The Cup, The Hour, The Cross

Mark’s version of Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane is most vivid. Peter, who promised to follow Jesus even if it meant his own death, James and John, who promised they would drink from his cup and endure Jesus’ baptism, are told to stay there and keep watch. Despite their bravado they can’t even manage to stay awake.

Jesus now asks Abba, Father, that this hour may pass and this cup may be removed.

Sunday Audio from Feb 18 and 25

In our adult Sunday School class we continue our study of the Gospels

Feb 18: The Institution of the Lord’s Supper: to stream, to download

Feb 25: “All of you will fall away”: to stream, to download

Sermon Audio:

Feb 18: Galatians 6:14: Only Boasting in the Cross: to stream, to download

Feb 25: How the Cross Defeats Evil: to stream, to download

Please contact Paul if any of these links don’t work.

Sunday Audio from Feb 4

The Cross and God's Dilemma

The Cross of Jesus Christ reveals to us God’s terrible dilemma. Our rebellion and subsequent rape of earth, humanity and history set God’s love against itself. Hosea 11:1-9 expresses this drama. God is torn. If he truly loves us he can’t simply dismiss what we’ve done against him, each other and the world. For us to pay the price, however, would destroy us. We are a mess, and God’s love has him in a box.

Evil and the Cross

Evil is always parasitic. Evil takes a man, a woman, an angel, a world and twists created glory into instruments of pain, of torture and of death. Evil holds the gift of life hostage and uses it to bring death.

Miroslav Volf, a Croat who knew the war in Sarajevo first hand noted how often soldiers on both sides asserted “we have no choice, it’s them or us.”

We hear that all the time. It’s us and our way of life or the Islamic terrorists. Mujahadim press their population: “The great Satan of America controls our economies, controls our governments, has bombs and movies to threaten our bodies and seduce our minds. It’s them or us!” Palestinians protest Israeli land grabs and missile assassinations. Israelis declare they have no safety from suicide bombers. Both sides cry “we have no choice. It’s them or us.” Everyone knows, the strong inherit the land!

The Cross and the Son of Man

The phrase “Son of Man” appears 82 times in the 4 gospels. It is the principle title that Jesus used for himself. Most people reading an English translation of the Bible today understand the phrase as Jesus making an assertion as to his humanity. Jesus was of course fully human, but by this title Jesus identifies himself as something very specific and extraordinary in terms of the imaginations of the people in his day. To understand who the “Son of Man” is, you must read Daniel 7:1-14.

For many Christians more familiar with the New Testament than the Old, Daniel 7 may immediately remind you of the book of Revelation. Our of the sea, that place of chaos out of which God brought order and created the world (Genesis 1:2, remember there is no “sea” in the book of Revelation) arises 4 terrible beasts. These beasts everyone would know represented empires of the earth that rule the earth with great cruelty and power. We also see the Ancient of Days setting up his court and it is clear that there is going to be a showdown. After the slaying of the beast with the boastful horn another character appears “one like a son of man”. “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power, all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Note that he is in the presence of the Ancient of Days AND he is worshiped! This must have made a monotheistic Daniel rather puzzled. Who is this Son of Man?!

Lenten Series: The Cross, Intro

“May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Galatians 6:14 (NRSV)

If you had no acquaintance with Christianity but yet were familiar with the Roman practice of crucifixion, you would rightly consider Paul’s statement here to be either unintelligible or ludicrous. To read more of what Paul would say about the cross might only further your confusion. Lest you think Paul singularly strange in this, Jesus’ own disciples couldn’t make much sense of the whole matter either yet the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus changed the world.

Sunday's Audio

Galatians 4: Do not go back into slavery. To stream the audio To download the audio

"Foolish Galatians"

A couple of you asked me for the recording of the sermon on Sunday. Unfortunately the battery in my mike failed during the sermon so we were unable to get a recording of it. This isn't a transcript from the sermon but rather an approximation of the thought flow of the message. Here's a link to it in PDF for easier printing.

Last week we started into the book of Galatians. We talked about how angry Paul was with some of these churches that he himself had planted. This week in chapter 3 he’s back at them again. Verse one starts out "you foolish Galatians!" Pretty strong language for a pastor don’t you think? Now many of you have been in church a while and you kind of know your way around. What kinds of things get people in trouble in churches? In what kind of occasions do you see pastors getting all worked up?

Those of you who have been around church long enough know that there is a list someplace of sins that will get you into trouble while other sins won’t. Certainly there must be some sexual sin that Paul is angry about amongst the Galatians. Perhaps they are dabbling in other religions found in their cities or maybe they are making sacrifices to idols or something. Surely it must be something like this to get Paul so angry with them to draw this kind of language from them.

Christmas Schedule

December 24:

9:30 AM: Adult Sunday School

11:00 AM: Worship Service

6:00 PM: Candlelight Christmas Eve Service

No service on December 25.

December 31:

11:00 AM: Worship Service

No Evening Service