Today, Chad continued talking about the tough questions that many of us have. Today’s big question was “Is Jesus the only way?” That was the question that was debated in a skit, that a lady and I performed, at the beginning of the service. We made the arguments that a lot of people make; the ones like “there are many ways to God” and “whatever works for me….whatever makes me happy” and the “intolerance” of Jesus saying that HE is the “only way.”
What about these claims? IS Jesus the only way? Doesn’t every belief system get you to heaven? Some say yes, but what about the question I proposed at the end of the skit “What if we’re wrong? Have you ever thought about that?”
In order to ponder these things a little, Chad talked about the difference between Christ and a few different “belief systems” - including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. He presented it kind of like “deal or no deal” in which he had people bring out cases with the names of the religions on it. He said that all our “sincerity” believes that our “system” is the right one. But does every case contain the million bucks? No, of course not! Not everyone wins! It’s not all balloons and confetti every time is it? If that’s how things go in a GAME, how much MORE important is it for us to win in life (and the after-life)?
Chad explained the different kinds of beliefs. You can listen to his descriptions of them when the sermon is uploaded at http://www.missionoflife.com/ Or, you can visit http://www.wikipedia.org/ to research it. I am just going to be brief about the three religions mentioned by saying that it all boils down to legalism and self. How can you earn your way to eternity. How can you “make it” on your own efforts? In those systems, you are exhausting yourselves to meet standards that most will spend their whole lives obsessing over and trying to be “good enough” to attain. It must be discouraging and stressful!! I know that I could never measure up!! And, through it all, none of those “cases” hold a million bucks!! (Oh well, you can always be “reincarnated” and try again right? LOL)
Not one of those cases contains salvation because there is no Savior to do it (except “yourself”). I don’t know about you, but I CANNOT save myself! I am not my own salvation or my own god. Someone greater and bigger than me made all you see here. Therefore, it’s His rules, His world, and His way. And, it’s not “intolerant.” Just like a parent disciplines their child and does everything out of love for them (even when it’s tough or the child rebels) so does our heavenly Father do with us. EVERYTHING He does is out of love - which no other “belief system” preaches. If you are in Christ, you believe in the ONLY ONE who ever LOVED AND PURSUED YOU (and is COMING BACK FOR YOU)!!! He DEMONSTRATED His love for you by dying on a cross for YOUR sins so He could provide to you THE WAY to heaven! Salvation is HERE and it‘s for YOU! HE took care of it!! Getting to heaven doesn’t depend on anything that you do or earn! Whew!! What a relief!!
Shouldn’t that be great news? You are loved and pursued by your Maker; God cares about you and HE PROVED IT!! Romans 5:8 says: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Do you see the beauty in that? We don’t have to save ourselves! Christ already has!! All we have to do is believe; confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts that He is Lord (Romans 10:9-10). And, you don’t have to be “perfect” to make that confession. That’s the whole point of Romans 5:8. He died for us “while we were still sinners.” He died for us “imperfect” people in order to give us “perfect” salvation! We can’t clean ourselves up first before we ask Him to save us. How much sense does that make? If you could save yourself, what need do you have for a Savior? That’s like trying to take a shower without water. You can’t wash away the dirt without that cleansing water. All you will do is just spread that grime around with a filthy rag - that’s what our own “righteousness” is: filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We can’t clean ourselves without the purifying blood of Jesus Christ that washes away our sins! If we try to present ourselves to God without that cleansing blood, He will not be able to accept us or look upon us in all our sin stained glory. In His perfect, just, and holy being, He cannot look upon it. It’s through Jesus’ blood, that filter of grace, that He sees us and we are purified and made clean!! That blood washes our black sin as white as snow!! Praise God!!
Do you want to know how I know that Jesus is the only way? I know it because I have experienced it! Those who are in Him have these “God stories”. Several people shared theirs today onstage (if you can listen to the sermon on our website, I highly recommend it!). I have tons of “God stories.” There have been countless times where God has demonstrated His reality and presence to me in miraculous and unexplainable ways that can ONLY be attributed to Him! He’s the real deal!! Take the deal!!! Have the assurance of that “million dollar case.” Don’t just pick a man-made belief system. Screw the “systems”!! God doesn’t want our religion, He wants a RELATIONSHIP!!
If you’re just “hoping” that you make it to heaven, I encourage you to “know” that you’re going to make it by accepting Christ!! Confess, believe, and LIVE (eternally!!). Say “no deal” to all the rest and choose JESUS!!
I’ll leave you with two videos that I think fit beautifully with today’s message. The first one is the song/music video “What If” by Nichole Nordeman and the other is the song “Perfect People” by Natalie Grant.
Grace and peace to all of you!! May God bless you this week (and especially as you go out to VOTE!! Vote values America!!! Vote McCain/Palin!). ;)
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Rethink Jesus: Part 4
While on vacation, I missed part four of the “Rethink Jesus” series. So, thankfully, I got to listen to it on our church’s website. Wow!! It was great!! There was a LOT of good stuff, and stories, that Chad talked about and I don’t know if I will be able to cover it all without getting too lengthy. Therefore, I highly recommend listening to this one!!
Chad first retouched on “religion” a little bit and about how religion is a way of connecting and binding to God. God’s commandments and laws (the old covenant) was the way provided for the people to connect and bind to Him. But, like humans so often do, they distort and pollute the purity of what God’s purpose is for what He has given. Soon, the law started becoming more and more about the rules, rituals, and the yokes of burdens that the religious officials would keep adding and piling up on the people. Chad talked about some of those things in the previous part in the series (feel free to listen to it for yourself because he explains it a lot better!). The foundational principle of loving God and loving others became secondary instead of primary because people became so consumed with keeping all the rules that started becoming attached to the religion.
At the last supper, Jesus totally blew things wide open when he said in John 14:6, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” This is what he had said in response to Thomas saying “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” (Jesus had just talked about going away to prepare a place for them). Chad said that though Thomas often gets a bad rap for “doubting” he said in some ways, we should be like him because he was always one to ask questions. Kind of like how you are sitting in class and the teacher asks if you understand; you really don’t, but you are afraid to question. You consider asking for clarification, but you hold back for one reason or another. Then, a “Thomas” asks the very question you were thinking of; the burning question that everyone was wanting to ask but didn’t. Then, the teacher goes on to explain and clarify. I remember times like that. One of my all-time favorite teachers always used to tell us to ask questions if we didn’t understand (though, many were petrified of asking him and of being made a fool of lol. Only the brave ones knew how and what to ask!). “Otherwise, I’ll assume you know everything,” he always said. If no one asked, he would say “aces.”
Well, since most of us aren’t always “aces” and do need some explanations, Jesus provides them when we ask; just like he did when Thomas asked. Though, even then, that was a hard answer for the disciples to take in because the “way” they always knew was the way they had always grown up with [the law]. Now, to say that HE [Jesus] was “the way” was a little mind-boggling. Jesus was showing them that HE was the one that had come to make and be the way; the new covenant.
John 14:6 is sometimes hard to digest because not all can understand or accept “one way.” A lot of times, we consider many other “ways”; including our “own way.” So, which “way” is correct? Chad said that he had a girl ask him that very question. She was preparing for college and of course, we all know how college can shake up your belief system. So, in preparation, she was hoping to discuss and solidify what it means to believe and about Jesus being “the way” and what made Him the only way and not some other person or religion. You might want to listen to how he talked about it in the sermon online, but I will try and sum it up. He said that he thinks he mishandled things and wishes he could do things over (been there done that!!). He said it all seemed a little like “deal or no deal.” Here he was presenting the one million dollar Jesus case. Then, there’s these other cases that maybe could be the ticket to the million. Which case do you pick? Which is the right one? Every religion claims they are right. How do you know which one is telling the truth when they all claim truth?
Chad says that he went too much down the path of “Christianity” rather than just the path of Jesus and who He is. He also related it to an example of how when he was going over his sermon, his daughter asked what he was preaching on and he had John 14:6 before him. She took a pencil that was on the table and underlined “no one” in the verse. Chad said it broke his heart because he knew that she got that from him. He said it should be more about underlining “truth and the life” rather than “no one.”
So, in rethinking what he could have done different, he talked about the focus being the “truth and the life.” What is truth and life? What has Jesus done in your life? What are your “God stories”? That is what is true! That is what gives life!! I remember learning about the importance of that at Acquire the Fire years ago. They asked us what we were going to tell people when they ask us how we know Jesus is real. The easy answer: “He changed my life!” It’s not solely about “evidence” and “proof” (though there is plenty!). The biggest proof is your testimony - or how Chad put it “God dancing in my bloodstream.” Like Acts 17:28 says: “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”
No other person or religion could ever do for me what Jesus has done for me!! Chad said to go and look at what the other “religions” offer compared to who Jesus is, what He’s done, and what He is doing (and will do!). In what other religion is there a God who not only loves you, but pursues you? Is there any other God who loves you, has sacrificed for you, and is coming back for you? This brilliant statement by Chad says it best: “He’s the only way because He’s the only one.”
John 14:6 is true; not only because Jesus said it, but because it’s real in every heart that believes it!! Chad shared countless God-stories to back that up and I have several of my own (some of which happened on my vacation - which I’ll be sure to blog about later!).
So, how is Jesus working in your life? Is He “dancing in your bloodstream”? Man, I love that phrase!! It makes me crave God even more!! I just want to be continually filled with His joy and His Holy Spirit - renewed, rejuvenated, and refreshed in Him each and every day with a new passion and zest for life…..because He is the one that fills it and makes my life what it is!! I know Jesus is real and that HE IS THE WAY - THE ONLY WAY - TRUTH AND LIFE!! He’s real because He is alive and living in me!! He gives me life, purpose, joy, and so much more!! He fills my heart and it bursts with gladness, thankfulness, and praise! He puts a smile on my face and spring into my steps!! I am who I am because of Christ and I couldn’t (and wouldn’t!) want to live without Him!!
Do you know what I know? Do you have what I have? If you don’t and you’re thinking “I gotta get me some of that!” well…….you can!! The same Jesus that died for me and did all that He did in my life can be your Jesus too!! If you want Him, you can have Him!! God made it all possible!! “The Way” is there; all you have to do is choose it and believe it!! Then, just you watch what happens next!! Jesus will change your life!! Hallelujah!!
Chad first retouched on “religion” a little bit and about how religion is a way of connecting and binding to God. God’s commandments and laws (the old covenant) was the way provided for the people to connect and bind to Him. But, like humans so often do, they distort and pollute the purity of what God’s purpose is for what He has given. Soon, the law started becoming more and more about the rules, rituals, and the yokes of burdens that the religious officials would keep adding and piling up on the people. Chad talked about some of those things in the previous part in the series (feel free to listen to it for yourself because he explains it a lot better!). The foundational principle of loving God and loving others became secondary instead of primary because people became so consumed with keeping all the rules that started becoming attached to the religion.
At the last supper, Jesus totally blew things wide open when he said in John 14:6, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” This is what he had said in response to Thomas saying “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” (Jesus had just talked about going away to prepare a place for them). Chad said that though Thomas often gets a bad rap for “doubting” he said in some ways, we should be like him because he was always one to ask questions. Kind of like how you are sitting in class and the teacher asks if you understand; you really don’t, but you are afraid to question. You consider asking for clarification, but you hold back for one reason or another. Then, a “Thomas” asks the very question you were thinking of; the burning question that everyone was wanting to ask but didn’t. Then, the teacher goes on to explain and clarify. I remember times like that. One of my all-time favorite teachers always used to tell us to ask questions if we didn’t understand (though, many were petrified of asking him and of being made a fool of lol. Only the brave ones knew how and what to ask!). “Otherwise, I’ll assume you know everything,” he always said. If no one asked, he would say “aces.”
Well, since most of us aren’t always “aces” and do need some explanations, Jesus provides them when we ask; just like he did when Thomas asked. Though, even then, that was a hard answer for the disciples to take in because the “way” they always knew was the way they had always grown up with [the law]. Now, to say that HE [Jesus] was “the way” was a little mind-boggling. Jesus was showing them that HE was the one that had come to make and be the way; the new covenant.
John 14:6 is sometimes hard to digest because not all can understand or accept “one way.” A lot of times, we consider many other “ways”; including our “own way.” So, which “way” is correct? Chad said that he had a girl ask him that very question. She was preparing for college and of course, we all know how college can shake up your belief system. So, in preparation, she was hoping to discuss and solidify what it means to believe and about Jesus being “the way” and what made Him the only way and not some other person or religion. You might want to listen to how he talked about it in the sermon online, but I will try and sum it up. He said that he thinks he mishandled things and wishes he could do things over (been there done that!!). He said it all seemed a little like “deal or no deal.” Here he was presenting the one million dollar Jesus case. Then, there’s these other cases that maybe could be the ticket to the million. Which case do you pick? Which is the right one? Every religion claims they are right. How do you know which one is telling the truth when they all claim truth?
Chad says that he went too much down the path of “Christianity” rather than just the path of Jesus and who He is. He also related it to an example of how when he was going over his sermon, his daughter asked what he was preaching on and he had John 14:6 before him. She took a pencil that was on the table and underlined “no one” in the verse. Chad said it broke his heart because he knew that she got that from him. He said it should be more about underlining “truth and the life” rather than “no one.”
So, in rethinking what he could have done different, he talked about the focus being the “truth and the life.” What is truth and life? What has Jesus done in your life? What are your “God stories”? That is what is true! That is what gives life!! I remember learning about the importance of that at Acquire the Fire years ago. They asked us what we were going to tell people when they ask us how we know Jesus is real. The easy answer: “He changed my life!” It’s not solely about “evidence” and “proof” (though there is plenty!). The biggest proof is your testimony - or how Chad put it “God dancing in my bloodstream.” Like Acts 17:28 says: “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”
No other person or religion could ever do for me what Jesus has done for me!! Chad said to go and look at what the other “religions” offer compared to who Jesus is, what He’s done, and what He is doing (and will do!). In what other religion is there a God who not only loves you, but pursues you? Is there any other God who loves you, has sacrificed for you, and is coming back for you? This brilliant statement by Chad says it best: “He’s the only way because He’s the only one.”
John 14:6 is true; not only because Jesus said it, but because it’s real in every heart that believes it!! Chad shared countless God-stories to back that up and I have several of my own (some of which happened on my vacation - which I’ll be sure to blog about later!).
So, how is Jesus working in your life? Is He “dancing in your bloodstream”? Man, I love that phrase!! It makes me crave God even more!! I just want to be continually filled with His joy and His Holy Spirit - renewed, rejuvenated, and refreshed in Him each and every day with a new passion and zest for life…..because He is the one that fills it and makes my life what it is!! I know Jesus is real and that HE IS THE WAY - THE ONLY WAY - TRUTH AND LIFE!! He’s real because He is alive and living in me!! He gives me life, purpose, joy, and so much more!! He fills my heart and it bursts with gladness, thankfulness, and praise! He puts a smile on my face and spring into my steps!! I am who I am because of Christ and I couldn’t (and wouldn’t!) want to live without Him!!
Do you know what I know? Do you have what I have? If you don’t and you’re thinking “I gotta get me some of that!” well…….you can!! The same Jesus that died for me and did all that He did in my life can be your Jesus too!! If you want Him, you can have Him!! God made it all possible!! “The Way” is there; all you have to do is choose it and believe it!! Then, just you watch what happens next!! Jesus will change your life!! Hallelujah!!
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