“It’s Not Fair!”

It seems we grow up hearing and saying those words: “It’s not fair!” The interesting thing is that while the people around us may not agree with our statement, no one ever objects and says, “Who cares about what is fair?” We seem to be born with this understanding that there is fair and unfair, right and wrong, justice and injustice. Why doesn’t anyone ask, “Where does our sense of justice come from?” It may be that the reason for not asking that question is it leads to the uncomfortable conclusion that if human justice is to mean anything, there has to be some kind of supernatural or divine justice.

This weekend at our worship services we’re going to be studying the sentencing of Jesus Christ to die on the cross. His execution was a travesty of human justice but the perfect fulfillment of divine justice.

Throughout history we see how human justice has swayed back and forth on the pendulum of either being too lenient or too harsh. But no one will ever seriously claim there was a time when we humans got justice perfectly right. It is in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, however, that God gets justice right forever.

If you are sick of living in a “not fair” world, join us for one of our worship services this weekend!

Saturday evening worship: 6:00 pm

Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am

“Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say”

Years ago that was a politically incorrect way of saying, “Tell the truth. Don’t twist the facts, don’t leave out anything important and don’t add anything to change what is true.” Today, however, truth is undergoing a transformation. It used to be that people understood the difference between gravity truth (those truths which apply to everybody equally – like gravity) and pizza truth (those truths which are based on peoples’ personal likes and dislikes – such as pizza). At the present, it seems that almost everything is now sliding into the category of “pizza truth”. What that means is everybody gets to decide for him or herself what is true. But that becomes very complicated when people have to work together to achieve some type of task. If everybody is operating on their own interpretation of what is true, agreement over even the smallest detail is going to be complicated.

Many years ago the man who condemned Jesus Christ to be executed on a cross asked the question we, as a society, are struggling with, “What is truth?”  That question leads to dozens more:

            “What is the truth about good and evil?

            What is the truth about how I should live?

            What is the truth concerning the way I should treat other people?

            What is the truth about what happens after death?”

If Pontius Pilate was confused about truth, Jesus Christ sheds a laser-like beam on the subject. He said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Jesus said what he meant and meant what he said. And his physical resurrection from the dead gives him a credibility no one else in human history has.

If you are in search of the truth, join us for one of our weekend services.

Saturday evening worship: 6:00 pm

Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am

Power Struggles

Power is a seductive word. We hear it and we want it. We all like to be in control. We enjoy the benefits power brings to a person. But power can also be very dangerous. Much of the tragedy of history is directly related to some sort of power struggle. And yet, power used wisely, for the good, can bring tremendous benefits.

As we again journey through the Lenten stories of Christ’s last hours on earth, we come this weekend to Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter’s denial and the Lord’s trial before the High Priest Caiaphas. In each case, we see a contrast of power – human and divine. There is the human power which is dependent upon weapons and driven by lust. There is the supernatural power of Jesus Christ which is dependent on sacrifice and motivated by perfect love. One power leads to instantaneous results, the other affects all of eternity.

The power struggle continues today in our lives. Which one will we hold on to: human power or God’s power?

Join us for one of our services this weekend. Get the power you need, the power that won’t ever give out…ever.

Saturday evening worship: 6:00 pm

Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am

The Trust Factor

“Who do you trust?”

That is a question many people are having a difficult time answering these days. In both personal and public relationships, people feel their trust has been broken, that they’ve been manipulated and used by people of whom they believed were out for their best.

It could be that in some cases people expected more from others than a human being could possibly provide. However, the general observation that faithfulness to other people is not the virtue it once was seems to have some truth to it. Because people have placed personal happiness as their main goal in life, being true to someone else at the expense of their own well-being has been relegated to a low-level priority. The result being, trust between people is broken rather easily.

In the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, we see all sorts of broken trust, especially in regard to Jesus’ very own followers. While they wanted to be loyal and faithful, when things got sketchy, they bailed on Jesus and abandoned him in order to save their own skins. But Jesus is an incredible contrast to his disciples! He remains rigorously faithful to the end. During his ministry he spoke again and again about the necessity of his death and resurrection. In fact, he claimed it was the reason for his coming to this earth. Faithful to his words, faithful to the disciples, faithful to the human race, Jesus Christ walked unwaveringly to the cross. The lesson for us? We’ll never get trust right with other people until we put our full trust for today and eternity in Jesus Christ. He is where the subjects of faithfulness and trust begin and end.

Saturday evening worship: 6:00 pm

Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am

Have You Been Offended by Jesus?

Children’s Sunday school stories have portrayed Jesus as a soft-spoken, kindly man who would never raise his voice or offend a person, no matter what. It may be an appealing image to little children, but it is not at all an accurate description of the Lord. It doesn’t take long when reading the Gospels to see that Jesus offended a lot of people on many different occasions. Does that mean he isn’t kind and caring and loving the way we present Jesus to our children? Absolutely not, but to not take action when confronted with evil is not being caring and compassionate! When Jesus stood toe to toe with evil, he didn’t back down, even if it offended people.

This Sunday we begin our Lenten sermon series “When God Turned Human Life Upside Down”. And that is exactly what happened when God entered this world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. And, the truth be told, Jesus still turns peoples’ lives upside down. Why? Because what we think is so vital to our lives Jesus gives little value or condemns, while those things which he told us are of the greatest worth, we disregard as irrelevant and unimportant.

There is no more “upside down” portion of Jesus’ life than the days leading up to his crucifixion. Nothing he did seems to make sense to the human mind. And yet, what he did in those few short days changed eternity.

Have you experienced being offended by Jesus? If not, join us for one of our services this weekend. It may be the best thing you can do for Lent!

Saturday evening worship: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am