tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15753893733930868332024-03-19T13:36:09.939-07:00Joel SettecaseDon't Forget to Think!Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-15710138464706298522019-10-07T16:05:00.001-07:002019-10-07T16:05:45.402-07:00How to explain God's wrath in a way your non-Christian friends will unde...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KlANMUYqPug" width="459"></iframe>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-40935400787970818322015-01-23T21:11:00.001-08:002015-01-23T21:11:22.742-08:00Abortion and Total Depravity<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The doctrine of Total Depravity is a Christian teaching that says that every single human being is completely wicked and in opposition to God. In other words, we are not all "basically good people."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you don't believe in the doctrine of Total Depravity, then how do you explain the fact that, even in our modern, scientific age, elective abortion is still an option in our country?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How can anyone possibly argue that abortion is a viable "choice" in 2015? Little children being chemically burned to death, diced up, dismembered and suctioned out of their mothers' wombs! We are murdering our own offspring. This isn't an invading army! These aren't little orcs or trolls. They are human children! Yes, we are all created with a sin nature, but these little ones haven't committed any wrongs against anyone, especially anything deserving of a brutal and dehumanizing death, on par with the worst of what Nazi scientists did during the height of their power. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The only possible explanation, as the Apostle Paul puts it, is men (and women) suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. It's like: "I see the truth. I believe the truth. And I willingly suppress that truth. I refuse to acknowledge that truth, because I want to do whatever I want to do. In the face of science, in the face of ethics, in the face of philosophy, I don't care. I want what I want. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Human beings are bent, by nature, against the holy God who created us, and against His moral law. Yes, science supports the biblical moral code (that these are little human beings being butchered is indisputable from a scientific perspective); but it doesn't matter what evidence you provide a sinful, willfully-rebellious person. Ultimately, no matter how "rational" we think ourselves to be, there will be some issue where, though we know the right thing we ought to do, we will reject it. It might not be abortion, but it will be something. Stealing. Coveting. Lusting. Adultery. Fornication. Lying. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because we are totally depraved, we will reject the truth, suppressing it, and go COMPLETELY against the truth that is PLAINLY staring us in the face based on logic, philosophy, ethics, science and the word of God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put a few hundred million of these totally depraved human beings together into a nation, and you're going to have moral blind spots. For some nations, that will mean they stone "blasphemers." For other nations, that means they're going to euthanize their elderly against their will. For our nation, it means we slaughter our unborn children by the million, every year, for convenience's sake. For us it used to be the brutal, ethnic slavery of African Americans and genocide of American Indians. Moral blind spots. Wretched. Total Depravity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The sole hope for our totally depraved human race, as I see it, is divine intervention. Because we are totally depraved, we will never escape our moral blind spots, whether individually, societally, nationally, or globally, unless God Himself comes up with a plan to uphold perfect justice by punishing every sin we've committed, while still--somehow--letting us live. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's what Jesus Christ did on the cross. He suffered the wrath of Almighty God for the sins of sinners like you and like me, so that sinners like you and I could become forgiven children of Almighty God. Every drop of God's wrath against all our rebellion and truth-suppression was poured out on Jesus. That's why, when He was on the cross, He said, "It is finished."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then He resurrected from the grave, defeating death once and for all--again, for everyone who would ever repent and trust in Him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus Christ's peace-making death on the cross is the solution for the problem posed by the doctrine of Total Depravity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because we are totally depraved, we needed a totally perfect Savior. Jesus Christ is that Savior. Because He took on Himself the wrath of God for our sin, everyone who authentically commits to Jesus as Lord and trusts in His death and resurrection will be forgiven and adopted into God's family.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God punished Jesus Christ, His own Son, in order to redeem totally depraved people and adopt them. AS SONS AND DAUGHTERS. He's turned rebels into sons and daughters. What!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This world offers death and blindness. But Jesus Christ offers forgiveness and reconciliation to God to everyone who repents and trusts in Him. I plead with you, repent, trust in Jesus, and be reconciled to God today! </span><br />
<br />Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-74889449059903563352015-01-02T10:07:00.001-08:002015-01-02T10:07:27.964-08:00OT Wrong, NT Right?<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's a common misconception that God is harsh in the Old Testament, but softer and milder in the New Testament. Is this true?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's in the New Testament Gospel that God reveals just how serious He is about justice. He pours out His wrath on His own Son in order to save His people from the horrifying consequences of their sins. What about that is soft? He does this out of intense, all-conquering love--what about that is mild?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are you looking to get to know this God better in 2015? Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, God's message to the world is literally a click away. Click this: <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=john+1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=john+1</a></span></div>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-18903117966240768642014-11-05T14:22:00.001-08:002014-11-05T14:22:55.147-08:00#UAskIAnswer 8: Jesus and Judaism<div style="background: rgb(0, 0, 0); border: 0px; color: #111111; line-height: 20.9950008392334px; margin: 0px 0px 1.615em; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus and Judaism</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This question comes from a few weeks ago, when we talked about <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+5%3A1-18&version=ESV" style="border: 0px; color: #b12930; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jesus healing a handicapped man on the Sabbath</a>. I spoke a little about the Jewish Sabbath, and how Jesus interacted with the Old Testament Law (which was the basis for the Jewish religion of His day). One of our inquisitive Bible-scholars-in-training, Annika, asked this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Why did Jesus do things that are a part of Jewish religion?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Why indeed, Annika?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This question is a good one to ask, because of a couple of reasons.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">didn’t Jesus come to start a new religion? </em>And yet, during His ministry in Israel, He seems to be paying very close attention to the Jewish law and religion (Judaism). He preaches in the synagogues, He encourages tithing (giving ten percent of one’s income to God), and He constantly criticizes the religious elites of His day (the Pharisees and Sadducees, among others)–not for <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">following </em>the Jewish religion, but for <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://biblehub.com/luke/11-42.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #b12930; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">not doing a good enough job of following it</a>! </em>It is clear that Jesus took Judaism very seriously. So why was that so, if Jesus came to start a new religion?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Second, <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">if Jesus took Judaism seriously, then why aren’t Christians (His followers) all practicing Judaism today?</em>Think about it. If Jesus was Jewish, and obeyed the Old Testament Law, then wouldn’t anyone who follows Jesus <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">also </em>follow what He followed? Why aren’t Christians <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jewish?</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="color: #111111; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 20.9950008392334px;">To read more, go to: </i><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 20.9950008392334px;"><i>http://theyouthroom.net/2014/11/05/uaskianswer-8-jesus-and-judaism/</i></span></span></span></div>
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Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-87253282600259595592014-11-05T13:38:00.000-08:002014-11-05T13:38:20.900-08:00#UAskIAnswer 7: If Salvation Is A Free Gift, Why Should Christians Be Good?<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.9950008392334px; margin-bottom: 1.615em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Today’s question comes from an anonymous student. It was handed in on a notecard at the end of one of my messages a few weeks back. And it’s a really good question:</div>
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We’ve been told many times that doing good things doesn’t affect out image in Gods [sic] eyes, but as the church we seem to do good things a lot; more than other people. [Do] we as Christians have the need to do good things? Why do we do good things more than others?</div>
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This question gets at the root of something that has been dealt with a lot in conversations between, say, Protestants and Roman Catholics or Jehovah’s Witnesses. Both of those faith systems say that it is necessary to do good works in order to earn justification (righteousness) before God.</div>
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Note to self: the ladder of good works does NOT lead to heaven. Now… how do I get down from here?</div>
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Biblically-based Christianity, however, teaches that justification and salvation are completely free gifts. If God waited for us to do enough good works to merit justification, then we would never receive it. In short, God saves His people <i>despite </i>their having done <i>nothing </i>to earn or deserve it in any way.</div>
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Where members of other religions may object to this teaching, and I have seen this myself in conversations with people of other faiths, is this: “If God’s grace is free, and unearned, then what’s to stop people from just <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">taking it </em>and going off and <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">sinning as much as they want</em>?” In other words, the assumption is that, if we don’t have to earn justification, we’ll just take it for granted and live like terrible sinners.</div>
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If you think about it, both questions boil down to this: “Why should we be good?” (Or as this student seems to be asking, Why <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">are </em>Christians apparently so good?). I believe that the answer has two parts....</div>
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<i style="color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.9950008392334px;">To read more, go to </i><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 20.9950008392334px;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>http://theyouthroom.net/2014/10/28/uaskianswer-7-why-be-good/.</i></span></span></div>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-56155040602838513722014-09-15T12:26:00.000-07:002014-09-15T12:27:16.557-07:00Is death a good thing, because it prevents overpopulation?<div style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.559999465942383px; margin-bottom: 1.2em;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Awhile ago, I received this question from a student: “Wasn’t the curse and death a good thing to keep the earth from being overpopulated?” Well, let’s talk about that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First of all, this question is basically wondering this:</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Fall of Adam & Eve, when the first humans sinned for the first time,<a href="http://biblehub.com/romans/5-12.htm" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; text-decoration: none;">introduced death into the world</a> (Romans 5:12)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If Adam & Eve had not sinned, then no one would have ever died, but lived forever.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If everyone lived forever, and kept reproducing, the world would soon fill up with people and become overpopulated.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Overpopulation decreases quality of life (because of insufficient resources to supply everyone with what they need).</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is an intriguing question, and it can actually be answered pretty quickly. Check it out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First of all, to solve this, you have to figure out how many people have ever lived. This is, of course, impossible. However, depending on when you think humanity began (that is, when the events of Genesis 1-3 took place), you can make a few estimates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sidebar: </em>Right off the bat, I’m going to go ahead and eschew the notion that people have existed for millions of years, in any form. The population data just does not seem to support this. That is, if humanity really went back that far, given how fast people procreate (make babies), there would be <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">way </em>more people alive today. Okay, some think that the reason there are so few people today is because of natural disasters and such, which dramatically reduced the human population several times (think Noah’s flood-type cataclysms). But then, if that’s the case, where are all the bones? Sorry, but it just doesn’t seem to add up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Having said that, the people who calculate this sort of thing start from two hypothetical starting dates for humanity. One’s about <a href="http://loudcry.org/life-before-the-flood/#sthash.PzbZG9fJ.dpbs" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; text-decoration: none;">6,000 years ago</a>, and <a href="http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2002/HowManyPeopleHaveEverLivedonEarth.aspx" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; text-decoration: none;">the other</a> is about <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/with-earths-population-now-at-7-billion-how-many-people-have-ever-lived/2011/10/27/gIQA6SLtZM_story.html" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; text-decoration: none;">50,000 years ago</a>. The first one factor’s in Noah’s flood, while the second one doesn’t. Whichever one you pick, the numbers don’t change all that much. Adding up everyone who ever lived, you get a number somewhere between 86 billion and 108 billion people. So, let’s take the larger number....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">To read the rest of this article, please go to </i><a href="http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/15/uaskianswer-4-death-overpopulation/">http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/15/uaskianswer-4-death-overpopulation/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*****</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Joel Settecase is an apologetics blogger and the Associate Pastor for Youth & Evangelism at Grace Pointe Church in Plainfield, IL, located at 143rd St. and Route 30. Sunday worship service starts at 9AM, and you are invited. Email Joel at jsettecase@gracepointe.us.</i></span></div>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-71428725444233154292014-09-13T13:34:00.000-07:002014-09-13T13:34:01.561-07:00Do humans have free will?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVrt6JVPA6zyIvHZkuBb468ivQ0WzzutN_-qMxhP8FjpTMqwwHvfUz_35AfbSRpj98pkVe4MATpexZxEyTHKgckHwR4qC7OC5hgjD9pojTLxKga9EVLyRuxfxbKdMdKQLFDXC6qruJhC1/s1600/Free_willy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVrt6JVPA6zyIvHZkuBb468ivQ0WzzutN_-qMxhP8FjpTMqwwHvfUz_35AfbSRpj98pkVe4MATpexZxEyTHKgckHwR4qC7OC5hgjD9pojTLxKga9EVLyRuxfxbKdMdKQLFDXC6qruJhC1/s1600/Free_willy.jpg" height="640" width="450" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">#UAskIAnswer is a new feature here on the blog, where I (Pastor Joel) answer questions submitted to me by the students of The Pointe & Momentum, Grace Pointe Church's student ministries. For the first two questions, click <a data-mce-href="http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/10/uaskianswer-1-what-are-angels/" href="http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/10/uaskianswer-1-what-are-angels/">here</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/11/uaskianswer-2-how-is-god-different-from-allah/" href="http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/11/uaskianswer-2-how-is-god-different-from-allah/">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today's question is a good one, because it tries to make sense of a real difficulty in Scripture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the one hand, there are <em><a data-mce-href="http://www.openbible.info/topics/predestination" href="http://www.openbible.info/topics/predestination">all these verses</a> </em>about predestination, God's sovereignly deciding in advance what is going to happen, and then carrying out his plan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the other hand, there are <em><a data-mce-href="http://www.openbible.info/topics/free_will" href="http://www.openbible.info/topics/free_will">all these verses</a> </em>implying that we can actually choose to obey God or disobey Him. So it really sounds like we have free will.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">So which is it: is God in control of everything, or are we able to make real choices? Here's the answer: ... <i>To read the rest of this article, please visit </i></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/13/uaskianswer-3-do-we-have-free-will/.</i></span></span>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-24904832828946616552014-09-11T10:21:00.001-07:002014-09-11T10:21:18.760-07:00Is Allah the Same God as Yahweh?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXV-IP6Ua-UlkwA3ZCAJW444q7JhAgk2EIWzkEIACkQNGcNeC_iu_IZUuM13sTMGqXGhv_6QcibWbAqYp9dxoI2hgOTntOd5Tc4ylBm00-CVI5AJ3WO53s0bM5Zqtfxan9zLYy_vUNvcoa/s1600/cross-and-crescent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXV-IP6Ua-UlkwA3ZCAJW444q7JhAgk2EIWzkEIACkQNGcNeC_iu_IZUuM13sTMGqXGhv_6QcibWbAqYp9dxoI2hgOTntOd5Tc4ylBm00-CVI5AJ3WO53s0bM5Zqtfxan9zLYy_vUNvcoa/s1600/cross-and-crescent.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Today’s Question</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">#UAskIAnswer is a new feature over at <a href="http://www.theyouthroom.net/" target="_blank">The Youth Room (.net)</a>.
I (Pastor Joel) am going to be answering your questions—especially those ones
that require a little more work and research than I would be able to do in the
spur of the moment, during youth group meetings. The first question we
discussed was, “What are angels and what do they do?” Today, we are looking at
the question, “How is God different from Allah?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This question is a good one to address today, because it’s the anniversary of
the attacks (by Muslim terrorists) of 9/11/01, and the matter of Muslim/Islamic
terrorists has not gone away in the thirteen years since those attacks. In
fact, if anything the threat has grown—just look at what’s happening in Iraq,
where the villains of the <i>Islamic </i>State
are destroying and subjugating Christians. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So Islam is a hot-button issue in our nation right now.
Muslims (followers of Islam) believe in Allah, and Christians believe in the
God of Israel, revealed as Yahweh or the I AM (or translated as “The LORD”). In
the Qu’ran (Islam’s scripture), Muhammad (Islam’s founder and prophet) claims
that Allah <i>is the same God </i>as the God
of the Bible (Muslims are taught in the Qu’ran to say to Christians, “We
believe in what was revealed to us and in what was revealed to you, and our god
and your god is one and the same; to Him we are submitters” (Surah 29:46)).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But are Yahweh and Allah really the same being? Are we
talking about two different names for the same person? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the Qu’ran and the Bible, they both claim certain things
about themselves, which <i>can’t all be true</i>
if they are different beings (I mean, you can’t have <i>two </i>all-powerful creators of the world, can you?). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But then, if they’re the <i>same</i>,
then why are they described so differently (and oh,<i> they are described differently </i>in the two books, as we’ll see). And
why do their followers (Christians and Muslims) live and worship in such
different ways? Who’s right and who’s wrong? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>To read the rest of this article, go to http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/11/uaskianswer-2-how-is-god-different-from-allah/</i></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-63028496553210620072014-09-10T18:27:00.000-07:002014-09-10T18:27:22.653-07:00What are angels?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I just wrote a new article over on www.theyouthroom.net (yes, aside from being the go-to apologist for literally ones of people, I am also a youth pastor--and that is my student ministry's website). Here's an excerpt:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLNCCj7QssIdT9NdFejKcwMS29BrgTPFSDyCAbCPQsnacNOGaCJVtpywAS936t808RFFOhlI7iOBebbkx8dQRDNErrhunae396PuBWuuChN0sOt-xaZ84v2FKthMf6ZAp2NeW0Czswri_O/s1600/DescriptionOfAngels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLNCCj7QssIdT9NdFejKcwMS29BrgTPFSDyCAbCPQsnacNOGaCJVtpywAS936t808RFFOhlI7iOBebbkx8dQRDNErrhunae396PuBWuuChN0sOt-xaZ84v2FKthMf6ZAp2NeW0Czswri_O/s1600/DescriptionOfAngels.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<header class="entry-header" style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.9950008392334px; position: relative;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: 2.1rem; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px 50px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">#UAskIAnswer 1: What are Angels?</span></h1>
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<a href="http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/10/uaskianswer-1-what-are-angels/#respond" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); border: 0px; color: #777777; display: inline-block; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0.05em 0.1em; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Comment on #UAskIAnswer 1: What are Angels?"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="no-reply" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out </em>(Proverbs 25:2).</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Welcome to a new feature on The Youth Room, #UAskIAnswer, where I (Pastor Joel) answer questions raised by students. How did this come about? Well, I am doing it for two reasons.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, the Q & A times we’ve done over the last year have been by far the most popular things about Sunday youth group. Seriously, you guys will gladly put off playing games, singing songs, and even eating pizza (!) to get your questions answered about God, culture, the Bible, and the Christian life. If you ask me, that is <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">awesome</em>. Now of course, I can only answer a few questions at a time on a given Sunday night. So I want to extend that time out and answer a number of your questions that I haven’t gotten to on Sunday nights. And thanks to Kevin Yang’s list, that number is <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">huge</em>. Seriously, I have 38 questions sitting in front of me right now, and they’re all from Kevin. And they’re <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">good</em>. Well, most of them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Second, I want to do this because I am passionate about it. I’m going to be straight with you–I <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">enjoy </em>answering questions about God. In fact, I believe that is one of the top three things I do as your Student Ministries Pastor (as for the other two things, I’ll let you figure that out based on what we do on a given Sunday). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So now, without further ado, here’s your first question: “What are angels and what do they do?” This question is from Kevin. Let’s get to it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To begin with, the word <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">angel </em>comes from a Greek word (<em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ἄνγελος – angelos</em>) that means “messenger.” So primarily, angels show up in Scripture as messengers from God. The one we hear the most about, Gabriel, shows up in the Old Testament book of Daniel. He brings the prophet Daniel a message from God which starts this way: <span class="text Dan-9-22" id="en-ESV-22011" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.” So there you have it. A messenger, from God, coming to do what godly messengers do–give wisdom and knowledge, and the ability to interpret that knowledge. And now that message...</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To read the rest of this article, go to <a href="http://theyouthroom.net/2014/09/10/uaskianswer-1-what-are-angels/" target="_blank">The Youth Room.</a></span></i></div>
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Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-81481522764887915022014-08-17T12:42:00.000-07:002014-09-10T12:43:07.148-07:00Is Christianity Exclusive? (Part Two)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfCsXwydsV3QSmq6n1s6eIef0hNvOEDfL6G43SGIpNyU9Af7h0psdqMWKhrwvlklFno1I5Tv2LC4rynQub7wZvgqZ3zWxQGsU6tEv55Ocght1SroPVnGVXY0bLQW9zDviEzMK0j4ZMDHc/s1600/53efbdd7dd949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfCsXwydsV3QSmq6n1s6eIef0hNvOEDfL6G43SGIpNyU9Af7h0psdqMWKhrwvlklFno1I5Tv2LC4rynQub7wZvgqZ3zWxQGsU6tEv55Ocght1SroPVnGVXY0bLQW9zDviEzMK0j4ZMDHc/s1600/53efbdd7dd949.jpg" height="323" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">...Christianity is Inclusive</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://patch.com/illinois/plainfield/christianity-exclusive-part-one" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; text-decoration: none;">Last time</a> we talked about why Christianity is the most exclusive religion in the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, let’s look at why Christianity is actually the world’s most <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">inclusive</i>religion. It is such because of <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">who </i>God brings into His kingdom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The folks who get into God’s kingdom through Jesus (AKA Christians) are all sorts of the <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">wrong </i>kind of people. <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">No Christian starts as a good person</i>. I know this is true because <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">no one ever starts out as a good person</i>. Scripture teaches, and surely experience authenticates this, that “there is no one who is righteous” ( <a href="http://biblehub.com/romans/3-10.htm" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; text-decoration: none;">Romans 3:10</a>). Not even one. Now, let’s work this out.</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God, the holy and righteous King, is not going to let anyone into His kingdom who is not holy and righteous.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everyone Jesus saves (every true Christian) has been brought into God’s kingdom.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Every Christian is (at least functionally) holy and righteous.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No human being is naturally holy and righteous.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We can conclude that every Christian--everyone who repents of her sinful ways and fully trusts in Jesus Christ for salvation and as Lord--has something <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">super</i>natural happen to her, in order to make her right before God.</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So if the salvation Jesus accomplishes causes a <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">supernatural </i>change in everyone who believes, what does that mean? It means that there is nothing <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">natural </i>in us that can overcome that salvation. God’s salvation is possible for every sinner who believes--no matter how great or terrible you have lived up to this point. Christianity is not for good people. Jesus is for dirty sinners needing to be cleaned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me make that even more explicit: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">There is nothing that you have done, ever, in your life, that disqualifies you for God’s kingdom.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is possible because every member of God’s kingdom has <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">left </i>their former, sin-saturated ways, and has been washed of them. No, Christians are not actually perfect (this side of Heaven). But, the supernatural work of Jesus’ saving sacrifice, and the unstoppable power of God’s Holy Spirit (who indwells every Christian) transfers the Christian from slavery to sin, to the freedom of belonging to God. So sin has been effectively defeated in the Christian’s life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And what sin! This is the part of the article I am most looking forward to. This is actually the reason I started writing part one--to get to this point:<i style="box-sizing: border-box;">continued, unrepentant sin WILL keep you out of God’s kingdom. But you can be forgiven for any and all sins, and brought into God’s kingdom, no matter what you have done in the past.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Look with me at 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Go ahead, stop reading this for a minute, and go read that passage. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A9-11&version=ESV" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; text-decoration: none;">Here’s a link</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Isn’t that incredible? Look at the kinds of sins that the Apostle Paul says will keep you <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">out </i>of God’s kingdom (I know, I just said that no sin can ultimately keep you out of God’s kingdom. But what Scripture teaches is that sin <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">will</i>keep you out of God’s kingdom, but that He is powerful enough and gracious enough to <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">erase </i>your record of sin when you repent and trust in Jesus. Keep reading; I’ll try to explain). So here are the sins that will keep you out of God’s kingdom:</span></div>
<ol style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.559999465942383px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px; overflow: auto; padding-left: 2em;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sexual immorality (yes porn and lustful thinking count--see <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205:27-28" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; text-decoration: none;">Matthew 5:27-28</a>)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Idolators (trusting in created things rather than the Creator)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Adulterers</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Men who practice homosexuality (this refers to passive and active engagement in homosexual acts)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thieves (ever stolen anything, or “borrowed without permission” or neglected to pay back a loan to a friend?)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The greedy (we call this “ambition”)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Drunkards</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nor revilers (think of “Family Guy”-style entertainment, mocking the things of God)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nor swindlers</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And then look what he says near the end: “And such were some of you.” The Church includes rotten sinners. I should know; much of that list describes me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sin is bad enough to exclude you from God’s kingdom. But Jesus is powerful enough to supernaturally overcome your sin and bring you in. And that is a message for everyone. Talk about inclusive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*****</span></div>
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<i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Email Joel Settecase at jsettecase@gracepointe.us</span></i></div>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-14989708751485594742014-08-16T12:39:00.000-07:002014-09-10T12:41:01.475-07:00Is Christianity Exclusive? (Part One)<h2 style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 1.25em; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51JKwPl3Z5PoNs4voLSG8W5RcTMjRBaSnBbQpkEi-JTzNxQvIFapUeWPpn6wjy20hbr670-vUzpXIMTy3eeaXcfC-_c59Z_KVA6AQ98gyupivcAt-8BaLuRCz4vHSzTo3p3bJV_ZmvC1I/s1600/53ef96bf1e806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51JKwPl3Z5PoNs4voLSG8W5RcTMjRBaSnBbQpkEi-JTzNxQvIFapUeWPpn6wjy20hbr670-vUzpXIMTy3eeaXcfC-_c59Z_KVA6AQ98gyupivcAt-8BaLuRCz4vHSzTo3p3bJV_ZmvC1I/s1600/53ef96bf1e806.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Christianity is exclusive...</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Christianity has been called the world’s most exclusive religion. After all, it presents a view of God, and God’s kingdom, that is completely centered and focused on a single requirement. Other religions offer a system of regulations and religious practices you can follow, beliefs to adhere to, and ways of life for you to carry out. The idea is that, as you try your hardest to do your best, God (or Allah, or Jehovah, or whoever) will see your heart and, perhaps, fill in the gaps in your flawed and imperfect obedience. There are any number of faith systems that offer this to you. The methods and the requirements vary, but the general gist is the same: do your best to obey, and you’ll most likely get in. We can’t guarantee it, but your odds are better than average.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not so with Christianity (or, as the first adherents called it, “The Way”). There is one, single, unalterable and unbending requirement to get in “good with God” according to the Bible (the Bible is the source of Christian beliefs--as opposed to other pseudo-Christian faith systems, such as Roman Catholicism, which has a large body of church tradition that is held on equal footing with the Bible). There is just one requirement a person must meet in order to be forgiven of her sins and transferred from the status of “under wrath” to the status of “justified.” That requirement is this: Jesus has to save you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Huh? Why did I make it seem like the requirement is something that <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jesus</i>does, rather than something that <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">you need to do</i>? The reason why is because that is what the Bible teaches. Contrary to what every single other religion teaches (that I know of, and I am a student of the religious philosophy, for what that’s worth), in Christianity there is nothing you can do--at all--to merit God’s favor. When it comes to salvation, you can do<i style="box-sizing: border-box;">absolutely nothing to earn it</i>. It all totally, fully, completely rests on Jesus Christ’s work to save you. He lived the perfectly obedient life you never could. Yet he died like a murderer, taking the punishment sinners like us deserve. He pulled a cosmic switcharoo, effectively saving everyone who believes in Him. Only those who believe this, repent of their sins (because who wouldn’t, after seeing how much God loves them in sacrificing His own Son?), and trust in Jesus’ finished work will be saved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because of this, Christianity is exclusive. The world’s spiritual and religious landscape is rife with false doors that lead to dead ends, and Jesus is the only door that leads to God’s kingdom. Enter through Him, the self-proclaimed “narrow gate” ( <a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/7-13.htm" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; text-decoration: none;">Matthew 7:13</a>), and you will be saved. Saved out of the kingdom of darkness, of sin, of destruction, of addiction, of crime, of rebellion against God, of living your life outside of God’s grace and goodness. Saved into God’s kingdom, full of forgiveness and mercy, kindness, purpose, and <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">pleasure. </i>And Jesus is the only way in. Period. Scripture could not be more clear on this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That is why the first Christians were called “followers of the Way.” The “Way” is not a system; the Way is a Person. He is a human being, who is also God incarnate. Two natures (one human, one divine), one man, one perfect bridge between God and humanity. Jesus is the perfect person to bridge the otherwise uncrossable chasm between sinful people (yes, you are sinful--I am too--we’ll talk about that more in a second) and the holy and perfect God. So Christianity is exclusive. Any Christian who is honest will agree with that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But God’s kingdom is also astonishingly <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">inclusive</i>. I don’t have space here, so I’ll explain why in part two of this article. Stay tuned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*****</span></div>
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<i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor for Evangelism & Student Ministry at Grace Pointe Church in Plainfield, IL, located at the intersection of 143rd St. & Route 30 (behind Family Video). You are invited to GPP’s worship service, this Sunday at 9:00AM. Email Joel at jsettecase@gracepointe.us.</span></i></div>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-45603869577199533522014-07-14T12:34:00.000-07:002014-09-10T12:37:41.242-07:00The joy of spiritual growth (sermon). <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEDvaZ2EKmWylBGDiQXWr-KB1XwEn4QDalF0nT7wgKJCiwfQIYJKJont8lTyLYKFkmPKTGFampHKrjyv51s_R6MjDEgG24JA4lewaO27xkdLgaabV3uBMbXJerzQPrPVxWHqqKYBKNQkF/s1600/13691462f950d2ca8763a9d1f3601a63.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEDvaZ2EKmWylBGDiQXWr-KB1XwEn4QDalF0nT7wgKJCiwfQIYJKJont8lTyLYKFkmPKTGFampHKrjyv51s_R6MjDEgG24JA4lewaO27xkdLgaabV3uBMbXJerzQPrPVxWHqqKYBKNQkF/s1600/13691462f950d2ca8763a9d1f3601a63.jpg" height="201" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.559999465942383px;">My latest sermon from Grace Pointe Church in Plainfield answers the question: what does it mean to grow spiritually? </span><br style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.559999465942383px;" /><br style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.559999465942383px;" /><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.559999465942383px;">NB: it may be different than you think. </span><br style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.559999465942383px;" /><br style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.559999465942383px;" /><a href="http://bit.ly/1zDmJne" rel="nofollow" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(252, 252, 252); box-sizing: border-box; color: #88bf36; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28.559999465942383px; text-decoration: none;">http://bit.ly/1zDmJne</a>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-90597069972855200052014-06-17T13:07:00.000-07:002014-06-17T13:08:10.242-07:00The Perfect Church: An Impossible Ideal? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgTmTzcUdnEmv6WAJ8g64v19N8U2tl3XV00MXGNT7MNbLV9dUZ6vyL6mzeH6v4xTQRYqYchoLHqmY43QRyGA0dQf2E_xvChRhzsazvuf-kvwDKgRIS8J077yPzTH_s810RYfMH2zEuSWm/s1600/churchpeople.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgTmTzcUdnEmv6WAJ8g64v19N8U2tl3XV00MXGNT7MNbLV9dUZ6vyL6mzeH6v4xTQRYqYchoLHqmY43QRyGA0dQf2E_xvChRhzsazvuf-kvwDKgRIS8J077yPzTH_s810RYfMH2zEuSWm/s1600/churchpeople.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What does it mean to live for God?</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Did you grow up in a religious home? Did your parents take you to church or synagogue? If you grew up religious in Plainfield, then the odds are likely that you grew up Roman Catholic. And the odds are also high that you have given at least a little thought to what it means to live God's way. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">By now, you are older, and you have probably come to some sort of settled idea of what it means to live for God. Maybe you are living up to the standard you have in your mind, but probably not. If we are all honest with each other, we will admit that none of us fully actualizes the standard of good living which we think we ought to adhere to. But think for a moment about what activities you would include in your list of godly living. Go ahead and think about it. I'll wait. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">...</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Did you give it some thought? Alright, now let's see what made the list. Can I guess? How about things like... </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Going to church services</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Being kind to others</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Donating money and time to charitable causes</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Prayer (to God or possibly the "saints")</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Religious rituals (if you grew up Catholic, you know about plenty of these). </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">If you have been reading The Jesus Blog at all over the last several months, you can probably expect what we are going to do next. Let us take a look at what the Bible says about living for God. Now if you want a concise overview of godly living, the two best portions of Scripture I could recommend would be the</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20%3A1-17&version=HCSB" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank"> Ten Commandments</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"> and the </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+5&version=HCSB" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">Sermon on the Mount</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"> (interestingly, both teachings were given by God on a mountain--one by Yahweh on Mount Sinai, and the other by Jesus on a hill near Jerusalem). However, this blog is about more than simply living for God on an individual basis. It is also about living for Him together as a community. And there is a passage of Scripture that speaks directly to that. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Living for God together</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Read </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+THess+5%3A12-24&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">1 Thessalonians 5:12-24</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">. The biblical book of 1 Thessalonians is an epistle (letter) which the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Thessaloniki. In this portion of the epistle, Paul instructs the Thessalonian Christians on living for God, together, in view of the fact that Jesus Christ will be returning soon, to take His people to be with Himself forever. So in these verses, Paul lays out how a Christian community looks. Here is the list: </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<ol style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Respect church leaders who labor on their behalf (verse 12)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Live peacefully with each other (v. 13)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Admonish (warn) those who are lazy and irresponsible (v. 14)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Encourage the discouraged (v. 14)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Help the weak (v. 14) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Be patient with all of the above (v. 14) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Be kind to enemies, to other Christians, and to everyone! (v. 15) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rejoice always (v. 16) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pray continuously (v. 17) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Give thanks in every situation (v. 18) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do not stifle the Holy Spirit (v. 19)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do not despise prophecies</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Evaluate everything and hold on to what is good (vv. 20-21)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Abstain from every form of evil (v. 22)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Wow, is that all? So the Christian community (as found in the local church) is intended to be respectful toward authority, peaceful, hard-working and productive, encouraging, helpful, patient, kind and good to all (even enemies), joyful, constantly praying, always thankful, filled with the Holy Spirit, attentive to prophecy, critically thinking, cherishing good things, and completely free of any and all evil. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">That seems like a tall order for any one individual. Certainly, a community of people living, working, and worshipping together while meeting this description would be nice--no, make that fantastic and wonderful--but how is it possible? Is this list nothing more than an unattainable ideal? We can be thankful that Paul gives us the answer in the next couple of verses. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Only God can make it happen</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Look at verse 23: "Now may the God of peace </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">himself </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ" (emphasis added). The "you" in that sentence is plural; Paul is talking about the Church as a community, not the individual Christian. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">This passage makes it clear that God desires more than religious ceremony and charity. He desires a sanctified Church (meaning one set apart from the world, by God for God, and transformed to live and act like Jesus), one that is actually guilt-free and faithful. If you have spent any time with any group of people at all, you now how unrealistic this sounds. In human terms, this requirement is impossible.</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Yet note what Paul says in verse 23 and then in verse 24. In 23 he says, "May... God himself sanctify you..." and then in 24 he makes this amazing statement: "He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it." </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">This is more than a requirement, it is more than a hope, and it is more than a command. This is a </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">promise</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">. God </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Himself</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">, the God of the whole universe, the one who reigns sovereignly as King over everything, </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">He </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">will accomplish this purification of His Church. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">As followers of Jesus Christ, Christians wait hopefully for His second coming. That hope, which is rooted in the historical fact of His resurrection from the dead, motivates us to live together God's way. And God Himself--God the Holy Spirit--indwells His Church, enabling Christians to live together in a way that our selfish selves could never do without God's help. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">As one of the pastors of </span><a href="http://www.gracepointe.us/" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">Grace Pointe Church</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">, I have seen firsthand what God can do through a community of people--sinners in the process of being sanctified--who hope in Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Incredibly, the more time I spend with God's saints, the more I see Paul's description of an ideal Christian community, not as an impossible ideal, but as an actual description of the community I am blessed to be a part of. Since Aliza and I have come to Grace Pointe, we have seen the kindness and generosity of God lived through the lives of His people in many, many ways. We have been floored by it. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">As a church, we certainly not totally finished yet, and we won't be until Jesus comes back or calls us home. But "He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it." We can see it, and we wait eagerly for it. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">If you want to know more about the Church of Jesus Christ at Grace Pointe Plainfield, shoot me an email (jsettecase@gracepointe.us) or hit me up on Twitter (@GracePointeJoel) or Facebook. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">*****</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor of Youth and Evangelism at Grace Pointe Plainfield, located at 143rd St. & Route 30, behind Family Video. Sunday worship service begins at 9 AM, and you are invited. Email Joel at jsettecase@gracepointe.us or read his blog at </span><a href="http://dontforgettothink.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">http://dontforgettothink.blogspot.com</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">. </span></span></i></span>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-64797119541971040002014-05-16T19:42:00.004-07:002014-05-16T19:43:08.087-07:00Is Your Church Christian? <div class="post-asset-block headroom" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 10px;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-line;"><i>This post was originally posted on "The Jesus Blog" at the <a href="http://plainfield.patch.com/groups/the-jesus-blog/p/what-makes-a-church-christian" target="_blank">Plainfield Patch</a>.
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Where to turn?</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just about fifty percent of Americans are affiliated with religious congregations. Thirty percent more claim to be religious in some way. That's a total of eighty percent of citizens of the United States who claim to be religious (the last stats I heard put twenty percent of us in the "unaffiliated" category).<br /><br />Here in Plainfield, we are slightly more religious than the national average. Based on Will County Data, <a href="http://www.city-data.com/city/Plainfield-Illinois.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #207bb8; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">54% of us are affiliated with some congregation</a>. Of the devout, about three quarters are Roman Catholic. Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants are tied with thirteen percent, and two percent consider themselves "Other."<br /><br />There are ten different flavors (AKA denominations) of Christianity represented here in Plainfield.<br /><br />So pretend you were new in town. Say you wanted to attend a church--but not just any church. You want to spend your Sunday morning at a congregation who represents "authentic" Christianity. How would you know which one to choose? Are some denominations or congregations more "authentic" than others? And what is the standard for measuring them?<br /><br />Although it might seem like it up to this point, this is not going to be a shameless booster post for my congregation (full disclosure: I am a pastor at <a href="http://gracepointeplainfield.us/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #207bb8; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Grace Pointe Plainfield</a>). But it <i>is </i>an important question: what makes a Christian church?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Where to find the answer:</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over the last twenty centuries, people have answered that question different ways. Most of the disagreements have come concerning traditions which various denominations practice and accept (e.g. such as teaching surrounding the Virgin Mary, or the role of the pastor/priest). Historically, however, the underlying baseline for defining orthodox Christianity has always been the Bible.<br /><br />Talk to a Mainline Protestant, an Evangelical, a Copt and a Roman Catholic, and they'll all tell you that truth can be found in the Bible (there are exceptions to this, especially in the last hundred and fifty years, in so-called Liberal Protestantism). So it stands to reason that the Bible would be the book to go to, in order to find a basic definition of what it means to be Christian.<br /><br />The heart of the Bible's message is found in what is known as the Gospel. Meaning "Good News," the Gospel is the central message of God's plan of salvation for His people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What is the Gospel?</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Gospel starts in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. In describing the history of the dawn of humanity--you know the story--Genesis recounts how Adam and Eve, the first people, sinned. They took the advice of a snake (thought to be Satan--a fallen angel and chief enemy of humanity) and disobeyed God. As a result, our first parents were driven out of Paradise. But before they were exiled, the Lord did something amazing.<br /><br />First, He made a promise. Turning to the snake, t<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen.+3%3A15&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="color: #207bb8; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">he Lord said</a>, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." This was the promise: that a human, male offspring born of a woman would crush the head of the serpent--defeat Satan and destroy his work--but that in the process he himself would be fatally "bitten" by the Devil.<br /><br />Now look through the story of Ancient Israel, all through the Old Testament of the Bible. It is the story of God making good on this promise--to bring the prophesied Savior into the world.<br /><br />If you have been reading this blog--or the Bible--you know what happened when Jesus showed up on the scene. He, the unique Son of God (John 3:16), <a href="http://biblehub.com/1_john/3-8.htm" rel="nofollow" style="color: #207bb8; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">destroyed the work of Satan</a> by undoing the curse of sin and death for all who trust in Him.<br /><br />How did Jesus accomplish this? He was tortured and died on the cross. At that time, the sin of God's people was put on Him. He "became sin" so that all who trust in Him would become the "righteousness of God" (<a href="http://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-21.htm" rel="nofollow" style="color: #207bb8; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">2 Corinthians 5:21</a>). Therefore Satan's work is destroyed in the lives of everyone who trusts in Jesus.<br /><br />Those who accept this do more than merely believe a set of facts; we are trusting in a Person to save us and submitting to His authority (as Lord). We recognize that we are sinners, fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23) and rightfully earning death (Romans 6:23). We believe that Jesus <i>is </i>the promised Savior, and as such He is the rightful Lord, to whom we owe our allegiance. He has bought us with the costly price of His own life--now we owe him everything.<br /><br />So then, this is the Gospel and the core of the Christian message: "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost" (1 Timothy 3:15-16).<br /><br />Let me be really, really clear about this point, and echo what the Apostle Paul is saying in that previous verse: I am a sinner. I am a <i>bad </i>person. I know this from Scripture but also from my own life. I, Joel Settecase, have not in any way earned the favor of a perfectly holy God. And Scripture is clear that neither have you. You and I are both in desperate need of God's forgiveness.<br /><br />God's grace for believers is a <i>free gift</i>--but it was not cheap. It cost God the death of His Son. That is His grace for his people. There is nothing we can do to accomplish this ourselves or add anything to that.<br /><br />Picture a turtle flipped over onto its back. Flail its little legs as it might, there is no way it is going to turn itself back over. That is our condition in sin, apart from God's grace. It is God who "turns us over," makes us right with Himself (the Bible says God "justifies" us) and gives us the ability to live the way we're supposed to live.<br /><br />What good is a turtle that is flipped onto its back? It can't very well do anything turtle-y like that, now can it? Neither can we live how God created us to live, apart from God turning us to Christ and saving us. And like the turtle, we will die if left in our current state. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So which church is right? </span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With all this being said, I am not going to answer the question for you--at least not specifically. In other words, I am not going to provide a list of all the churches here in Plainfield that "get it." But by now, we have a framework to think through which churches stay true to the Christian--that is, the biblical--message.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is the Gospel all there is to it?</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now before you blow up the comment section with objections, let me say that there is much more to Christianity than simply believing the Gospel.<br /><br />Over the centuries, creeds and catechisms have been written to outline all the beliefs of orthodox, biblical Christianity. Christians love, respect and cherish those texts. In fact I am in the process of catechizing my son using the <a href="http://www.newcitycatechism.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #207bb8; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">New City Catechism.</a> True Christianity embraces <i>all </i>that the Bible teaches, not just the teaching on the Gospel.<br /><br />Then there are the rituals and sacraments, the charity, good works, practices and traditions that express God's truth in physical life. These are important expressions of faith and biblical as well--especially baptism and communion.<br /><br />However, none of the creeds and traditions make sense apart from the understanding that God's salvation only comes by His free gift, through faith and the trustworthiness of Jesus Christ.<br /><br />You can have all the external signs of religion, but without the Gospel it's empty inside. It is a beautiful, ornate mausoleum--beautiful on the outside with rotting death on the inside.<br /><br />But a congregation that teaches and promotes the Gospel of free grace, purchased for believers at the precious price of the death of the Son of God Himself, is a great place to start. Not all churches agree with this. Sadly, some church leaders minimize the Gospel, or the Bible, or the importance of grace <i>alone </i>through faith <i>alone</i>. In doing so they try to add to God's word and make the message of Christianity something other than the beautiful truth of God's plan to save sinners like us. People like that need to read their Bibles.<br /><br />*****<br /><i>Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor of Youth and Evangelism at Grace Pointe Plainfield, located at 143rd St. & Route 30. <b>This Sunday, we will be having a baptism service. You are invited to join us and watch as believers in Christ make a public declaration of their faith and new life in God. Service starts at 9 AM.</b></i></span></div>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-86136830297734006322014-03-10T09:36:00.000-07:002014-03-10T09:36:00.182-07:00Good With God, Part Six: The Answer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This concludes our study of Acts 10:34-43, answering the question, "How Can I get right with God?"</span></span><br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">“Salvation.”</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The final word, found in verses 42 and 43, is “Salvation.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But before Peter gives us the good news, he gives us the terrifying
news: Jesus is the Judge. Jesus is the Lord of all, twice qualified as judge.
He was God the Son to start with, and he has now been vindicated and glorified
by his Father by rising from the dead and going up into heaven. He exercises
all authority. Notice that Peter says the judgment seat is “of Christ.” Jesus
now has all of God’s authority, and all sins and offenses against God are now
against <i>Jesus Christ</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus Christ <i>is </i>God, and we will
answer to him <i>as </i>God. 2 Cor. 5:10
says we will all appear before Him to receive what we have done in the body,
whether good or bad. John Piper says that, “Every person in this room will
stand, individually, before the judge. And you will give an account of your
life….” “Judgment Day” is fixed. It’s circled on God’s calendar. <i>We </i>don’t know when<i> </i>it will be, but God does know. And <i>who can possibly stand on that day? </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Spurgeon lists the types of people who will stand before Christ on that
day. Here is a modified version of that list: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everyone alive will stand before him: Presidents and CEOs, homeless
people, self-proclaimed Christians, self-acknowledged sinners. Everyone who has
died will stand before him: tyrants who have killed millions of people, serial
killers, murderers, the Roman soldiers who executed him, the Jewish leaders who
accused him, everyone who has persecuted his followers throughout history, modern-day
mockers, atheists, and skeptics, Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, Buddhists,
Agnostics, Postmodernists, Catholics, Protestants, and the religiously ambiguous,
every person who is being born today, or will be born in the future, and <i>you</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You will individually stand before Jesus Christ and give an account for
how you lived your life and the things you did. And everyone whose name is not
found written in the Book of Life will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, to
suffer forever under God’s wrath. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is the horrifying part: you will not, after this message, be able
to say, ‘Well nobody ever told me that….’” There is now a record of this sermon
<i>in heaven</i>. You have been told... <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That Jesus is the judge. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That Jesus is God’s peacemaker. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">About the forgiveness of sins.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">About everlasting <i>torment</i>,
away from God’s presence and under his wrath. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The scariest thing about all this is that it is entirely fair. Every kingdom or nation has to have a
judge. Piper invites us to imagine a nation in which there were no courts of
law or prison system. It would be either complete anarchy or a perfect utopia. Look
around. This is <i>not </i>a utopia. And since
anarchy means “no ruler,” we <i>don’t </i>live
in anarchy. There <i>is </i>a King, and his
name is Jesus. And he is the judge who will evaluate your life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What hope do you have?</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Having understood all this, Peter gives Cornelius (and us) only one
source of hope. But this hope is big enough, strong enough and broad enough to
cover all the terror and uncertainty caused by the previous truth that Jesus is
the Judge. In verse 43, he mercifully calls Jesus <i>Forgiver</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The scope of God’s forgiveness</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peter says, “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins
through his name.” The Judge is also the Savior. Because of God’s tremendous
mercy, he sends an ambassador to us to establish peace—and the one bringing
forgiveness is the one we have been sinning against in the first place! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And in the same way that God sent Jesus into the world back then, God is
sending Jesus to offer peace to you, right now, through this message. Jesus
Christ alone has the authority to pardon anyone he chooses. And he is offering
you that chance right now. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let’s go over this astonishing truth one more time: anyone who believes
in Jesus’ name receives forgiveness of sins. <i>Anyone! </i>Religious or non-religious. Catholic or Protestant. Black
or white. Volleyball player, wrestler, swimmer, or Football-er. White collar,
blue collar, or no collar. Everyone needs God’s grace, and <i>everyone </i>is offered God’s grace in Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Grace means a free gift. Everyone needs God’s free gift of forgiveness because,
contrary to what you have heard, people are not <i>basically good</i>. Only <i>God </i>is
“basically good.” And He is <i>amazingly </i>loving
and kind. He send Jesus to <i>die </i>for
sinners, not <i>after </i>we got our act
cleaned up, but <i>while we were still
sinning</i>. If you believe in Jesus, you <i>will
</i> be saved from his wrath. This is
your only hope and mine. It is the most exclusive message, and the most <i>inclusive </i>message there is. There is
only <i>one </i>way to be forgiven, and it
is open to <i>everyone </i>who believes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So what does it mean to believe? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peter is talking about more than just believing in facts. It starts with
agreeing with God about your own guilt. 1 John 1:9 says that God is “faithful
and just to forgive us our sins,” <i>if </i>we
“confess our sins.” Confess and trust. Trust your life to Jesus as God’s
peacemaker. Trust in Jesus as the judge <i>and
</i>savior. Trust him to forgive you of your sin. This means you agree with God
that you are a sinner. You agree with God that your sin is bad, and needs to be
done away with. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Trust your life to Jesus as the Lord of all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And just to be clear, <i>all </i>means<i> all</i>. Jesus must be the Lord of your money,
work, relationships, school, goals, family, housing, recreation, entertainment,
time, and activities. If you don’t accept Jesus as Lord of all, you don’t accept
him as God offers him. You’ve created a <i>false
</i>version of Jesus, who is only interested in <i>certain </i>areas of your life. That’s not true, and there is no hope for
forgiveness in that. We need forgiveness and restoration in <i>every </i>area of life. Believe in Jesus to
fix <i>all </i>of yours, or you don’t really
believe in him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Only Jesus can do this. Only he has full authority and capability. As
both God and man, only he knows God’s law perfectly well—in order to fulfill it
completely. Only he knows <i>you </i>better
than you know yourself—in order to save you from sins you didn’t even know
about! Only he had the ability to face down the full weight of your sin on the
cross, to condemn that sin on your behalf, and to <i>rise </i>from the dead, spotless. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And because he rose, <i>only</i> <i>he
</i>can offer you the opportunity to live again, to be raised yourself when he
returns. And because Jesus is the judge, only he can effectively declare you “not
guilty.” He <i>can </i>do all this, and he <i>will </i>do it for you, if you believe in
him as Savior and Lord. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cornelius needed to hear all this, because his own “goodness” and
religion could not save him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When you stand before Christ on Judgment day, saying you were a “pretty
good” or “religious” person <i>will not be
enough</i>. There will be a final exam, and it won’t be a theology test. It won’t
be a Bible quiz. It won’t ask you to list all the good deeds you’ve done in
your life. The one question that will matter is, “Did you trust Jesus your Lord
and Savior?<i> </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">Conclusion</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So by now, you’ve seen your need to get right with God. You have seen
that only Jesus can do this. And you have seen that <i>belief </i>or <i>trust </i>in him is
the only way of accessing it. It’s not about what <i>you </i>do, it’s about what Jesus <i>has
</i>done. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peter’s sermon demands that we make a decision: do we believe in Jesus,
or not? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You need to decide: is this something we will believe or not? “Will I
trust in Jesus’ name?” It also gives us no excuse for not sharing this Good
news with others. If you are here tonight, and this is a commitment you’ve made—if
you are living for Jesus Christ tonight—then Peter has just given you a really
clear and convincing way of sharing the Good News with others. So here’s your
homework: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Review these five words.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ask yourself, is
this something I really believe? Do I </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">know
</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">I am saved?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Share this good news
with your teammates, roommates, and friends. It’s a message </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">way too good </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">to be kept to yourself.</span></li>
</ol>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-49722969476058695002014-03-09T09:35:00.000-07:002014-03-09T09:35:00.782-07:00Good With God, Part Five: Faith's Evidence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNju3GlOPcxFk2XpY0oA6mgrDrNfQCqpCsWRNz9iG9k5Gt15lu2-Mh11zzv3zfuOmC_xO1iybgJWaI2SuNgkOkgy0hnyI6bNcb9_r-NdoKZ9vpQf7BAywg4ovaIRfEmQwRDnMtnhoF7fz/s1600/Jesus+Alive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNju3GlOPcxFk2XpY0oA6mgrDrNfQCqpCsWRNz9iG9k5Gt15lu2-Mh11zzv3zfuOmC_xO1iybgJWaI2SuNgkOkgy0hnyI6bNcb9_r-NdoKZ9vpQf7BAywg4ovaIRfEmQwRDnMtnhoF7fz/s1600/Jesus+Alive.jpg" height="474" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We continue our study of Acts 10:34-43, asking, "How can I get right with God?</span></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">“Sightings” </span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Look at verses 40 and 41. The next key word is “Sightings.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">See verse 40: God raised Jesus. <i>Yes!
</i>In raising Jesus, God vindicated him. God demonstrated <i>powerfully </i>to the <i>world </i>that
Jesus <i>was </i>the Anointed One, the “Lord
of all.” After all the claims Jesus made—to be equal to God, to be the only way
to God, to be God’s living temple—God would not raise him to life unless he <i>approved </i>of Christ’s claims. And then to
reveal to the world his approval, God presented Jesus openly to witnesses. Read
40 and 41. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The historical fact of the “post-mortem appearances” are one of the best
evidences that the Gospel is true. Jesus’ tomb was empty, and his followers not
only <i>saw </i>him, but also <i>ate and drank </i>with him. Ghosts and
hallucinations don’t eat fish. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Understand this: there was <i>no </i>expectation
in the First Century that the Messiah would rise from the dead. There was <i>no </i>reason for them to fabricate this.
These witnesses went to their graves—most (if not all) of them under brutal
persecution to recant—corroborating this story. They <i>unanimously </i>held to their story to the point of death. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So Jesus rose. And God put him on display to just the right people, to
establish faith. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have good, historical evidence that Jesus rose from the
dead. Throughout this story, God was in complete control. He even chose which
500 people would serve as witnesses of Christ’s resurrection. We have the eyewitness
testimony recorded for us in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. This is
an established historical fact. To deny it, you have to throw historical and
textual criticism out the window. It happened. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In his Resurrection, Jesus conquered
death. God did the work needed to destroy sin for us. We are that much closer to having our greatest
need met—that of getting right with God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<h1>
<br /></h1>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-10702971614226169402014-03-08T09:30:00.000-08:002014-03-08T09:30:00.988-08:00Good With God, Part Four: The Sacrifice Sent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQ6VXAXlRDpFbG_8z7Bmx5ONnFDfk0yEAMayS9p9wXrSS1x_Vg7akyGM_mL0-emw1dSz4lK9i_W-boe5mU1fD0BBMb5qzkHq_CMTON86hRvpt-NLf1CvzHckrVrHCrM9DUypFgwdDlDlz/s1600/PASSOVER-LAMB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQ6VXAXlRDpFbG_8z7Bmx5ONnFDfk0yEAMayS9p9wXrSS1x_Vg7akyGM_mL0-emw1dSz4lK9i_W-boe5mU1fD0BBMb5qzkHq_CMTON86hRvpt-NLf1CvzHckrVrHCrM9DUypFgwdDlDlz/s1600/PASSOVER-LAMB.jpg" height="400" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We continue our study of Acts 10:34-43, asking, "How can I get right with God?"</span></span><br />
<h1>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Sent.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let’s turn to verses 36 through 38. The next word is, “Sent.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In verse 36, Peter says that God sent Jesus to bring good news of peace.
Peter lifts up Jesus as peacemaker. And this man God sends to make peace is actually
the “Lord of all!” This <i>sent </i>one announces
peace to humanity, and he is qualified to do that. He is the <i>Lord</i>. This is not a term thrown around lightly.
It is the word used in the Old Testament to refer to Yahweh, the Great I Am,
the God over thousands of armies of angels. So though this God, holy, totally
righteous, might just as well have declared <i>war
</i>against sinners like you and me, he sends the <i>Lord </i>Himself, Jesus Christ his Son, to declare peace!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What else does Peter say about God’s peacemaker? In verses 37 and 38, he
says that “Jesus of Nazareth” is anointed with the Holy Spirit and power. “Jesus
of Nazareth.” Nazareth, where Jesus had grown up, was close by to Caesarea,
where Peter was speaking. This is like Peter saying, “Jesus from Rockford.” “Jesus
from Joliet.” Jesus from St. Charles. Jesus was a real guy. He was a human
being. And this regular guy is <i>anointed </i>by
God in a way unlike anyone else, ever. He has <i>power. </i>If the “incarnation”—the truth that God became human—is a
diamond, then Peter is turning it to another angle, so that a new facet sparkles
in the light. He is <i>Lord of all</i>, but
he is also a powerful <i>man. </i>He is the
God-Man. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peter is saying that Jesus is God’s peacemaker. And the deeper meaning
is this: God has entered our world, <i>physically</i>,
to provide a peace offering for us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This must have resonated with Cornelius. He was a Roman officer, so he
knew about war and peace. The idea of a <i>peacemaker
</i>would have been a very powerful image for him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And it resonates with us today. Nowadays, we are “at war” with
Afghanistan. That’s still going on. This would be like President Obama sending
his own daughter—Malia, to Afghanistan, into the heart of Al-Qaeda territory,
to declare peace with the terrorists. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God has sent Jesus into the world to give us peace with Himself. Now
let’s talk about how he secured that peace for us. <br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">“Sacrifice.”</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the rest of verse 38 and into verse 39, the next word is “Sacrifice.”
God sent Jesus as a sacrifice for sin. Look what Peter says in verse 38 about the
character of this sacrifice. Jesus did good. This is a loaded statement. Jesus did
<i>nothing but </i>good. He did good <i>perfectly</i>. The Prince of Preachers, Charles
Spurgeon, points out that this single phrase is a summary of Jesus’ life.
Whereas the average person’s life is characterized by <i>sin</i>, Jesus’ life is filled with <i>good
works and righteousness. </i>Though he was tempted, he <i>never </i>sinned. He is stronger than sin and temptation. He is <i>so close to God</i> that he never <i>once </i>strayed from God’s plan or purpose.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So you can see that he brings <i>peace</i>,
and he also brings <i>power</i>. If he is
stronger than sin, than there is a glimmer of hope for sinners like us. This is
where we start to think, “Maybe he will be stronger than <i>my </i>sin!” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next thing Peter says about the nature of this sacrifice is that Jesus
healed those <i>oppressed </i>by the devil.
So there <i>is </i>a devil, and (as John
Piper says) he is <i>horrendously evil</i>.
Satan makes people physically sick, mentally sick, and spiritually sick.
Scripture says that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. His aim is to <i>oppress</i>. It also says that Jesus came to
<i>destroy </i>the work of the devil. He isn’t
some long-haired hippy, picking flowers and petting kittens. He is the <i>power </i>of God, come down into human
history to shatter the shackles that Satan has been using to keep sinners
captured. With Jesus’ coming comes a <i>new </i>kingdom.
The power of darkness is beginning to be <i>violently
</i>pushed back. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But then, Peter says in verse 39, Jesus was put to death. Just as soon
as hope blooms, like a little flower pushing through the frozen ground, a boot
comes and tramples it. Crucifixion is a shameful, wretched way to die. The
crucifixion of Christ is not a gentle, sacred scene etched in stained glass.
This is a horror movie come to life. Jesus was whipped and tortured. He was
crushed. Mutilated.<i> </i>Anyone hearing
this after learning about Jesus’ power immediately asks, “Why?!<i> </i>What happened to his power?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is only <i>one </i>explanation
for the death of a person with <i>his </i>level
of power and <i>his </i>anointing from God. Jesus
was killed because God willed it. He was too powerful to be overpowered. The
death of Jesus was <i>unjust</i>—he didn’t
deserve it—but God did it to <i>exact
justice </i>on sin by <i>condemning </i>sin
in <i>Jesus’ </i>human body, in order that the <i>righteous </i>requirement of God’s law might
be fulfilled in <i>us</i>. He took our
place. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peter tells his audience that, although Jesus had power over God’s
enemies, he subjected himself to their control, temporarily, in order to take
the suffering <i>we </i>deserve. This is <i>so </i>counterintuitive. It’s not a manmade
solution. It’s God-made. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the movie, “Hook,” Peter Pan (played by Robin Williams) risks his
life to save his son, Jack. Jack has been living with Captain Hook for so long,
that he forgot he was Peter’s son. Jesus fought the devil, <i>our </i>captor, in the most counterintuitive way. He <i>died </i>to set us free. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But the story doesn’t end with death. </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-45323207287362450882014-03-07T09:26:00.000-08:002014-03-07T09:26:00.043-08:00Good With God, Part Three: No Difference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywyIfyYNFrP6DFlS9qy3JDJtFyULxh12xKOyg2qIweGmC6GJfXalRDrW3Q-7xpCu8oPcqivC5yEvQLodGpB_fboQQ-kbZcKasOsqWkD-730PfuzG5abtlxtGwLBLCbc8jLFXszvNdmRb5/s1600/Jew+Gentile+Friends.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywyIfyYNFrP6DFlS9qy3JDJtFyULxh12xKOyg2qIweGmC6GJfXalRDrW3Q-7xpCu8oPcqivC5yEvQLodGpB_fboQQ-kbZcKasOsqWkD-730PfuzG5abtlxtGwLBLCbc8jLFXszvNdmRb5/s1600/Jew+Gentile+Friends.gif" height="379" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We continue our study of Acts 10:34-43, asking the question: "How can I get right with God?"</span></span><br />
<h1>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Same.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Look at verses 34 and 35. The
first word to know is“Same.”<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God doesn’t play favorites<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first thing that happens is that Peter opens his mouth. Prior to
this, the mouth of the apostles had been shut to Gentiles. Now he opens his
mouth to them. God doesn’t look at any external advantages. Jew, Gentile—no
other distinction matters to him. God’s not going to reject a good Gentile
because he’s a Gentile, and God’s not going to accept a bad Jew because he’s
Jewish.<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God’s two requirements<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Still in verse 34, Peter gives God’s two requirements for anyone who <i>is </i>right with him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first requirement? Fear God. “Fear” in the biblical sense has more
to do with <i>respect </i>and <i>obedience </i>than with terror. Cornelius
was a religious man. He would have said that he “feared” God. So is God
rewarding him by sending Peter to preach the Gospel to him? Not exactly. His
piety is not enough. Or else Peter wouldn’t have had to come. No—his piety is
evidence that God has been working on him already. We are seeing here a glimpse
of God’s grace, working in the life of this “pious” Gentile even before he
heard the Gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The second requirement is to “do what is right.” This means, simply,
obey God’s law perfectly. Uh-oh. It’s not enough to be “religious.” A person
has to do <i>what is right</i>. Peter is
setting the bar (impossibly) high here. There is <i>no one </i>who meets these requirements. Romans 3:10-11 say no one is
righteous. Peter says God does not care about the Jew/ Gentile divide. All are
held to the same requirement. God plays no favorites. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Back then, the Jew/Gentile division was the most essential in humanity.
Jews would rely on the fact that they were Jewish for their status with God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For some of us, it’s religion. We focus on externals: I don’t do this; I
do that. I go to church here. I belong to this or that group. We rely on all
sorts of things to make us right with God. But God looks at the heart. And only
those who <i>fear </i>him—respect him in
everything—and <i>obey </i>him will be made
right with him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My dad would always say,
“sleeping in a garage doesn’t make you a car.” Going to church doesn’t make you
a Christian. There needs to be some fundamental change on the <i>inside </i>in order for you to be made right
with God. </span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></b></span>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-55619798942845412622014-03-06T09:22:00.000-08:002014-03-06T09:22:00.033-08:00Good With God, Part Two: Your Debt<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZ4Z12RrqEkvTuEeaSOYusRun4bOVRLP220q-QylVXLKZnzWPVXMhDWLrOYuLTzsaeAa9ltxOCSIbsQDYjGIQb22qOIPb_lowACbneam2ZCuN_5adB0xJJ_mMXwfN4U3mqol9OoV0Q26Z/s1600/transaction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZ4Z12RrqEkvTuEeaSOYusRun4bOVRLP220q-QylVXLKZnzWPVXMhDWLrOYuLTzsaeAa9ltxOCSIbsQDYjGIQb22qOIPb_lowACbneam2ZCuN_5adB0xJJ_mMXwfN4U3mqol9OoV0Q26Z/s1600/transaction.jpg" height="303" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture Credit: http://www.toonpool.com/user/3404/files/transaction_826975.jpg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h1>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are you good? <o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In 2005, ABC News did a poll. 89% of people believe in heaven. 85% of
those who believe in heaven also think they will go there after they die. The
average person thinks he is going to heaven. And you can guess the reason: the
average person thinks he is basically, pretty good. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But is that the case? A good person’s life is characterized by good
living. Let’s take one sin for an example, and see how the goodness of an average
person’s life is affected by it. Take dishonesty: Colossians 3:9 says, “Do not
lie.” Since God’s word says not to lie, then lying is wrong. It is a “sin.” How
often does the average person commit this sin? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A recent study in the U. K. found that women lie an average of three
times each day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That’s 1,095 lies in a year. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If lying starts at age 2, that means the average woman has been
dishonest 17,520 times before high school graduation. And 21,900 before graduating
college. The average American woman, assuming the same frequency, has told
87,819 lies by the time she dies. Now before we men point any fingers at the “fairer
sex,” see this: by time of his death (according to US life expectancy stats),
the average US man has told 169,506 lies! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That’s a lot of sinning, and we haven’t even talked about other sins. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For example, there are plenty of warnings about sexual immorality in the
Bible. Yet the average 18-24-year-old spends two hours each week watching porn.
That’s 624 hours spent on self-gratifying, God-dishonoring debauchery by the
time you get your master’s degree. 26 days of non-stop pornography. That’s like
the entire month of February, taking one weekend off. Non-stop. No sleep. Porn
objectifies women. It contributes to human trafficking. It twists and contorts your
soul into patterns which lead you in opposition to a holy God. Sin is bad. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Go through the rest of the 10 Commandments, and the picture becomes more
and more grim. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever cheated on a test? Have
you ever been jealous of what someone else had? Ever had an unjustified, angry
outburst? Ever said “OMG” or taken Jesus’ name in vain? Turning the Creator’s
powerful name into a curse? Ever valued anything in your life more highly than
your time with God (committing idolatry)? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Despite your best efforts to look clean, well-put-together, and upright,
you are piling up a <i>massive</i> pile of
sin before a righteous and holy God. This is a debt that has to be paid. It is
a mess that demands to be cleaned up. Even if good deeds <i>could </i>make up for bad ones—say, an hour of volunteering for every
hour spent looking at porn, a dollar to a charity for every gossipy word
spoken—the amount of good deeds you would need to do is <i>staggering</i>. And that’s not to mention this: your natural tendency is
to do wrong. Think about it: which is harder to do, good deeds or bad ones? </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We
gravitate toward sin. No one has to teach a two-year-old how to push his little
sister down. Sin is ingrained in us from birth—from <i>conception</i>. And God is by <i>definition
</i>holy. Scripture says he cannot even <i>look
</i>at sin. And we are covered in it. My friends, we are in need. <span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<h1>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How can we get right with a God to whom we
owe <i>so much</i>? <o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Right now, you may protest: “I never hurt anyone.” Really? How can you
be sure? What about with your words? Do you really believe you can hate someone
in your heart without that spilling out into your actions toward her? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next you’ll say, “But I try to do my best!” Unfortunately, this doesn’t
do any good either. Anyone could say that! But if I do my best and try to dunk
a basketball, it ain’t gonna happen. Telling the ref that you “did your best”
won’t score you any points in the game. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now here is the lamest excuse of all: “I go to church (variously, this
comes out at ‘I’m religious!’” So <i>what</i>?
Could a murderer go to church? Does that get rid of the murder? No, and it
doesn’t get rid of your sins either. To steal an illustration, this is the
equivalent of spritzing perfume on a garbage dump. <span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<h1>
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a way. <o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What God’s word will show us tonight is this: <b>when it comes to getting right with God, it’s not about what <i>you </i>do; it’s about what <i>Jesus has done</i>.</b> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let’s look back into the Acts of the Apostles, the account of the Early
Church. The Apostle Peter has been shown a vision in which God told him <i>all </i>foods are okay to eat, which he took
to mean that all people are able to be made right with God—not just certain
ethnicities. Peter gets called to the house of Cornelius, a Roman military
officer, and he is going to lay out the basics of what it takes to be made
right with God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My purpose tonight is two-fold. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One: it’s to lay out the basics of the Gospel for you, so that you too
will believe and be made right with God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two: it’s to give you a handy way of remembering how to explain the
Gospel to others. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We’ll break the Gospel down into FIVE key words: SAME, SENT, SACRIFICE,
SIGHTINGS, and SALVATION. Feel free to write these ideas down, and to use them
the next time you’re explaining the Gospel to someone. </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-25282109358164026802014-03-05T09:14:00.001-08:002014-03-05T09:14:46.750-08:00Good With God, Part One: Are You Good? <div class="post-body headroom clear-fix" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-top: 10px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuvimOnkdseWlUJyOxKruQXrFGrTuUXV2nBKdxQ37zWMASEhzTDYqk__SJ5eMG9R_Q5DVT0HHyVx1qV9lMszz3lc6ooLgVemmPGPrPccRniTqKjoT5FsguqAlvSJ636FRVlsZVuQtSxUR/s1600/Miner+with+Bible+at+Qualcreek+PA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuvimOnkdseWlUJyOxKruQXrFGrTuUXV2nBKdxQ37zWMASEhzTDYqk__SJ5eMG9R_Q5DVT0HHyVx1qV9lMszz3lc6ooLgVemmPGPrPccRniTqKjoT5FsguqAlvSJ636FRVlsZVuQtSxUR/s1600/Miner+with+Bible+at+Qualcreek+PA.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 9px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before we begin, let’s read <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+10%3A34-43&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="color: #207bb8; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Acts 10:34-43</a>.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 9px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, picture this:</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 9px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A guy in a polo shirt, khakis and cross-trainers jogs up to you, grabs your ankle, and starts lifting your leg up into the air. What’s your reaction? Probably not a nice one. You jerk back, protest. Now he reassures you that he’s a personal trainer, and he’s here to fix your leg. What’s your reaction now? Probably still not very good. The trainer goes on to explain that he noticed you walking on campus, and he could tell that you were overcompensating on your left side. He immediately recognized that this is because your right leg has an injury, and he knew right away how to fix it, with stretching and such. </span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 9px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Okay, now this is making a little more sense. You come to realize that you <i>do</i>have an injury. It happened a long time ago, but you have found a way to live with it, and while you’re not up to peak performance, you’ve been making due. But now you recognize that you have a problem, and you’re open to the idea of getting help with it. Until you recognize the need, you won’t believe you need the solution.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 9px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So my purpose tonight is to do two things: to show you your need, and then to offer you the solution.</span></div>
<h2 style="color: #222222; font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All Good people…</span></h2>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 9px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A while back, some miners were stuck underground in PA. A young miner asked an older one[1] “Will I go to heaven?” And the older fellow comforted him by saying, “All good people go to heaven, no matter what.”</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 9px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those are comforting words, and I’m not here to dispute whether good people go to heaven. But if the older miner’s statement is true, then did it comfort the younger miner? To answer that, he would need to ask himself a very important question, wouldn’t he? That question is, “Am I a good person?” </span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 9px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>To be continued....</i></span></div>
<h2 style="color: #222222; font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*****</span></h2>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor of Youth and Evangelism at Grace Pointe Plainfield, located at 143rd St. and Route 30. Sunday services start at 9AM, and you are invited. </span></i></div>
Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-15104114854410220872014-01-15T10:25:00.000-08:002014-01-15T10:25:13.359-08:00Did Jesus Really Change the World?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2D5oWie5VFbv7Vzt1KJx00zuS7WM-_UWsVy-b4q5qDI6ObbBfWiTnNRMaBGPPomu0FQPC0i9OswCaOin9PGHNtfYxdZzibjURaH2Q-c6ksBruscDJmSnl_UbRS4V-nwMOByYgHNiaX5GS/s1600/newworldorder-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2D5oWie5VFbv7Vzt1KJx00zuS7WM-_UWsVy-b4q5qDI6ObbBfWiTnNRMaBGPPomu0FQPC0i9OswCaOin9PGHNtfYxdZzibjURaH2Q-c6ksBruscDJmSnl_UbRS4V-nwMOByYgHNiaX5GS/s640/newworldorder-13.jpg" width="540" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You know, if Jesus doesn't work out, it's good to know there are plenty of other messianic aspirants out there.<br /><a href="http://kansascitypropainting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/newworldorder-13.jpg">http://kansascitypropainting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/newworldorder-13.jpg</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">"The New World Order is coming!" </span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">If you are a conspiracy junkie like me, you have heard (or read) those words before. The New World Order is thought to be a sinister new age of one-world government oppression and unprecedented evil, probably ushered in behind the scenes by evil, shadowy organizations. You can read the Wikipedia article about the conspiracy </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_%28conspiracy_theory%29" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">There are all kinds of theories as to when and how the New World Order will arrive. Perhaps it will be a result of the evil forces behind the U.N. or the E.U., or another one of those short, sinister acronyms. Or maybe it will be President Obama who will usher it in. Maybe the Illuminati or the Masons are going to start the New World Order (using their surrogates in government). Or, if we are not careful, maybe it will be the "Vast, Right-Wing Conspiracy" who will finally do us in. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">It is all too easy to sneer at these predictions, to dismiss their adherents as lunatics, and to move on with your life. But what if I told you that the New World Order is real? What if it is nothing like what you expect? What if it </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">has already started?</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"> </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">What if the New World Order, rather than being something to be feared, is something amazingly beautiful--something to be greatly desired?</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Keep reading. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">The New World Order is Here</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Right off the bat, let me define my terms. I am </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">not </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">talking about the New World Order everyone is so afraid of. Really think about it: the New World Order of conspiracy sites and radio shows is what? A time of government oppression, in which human rights are trampled upon, and evil reigns. Here is my question: how is this different than the era we are currently in? </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">It does not take much thought to realize that humanity has </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">always <b></b></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">been oppressing itself. Those in power have </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">always </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">been hurting those under their authority. And those under authority have </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">always </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">been rising up (when they could) and rebelling. Then, as the Bolshevik and French Revolutions teach us, the formerly oppressed ones institute fresh new oppression on everyone who disagrees with them (in the name of progress, of course!). </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">So if the New World Order is a time of great human evil, then it is going to be nothing more than a change in </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">degree</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">, not in </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">type. </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Despite the utopian dreams of the last century, most of us can now agree that human beings are basically </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">bad</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">So let's put those dystopian fears aside and talk about a different kind of New World Order. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Read </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+5%3A17-39&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" target="_blank">Luke 5:17-39</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"> with me, and let's get into it. </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">If you keep reading this article without clicking on that link, you will miss a lot of my references. </i><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b></b>The Nature of the New Order</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">In this passage, Jesus is healing folks and forgiving their sins. His opponents, those infamous Pharisees, confront Jesus about his claims to forgive sins--a right reserved for God alone. They also chastise him for associating with sinners and crooks. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">After some back and forth (during which Jesus never disagrees that only God can forgive sins), Jesus uses some very interesting metaphors to explain what is going on with his ministry.</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Take a closer look at </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+5%3A33-39&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" target="_blank">verses 33-39</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Jesus calls himself "the bridegroom." More on this in a minute. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">He also makes references to a "new garment" and "new wine." He says that, "No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old." Similarly, "no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed."</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">What does Jesus mean with all this talk about fabric and wine? What he means is this: a </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">new era </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">has dawned, and the </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">old way </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">of doing things is not going to work anymore. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">The </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">old </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">religious practices, the </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">separation </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">that used to exist between so-called holy folks and so-called sinners has evaporated. It is not that </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">everybody </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">is declared "good" automatically now. Rather, in calling out the religious elites, Jesus is saying that </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">everybody </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">is a sinner. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">The Members of the New Order</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Everybody has done wrong, and everybody needs forgiveness. And forgiveness is now freely available to everyone. </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">That </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">is the new order. And it is brought about by Jesus. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Since everybody has sinned against God (</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+6%3A23&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" target="_blank">Romans 6:23</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">), everybody has the same need for reconciliation with God. The Pharisees were trying to </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">earn that reconciliation through good deeds and separation. Jesus never requires this. He grants forgiveness freely. He could do this because he was about to </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">pay dearly </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">for that forgiveness by </span><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-21.htm" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" target="_blank">dying for humanity's sins on the cross</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">. So since he was earning it, he could give it away. Everyone who turns from their sin (this is the "repentance" Jesus calls us to in verse 32) and accepts Jesus as savior and master (as Levi did in verse 28) becomes part of Jesus' new order; they are reconciled to God.</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">The Hope of the New Order</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">So this new order has started. Right now, there are people living and working </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">in this very town</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"> who have been forgiven, made right with God, and are being transformed by God's Holy Spirit. You may have noticed these people by the joy in their expressions, by the love they have for each other, and their hope in difficult circumstances. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">See, Jesus </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">is </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Lord, but he is also a dear friend. In verse 34, he refers to himself as the Bridegroom. As you study Scripture, you will see this theme repeated. Jesus is the Groom, and his Church--those who love him and follow him--are his "bride." </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">This love Jesus has for his people is symbolized by the strongest, most powerful love we humans know about: marriage. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Jesus loves his people with an unending, unbreakable and unshakable bond. Think about that! These are sinners! Levi the tax collector, and his friends who came to his party (verse 29) were </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">widely known </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">to be dishonest. These are the people Jesus forgives and loves. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">And there is one more aspect to the Bridegroom metaphor that you need to see. In those days, after a groom proposed to his fiancee, he would travel back to his homeland and set up their future estate. He would be gone for a long time, while the bride-to-be eagerly awaited her groom's return. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Like a groom, Jesus has gone. He predicted this in verse 35: "The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days." So nowadays, followers of Jesus have joy and peace, but there is also an element of longing bound up with the Christian life. We are eagerly waiting for Jesus to come back. We are </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">hopeful</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"> for that day to come, like a bride waiting for her groom. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">The events surrounding Jesus life are indisputable. The records of his work, death, and even his resurrection stand up to the toughest literary and historical scrutiny. Multiple attempts to discredit the Gospels have all failed. So what can we conclude?</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Jesus really is who he claimed to be. He is God and Man in one. He is the Savior and hope of sinners like you and me. And he has ushered in a New World Order that is radically different from how things have always gone. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">If you are interested in learning more about Jesus, his claims, or what it means to be a part of this "New World Order" he began 2,000 years ago, please shoot me an email at jsettecase@gracepointe.us.</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br />*****<br /><br />Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor of Evangelism and Student Ministries at Grace Pointe Plainfield, located at 143rd St. and Route 30. </i><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Sunday morning service begins at 9:00, and you are welcome to visit this Sunday as Joel's guest. </i></span>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-44531660015576106952014-01-10T15:26:00.000-08:002014-01-10T15:49:00.188-08:00The arguments make sense. So why aren't you convinced?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGlLazogPZ6eAkrhb6HmnsLbOqyeaIVkEba6q1q2PSCtwizwmDBX9l1RA5lgWrQifbnLyEEMQvvGQka2EpCGMDJHgHj8tST5V6FGO3ozvZ65BLt7QMHMHRNw3mHTWAS5r2a4nm5eHWuAa/s1600/Gerasene-Demoniac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGlLazogPZ6eAkrhb6HmnsLbOqyeaIVkEba6q1q2PSCtwizwmDBX9l1RA5lgWrQifbnLyEEMQvvGQka2EpCGMDJHgHj8tST5V6FGO3ozvZ65BLt7QMHMHRNw3mHTWAS5r2a4nm5eHWuAa/s1600/Gerasene-Demoniac.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Life without Jesus: it's not good. <br />
Picture credit: <a href="http://www.ingodsimage.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Gerasene-Demoniac.jpg">http://www.ingodsimage.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Gerasene-Demoniac.jpg</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">An obvious truth</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">If someone were to drive into the middle of town (picture the Lockport Street business district here in Plainfield), set up a folding table on an empty lot, and hang a sign reading, "free gold bullion" how long do you think it would take for him to be overrun with people? Once folks figured out this was not a scam, but a legitimate offering of actual, precious gold, is there a single person in town who would not come out, who was able? And certainly, those who were unable to come would send a representative: "Go get me some of that free gold!" It is a simple matter of a cost-benefit analysis: people would determine that the value of what they would gain (gold bricks) would surpass the value of what they would potentially lose by coming (gasoline, time, opportunity cost). This is so obvious, it's silly. If you're going to give away free, valuable gifts, people are going to flock to you to receive them. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Alright, now why am I going through all this trouble to prove that people would take free gold? No, I have no intention of setting up that kind of "business" on Lockport Street. The reason I bring it up is this: right now, God is offering you something </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">way more valuable than gold</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">, and you have yet to accept it. Read on.</span></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">God's free offer</span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Q1rJQ94N_l5fFaHZnm9esSiqDVNJPDHdKktpu2nGPw7SEEaBxcMxoYX2MJmkM0aOMjLUB52YXzDr76kzPH_lrrFEJnfgzZZALGyjqkqzq1UqO4VlOnzw-q_FHVNTWymtE6UujBpMOEDv/s1600/one-does-not-simply+get+to+heaven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Q1rJQ94N_l5fFaHZnm9esSiqDVNJPDHdKktpu2nGPw7SEEaBxcMxoYX2MJmkM0aOMjLUB52YXzDr76kzPH_lrrFEJnfgzZZALGyjqkqzq1UqO4VlOnzw-q_FHVNTWymtE6UujBpMOEDv/s1600/one-does-not-simply+get+to+heaven.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">In the biblical book of Romans, St. Paul writes, "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Let's do a a quick cost/benefit analysis on this investment. Here are a few considerations:</span></span><br />
<ol style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.areyouasinner.com/2012/08/are-you-good-person_14.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b>You a</b></a><a href="http://www.areyouasinner.com/2012/08/are-you-good-person_14.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b>re a sinner</b></a> (don't be offended. I am too. I am not holier than you. I'm probably--no, definitely worse than you).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Your lifestyle of sin has earned you death. </b>Since God is the source of life, and sin goes against God, it makes sense that sin produces death. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>God is offering you life</b>. This life is accessed through Jesus, God's Son. You go to Jesus, and he gives you life. Jesus says, "The one who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live" (<a href="http://www.bing.com/search?setmkt=en-US&q=Though+he+die%2C+he+will+live" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John 11:25</a>).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>God's life is a free gift.</b> You can't earn it. Good deeds don't earn it. Jesus earned it for you. Again, you can get it only from Jesus, and only as a gift. You do not need to repay God for this. You <i>can't</i>. You simply have to accept it. </span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Would it not seem like a no-brainer that you should accept God's free gift? Think about it: you have earned the </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">exact opposite </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">of life. God had Jesus take what </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">you </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">deserve (death), in order to give you what </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jesus </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">deserves (life).</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">This is an incredible message of good news (the word "Gospel" means just that) that we should shout from the rooftops (or at least blog about on Patch), right?</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Then why have you not yet believed? The Bible has the answer to that question, too. </span></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">Your inner inhibitor</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">There is a fascinating story in the Gospel According to Luke, Chapter 8. </span><a href="http://plainfield.patch.com/posts/do-you-know-why-its-hard-to-trust-in-jesus/edit" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">Read it here </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">before you continue. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">When that demonized man encountered Jesus, he was terrified. Though he recognized that Jesus could liberate him, he </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">resisted </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">that transformation. At his core, he </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">enjoyed </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">his oppression. He knew it. He was comfortable with it. Change--however beneficial--was terrifying. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Well Jesus isn't having any of that. Like a boss, he orders the demons out of the man. They immediately obey. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">But then, when the local folks hear what happened, </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">they </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">become terrified. They beg Jesus to leave them alone! </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Huh? </i><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">The townspeople were suffering from a condition similar to that of the demoniac: they loved their wickedness. Oh, compared to the outright evil of the demoniac, theirs was a low-grade evil. A spiritual fever. Yet evil is evil, and sin is always opposed to God. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">So they beg Jesus to leave. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">And you and I are no better than those townspeople. At our core, we love our sin. When confronted with the possibility of being released from it, we cling to it like Gollum clinging to his "Precious," and we lash out at anyone trying to take it from us. I have experienced this in my own life. Being confronted about my sin is </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">painful</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">. When that happens, I feel indignant. Hurt. Angry. Afraid. I like my sin, and I do </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">not </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">want to give it up. I have an internal inhibitor against the things of God. You have the same problem. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Unfortunately, unless God opens your heart to himself, the message of the Gospel is going to seem repulsive. It might look good on paper (or screen, as it were), but something is keeping you back. You just </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">aren't </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">ready to commit to Jesus. It does not matter that the man is giving away free riches downtown. You're happy enough without it, thank you very much. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Thank God, there is hope. </span></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">God's hope for sinners</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Did you notice that Jesus did not ask the man for permission to save him? He just saved him. He liberated the man from demonic oppression, but then came the </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">real </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">decision. Would the man follow Jesus? </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">By looking at other accounts of this story (</span><a href="http://plainfield.patch.com/posts/do-you-know-why-its-hard-to-trust-in-jesus/edit" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">in Matthew & Mark</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">), we learn that there were actually </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">two </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">demonized men Jesus healed at that time. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">After they were healed, only one of them became a believer. He begged Jesus to let him follow him, but Jesus sent him back into his town to proclaim what God had done for him. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">If God has opened your eyes to the truth of the Gospel--if you </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">get </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">that Jesus is God's Son, who came into the world to live a perfect life and die in </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">your </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">place, that he rose from the dead, and he alone offers you eternal life--then you have a choice. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">You can choose to follow him or reject him. If you trust in Jesus, you will get God's free gift of life. If you reject him, you will die in your sins, forever separated from the God who loves you. My prayer is that you will make the right call. Turn away from your sins and trust in Jesus today. Give him your life, and accept his everlasting life. Living for Jesus is not always </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">easy </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">(it rarely is), but it is joyful. It is meaningful. It is true. Are you ready? </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">If you would like to know more about following Jesus, please shoot me an email at jsettecase@gracepointe.us. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">*****</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">For this article, I was greatly helped by <a href="https://bible.org/seriespage/deliverance-demoniac-or-unholy-fear-luke-826-39" title="Link: https://bible.org/seriespage/deliverance-demoniac-or-unholy-fear-luke-826-39">Bob Deffinbaugh's commentary</a>, "The Deliverance of the Demoniac or 'Unholy Fear' (Luke 8:26-39)" at Bible.org. </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">*****</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor for Evangelism & Student Ministries at Grace Pointe Plainfield, located at 143rd St. & Route 30. Sunday service time is 9:00 AM. </i></span>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-34765616125798582362014-01-09T11:31:00.002-08:002014-01-09T11:31:39.736-08:00Which matters more, the physical or the spiritual?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgd-Zl_XatwNLlStIi5sO_DEtbM85enihdVLerUgW573a9Cvjdp_NHZnbJ-882TuQkJn0MlZsze2K_ZYtpt8QtmJ8GYqpJwyzJlcplFDQz4osQmITf3aTqYzisRujJJWcHdX_Z9xZ2k_F/s1600/crossroads+cross.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgd-Zl_XatwNLlStIi5sO_DEtbM85enihdVLerUgW573a9Cvjdp_NHZnbJ-882TuQkJn0MlZsze2K_ZYtpt8QtmJ8GYqpJwyzJlcplFDQz4osQmITf3aTqYzisRujJJWcHdX_Z9xZ2k_F/s1600/crossroads+cross.png" height="265" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">In </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%204:31-41&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">Luke 4:31-41</a><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="line-height: 17.98611068725586px;">, Jesus deals with both the physical and the spiritual realms. This post follows <a href="http://dontforgettothink.blogspot.com/2014/01/where-did-all-these-gentile-christians.html" target="_blank">yesterday's</a>. </span></span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Moving on from Nazareth, Jesus has traveled to Capernaum. Capernaum is a city 30 miles northeast from Nazareth. Bing Maps tells me its a little over a nine hour walk between the two towns. So, realistically, we are talking about a few days to get from one town to the other. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">However long it took Jesus to get to Capernaum, his reputation had evidently gotten there ahead of him. He shows up, immediately starts preaching in the synagogues, and people are amazed. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Unlike the rabbis of his day, Jesus preaches with authority. And the people are about to see just how much authority he had.</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus and the spiritual realm</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jesus demonstrated his authority in a confrontation that happened one Sabbath, while he was preaching. A demonized man stood up in the middle of Jesus' sermon and shouted, "Ha! </span><span style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">I know who you are—</span><span style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">the Holy One of God." Now if this were me preaching, the minute some crazed man stands up in the congregation and shouts "HA!" I am starting to freak out. I am looking around for an escape route behind the stage, just to make sure. <i>Where is this going? Is this guy dangerous? What is going on?</i> But we do not see any of those reactions with Jesus.<br /><br />Jesus looks the demon square in the eye, and basically says "Shut up!" Actually, in the original language, he says, "Be muzzled!" Jesus slaps a spiritual muzzle on the demon, like a dog. "Come out of him!" And the demon throws the man down and comes out of him. Just like that. No exorcism ritual. No prayer. No fasting. Pure authority. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">What does this mean? Jesus has authority over the spiritual realm. Period. There is no spiritual force that can withstand his rebuke. He rules. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus and the physical realm</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Shortly after this little interchange, Jesus goes over to the house of one of his disciple's in-laws. Simon (better known as Peter) invites them in, and he and the members of their family appeal to Jesus on behalf of his mother-in-law. She is "sick with a high fever." If you have ever had to entertain while you're feeling under the weather, you can imagine the stress this family is going through. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">So they ask Jesus to help her. And he does. He "rebukes" the fever, and it leaves her. And then (this is the best part), she gets up and begins to serve them! She needs to recovery time. She is feeling great. She is grateful to Jesus (and probably astonished), and to show her gratitude she cooks them all dinner. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">What does this story teach? Jesus has authority over the physical realm too. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bringing the two together</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Now, picture a great, big golden pendulum. To the right of the pendulum is written, "physical." To the left of the pendulum is written, "spiritual." Today, it is common for churches to have the pendulum of their emphasis swung too far over to either side. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">There are some churches who emphasize the spiritual aspect of the faith. For them, there are no practical, real-world implications to their religion. Faith is a private matter, for personal edification, and should not really enter into the public sphere. These folks miss the fact that Jesus came into the world--he did not just descend as low as the clouds and shout religious teaching at us. He was flesh and blood. He laughed. He got mad. He ate. And he healed fevers.</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Other churches swing hard in the opposite direction. Faith is seen as a means to an end. If you have enough faith, you can be healed of all diseases. You can get rich, succeed in business, have healthy and well-behaved children, find a perfect spouse. Basically, Jesus came so you could prosper, and make "every day a Friday." These people forget that Jesus' primary concern was bringing </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">eternal </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">life. Prosperity in this life is utter </span><a href="http://itsallscubula.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-consider-it-all-scubula-aka-rubbish.html" style="line-height: 18px;">crap</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"> compared to the "surpassing greatness" of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:7-9). </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">The truth is found in the middle. Changing metaphors, the physical and spiritual "roads" intersect at the cross. On the cross, Jesus dealt with the one disease that can keep us from God forever: our sin. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">See, all those people Jesus healed eventually died. None of them are alive today--at least not physically. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Yet the promise of Christ is this: anyone who allows him to heal their </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">spiritual </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">disease--sin--he will </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">physically </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">"raise them up on the last day" (John 6:44). You and I will die someday. We deserve that. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jesus died too. He did not deserve that. But he did it for us. And if you trust in him, you will be saved. He will </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">raise </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">you up at the finale of history. You will receive a new body, one free from disease, pain, and suffering. And you will be privileged to look at your Savior, face-to-face, and thank him, and worship him forever. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">If you are interested in having that kind of security for your life, the kind found only in God, please shoot me an email at jsettecase@gracepointe.us. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">*****</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><i style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor of Evangelism & Student Ministries at Grace Pointe Plainfield, located at 143rd St. & Route 30. Sunday services start at 9AM. </i></span>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-76320806726039765012014-01-08T22:22:00.000-08:002014-01-08T22:22:03.387-08:00Where did all these Gentile Christians come from?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDYu4OQF2NwE-zKw0LgISpsFF66x0Nwvfp3RT18903fTAEobzG5MeUBHta1nMYm_YB01-4fD1Qm2dEHEi0eSSD71jEgXqw_COtbw5boIqhhUv-dhhgE_YNRTqTgUYEe6DcrIaU8TuIqeE/s1600/jesusoffthecliff.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDYu4OQF2NwE-zKw0LgISpsFF66x0Nwvfp3RT18903fTAEobzG5MeUBHta1nMYm_YB01-4fD1Qm2dEHEi0eSSD71jEgXqw_COtbw5boIqhhUv-dhhgE_YNRTqTgUYEe6DcrIaU8TuIqeE/s1600/jesusoffthecliff.png" height="400" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throwing Jesus off a cliff is not the recommended way to respond to his message. <br />(Picture credit:<a href="http://kingofpeace.org/images/jesusoffthecliff.png">http://kingofpeace.org/images/jesusoffthecliff.png</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Where did all these Gentiles come from?</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">If you are like me, you are not Jewish. If you're not Jewish, you are a Gentile. Those are the only two options: Jew or Gentile. But whether you are Jewish or Gentile, perhaps you stopped to think about this fact: the vast majority of Christians are </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Gentiles</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">, who worship a man they believe to be the </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jewish </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Messiah.* </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">The Old Testament (or the </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Tanakh</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">, as my Jewish friends call it) was written </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">by </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jewish people, </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">for </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jewish people, and </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">about </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">the God who specifically chose the nation of Israel for his people. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Yahweh, the Lord, was indeed "the God of Israel." Gentiles, meanwhile, historically worshiped pagan deities like Baal, Asherah, Ra, Zeus, Jupiter, Thor, etc. Yet today Christians, the majority of whom are descendants of those pagan-god-worshipers of ages past, worship the God of Israel. Why the switch? </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">The answer comes from today's reading: </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%204:16-30&version=ESV" style="line-height: 18px;" title="Link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%204:16-30&version=ESV">Luke 4:16-30</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">. Read it before you read on. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Now, let's break down what's happening here. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jesus has returned to his hometown of Nazareth. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Prior to this, he has been traveling around Galilee, preaching in synagogues. He had withstood the temptation of Satan, and he has begun his public ministry. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jesus preaches to the Nazarenes who have gathered in the synagogue (think church-meets-community-center). </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus' controversial sermon</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jesus begins his sermon by reading from an ancient prophecy from Isaiah, about the "Lord's Servant." Basically, Jesus says that </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">he </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">is the Lord's Servant, and he has come to bring God's favor to the poor in spirit, the blind, and the captives. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">At first, the people marvel. They compliment him and speak well of him. But they maintain a sense of indifference and skepticism: "Is this not Joseph's son?" They were willing to call him a good teacher, but they knew him. They grew up with him. He was like them--nothing </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">too </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">special. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">When Jesus reads the situation, he says, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb: 'Physician, heal yourself.'" Jesus then tells them that </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">no </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">prophet is ever accepted by the people from his hometown. He predicts that they will demand that he do miracles. In other words, he know's they are going to say, "You think you're special? Prove it to us, Big Shot!"</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jesus then changes the tone of his sermon. Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon about this passage, </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spurgeongems.org%2Fvols13-15%2Fchs753.pdf" style="line-height: 18px;">points out </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">that Jesus does not just want to </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">wow </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">them. He wants to </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"></i><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">move </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">them. Jesus has come to save, and right now these people do not believe he is the savior. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">They think that, because Jesus grew up in their midst, he </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">owes </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">them some proof that he really is the Messiah. What Jesus says next is amazing. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A scathing history lesson</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jesus gives the Nazarene people a history lesson. He recalls two of ancient Israel's prophets (Elijah and Elisha) who performed miracles for people in desperate need of help. Jesus points out that, although there were plenty of Israelis who had been in need, Elijah and Elisha helped </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Gentiles</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">. What was Jesus saying in saying this?</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">This </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">was the lesson: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">when it comes to God, he is going to save whomever </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">he </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">chooses. No one people could claim the right to special favor from God, simply because of their genes. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">This is a theme echoed throughout Scripture: the people God chooses are often the </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">ones everybody would </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">least </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">expect. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Nazarenes' true colors </span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">After Jesus' little history lesson, t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">he Nazarenes show </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">their true colors by becoming enraged--so much so, in fact, that they mob Jesus, force him out of the Synagogue, and try to throw him off a cliff. They transform from "nice religious folks" to would-be </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">murderers! So much for their being worthy of special favor from God. They have just proven Jesus right. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">This passage teaches us that </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">no </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"></span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">one </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">is born worthy of special favor from God. The people we think ought to be the ultimate insiders with God are often the ones who miss him. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God's free gift </span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">So, why are there so many Gentiles in the Church today? Why are so many non-Israelis worshiping the God of Israel? </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">We have seen that it </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">can't </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">be because Gentiles are somehow more worthy than Jewish people. In light of this passage, for </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">anyone </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">to claim favored status with God based on their race would be absurd! Every last one of us is a sinner, and we are separated from God because of our sin. "There is no one righteous, not even </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">one" (Romans 3:10). "Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin" (Romans 3:9). How, then, could we claim to earn God's love in and of ourselves?</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">No, it is simply because of God's grace. God chooses outsiders. He does not show favoritism. He picks the </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">un</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">worthy. He saves </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">the </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">un</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">righteous. This is good news for Gentiles like me. "Salvation is from </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">the Jews" (John 4:22)--that is, the nation of Israel produced the Jewish Messiah. But salvation is open to </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">everyone</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">It is a free gift, and it is given to whoever believes in Jesus as savior and Lord. And who makes that decision to believe? The ones God has chosen. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">How </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">else </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">do you explain over 2 billion Gentiles--former </span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"></span><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">pagans--</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">pledging their allegiance to the Jewish savior? Many of these believers make the decision to follow Jesus in the midst of cultures that are vehemently anti-Christian. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">That kind of faith, the kind that causes people to reject their culture and upbringing (often in the face of severe persecution) is miraculous. There are no bragging rights available to Christians. We are merely the ones who recognize our utter, abject lostness apart from God and our urgent need of a Savior. </span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jesus is that savior. And whether you are </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Jewish or Gentile, you can trust in him today. Is God calling you?</span><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">If you would like to know more about how to be saved and be reconciled with the God of Israel (and the whole cosmos), please shoot me an email today at jsettecase@gracepointe.us. God bless you, my friend. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">*****</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><i style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor for Evangelism and Student Ministries at Grace Pointe Plainfield, located at 143rd St. & Route 30. </i><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">*"Messiah" means "Anointed One." This is a religious and prophetic term from the Jewish Scriptures, which referred to a king, sent from God, who would save God's people. </span></span>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575389373393086833.post-38624418723713513652014-01-05T20:25:00.000-08:002014-01-05T20:25:36.475-08:00Are you too familiar with Jesus to really see him?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifX9ePtuq51HJejJgWlXHdPL3O_WBMAZrkEX8ou9ANL8Envd_cJXzl0Q_XktU08Jl8qBTvWzywpGNWRRwQQ8gFmrwmtP2lDEfo6mKFlss4yW2-ERsYXtmyWgYFEQKWz3_QCwNiJ50EHAge/s1600/234112x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifX9ePtuq51HJejJgWlXHdPL3O_WBMAZrkEX8ou9ANL8Envd_cJXzl0Q_XktU08Jl8qBTvWzywpGNWRRwQQ8gFmrwmtP2lDEfo6mKFlss4yW2-ERsYXtmyWgYFEQKWz3_QCwNiJ50EHAge/s1600/234112x.jpg" height="640" width="530" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Akiane's portrait of Jesus, identified by Colin Burpo as the "right" picture.<br />http://www.christianbook.com/prince-of-peace-framed-print/pd/234112X</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus returns to his hometown</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Have you ever heard the expression, "Physician, heal thyself?" It is an ancient saying, and it is one Jesus expected the people in his hometown to quote to him when he came back to teach in their religious meeting house. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Today's reading is</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%204:16-30&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank"> Luke 4:16-30</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Basically, "Physician, heal thyself" is a way of saying, "Whoa there Chief, before you go around telling everybody how to fix what's wrong with them, how about you work on your own problems?"</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">So when Jesus told his homeys from Nazareth that they would "surely" say that to him, he was predicting their eventual reaction: "Jesus, you're a local boy. You're a carpenter's son. You're a blue collar Joe, and there ain't no way you're a prophet--let alone the Messiah!"</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Jesus followed up his prediction that they would say this with another oft-quoted aphorism: "Truly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown." To them, Jesus would always be a local boy. They grew up with him. They knew him. They were familiar with him. They were too familiar, in fact, to ever recognize him as anything </span><i style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">other </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">than a local boy. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Taking Jesus for granted</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">As a result of the people's lack of faith, the Nazarene folks failed to see Jesus as he truly is: the Son of God and the savior of the world. Their familiarity with him blinded them to his true identity. Because they thought they knew him, they failed to ever really get to know him. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">So how much do you have in common with the Nazarenes? Perhaps more than you think.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Maybe you grew up in the Church, maybe not. Odds are, living in Plainfield, you were Catholic, but maybe not. Maybe you were Protestant or Orthodox. But even if you were none of the above, you probably have formed some idea about who Jesus is. In fact, every major religion has its own answer to the question, "Who was Jesus?" (Isn't it amazing what a central figure he is, no matter what faith? </span><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Hinduism/2002/05/What-Do-Hindus-Believe-About-Jesus.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">Even Hinduism has an answer</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">.) Living in the United States, there is no avoiding the person of Jesus in some way, shape or form. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">The problem with living in a culture so saturated with Christianity is that we start to grow immune to the person of Christ. A little exposure to Jesus can be like a vaccination. A vaccination introduces a little bit of (dead) disease into the blood stream, so one's white blood cells can identify it, destroy it, and adapt to prepare for a repeat infection. This results in immunity. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">If you have been inoculated with a little bit of Jesus--old, dry religious rituals, boring family traditions, etc.--you might be "immune" to seeing Jesus for who he really is today. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Who <i>is </i>Jesus?</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Jesus ultimately has nothing to do with dry, dead rituals. Jesus is the Creator's own Son. He became a human, bursting onto our little blue planet in the form of an infant. He grew up among us, in Nazareth. He had a job as a carpenter. </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%203:23&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">When he was thirty</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">, he began to preach about the Kingdom of God. He </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+4%3A38-40&version=ERV" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">healed the sick</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">, </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2014:13-21" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">fed the hungry</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">, and</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank"> raised the dead</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">. A few short years later, his friend betrayed him and his enemies tortured him to death. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Jesus did all this because you and I have a fundamental problem. We do not just overlook Jesus, we overlook God in general. We are so busy trying to live life our own way that we rarely, if ever stop to think, "What is God's plan for me?" </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Along the way, we become increasingly selfish, hurting others--even our loved ones--until our lives have gone completely off-track. The Bible says the end result of that kind of life, a sinful life, is hell. Hell is real. Hell is everlasting dying. </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%206:23&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">It is the consequence</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> of a life lived for yourself instead of according to the holy God's plan. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /></span><br />
<h2 style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Why Jesus came</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, God's Messiah, came to save you from hell. He is a skilled craftsman, and he can repair your life. He didn't come to improve your circumstances, he came to </span><i style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">repair your broken life</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><i style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">and make you right with God</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">. </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2010:10&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">He came to give you new and </a><i style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2010:10&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">real </a></i><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2010:10&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">life</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">, that sustains you through life's hardships, extends beyond your death and lasts forever with God and all his people. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Will you trust him, or will you keep on ignoring him, thinking you already know what he is all about, and you don't need him. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">God loves you. Jesus loves you. He died for you and wants to give you life. If you want to know more about trusting him today, please shoot me an email at jsettecase@gracepointe.us. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">*****</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor for Evangelism & Student Ministries at Grace Pointe Plainfield, located at 143rd St. & Route 30. </span></span>Joel Settecasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386566601276368999noreply@blogger.com2