All for your consideration.
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.
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.
The glory of the cross is not that people get to escape hell and enjoy eternal comfort. The glory of the cross is that God saves. Salvation is about God before it is about us.
The Bible gives us several pictures of the resurrected Jesus in all his glory, and the amazing thing is, he still bears his scars. They’re no longer a source of pain or shame, they are a constant proclamation of his glorious love. He wears them like a trophy.
Are Christians delusionally optimistic or toxically positive in the face of suffering? Is religion just a sad excuse for a crutch in the face of our crushing circumstances? I would say: absolutely not! Christianity avoids both delusional optimism and toxic positivity, and our text this morning shows us how.
Take Note Of This 