1.21 blog

The other day I was reading the Bible for my own edification (well, I do this most days, but this story happens a few days ago). I’m currently in the book of Numbers, which is famous for having census data in it. It probably ranks just below Leviticus in people’s “least favorite” books of the Bible. But, as 2 Timothy 3.16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable.” Sometimes people have a hard time believing that about Numbers. So here’s an example.

Chapter Seven is a kind of famously “boring” passage. God gives directions for the heads of the Tribes to bring an offering. And then it describes them bringing their offering. Each of the twelve tribal heads brings an offering, each offering is described, and each offering is identical. It’s essentially reading the same thing twelve times in a row.

But as I thought about the passage, it occured to me that this shows that all alike have the same problem. We all have the same debt of sin. No one’s really worse off than anyone else, even though it sometimes seems that way.

This should humble us when we feel superior to others. And it shoudl encourage us when we feel utterly worse than everyone else. We’re all in this together. I’m the sorst sinner I know (1 Timothy 1.15), but at the end of the day, we’re all in the same boat.

Further, we all have the same solution. Ultimately, the Offering behind these offerings in Numbers is Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. His death and his resurrection suffices for all who come to him in faith. As Charles Wesley said, “His blood can make the foulest clean. His blood avails for me.”

So if you trust him, thank Jesus for the total sufficiency of his atonement. Thank him that you are forever safe and secure. Such  sacrifice demands our total life and devotion, ask him to teach you to give it.

Posted by: Gene Schlesinger

Only after Chapters  1 & 2 in his letter to the church at Colossae does Paul begin to apply the gospel to the lives of his readers. This week 1.21 Church is looking at Colossians 3:1-10, (please read before going on). In this text God teaches us through Paul’s writing that the good news of Jesus changes every aspect of a believers life. He shows that this gospel has many implications, that these implications play out in everyday life.

Many times we like to apply things that we have not learned yet. Paul, though, fills the first half of this letter with who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done. In doing so, he shows us that the only way we can apply the Word of God to our lives is by first seeing who Jesus is and what he has done. He begins by showing the only viable alternative proposal to legalism: instead of giving us principles to live by, or ways to change our behaviors, Paul reminds us of who we are in Christ. He tell us to stop thinking so much about ourselves, and our behavior (“earthly” things), and instead to set our minds on Jesus, and what he has done.

He shows this in greater detail at the end of the text when he describes us putting off the old man (what we have received from Adam – sin), and putting on the new man (what we have received from the Second Adam – righteousness ). He gives those who are trusting in Jesus a list of things to kill; explaining that these things (such as anger, sex outside of marriage, slander, wrath)  are inconsistent with who Jesus is, and are therefore of no value to a believer. He instructs us to kill them and put them away. They bring a bad name to Jesus, and they are inconsistent to who we are in Christ. Paul is not just telling them what they’re lives should be like. He’s calling them to live the lives that they’ve already been given in Christ. If you belong to Jesus, you have the same calling.

1. What does applying the bible look like for you?
2. How do you normally handle your own spiritual growth?
3. When friends come to you for counsel, do you give them good advice or the good news of Jesus?
4. Do you have friends that can help you see the implications from the gospel?

This week, we as a church, are taking a look at the difference between the gospel of Jesus and legalism. Legalism is a system in which a person seeks to gain God’s acceptance or blessings by what he does. Whether it be by a list of religious practices (Such as fasting, not drinking beer, or only using the KJV) or by just trying to be a moral individual (volunteering at the mission, giving to the poor, or just being nice to coworkers.)

Paul writes a strong warning to the church at Colossi in Colossians 2:16-23. Paul warns the church about false teachers that come in and present other practices and additional works for the church to adopt. They present a Jesus + Religion. They teach and preach that something extra must be added to the gospel in order to have a fulfilled religious/spiritual life. Paul tells the church not to listen to their legalistic judgment and condemnation and not to submit to there fabricated fleshly rules and rituals. These legalistic teachers are ‘puffed up in there own minds’. Obeying rules leads the individual to be prideful and builds self-righteousness.

Over and over we see Paul’s concern for this church when he states that the main problem is we do not look to Jesus and his work for growth and maturity in our spiritual walk. We, just like the church at Colossi, naturally create a set of rules for ourselves to try to change and tweak our behavior so we can create spiritual growth on our own. Paul shows us how inconsistent these practices are in verse 20, when he explains that now since we have died with Christ we relate to God on the basis of Christ and his accomplished work on the cross. We do not relate to God on our basis and our behavior. There is no need for legalism. We are not working to earn God’s acceptance.

The gospel presents a completely different approach to life. The gospel of Jesus shows us that we are so messed up and sinful that God had to send his son to pay our penalty. This gospel understanding leaves no room for legalism and self-righteous pride. It leads us to a lifestyle of humility and total dependence on Jesus and what he has accomplished.
As the gospel shows us our sinfulness we are also shown how loved and accepted we are by God, on the basis of his son. He loved us so much he was willing to come and die for his church. Now we obey God because our identity is found in his love toward us.

Living legalistic lives, always looking at rules and judging others robs Jesus of the glory he is worthy of and robs the believer of the joy that is only found in Christ. In Christianity, we learn to rest in his obedience rather than our own.

1.What religious rules have you (or someone you know) created to change a behavior?
2.Are you able to see the difference between a religious/legalistic lifestyle and the Gospel lifestyle?
3.Are you resting in Jesus’ obedience or your own?

post by: Pastor Stephen

Most the time when people talk about anger and fighting Jesus is rarely mentioned. Most like to view Jesus as a sissifiedpansy who was always being pushed around and always refrained from being angry and having fits of rage. Come to find out, the Jesus of the Bible was similar to you and I, in that he became extremely frustrated at situations and people (so much so that he had various outbursts of anger on a few occasions). Jesus was unlike us, though, because he was angry over different issues (such as injustice, self righteousness, and idolatry). We tend to be angry over insignificant things such as loud neighbors, having to wait for the waitress to fill up our glass, or the line at the Krispy Kreme drive-thru. (I saw a fist fight there once, no joke.).

From Jesus’ example  we can learn how to be angry. But first we need to understand what Jesus got angry about.

When you see injustice happening at work, that should make you angry against sin. When you see a father abandon his child and the child’s mother, you should burn with anger against the sin of abandonment. After hearing of one of your friends being raped or molested your anger for that sin should lead you to fight for justice.

Here are some ways we can practically fight like Jesus.
- Get angry for the things that make Jesus angry (and only those things).
- Find the minority, whose voices go unheard, and fight against the injustice.
- Fight to prevent sin in yourself and others.
- Step up to fight at work when sin occurs.
- Seek out injustice in Winston and fight until you see change.
- Fight your own sin.

Posted by: Stephen Wagoner

I think that we all want to live a better life, don’t we? There are signs of it all over the place. In the check out aisles in grocery stores we see magazines promising us better marriages, better bodies, better jobs, better sex, better homes and gardens. One of the most popular books in recent years was Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now. You turn on the television, and there are all sorts of solutions: buy this car, this cheeseburger, this Sham-wow!, and your life will be better. We’re inspired by shows like “The Biggest Loser,” and can easily be convinced that for five easy payments of whatever, that bowflex, or gazelle, or whatever else will be the missing ingredient for our lives to finally take off.

Now of course, there’s a lot of disagreement about what our better life should look like, or how to get there. I remember when the Atkins diet was the next big thing (I kind of wish it would come back…something about a diet where you just eat all the red meat and bacon you can handle is appealing to me…but my wife’s training in the health care field has placed a permanent damper on my hopes of healthier living through deep-frying). But you have that option, and then there are weight watchers, the South Beach diet, the cabbage soup diet, and so on.

Some of these are better options than others. But at the end of the day, they offer us the same basic solution: self improvement through law (something we do). Now, as far as it goes, this isn’t a bad thing. But at the end of the day, it will never provide a deep enough solution to fix what’s really wrong with us, and give us the life that we truly need. Colossians 2.13 pictures us as dead and alienated from God on our own. No amount of self improvement is going to fix what’s wrong with a corpse. We can lose all the weight, build all the muscle, and implement all the positive thinking we’d like, but at the end of the day: “dead is dead” (Benjamin Linus).

So rather than offer us self-improvement through the law, Jesus offers us new life through the gospel. Through faith, when we are plunged into the waters of baptism, our old life is buried and gone, our defilement is washed away, and we are raised to a new life, a Jesus defined life (Colossians 2.12). In some cases, self-improvement will help us. But when it comes to our most important challenge, we need this far more radical solution: an entirely new life, an entirely redefined existence. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are brought into this new life. He doesn’t give us something to do. Instead, he does it for us, giving us something in which to believe.

Posted by: Gene Schlesinger

This week we continued our series: “Jesus versus Religion,” where we’ve been looking at the Book of Colossians, and seeing Jesus’ superiority over all things, including religion. The sermon this week came from Colossians 2.6-15, and explored our identity crises. The fact is, so often we don’t know who we are. We go around, wearing different masks to fit into different situations until we forget who we are underneath it all. As a result, our lives are fragmented and unstable. We don’t really feel like we belong anywhere because we don’t even know who we are. But in this passage, the Apostle Paul offers us a solution to this dillema: the stability and identity that we’re seeking are found in Jesus Christ and his gospel.

In verses 6-7, Paul outlines how in Jesus we are offered stability. We are rooted and established in him. This is a firm identity that won’t shift with the changing circumstances in our life. And at the same time, this doesn’t mean that we’re just stuck in the same place throughout our lives. We also walk and are built up in him (there is growth and progress). And this is all characterized by thanksgiving. Every moment of every day provides us the opportunity to receive everything as a gift from God through Jesus. And all of this happens in him (the phrase occurs 7 times in these 9 verses).

But in verses 8-10, Paul also gives us a warning: what he outlines here will seem completely contradictory to what we expect and the way we experience life. Because we are created to obey God, we are wired for law: something to do. And as a result, we are always looking for (and being offered) something to do. In all these cases, it’s a form of law. But the problem is that this is “not according to Christ.”

In the Bible there are two categories: law (which gives us something to do), and gospel (which tells us something that’s been done). The answer to our problems won’t come through law. Instead, it comes through what Jesus has already done. Paul outlines this in verses 11-15. He points to the Christian sacrament of baptism, which depicts our identity with Jesus in his death and resurrection. Because of what he has done, we don’t have to follow the grain of the world, with it’s religious systems. Instead, we’ve died and risen with Christ. When he died, we died.

On our own we are dead and alienated from God. But now, through what he’s done, he has made us alive and has forgiven our sin. When Jesus died, our death died too, so that we could share in his life. And we aren’t just forgiven. The entire record of our debt has been cancelled. Jesus wiped it out and took it out of commission by nailing it to the cross. Because of this, all of our sins and failures are forgiven. We have an entirely new life now. When Jesus died, our sins died.

Finally, we saw that Jesus’ death was his victory against all the forces of evil. On the cross, he fought agaisnt everything that would trap and enslave us: from demonic forces, to religious legalism, to racism, to bad choices, to whatever else. And he won. They are defeated. They cannot hold us back. They cannot defeat us. They cannot ruin us. Jesus is the Victor!

And now because of this, we are able to live the sort of live outlined in this passage: with rootedness, and growth, and gratitude. We have been given the gift of a new life because God was merciful enough to kill us through Jesus. And through that, we finally learn who we really are: sinners, for whom Jesus has died, and who forever belong to him.

1. Where do I look for to find my identity?
2. Does my life display rootedness, growth, and gratitude?
3. What are the deceptive things that tend to lead me away from Jesus?
4. Have I been baptized?

Ok…this post has nothing to do with the band Mercyful Fate, but it had to be called something, and it’s about mercy…so, there you have it.

I was reading the Bible this morning, and in Leviticus 5.7-13, God introduces some welfare type legislation into the laws for animal sacrifice. In making a sin offering, people were supposed to offer a lamb. However, some people were too poor for that. In their case, he allowed them to bring two turtle doves. Which was very kind and generous. But then I noticed something that I hadn’t before. If anyone was too poor to offer the birds, they could just bring some grain, and have their sins forgiven. So we see God showing his mercy in making allowance for the impoverished circumstances of some people.

I think that the reason he was able to do this was because forgiveness was never based on the animal sacrifices anyway. For all peoples of all times, it has only been the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that can bring forgiveness from God. And since Jesus was going to make the payment anyway, God could offer this sliding scale method of payment because the sheep or the turtle dove wasn’t going to provide forgiveness anyway…only Jesus can do that.

In doing this God doesn’t compromise his justice: a full payment will be made. But he does highlight his mercy. At the end of the day, we are all poor and needy. And nothing we do can really atone for our sin. We all alike stand in need of Jesus. And by faith, all alike are received by the Father for his sake. Cast yourself on him. Thank him for his mercy. And ask him to teach you to be merciful as well.

Posted by: Gene Schlesinger

This Sunday was the third week in our series, “Jesus versus Religion,” where we’re looking at the Book of Colossians, and seeing that Jesus is superior to everything, including religion. Religion teaches that if we obey God and follow his rules, he will love, accept, and bless us. Gospel Christianity, though, teaches that God already accepts us because of what Jesus has done, with the result that we can joyfully obey him. The two are completely opposite.

This week, we looked at Colossians 1.24-2.5, where Paul describes his struggles and suffering on behalf of the church. This is good for us to hear, because we all struggle and suffer. There’s a tendency for us to think that if we love Jesus, believe in him, and follow him, that we’ll not have struggles or suffering. But this just couldn’t be true, because here Paul is: the Apostle of Jesus, representing him…yet he’s suffering! He doesn’t deny his suffering. He doesn’t seek “victory” over his suffering. Instead, he rejoices in suffering. So, even when we suffer, we can know that joy is available!

Paul tells us that he’s willing to suffer for two main reasons. First, he suffers because it helps the church (1.24-25). People are maturing in Christ through his suffering (1.28). And because that’s the case, he’s willing to suffer, because God has given him the responsibility of taking care of the church (1.25). In the same way, we should identify where God has given us responsibility and then do whatever it takes (even suffer) to meet those responsibilities.

The second reason Paul is willing to suffer is that it glorifies Jesus. He is proclaiming him, and working hard to present the church to him, for his glory (1.28). In Paul’s life (and it should be so with us, as well), the basic decision making criterion is, “What will glorify Jesus the most?” As we seek to make decisions, we should be asking this question. This won’t always make decision making easy (it can actually make it much harder). But it will ensure that when we make decisions, we will make them as worship.

And in all of this, Jesus is worth it. He is the long expected mystery of God, for whom the whole world has been waiting, and to whom the entire course of history has been directed (1.26-27). Whatever you’re looking for, you will find that Jesus is the fulfillment. And in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (2.2-3). There is nothing deeper, nothing more profound than knowing Jesus Christ. He is the infinite God, who offers us himself. This Jesus offers us himself: infinite, unending joy. There is nothing: no comfort, no possession, no emotional state, that is better than him. And by going to the cross–dying so that we can have life–he has earned our worship.

Finally, we saw how Paul is able to do this. Paul speaks of the close relationship between Jesus’ suffering and the suffering of the church (1.24). When we suffer, he suffers. When he struggles, he struggles. On the cross, he made our struggles his own. He took all the pain, sorrow, hardship, and suffering that comes from our own sin, or from the sin of others, or from our broken world. He took it, and he made it his own. And by rising from death, he has defeated death and suffering. And now we have his promise: he has claimed us as his own. He will never leave us or forsake us.

And as we learn to recognize that, it will change everything. It will give us an entirely new perspective on our suffering. It won’t eliminate it. It won’t make it easy or fun. But it will enable us to handle them. We can handle them because we know the one who has made our sufferings his own and will never leave us or forsake us. We know the glorious one who promises to be with us in the midst of hardship and bring us safely to the other side. Through this, we’ll learn to suffer well.

1. Where am I struggling in my life?
2. How do I respond to suffering? (Do I seek to glorify Jesus, or just to get out of it?)
3. Where is my comfort? (In the absence of suffering, or in what Jesus has done for me?)

Everybody’s looking for something. We live with a sense that there’s more to life than what we’ve experienced. And we long for more. The Germans have a word for this longing: Sehnsucht. Whether or not we’ve used this word, we’ve all had this experience, this ache and drive for a fulfillment that never quite comes. U2’s song, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” captures this feeling well.

This life is basically a quest for joy. Every pursuit is ultimately to find some sort of joy. It might be the pursuit of significance, or of pleasure. It might be the pursuit of money, or power, or respect. But ultimately, we are looking for joy. In the Bible, the Book of Ecclesiastes describes life under the sun as vanity/vapor, ultimately pointless. Whatever joys we may find here, they are not enough, they do not last. They end up owning us. Our modern world has developed unprecedented amounts of information, power, money, ways of getting pleasure…and yet we still want more. We still feel empty. Even when we find something we love, there’s a nagging sense of emptiness…a longing, a sehnsucht. None of these things can satisfy, because none of these things are supreme. None of these things are ultimate. Our longings are too great, and these things are too small. Only Jesus is sufficiently big enough to satisfy our desires, because Jesus is supreme over and greater than our desires. It is only in him that we find what we are looking for, whatever we are looking for.

People all around us are looking, and they’re coming up empty in their search. But I am convinced that every good desire we have is designed to lead us back in worship to Jesus. And every wrong desire, is ultimately a misdirected attempt to get what Jesus has already provided for us. Learn to hear people’s stories. What are they looking for? How does Jesus satisfy that?

Posted by: Gene Schlesinger

This Sunday was the second week in our series “Jesus versus Religion,” in which we’re looking at the difference between gospel Christianity and religion, as well as Jesus Christ’s superiority to all things (including religion).

The sermon came from Colossians 1.15-23, and dealt with joy. In later posts this week, we’ll be looking at the fact that we’re all looking for joy. But we’ll assume that for now. We may seek various ways to find joy, but at the end of the day, we need to look to Jesus.

We saw that he is God. He is the Image of the Invisible God (v. 15), and in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (v. 19). As God, Jesus is infinite and inexhaustible. And because of this, he is able to fully satisfy our desire for joy. Any other source can be used up and depleted. But God cannot be. He is the surest source for our joy.

Beyond that, we also saw that Jesus has created all things (vv. 16-17). As the Creator, he is superior to them. Which means we should be seeking our joy in him, rather than in other things. Apart from him, we wouldn’t even have them to enjoy. Yet, often these created things become idols to us (anything upon which we place supreme importance). We often do this with our jobs, or our possessions, or our families. Anything that exists has the potential to become an idol. But not only has Jesus created these things, he has also created them for himself (v. 16). This means that everything that exists exists to bring glory to Jesus. Everything should be leading us back to him for worship and joy. We should receive them as his good gifts to us, enjoy them, and acknowledge his superiority to them.

But simply receiving this information is not enough. Idols are quite difficult to unseat (believe me, I’ve tried). And this is why Jesus has also redeemed all things (vv. 18-20). He did this by making peace by his blood on the cross. When he was crucified, Jesus was treated as an idolator. He was treated as though he’d been elevating his family or his job to places of supreme worth (the way that you and I do). And because he has done this, now we can be treated as though we’ve lived lives that are completlely loyal to God (the way that he did). And through the cross, all things are set back in their rightful place. The cross of Jesus is the solution to our improper priorities.

Finally, though, we saw that Jesus does this for real people (vv. 21-23). A lot of times, hearing about the gospel, and about Jesus gets very abstract and impersonal. We can slip into thinking about it as a philosophy or set of principles. But it’s not. Jesus has done this in his body of flesh by his death (v. 22). He is a particular individual, who did a certain thing in history. These aren’t just general principles, they are particular historical events. And Paul addresses the Colossians (and us), showing that this happens to real people.

On our own we are alienated and hostile to God, but now, through what Jesus has done, we are holy, blameless, above reproach, and in his presence. Jesus brings us back to himself, the Fountain of all Joy.

And because of that, our lives are changed. Because of that we learn to worship Jesus and enjoy the gifts he’s given us. We see that in him we have an inexhaustible source of joy. This frees us from having to give ourselves over to idols. We don’t need them, we have Jesus. Now we can simply enjoy and appreciate them. You can like your job, or your family, or sex (with the person to whom you’re married). But even if you lose these things, you will never lose Jesus. And so as a result, you can relax your grip on them because you have been set free.

1. What things compete with Jesus for your joy?
2. What areas of your life show loyalty to Jesus?
3. Do you view Jesus more as a philosophical principle, or as a person?
4. What do you grip too tightly?
5. Are you trying to remove your idols on your own, or are you resting in what Jesus has done?