Sermon Video: The Son before Bethlehem, John 1:1-3,14

 

Where was Jesus before Bethlehem?  For ordinary human beings like us that's a question that doesn't go anywhere, our lives began at a definite point-in-time.  But for the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah, that question opens the door to profound theological truths.

The Apostle John explains in the prologue to his Gospel that the Word (Jesus before the Incarnation) was with God in the beginning, that he is, in fact, God.  Not only that, the Word (Jesus), had an equal hand in all of Creation.

That same person, the one who is God and is with God (the wonder of the Trinity allowing such phrases to be true), also came to Earth "in the flesh."  The Word became a man, the man Jesus.  

The wonders and depths of these truths are great, our response is simple: Worship Christ the newborn King.

An opportunity to elevate our conversations as a Christian community...

 

My own frustration as a pastor at the sub-biblical and non-theologically engaged arguments taking place on social media, often by individuals claiming the name of Christ but not acting/thinking/speaking in a way that reflects a connection to a Christian Worldview, was the inspiration for this series.

We can do better, we need to do better.  This is one small step against the avalanche of social media, but every journey has to start somewhere.

Sermon Video: The Ancestors of the Messiah - Matthew 1:1-17

When you are someone as important to history as Jesus of Nazareth, the long-awaited Messiah, curiosity about your ancestry is only natural.  Matthew begins his Gospel by addressing this desire and does so in unexpected and interesting ways: (1) He starts with the titles of "Messiah," "son of David," and "son of Abraham."  Each of these carries weight and adds to the claims about Jesus that Matthew's Gospel will be making. (2) The inclusion of four mothers with strong Gentile connections in a list that otherwise only contains fathers.  In so doing Matthew points toward God's concern for the whole world as well as his willingness to utilize people who would otherwise be overlooked, two key themes in the Gospel narratives.  (3)  Matthew leaves in the list (while some have been left out to form thy symbolic 14,14,14 symmetry) men both good and bad, heroes and villains, making what Jesus will prove himself to be even more remarkable.

Sermon Video: Abraham pleads with God to spare Sodom, Genesis 18:16-33

In a fascinating conversation, Abraham humbly pleads with God on behalf of the soon-to-be condemned city of Sodom. Why?  We know that his nephew Lot and his family live there, but Abraham's concern is broader, including for the fate of people who are strangers to him.

In our world today this reminds us of an acute issue within the Church where far to many now view the Lost as part of the "them" that they would rather destroy than rescue.  Do we desire mercy for those we think of as "the enemy" or only their ruination?

In the end, Abraham's plea with God reminds us of our own necessary mantra when considering those who do evil in our world: There but for the grace of God, go I.