All for your consideration.
It’s no small thing that of all people, David calls himself a sheep. He recognizes something in his own heart—something that’s in the heart of every human—that’s mirrored by his flock: we all need to be led. If you can accept the fact that you are like a sheep, you can have the Lord as your shepherd. You shall not want. And the Lord finds his glory in restoring your soul.
Abundant life is found only in the person of Jesus Christ and having a personal relationship with him. And the most important thing we can to do reach abundant life in Jesus is encounter him in his word. So that’s what we’re going to do this week. We’re simply going to see Jesus in the gospels, we’ll walk with him through the most critical week of his life. That week starts with a donkey and palm branches and a crowd shouting “Hosannah.”
“We are the makers of our own gods—which, of course, is part of the absurdity of worshiping them.” – Christopher Wright, “Here Are Your Gods”
Jesus faced every fear you can imagine, and the greatest fear of all, death, so that you and I could be free from them forever. If you follow Jesus no matter what anybody else wants or thinks, God promises to remember your name—and no one, not even Pharoah, can thwart God’s promises.
You need to know that cynicism is deeply un-Christian. If you identify as a cynical person, you’re actually choosing an identity out of step with your faith, because the gospel of Jesus Christ forces us to reckon with our hopes. Jesus makes us admit that we really are hoping for something. And he promises us we’re hoping for something good.
None of us are good at waiting—and yet, waiting is an unavoidable part of living in this broken world. How does God equip us to wait for restoration?
One of the wealthiest, highest educated, and hardest working cities in America; work is at the core of our culture. So, DC friends, what does the gospel of Jesus Christ have to do with your work? Our passage shows something beautiful: the gospel frees us to work for the glory of God and the good of our brother.
Just as Jesus comes to the disciples in the storm and reaches out to save Peter, Jesus has come to us. Jesus, the Son of God, met us in our storm. He came from heaven to earth to reach us in the form of a man. He plunged the depths of death by dying on a cross to rescue us from spiritual death, and then he rose from the dead to bring us with him into everlasting life.
There are no lengths he has not gone to find you. Not just sweeping the house, not just searching the hills for a sheep; God came from heaven to earth. The Son of God Jesus Christ took on flesh to find his lost. He came from glory and bliss to homeless rags. And even that wasn’t far enough.
If you are waiting for your own kingdom to fix all the problems we face, don’t hold your breath. Any kingdom under the sun is ultimately a part of the problem. What we need is a new kingdom to break in and free us from Satan. That’s the reason Jesus Christ came.
Take Note Of This 