A Glimpse of the Future

 

Movie trailers are meant to get people interested enough in the full length version of the film so that they will go out and see it in a theater. As a result, these 2 minute clips are fast paced and full of action. The whole point is to create a positive curiosity in the viewer’s mind. 

There was a “movie trailer” moment in the ministry of Jesus Christ. If it had a title, it would have been called, “A Glimpse of the Future”. Jesus took a small group of his disciples up a mountain for prayer. But this “quiet time” turned into a supernatural demonstration of shock and awe. First, Jesus is mysteriously transformed into what seemed like a powerful 360-degree laser, shooting out blinding light on all sides. Maybe even more mind blowing was two men (Moses and Elijah) physically appeared and had some one-on-one time with Jesus. What makes that meeting overwhelming to comprehend is both Moses and Elijah had been dead for several hundred years. What do we make of it? 

It's beyond us to understand all the details. After all, this event was clearly a God thing. But what we can say is, we get a glimpse of the future. God becoming a human being and living a very humble earthly life, which we celebrated at Christmas, wasn’t a permanent transition. Jesus Christ became one of us for one highly specific mission and when it was completed, he took back his full glory as true God and now rules everything until the day he will return to make all things right for all time. 

For a brief moment during his earthly ministry, Jesus pulled back the curtain of the future to give us a glimpse of what it will be like to see him face to face in eternity. If you are a little bored with God right now, join us for one of our weekend worship services. The Jesus you will see when you step through the door of death is enough to shake anyone out of their God doldrums. 

Weekend worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm – Sunday: 10:00 am

Get Serious!

 

It’s hard to imagine what the disciples of Jesus must have felt after his pep talk prior to sending them out on their first preaching mission. To be honest, it wasn’t really a pep talk as much as a reality check. For a good year or so the disciples had been witnessing both the preaching and healing power of Christ. Now he was sending them out for a short time to do the same. What could be more exciting? But then came Jesus’ warning. “People are going to try to stop you by any means. They’ll even try to kill you. And in some cases, they will succeed. Even your family members may turn against you.” Talk about dreams of glory being shattered! 

Like a bride and groom on their wedding day imagining their future life of harmonious marital bliss, the disciples forgot that the whole reason the Son of God became a human being was to be the decisive force in the ongoing war which has been raging since the Garden of Eden. It’s a war we often can’t see but experience on a minute by minute basis. It is a war between two powers we can’t begin to imagine. It is a war with eternal consequences. Above all, it is a war Jesus Christ came to win. 

And win the war he did when he shouted from the cross, “It is finished.” Sin was paid for. Satan defeated. But the permanent and total outcomes of that victory won’t be visible until he comes again on Judgment Day. Until then, while victorious in Jesus, we must fight daily the attacks of evil and Satan. It is something we all too often take far too lightly. We underestimate the deceptiveness of temptation and we overrate our ability to resist. In short, we get complacent. We find ourselves resisting the discipline of the Christian life. We just aren’t serious about our daily life as a follower of Christ. 

In a less than subtle manner, Jesus blows us out of the water of our false sense of spiritual security, blasting the message, “Get serious about your relationship with me!” in a variety of shocking ways. As long as you and I are breathing, there is no time for unfocused living. The purpose of human life, according to Jesus, is to receive him as our Savior and Lord in this life so that we may experience eternal life with him. Between now and the moment we see Jesus face to face, our attitude toward the war for our souls can be nothing less than the most serious. 

If being a Christian feels a little like being a part of a club, join us for one of our weekend services. It’s good to be serious more often than we think. 

Weekend worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm – Sunday: 10:00 am

The Miracle Maker

 

All of us want a miracle every now and then. Even people who claim there is no such thing as miracles secretly wish for one when things get tough. And who can blame us? There are times in life when we have exhausted all our resources and still the pain of our problem is just too much. If we’re honest with ourselves, the miracles we want are actually very significant quick fixes. We want our problem to go away so that we can return to enjoying life on our terms. 

Jesus did about 40 miracles during his earthly ministry. They varied from healing the sick, multiplying food, demonstrating control over nature and even human death. Though he was usually very discreet about his miracle making abilities, the word got out and people thronged to him, hoping to get their own personal miracle. Which is all very understandable. People still turn to Jesus for miracles today, even if they aren’t all that interested in becoming one of his followers. We can get so desperate; we’ll try anything or anyone to give us relief. 

When we look closely at the miracles of Jesus, however, we find that the last thing he intended for people was to see him as a miracle maker specializing in quick fixes. Jesus’ miracles always had long term objectives for the person he was helping – specifically a lifelong relationship with him. The quick fix miracle was meant to lead the person into an eternal cure far beyond anything they could imagine. 

If you are praying for a miracle, keep on praying. The power of God to do miracles hasn’t diminished in the last 2000 years. But as you pray for relief of some kind of suffering which is making life miserable, ask the Miracle Maker for the most important miracle – the forgiveness of sins and life in heaven. Any physical miracle will someday lose its importance. Christ’s forgiveness never will. 

Weekend worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm – Sunday: 10:00 am

Yes! The Foundation Does Matter!

 

About the only people who are very interested in building foundations are architectural engineers. Foundations just aren’t the kind of thing which catch most peoples’ attention. If you can see them at all, they usually consist of drab, unpainted concrete. The photo, however, graphically demonstrates how vital it is for a home or building to have a foundation of integrity. 

The Wexner Center for the Performing Arts at Ohio State University has been named America’s first postmodern building because the architect designed it with no design in mind. He explained that just as life is an unplanned accident, so the building has no plan or specific design. There are pillars which have no purpose, stairways that go nowhere. However, there is one part of the building which was planned, designed, and constructed according to strict building codes. You know which part that is. Certainly – the foundation! 

Near the end of his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ talked about foundations even more important than those of buildings. He said that every person builds a foundation for their life. And it is that foundation which will determine not only the course of one’s life, but their resistance to life’s problems. Jesus’ foundation plans are challenging to say the least. But following them will have consequences which cannot be measured. 

You and I have only one life to live, one foundation to build. Isn’t it worth finding out Jesus’ plan for the foundation of our lives?   

Weekend worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm – Sunday: 10:00 am