

The church is committed to the Great Commission - teaching people about Christ so that they know, then teaching them about him so that they can go out and share with others. Discipleship is key to growing a faithful healthy church.

We can be compared to a rechargeable battery - we can be vessels of power of certain situation, but we need an external source of power to keep us charged. The Holy Spirit is available to us as a power cord to "plug into" God's inexhaustible power. If we are to have the energy to see real church growth and development, then we must be drawing energy from an unlimited source, not ourselves or risk failing to complete task of bringing glory to God.

The purpose of the shepherd is to lead, protect, train, nurture the sheep so that they grow to maturity. Mature sheep are productive, and lead to having other sheep. A good shepherd "leads the flock among them" (1 Peter 5:2). The shepherd is found in and among the sheep. They are a servant leader, not a celebrity, authoritarian, or privileged pontiff.

The church is comprised of individuals. These individuals are the ministers of the church. They are the ambassadors into the community - sharing God as they go about their daily lives. They must be effective ministers.

Jesus is the perfect example. In John 1:14 we discover that Jesus put aside his culture (heavenly perfection and riches) and exchanged them for flesh and came to live among us. He met us where we were. He became a shepherd among the sheep. He did this so that his message would be better understood, but he did not compromise his principles. Effective message delivery may look different in various parts of the world, but the message of God's love and forgiveness does not.

When you read this you may be thinking of a personal experience or story of local churches who seek a specific target as detailed in their mission statements. It may read something like "we are a church who seeks millennials" or "we are a church who welcomes everyone who loves lights out loud praise between the ages of 18 to 35" or "we are reaching baby boomers with the rock steady traditions of our beloved church reaching back two thousand years." The tag lines may change, but the message is clear: "We want a church that looks,acts, sounds like us." This is NOT God's idea of targeted focus.

His plan has been the same in both Old and New Testaments - start with one (Abraham in OT, Jesus in NT) - grow into a large group (Jewish nation in OT, the Church in NT) - then impact and bless the world through this group. Or as Jesus put it in Acts 1:8 - go into Jerusalem (local), expand into Judea (region), and into the world! A healthy church growth plan has a target of everyone everywhere, one soul at a time regardless of age, culture, or preferences.

God has always been about order and structure. He existed prior to time and creation as Father, Son, and Spirit. He appointed leaders throughout the bible, and in the New Testament entrusted his venue of change (the church) in the hands of men. There are clear guidelines for leaders (Titus 1, 1 Timothy 3, 1 Peter 5) and there are clearly more requirements on leaders (Hebrews 13:17, James 3:1), but leadership is vital to a growing church. there is organization in God's plan.

The effectiveness of a growing life-giving church is its members. Next week we will explore how we can become effective life-giving members of the body of Christ!