"These two disciples are walking behind Jesus, and the language used in the Bible is that they were "following" him in the sense that they were walking behind him (John 1:35-42). But not yet in the sense that we're talking about today. He turns around and asks, "What do you want"? And this question, Jesus asks, and keeps asking those who say they want to "follow" him. What do you want? What are you after? Why are you here? I think we can make a case that Jesus asks us this question every single day, and many times during the day, from the moment we awake and face all of life's situations, until we fall asleep. And when we wake up the next day, he asks it again. How to follow Jesus doesn't mean anything unless I want to follow Jesus."
"Go to the Oxford dictionary today, and look up the word "grace" and it will tell you that it is God's "unmerited favor." But while this is a widely accepted definition of God's grace, it is, like we were saying last week with the gospel, a rather truncated or reduced definition that actually robs it of the power ascribed to it by the authors of the New Testament. Because to define grace as merely God's unmerited favor...really boils it down to God's attitude towards us. Basically, it reduces grace down to the statement, "God likes us even though he has no reason to." Which is amazingly true. We humans are unmeritedly favored by God. But, that is not all that grace, as the New Testament writers use it, is about."
“The understanding of the Gospel that circulates in many religious—and even unreligious circles—can be described as gospels of sin management. Essentially, different ways of saying, ‘Jesus died for your sins. And if you accept him as your Savior, you can get your sins forgiven and go to heaven when you die.” Now the thing about these definitions of the Gospel is that the basic concept that they talk about is very biblical. the Bible is very clear that we all us humans are sinners are sinners, and through Jesus we can be forgiven of our sins and be assured of living in eternity in the presence of God. But the problem with making this the core of the Gospel is that they center the message on the wrong thing. It makes everything about where we spend life after death. We end up being the stars, the center of the story. Which of course is a problem. Because us being the center of the story—well that’s what got us into this mess in the first place."
"I’m not trying to point fingers at anyone, because we all medicate, and we all have a false self. We are all prone to whatever degree to present a polished picture of ourselves to the world in the hopes of being applauded, accepted, or approved. These impulses to do this—to filter, to cover up, to polish—these are direct consequences of sin, and of the curse sin brings. But if we set aside our defenses and resistances for a few moments, if we do our best to say, 'you know, this false self set of clothing is getting kind of scratch, so I’m gonna take it off for just a second. And I’m gonna sit in a reflective space for a few moments.' If we do that, we might realize that a picture of ourselves hangs in the walls of our inner world. And no one else sees it. And this picture shapes, powerfully and profoundly, our thoughts, our feelings, the relationships we have and how we are in those relationships, our defenses, our decisions, our habits, our passions, our overall way of living and being in the world. And our overall sense of peace and well-being in life."
NOTE: Mike Lueken refers to a song called “Christ is Lower Still” by Matt Maher, Kate Bluett, and Doe Jones, which was played during the service.
"What happens if I ask you if the way you respond in times of stress, or pain, or loss, support what you claim to be your picture of God? When life goes wrong, do you ever wonder if God is punishing you? Do you truly feel that God is always for your? Or a bit against you? What does your prayer life suggest about your true picture of God? How about your level of anxiety? Your relationships? How you feel about yourself? AW Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” The truth is we can think we know a lot about God and His Word, give all the right answers, and yet—because our stated belief doesn’t match our long-term persistent experience of God, we will live out a completely different picture of God than the one we say we believe."
We actually believe that drastic and authentic transformation is at the core of the Christian Gospel. In the spirit of Colossians 3, we believe God desires communities of his people who are growing in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. And love is the preeminent virtue they offer to each other and to this broken and fractured and hurting world. This love binds them together in unbreaking unity. These divinely cultivated character qualities are being lived out and put on display by the people of God. And we actually believe—here at Oak Hills—that our calling as individuals and as a church is to put on these character qualities in an authentic way, so they become part of who we are, and they flow out of us, and both individually and communally, we reflect the beautiful and character of Jesus to this hurting world.
"The trouble with leaving it at "Trust God" is that the concept of God is so broad—infinite really—that if we're not careful, we can create a picture or an image of God that is intangible and obscure, an image of God that isn't even accurate...So it is of no comfort to us in our [specific] time of trouble and it leaves us helpless to the onslaught that troubles our hearts, and makes joy unsustainable..."
But there's something different—at least for me, at least this week—to have Jesus look me in the eye, and say, "Trust in me. Trust in me. You believe in God. Believe also in me."
"In our passage, Jesus is on the verge of unspeakable rejection and suffering. literally, within an hour or two, he will begin his passion. And yet, in his final instructions, he's talking to his followers about his joy. How can he have joy? How can he talk about joy, minutes before he is arrested and beaten and executed?
"...Through it all, he knew he was in God's care. He knew there was a bigger picture, and there was a bigger story, and he was a part of that bigger picture and story, so he had joy."
"James says it this way: 'Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.' (James 1:17) And it is this truth—this fact—that makes being thankful in the midst of disappointment and trials a reasonable response. You see, being thankful is not dishonest or naive or ignorant of facts. Really, it is ignorance that requires ignorance of facts. In order to complain, we have to look past all the good things, to pick out the exception to the rule. And then focus all of our energy on that one exception..."
"Now remember, we're defining joy in this series as 'a pervasive and constant sense of well-being.' So in the language of this series, we're talking about choosing the path that leads to a pervasive and constant sense of well-being, no matter our circumstances. And grieving, lamenting is the path to choose in response to the pain and brokenness of this world.
"Over the past seven years or so, at least from my perspective, an alarming number of Christ followers have opted to deal with the pain and brokenness of life and this world by sitting in the seat of a scoffer (Psalm 1:1)...The scoffer is the one who stands away, stands apart, strokes their chin—skeptically, cynically, bitterly, and arrogantly—while critiquing and criticizing and shaking their head. So instead of a healthy grieving over the sufferings and failings and disappointments of their own soul, the scoffer focuses on the failings and disappointments of others."