by Elsie Iudicello

In a moment of extreme frustration and hurt, a small child broke down and wailed with his head thrown back and his fists clenched. Another child observed this and said to his teacher, “He is asking ‘why’ with his heart.” This illustrates a universal human experience not limited to the schoolroom.

Our broken world is full of a deeply offensive injustice that contradicts its purpose at creation. When we experience that injustice—when we are met with death, with storms, with betrayal, with loss—our souls respond accordingly. Whether an inward or outward groaning of frustration or turmoil, we ask, “why” with our hearts. That one word is not groaned into the void;it is directed to God. Too often we wait impatiently, even angrily, for concrete answers to this question, and we overlook the active response the Lord always gives through his compassion and promise of redemption. We see this picture repeated throughout Scripture—children crying out to their Father, without words to form their grief, being met with compassion and the promise of redemption.

In Romans 8 we find vivid language detailing the groans of creation and God’s response to it. The compassion of the Holy Spirit in his office of intercession is revealed beginning in verse 26. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” God meets us in our wordless state of grief and suffering with groanings of his own. In verses 31-37, we are assured of God’s everlasting love, proving itself in the ultimate sacrifice of his own Son for our redemption and restoration. Then we are given assurance of the love that will not let us go and that we cannot be separated from. God gives us his compassion and redemption, and it is within this space that we experience what it means to grieve with hope.

by Meredith Woolwine

Every teacher knows the importance of “wait-time,” the educational process of a teacher posing a question and waiting for the students’ responses. Often this wait-time can feel uncomfortable—insecurities may slip in the mind of both the teacher and student, and there may even be the spoken “Umm…” from a louder learner in the group. Although it may produce discomfort, wait-time also yields many fruitful results: time for processing, formulation of thought, and ultimately an understanding and proclamation of truth.
As Christians, we experience different periods of wait-time. We cry out to the Lord. We beg for him to answer us. Yet, we often hear nothing. Where do we turn? We must diligently reference the “truthful textbook”—God’s Holy Word. The waiting is difficult, but our loving Teacher is always close through his Word.

David, the man after God’s own heart, was no stranger to this process. In Psalm 27, David cried, “Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!” (v. 9). In the wait-time, David remembered and declared who God is: a helper, a savior. In the wait-time, David reflected on the truth. In the wait-time, David processed his situation, formed his thoughts, and ultimately proclaimed the truth. “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (v. 13-14 NIV) 

Let us be like David in our wait-time. Let us unabashedly come to God, our Teacher. Let us be honest about our troubles, patient when he is quiet, rehearsing and resting in his truths, and then eager to share them with others.

by Clint Delaplane

Have you ever thought about your purpose in life? I remember hoping that I was made for some greater purpose but also being frustrated because I had no idea what that greater purpose was. Unfortunately, without a clear sense of higher purpose I felt empty, unimportant, and ultimately like nothing really mattered.

I was told that my purpose was to be happy, to serve others, and to know myself. These seemed like good things but I knew something big was missing. I still felt incredibly empty inside. I was a lot like an old refrigerator that I had seen in Venezuela several years ago. A rural farmer had invited me inside his house where he showed me his prize possession. When the farmer opened the door of his disconnected refrigerator he revealed a stack of newspapers and a few books. Now, I imagine if that refrigerator could talk it would have said, “I feel like I have a greater purpose.” And going to its manufacturer it would have learned that it was made to be plugged in and to keep food fresh.  That old fridge did have a greater purpose.

The same is true for you and me—if we really want to know why we are here, we need to go to our Manufacturer. Our Creator made us to glorify and enjoy him forever. We were made to enjoy a vibrant relationship with God and to reflect his character to others. If anything else in life becomes more important than that, then we will feel like a “bookshelf refrigerator”, knowing and sensing that we were made for so much more. But, when we are “plugged in,” walking with and glorifying God daily, that longing for a higher purpose is finally satisfied. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” ( 1 Corinthians 10:31).

by Jeremy McKeen

Prayer is difficult. Prayer doesn’t come easy. Thankfully, Jesus knows this, and like any good friend or mentor, Jesus steps in to help. When his disciples were finding prayer hard, Jesus taught them a way to pray that has become known as “The Lord’s Prayer” (not because Jesus prayed it himself, but because it’s the prayer he taught his disciples to pray). It’s a prayer that has been loved and memorized and studied and recited and prayed by thousands of people throughout the years. We've just started to study this prayer at our weekly church gatherings and we're learning that there's so much to it. Thomas Watson called it, “the prayer of prayers.” Here’s several reasons why:

This prayer is the simple prayer: The Lord’s prayer is only 10 lines long (depending on which version you use) and even if you pray it slow, it can be said in under a minute. Why the simplicity? It’s because Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray as needy children to their Heavenly Father. What is prayer? It’s spending time with your Father.  As Paul Miller said, “Prayer is the real you encountering the real God.” After all, how do children speak to their parents? Short and right to the point. And the simplicity of this prayer is a great sign of Jesus’ mentorship. Jesus is managing how we pray, but he’s not micro-managing. He doesn’t mention anything about posture, place, clothing, or time. He provides a simple prayer that can be prayed thought for thought or word for word. It’s the simple prayer, because real prayer isn’t a formal business presentation; it’s children speaking with their father.

This prayer is the complete prayer: Don’t let the simplicity fool you. This prayer has got it all. If the Ten Commandments are the complete guide for life, these ten lines are the complete guide for prayer. Here’s how one Commentator put it, “The Lord’s prayer stretches from the father at the beginning to the devil at the end, from heaven to hell, and in between it embraces in six brief petitions everything important in life.” This prayer that involves adoration, petition, and confession acts like a complete skeleton that every type of prayer can fit onto. It captures the three main roles of God: our Father, our Ruler, and our Savior. And it captures the four main areas of need in our lives: physical (our daily bread), mental (overcoming thoughts of guilt and shame), relational (how we're treating others), and spiritual (protection from temptations and evil).

This prayer is the priority prayer: What Jesus is doing with this prayer is getting our priorities straight. That’s why it starts with Gods glory, rule and will before you ever get to your needs and requests. Your name, your kingdom, and your will come before give us, forgive us, and deliver us. The “yours” come before the “us’s” because this prayer picks your head up. This prayer helps us to first think rightly about God, because Jesus knows that our prayer life is a direct reflection of how we think about God. The key to prayer is not technique; it’s theology. The key is always starting with God.

This prayer is the kingdom prayer: In the Gospel of Matthew, this prayer comes in Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. In that sermon Jesus describes what life looks like when people are living under his liberating rule and reign. And the Lord’s prayer is at the exact center of the sermon. There are about 116 Greek lines before it and about 114 lines after it. This prayer is the centerpiece of Jesus’ sermon on the kingdom, because he’s teaching us that prayer is the only way of accessing the spiritual power necessary to even come close to living life his way.

This prayer is the family prayer: The Lord’s prayer doesn’t begin with “my father”, “a father” or even “the” Father. Jesus taught his disciples to pray “our Father.” This assumes that they’re praying together. This prayer is an act of rebellion against the isolation and individualism that can steal the joy and strength away from Christians who try to face the challenges of life on their own. We're in this together! That's why we're meant to pray together. Jesus knows that prayer is hard, but the Lord’s prayer comes to the rescue when our words and ideas run out. 

by Jeremy McKeen

Christmas is, hands down, my favorite time of the year. I love the decorations, the lights, the parties, the food, the presents, the extra time with family, the memories, and did I mention the food? And if I could get away with it, I would probably play Christmas music all year long. It just always seems to put me in a good mood. And every several years or so Christmas Day and Sunday Church Service collide. Or depending on how you view it, you could say that they finally get to hang out together! Now, whenever this occurs, there are two central questions surrounding weekend programming that every Church must answer: Should we hold our regular Sunday service(s) on Christmas Day? Why or why not? I believe, regardless of which direction a Church decides to go on this, they should explain the decision that they’ve made to their congregation. I think inquiring minds would like to know. And so, this is not my attempt to start a heated theological debate, this is simply our rationale behind the decision that we made as a church:

Short Answer: We’re having our regular Christmas Eve Service from 6pm-7pm and one Christmas Day Service at 10am. We thought that scaling back a service on Christmas rather than closing our doors all together was the way to go. Why? Because we believe that having both a Christmas Eve and a Christmas Day service aligns with our mission and vision as a church, and we believe that Sunday should be observed as the Christian Sabbath.

Long Answer: Our Mission and Vision: At a recent staff meeting, we all agreed that not having a Christmas Eve service or not having a Christmas Day service would be easier for us and provide us more time to spend with family. But we went back to why we exist as a church to begin with and what we’re hoping to see happen because of the ministry that we’re doing. And when we remembered our mission and vision, the decision to have both of these services suddenly became clear. Our mission as a church is to point people to the truth of the gospel. And although celebrating the holiday of Christmas is not mandated in the Bible, we always want to capitalize on key cultural opportunities to point people to Jesus. What better opportunity than the day that’s been set aside once a year to celebrate the life of Jesus? I mean seriously, besides Easter, here’s the one day of the year when the life of Jesus is front and center, and we want to take a day off? It didn’t make sense to us. Now, we discussed the idea of perhaps not having a Christmas Eve service because we’re having one on Christmas Day, but again, we went back to our mission as a church and realized that a Christmas Eve service is another great opportunity to point people to the truth of the gospel who may never otherwise step foot into a church. Furthermore, our vision is to see our city and the world make much of Jesus, and we believe that having both of these services is declaring and demonstrating that the glory of Jesus is more important to us than maintaining some of our normal Christmas traditions. In short, we started to see this not as a scheduling problem to be solved, but as a gospel opportunity to be seized.

The Christian Sabbath: For us, there are many reasons why worshipping on the first day of the week is not optional, but rather, essential -

The Expectation of Meeting Jesus: In the gospel of John, the resurrected Jesus appears to his disciples on the first day of the week, however Thomas was not with them. But we read that, “Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you’ (Jn. 20:26).” But why eight days later? Jesus specifically waited until the first day of the next week to make another intimate appearance to his disciples, because Jesus was sending a very significant message - that his people can expect him to show up in a very special way when they gather together on the first day of the week. And for many centuries since, Christians have been gathering together on the first day of the week expecting to encounter the presence of Jesus through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in corporate worship. We gather together on Sundays expecting to meet Jesus in a spiritual and special way through the ministry of the word and sacrament.

The Lord’s Day: We begin each of our services by reminding ourselves as a congregation that we gather on the first day of the week for one very important historic reason: Christ is risen! This is no small thing. This isn’t just liturgical mumbo jumbo. The truth that Jesus is alive is the doctrinal cornerstone of the Christian faith. Without it everything falls apart (c.f. 1 Cor.15:17). In fact, the reason that we celebrate Jesus in a manger is because Jesus is no longer in a grave. The Christian Church began referring to the first day of the week as The Lord’s Day (see Rev. 1:10) because this was the day that the Lord rose again from the dead and ushered in a New Creation. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, and we want to honor and celebrate the Lord on that day.

The Practice of the Church: You hear people sometimes say, “We just need to get back to doing things like the ‘early’ church.” Well, after Jesus rose again from the dead, we see the church immediately beginning to meet together for worship on the first day of the week (see Mk. 16:2; Jn. 20:1,19,26; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). It’s very clear in the New Testament that to gather together on the first day of the week was the common Christian practice. And in interpreting the Bible in order to determine whether something is biblical or not, you don’t want to limit yourself to only looking for specific commands, but you want to also look for common descriptions of Christian practice. So yes! Let’s get back to doing things like the ‘early’ church.

The Spiritual Significance: The Sabbath (one day of rest within seven) for Christians changed from the last day of the week to the first day of the week because it was a spiritual reminder of how the finished work of Christ informs the work that we do throughout the week. Because Jesus has completed his work of redemption, God’s people no longer work and then rest, we now go to work from a place of rest. In other words, you could say that celebrating Jesus’ work for us precedes our weekly work for him as a profound reminder of the gospel in all that we do.

The Moral Law (the fourth commandment): Many people who see the significance of this spiritual rest being found in Jesus conclude that the Sabbath commandment has been completely fulfilled in Jesus. Therefore, they conclude that we now only have nine commandments to follow instead of ten. Advocates for this position point to passages like Galatians 4:10, Colossians 2:16, and Romans 14:5-6 to prove that there is no longer a moral obligation to either observe the Sabbath or that the day of the week that you observe it doesn’t really matter. But one of the key problems with using these passages to uphold that position is that all of these passages are not dealing with the moral law, but rather with the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law included many holy days and festivals that do find their fulfillment in Christ and that is what Paul was stressing. In those passages, the Apostle Paul is not subtly making the case that we now only have nine commandments instead of ten. After all, the moral law is the foundation for any healthy family and society, and so eliminating one of those laws would be a huge theological change that would require Paul to prove and explain using more than just one verse in passing.

And doesn’t only having nine commandments seem a bit odd? Didn’t Jesus fulfill all the other commandments for us as well? So, wouldn’t it follow that either none of the ten commandments should still be enforced or that all of them should be? Why just pick one out of the ten to not include? Furthermore, since we all still go to work and get tired it makes sense that we still need one day out of seven to rest. And in fact, this is exactly why the writer of Hebrews tells the ‘early’ church that, “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Heb. 4:9). This is why, according to our church’s doctrinal standards (The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms), we are morally obligated to worship God on the first day of the week. Now, I get it – any time you talk about someone’s moral obligations, you fly right in the face of our cultures animosity towards having any type of moral absolutes that you’re obligated to follow. Because boy do we love our autonomy! We naturally want to think that the decision should be left up to us to make. No-one should be able to tell us what to do, but that’s to forget that Jesus is the King who doesn’t give us advice, he gives us commands. And we need to remember that his commands are always the things that he knows will lead to our joy. There are clear moral commands in the Bible and we believe that worship on the first day of the week is one of them.

Ever since I was little, I’ve heard it said that, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” And yet every so often the church gets to worship Christ together on Christmas day to reinforce to ourselves, to our families, and to our friends that we really believe that statement. After all, Jesus is THE gift of Christmas, and coming together to worship him on that day should not be a ‘have to’ but rather a ‘get to.’ And so in our minds, Christmas day and Sunday service are not colliding, they are indeed finally getting to hang out together. This is not a scheduling conflict; this is the solar eclipse for all Christmas lovers. This is not a problem to be solved; this is a golden opportunity to make much of Jesus together! Finally, Christmas is on a Sunday!

by Billy Nader

Suppose a non-Christian were to ask a Christian to describe his or her faith. How should the Christian respond? The Apostle Peter encourages Christians to always have an answer for those who ask about their faith (1 Peter 3:15). Christians often do not realize that Christianity can be classified into three different categories. Christianity can be classified as: 1) a theology, 2) a philosophy, and 3) a relationship. If this is the case, then it is prudent that the Christian be familiar with each one of these categories.

The Theological CharacteristicJudeo-Christianity can (and should) be classified as a religion (see James 1:27). Compared to other world religious systems—such as Islam, Judaism, and Mormonism—Christianity has a core set of beliefs (or doctrines) about the nature of God that derive from sacred texts. The scriptures that formulate Christian doctrine are the Old and New Testaments, which together compose the book commonly known as the “Holy Bible.” The sixty-six books of the Bible have been recognized by the church community as the inerrant (without error in their original form) Word of God. Moreover, the Bible is the source that reveals to humanity who the Christian God is, by disclosing his attributes, commandments, works, and will. Therefore, Christianity should be understood as a theology because it seeks to disclose to humanity the nature (i.e. the character) of God.

The Philosophical CharacteristicChristianity can also be classified as a philosophy. This is because like Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism—it provides humanity with a worldview. Stated differently, Christianity is an ideology that claims to understand how the world works. For example, Christians believe in the existence of God. Thus, Christians view the world in which they live through a “God lens,” or a “God axiom,” allowing Christians to assume God’s activity in day-to-day occurrences. Conversely, Buddhists and Hindus do not believe that a personal God exists. Thus, Buddhists and Hindus view the world in which they live through a “secular lens,” or a “secular axiom,” which causes them to assume the absence of a divine Being that works outside of them in their every day activities. Moreover, the philosophy of Confucianism also does not acknowledge God (i.e. a personal supreme being), but rather adheres to a set of philosophical principles. The principles associated with Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism also creates a certain ideology for their adherents, influencing how the disciples of these respective disciplines perceive the world in which they live. Accordingly, because Christianity is an ideology that perceives the world in a particular way, and how to live in that world, it should also be understood as a philosophy.

The Relational CharacteristicChristianity can also be classified as a personal relationship between God and mankind. This relationship that exists between God and mankind is grounded in the first chapter of Genesis. In Genesis 1:26, God says, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea, and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and over all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” This passage should be foundational for every humanitarian enterprise because it singles out and prioritizes mankind over all creation and above all the other creatures that God has made. Mankind is justified as possessing greater significance than everything else in the universe simply because mankind has been made in the image of God. Consequently, because man has been made in God’s image, he or she can have a personal relationship with his or her Creator (i.e. God).

The Uniqueness of ChristianityBut someone might still want to know what makes Judeo-Christianity unique as a theology, philosophy, and as a relationship? From a theological standpoint, the Bible claims that the Judeo-Christian God is the only true God and, therefore, the Judeo-Christian God should be revered above everything else, including other gods (Ex. 20:1-6).

Moreover, from a philosophical standpoint, the biblical worldview satisfies the philosophical “tests of truth”—namely, (1) the law of non-contradiction, and (2) the law of correspondence. Regarding the law of non-contradiction, the Bible nowhere contradicts itself. There are apparent discrepancies, but it does not contradict. For example, the Bible does not teach in one place that Jesus Christ is God and in another place that Jesus Christ is not God; or that Abraham was the father of Isaac and Abraham was also not the father of Isaac. Thus, the Bible can be deemed as a reliable source because it is logically consistent. In addition, with regard to the law of correspondence, the biblical worldview corresponds (or relates) to the natural world in which we live. Biblical claims can be verified as occurring in space-time history by its documentation of people (e.g. Pontus Pilate, and Caiaphas), places (e.g. Canaan, Egypt, Israel, and Moab), natural occurrences (e.g. rain, rainbows and earthquakes), and national conquest, etc. On the other hand, if the Bible described the world in which we live as a mythological place, as often did the works of ancient Greek mystics, the Bible would fail to pass the law of correspondence because the content contained therein would no longer correspond (or relate) to the world in which we know to be real.

Finally, from a relational standpoint, what makes Judeo-Christianity so unique is that although it is true that mankind in general has a relationship with the Judeo-Christian God as their Creator, only the Christian can enjoy an intimate relationship with the Judeo-Christian God as both their Creator and as their Redeemer on the basis of sheer grace, not works!

Tags: christianity, philosophy, relationship, religion, worldview

by Jeremy McKeen

Sometime ago I was speaking with a younger gentleman who had just become a Christian and he asked me a very pointed question that inspired me to address this topic. He asked me, “Jeremy, why is being a Christian so hard?” “Why does it seem like it’s so difficult to be a Christian?” And I think his question is a common one, but I’m afraid it’s more common today because it seems like in order to convince people to join the church and to become a Christian the modern church is trying to present Christianity as easy as possible, a sort of easy-believism, that to become a Christian you don’t have to change a thing, that there won’t be any struggle at all – Christianity is just sort of a “problem-free philosophy.” But here’s the thing - there’s a great danger in just highlighting the benefits of Christianity while hiding the difficulties of Christianity. Not only is it dishonest, but it doesn’t prepare people for the real thing. But thankfully, that’s not how Jesus presented the Christian life. He was very upfront and honest about what it entails. He starts the Sermon on the Mount with the words blessed and happy, but he ends the sermon with the words narrow and hard … Because he wants his listeners to not only enjoy the benefits of Christianity, but to be prepared for the difficulty of Christianity. Are you prepared for the difficulty? Are we even aware of the difficulty?

Whenever you encounter true Christianity you always encounter both the benefits and the difficulties. You encounter the benefits of peace with God, forgiveness of sins, the fellowship of the saints, the promise of heaven, the power of the Holy Spirit, the joy of the Lord, and so many other blessings and benefits. I believe with all my heart that the Christian life is the most happy and exciting life that anyone can live, but we also must come to terms with it’s difficulties, to be aware of them and prepared for them, to not be surprised by them. True Christianity is difficult, and this difficulty is highlighted in Matthew 7:13-14 in the call, the gate, and the way. The more we understand the call, the gate, and the way, the more we’ll be prepared for the difficulty of being a Christian. So let’s look at these one by one…

THE CALLThe first thing that we see in the very beginning of verse 13 is Jesus issuing a call. He says, “Enter by the narrow gate.” And the word enter in the original Greek is an imperative. It’s a call to action. You see, when you encounter true Christianity, you always encounter a call upon your life. And this is actually one of the things that makes the difference between a lecture and a sermon. A sermon always comes with a call. A call to respond, a call to make a decision. You see, this isn’t called the lecture on the mount, it’s called the sermon on the mount. Because here at the very end, Jesus is issuing his call to respond. But this is one of the things that makes Christianity difficult. It calls you to make a decision. It calls you to make up your mind, to come off the fence. And so one of the things that we need to understand is that this is a demanding call.

It’s a demanding call: And what I mean by demanding is that it demands a decision, so this is not like Jesus just calling to chat, this is Jesus calling to make an appeal, to issue a summons. Jesus doesn’t say, consider the narrow gate, admire the narrow gate, he says enter the narrow gate. So maybe an example could be the difference between a University sending you one of their brochures for you to check out or sending you an admissions letter to respond to. You see with the brochure, you can admire it, you can admire the University from afar and say, “Oh, isn’t this nice.” But with the admissions letter, you must make a decision. Either you’re in or you’re out. It demands that you say either yes, I’m going to enter this University or no, I’m not coming in. You see all along in this sermon Jesus has been describing life in the kingdom of God, life under the liberating rule of God. But he does not want you to think this is just a brochure, he wants you to know it’s an admissions letter. Either you’re in or you’re out. And Jesus wants you in. That’s why he says, “enter!” He doesn’t want you to just admire the kingdom, he wants you to enter the kingdom. In other words, a choice is necessary.

Give you another example - It’s sort of like the very end of one of my favorite movies – Indiana Jones and the last crusade. And you thought I was gonna say the princess bride. Do you remember this? They finally make it to this hidden chamber where the Holy Grail is and this old knight says the famous line, “You must choose, but choose wisely.” You see it wasn’t an option, they couldn’t just hang out in that cave for as long as they wanted, they had to make a decision, they had to choose a cup. And again, this is what is going on in this passage, and one of the things that makes Christianity so difficult for people is that it calls you to make a decision about Jesus. But it’s not just a demanding call, it’s also a reasonable call.

It is a reasonable call: I think the majority of us are probably familiar with the old emotional method of revival, where you play a certain type of music and you play it a certain amount of times and you play on the emotions of the hearers by adding a lot of pressure and propaganda to try and invoke a decision. But you see Jesus all throughout this sermon, although he does call for a decision, he doesn’t play on your emotions for that decision, he speaks right to your mind. He reasons with you, he uses argument and logic. An old British minister by the name of Dick Lucas said it this way, “Before Jesus calls us to make up our minds, he always fills our minds with evidence and reasons.” And we see Jesus even doing it in these two verses, he issues this call and then he explains the reasons why to receive the call. You see, true Christianity always makes you think. It forces you to think about things that you may not want to think about: Who made you? What have you done? Where do you stand with God? Where are you going when you die? See naturally we may not want to think about these things, but true Christianity won’t let us get off the hook that easy. It’s a reasonable call. And lastly before we move on we need to see that this is a personal call.

It is a personal call: You see one of the ways that you can tell that God is really working in your life is that you get a sense that God is dealing with you personally. So, it’s not some generic summons to the resident of so and so, this is a personal letter, this is a summons personally directed to you. I think a great example of this is Saul on the road to Damascus. When Jesus interrupted his life and intervened and called him through the narrow gate, what did he do? He called him twice by his personal name, “Saul, Saul…” You see, Jesus knows each person’s name. And what he does through his word is he calls us personally to himself. And do you remember in the case of Saul, Jesus said, “why are you persecuting me?” He put his finger right on Saul’s lifestyle, he gets right up in his business. And you see this is another reason why Christianity is so difficult for us. It’s that Jesus is not afraid to invade our personal space. And so this is a demanding call, it’s a reasonable and it’s a personal call, but it’s a call to what? Well, as we see here, it’s a call to enter by the narrow gate. So let’s look at this…

THE GATESo if we are to enter by the narrow gate, what is the gate? What is this narrow gate? Well, one of the things that unlocks this passage is understanding the difference between the gate and the way. You see, the gate is coming to Jesus, and the way is following Jesus. Another way to say it is that the gate is conversation, and the way is discipleship. Or the gate is justification and the way is sanctification. We see this in John chapter 10 where Jesus says, “I am the door, and if anyone enters through me he shall be saved.” You see, Jesus is the doorway, he’s the gateway into fellowship with God, into the Kingdom of God. But why does Jesus call it narrow? Well, think about it, if you are going through a very narrow entrance, then it requires you to leave some things behind, certain things are not going to be able to fit through it because the entrance is so narrow.

So, this past vacation my wife Lindsay and I celebrated our 10 year wedding Anniversery by going on a cruise. It was my first cruise ever and one of the things I was reading online beforehand and experienced while I was on the boat was to not bring large suitcases because the halls and especially the door into the cabin and your space is very narrow, and so the narrowness forced us to leave some of our larger baggage behind. And this is why this gate is called the narrow gate. Because it forces you to leave some baggage behind. When you come to Jesus you’ve gotta leave some baggage behind. And there’s really two things that we must all leave behind if we wanna become a Christian – Our self-rule and our self-righteousness. In other words, we’ve gotta leave behind trying to be our own master and trying to be our own savior.

And isn’t this why becoming a Christian is so difficult? Why many people as Jesus says here will not come through this gate, is because deep down, we wanna call the shots, we wanna be Lord of our lives. We don’t wanna have anyone tell us what to do with our bodies and with our businesses. And we can trace this all the way back to the garden of Eden where Adam and Eve thought that by being their own master, they were going to experience freedom. But what happened? Instead of experiencing freedom they experienced fear, they experienced shame. Because as Tim Keller once pointed out, true freedom is not found in being your own master, true freedom is found in living under the right master. It’s living under the liberating rule of the one who made you, the one who designed you. And when you come to the narrow gate, one of the things you have to confess is that Jesus is taking the leadership role in your life. That he’s calling the shots from now on. But listen, we need to be clear at this point, because this confession of Jesus’ Lordship is not a promise to live a perfect moral life, because one of the things you’re also confessing is that you can’t. That you’ve fallen short of the standard, and you need a Savior.

The famous preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said that he always knew when he was dealing with an unbeliever who thought he or she was a believer. Because when he would ask them, “Are you a Christian?” They would say something like, “I’m trying to be.” He would know right away that they didn’t get it. Because you see, they’re thinking of Christianity all wrong. They’re thinking of it as a ladder instead of a gate. Something that is earned by your own self-righteous efforts. But you see here, Jesus doesn’t say, climb the narrow ladder and climb as high as you can, he says enter by the narrow gate and just come in, because salvation isn’t something that anyone of us can earn like climbing a ladder. But again, this is why true Christianity is so difficult. Because every other type of religion and philosophy offers you a way in that’s based on self. In one way or another it says that if you try hard enough, that if you do good enough, then you may be able to earn your acceptance with God. It’s all about the self. But Jesus says no. In fact, if you keep reading and Jesus identifies the people who’ve gone through the wide gate as those who look to their own religious works for their acceptance with God. Verse 22 – they’ll say, did we not do this, did we not do that? And what does Jesus tell them, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” You never looked to me as your Savior. You see the wide gate can be both the irreligious way, and the religious way. For both, it’s all about the self. And that’s why Jesus in Mark 10:35 says if anyone would come after me, he must do two things, he must deny himself, not look to himself. You must deny your self-rule and your self-righteousness - that’s coming through the gate, and then take up your cross and follow me. That’s walking on the way. He says, in other words, you cannot save yourself no matter how hard you try. But look here’s the narrow gate, here’s the narrow way in, here’s the one who’s come to save you, and it’s narrow because there’s no other person in history except for Jesus who’s ever met all the demands of God’s law and taken the penalties for us breaking God’s law except for him. But again, this is why Christianity is so difficult, why it’s so unpopular, it’s not wide enough for people, it’s not the all-inclusive way. It narrows it right down to one particular person that you must trust in, that you must come to - Jesus and Jesus alone.

But I get it, people will say – How can there be only one way to God! How arrogant do you have to be to believe that, how narrow-minded you Christians are. But here’s the thing – If that’s the way you feel, you really don’t have a problem with Christians, you have a problem with Christ. I mean, does not Jesus himself say very plainly here that the gate to life is narrow? So was Jesus narrow-minded? No, because there’s a difference between narrowness and narrow-mindedness. Narrowness deals with the facts, narrow-mindedness deals with whether a person is open or not to those facts. You see although Christians will tell you that the gate is narrow, that doesn’t mean that they’re narrow minded, because we’re just being open to the historical and credible facts of Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection. Have you ever even read the gospels? You know it’s funny that most people that I talk to who reject the Christian faith have never read the core documents of that faith. You see, are you the one that’s being narrow-minded? Not willing to deal with the facts of Jesus. But simply brushing him aside because he’s not popular, because he’s not wide and inclusive enough. And so again, this is why this narrow gate is so hard to come through. But don’t you see what’s at this gate? What’s waiting for you at this gate? Forgiveness is at the gate! Healing is at the gate! Grace and mercy and fellowship with God is at the gate! But once you come through that gate you’re also starting out on the difficult road of discipleship, and so let’s look at this …

THE WAYSo in our passage Jesus doesn’t just say that the gate is narrow, he says the way is hard that leads to life. But why is it hard? Well, simply put it’s hard because when you become a Christian you now discover that you have three great enemies that you never had before. The Bible identifies them as the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

The first is the world and the way of the world: When a person starts out on the Christian way of life, they immediately realize that the self-centered prideful and materialistic way of the world is now at odds with your desire to please Christ. Suddenly you notice that people are looking at you and thinking of you strange by you saying no to certain things and yes to other things. You get a sense that you’ve sort of broken away from the popular majority. And you have. But it can be so frustrating because you’ve not left the world, you’re not downplaying the importance of the marketplace and the culture, but suddenly you find yourself out of step with the way of the world. Lloyd-Jones in his commentary on this passage says it like this, “The first thing we leave behind is what is called worldiness. We leave behind the crowd, the way of the world. You must start by realizing that by becoming a Christian, you become something exceptional and unusual. The Christian way of life is not popular, it never has been popular, and it is not popular today.” And this is why Jesus says that it’s hard. Because suddenly you’re out of step with the worlds way of doing things that once seemed so natural to you.

The next difficulty is now battling the flesh or what the Bible calls the old-self: You see, before, you were at war with God and at peace with sin, but now that you’re a believer you’re at peace with God and now at war with sin. J.C. Ryle said that a Christian is known for both their inner peace but also their inner conflict. Because you now see in yourself competing desires. I was talking with a member of this church just this past week and he was telling me how frustrating it can be as a Christian because he said that he’s always needing to practice discernment in the things that he does and the things that he buys and the things that he says. But he said, my unbelieving friend, I watch him all the time, if he wants to buy something he just buys it, if he wants to do something he just does it without even thinking. And sometimes if I’m honest I think, man that must be nice. You see, as a Christian, we’re now asking the question not just, what do I want, but what will please God? And there’s a difficulty and sometimes a frustration in that.

And then you have the spiritual lies and attacks of the Devil: And I realize that the concept of a personal devil must seem outlandish to some people, but it’s no more outlandish than a personal being called God or a place called heaven. Jesus believed in a personal Devil. A supernatural being that’s behind all the evil and wickedness that we see in this world, and here’s the thing, when you become a Christian, the greatest force of evil in this world now becomes your personal enemy.

And so for many of you who are Christians here and you have been struggling and fighting and finding faithfulness to Jesus difficult to Jesus in this world, take heart today, this is the normal Christian life. And I realize that there are seasons, sometimes it’s more difficult than others. But the difficulties are real as well as the blessings. But here I believe is the key question. If Christianity is this difficult, if you’re looking at this and you’re thinking, why would I ever want to go through this gate and go down this road? Look what Jesus emphasizes in this passage. It’s the destination. He says, it’s the easy way that leads to destruction but it’s the hard way that leads to life.

Imagine with me for a moment that you’re in some big city and you really want to get to some desired destination. And you know that you need to take the subway to get there, but you’re unsure which way is right. Well who do you talk to? You talk to the person who’s most qualified to show you the way. So you go to the information desk and the person tells you that there are many ways not to get there, but the blue line is the only way to get there, but it’s very bumpy, it’s a difficult ride. You see, in that moment is the destination the most important thing to you or the difficulty of getting there. It’s the destination. And my friend do you know the way to life and life eternal? The most qualified person to tell us the way to life is the Author of life himself. Jesus is the most qualified person you could ever ask. And here he tells you, the gate is narrow, and the way is hard, but the destination is worth it. He says you come to me and you will experience life with God now and life with God forever. Enter the narrow gate today, get on the way to life and if you already have, then look at every difficulty along the way in light of our glorious eternity.

by Jeremy McKeen

It’s easy to become discouraged in life. When the car breaks down again, when you’re worn out from work and its only Tuesday, when you’re struggling with the same sin, when people are difficult to work with, when your health is failing, when you continually hear of tragic events in the news; it seems like discouragement is just a normal part of life. But it’s not meant to be. Discouragement does not come from God. After all, he is called “the God of encouragement” (Romans 15:5). God does not want you to live discouraged, because discouragement steals your joy, zaps your energy, and reduces your motivation to press on. And so what is needed, perhaps today more than ever, is the ministry and art of encouragement. But what is encouragement? Is encouragement just sanctified flattery? Is it just nice compliments or a pep talk? What is it? And why is it so important?

Encouragement Builds People UpThe word that’s translated encouragement in the bible is the Greek word paraklesis, and it means to come alongside someone to give them help, comfort, strength, and support. It means to give heart back to someone, to make them strong in their spirit again. Now think about it - the word courage is in the word encourage for a reason. When someone encourages you, they strengthen your resolve to get up and keep going. Christian psychologist Larry Crabb defined it this way: “Christian encouragement is the kind of expression that helps someone want to be a better Christian even when life is rough.” Encouragement in the Christian community is what strengthens a person’s faith, affirms him or her in Christ, and puts wind back in his or her spiritual sails. Encouragement inspires courage.

Encouragement Takes Many FormsIt’s helpful to remember that you can receive encouragement or give encouragement in a variety of ways. It doesn’t always have to come through a spoken or written word of encouragement. Sometimes doing the right thing when its hard can encourage others. You see this in the beginning of Philippians, how Paul’s joy and confidence while he was in prison encouraged the other believers in their faith by watching Paul live out his. Encouragement can also come by praying for someone or giving something special to someone. It can take many shapes and forms.

Encouragement is a Biblical CommandAll throughout the bible, Christians are called to encourage each other. This means that encouragement is not an option; it’s an obligation. Encouragement is part of a Christian’s duty. When believers are feeling comforted and strong in their faith, they are called to share that comfort and strength with others. They should look around for people in the church who may be alone or in need of encouragement. However, because this is a command, some distinctions here would be helpful. Encouragement is a part of teaching but it’s also distinct from it. Teaching says, “this is the way that you should go.” Encouragement says, “Let me help you to get there.” So, if teaching is the information, encouragement is the motivation. A similar type of distinction can be made when it comes to exhortation. Exhortation is a call to action. To exhort someone is to charge them to do this or that, but encouragement is applying the truth to motivate that call to action.

Encouragement is a Universal NeedIt can be hard to admit sometimes, but each person needs encouragement. Just like a fire needs oxygen to keep burning, every person needs encouragement to keep going. But here’s the thing - a person’s deepest longing, when it comes to encouragement, is to be encouraged by something that’s not dependent upon your circumstances, what you own, or how you look. In other words, what’s needed is more than a surface-level compliment. This is one of the reasons that Christianity is so unique. It offers this deep and lasting encouragement through knowing the God of the Bible.

Encouragement Is Found in GodMany psychologists will argue that everyone is looking for a person that they deeply respect to put their arm around them and accept them just as they are. What truly gives people encouragement is finding a relationship that cannot be broken despite their own personal brokenness. Yet, when it comes to God, how can a holy God embrace sinful man without denying his justice and holiness? The answer is the cross of Jesus. God can put his arms around sinners, because he stretched out his arms to die for that sin on the cross. In the gospel, the Judge has become the Savior. And this is so important to grasp, because if you’re in a performance-based relationship with someone, then you’re ultimately going to be looking to yourself to find encouragement in that relationship – “Am I doing good enough?” “Am I keeping up?” “Am I earning their acceptance?” Many people don’t find a relationship with God to be all that encouraging, because they’re trying to relate to God based on their works instead of based on God’s grace in Jesus. But it is the grace of God that meets humanity’s deepest need for encouragement. And the more a person receives this from God, the easier it is to give it away to others and to participate in the important and powerful art of encouragement.

by Jeremy McKeen

Whether it’s Fathers Day, Mothers Day or any other major holiday, one of the most popular gifts to give to your loved ones is a picture. Kids often draw pictures, and others print and frame pictures, because pictures have a way of capturing moments of love and communicating deep feelings of love. As people say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, in the end of John’s Gospel (see John 19:25-27), he gives his readers a beautiful picture of love between Jesus and his mother. Taken at the cross, painted with words, and framed in Scripture, it’s a picture of tenderness and care; it’s a picture of what genuine Christian love really looks like. And this love is seen best when the picture is viewed from two different perspectives: from the perspective of Mary and then from the perspective of Jesus. 

The perspective of MaryPerhaps only a parent can fully comprehend and appreciate what Mary would have been going through as she stood by the cross of her Son. However, anyone who has meaningful relationships with family and friends can relate in some way to the love that is seen in that passage. And the first evidence of her love is that Mary bears the shame.

Love bears the shame.To anyone reading this story in the Ancient near East, in that culture of honor and shame, the fact that Mary was standing by the cross at all would have been shocking. In a culture where your family’s reputation meant almost everything, any family member of a convicted criminal sentenced to crucifixion would have made sure he or she was miles away from the public eye. Yet, there is Mary standing in public by the cross. Why? Because love bears the shame. It bears the reproach of the ones that you love. Yet, this was more than a love for a son; this was also a believer’s love for her Savior. So, it begs the question, do Christians today have a love for Jesus that will bear his shame? Are the lives of believers being shaped by a love for Jesus or more by a fear of man? A real love for Jesus will lead you to stand by the Jesus of the cross. Love bears the shame.

Love bears the pain.Surely as Mary neared the cross, she must have remembered Simeons’ prophecy when she was a young mother carrying Jesus in her arms. In Luke 2:35, Mary was told that a sword would pierce her soul. Simply put, the salvation that her Son would bring the world would come at the expense of her pain as his mother. But love bears the pain. One writer put it this way – “The brow that Mary once kissed while she put him to bed was now marred by a crown of thorns. His tiny hands and feet that she guided to eat and learn to walk, were now nailed to a cross. The back that she would rub to console him, was now torn, bruised and beaten.” She could have avoided the pain of being there, but Mary was there. She was present in the pain. True Christian love seeks to ease the pain of others even at the cost of your own pain. Love bears the pain. You also see love from the perspective of Jesus.

The perspective of Jesus In his most dreadful hour of pain, when it would have been so easy for Jesus to have forgotten others and to focus on himself, he thought and cared for others. In the approximate six hours that Jesus was on the cross, only seven sayings of his were recorded. And those sayings are filled with deep concern and care for others.

Love cares for others.Looking up, Jesus cared for his enemies and prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Looking over, Jesus cared for his fellow sufferer by telling the believing thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” And then looking out, Jesus cared for his family and friends, saying “Woman, behold your son.” Jesus cared that his mother’s relational and physical needs were met and so he pointed her to the Apostle John who would take care of her. Love moves you to care for others.

Love provides for others.Jesus makes provision for his mother, but not just emotionally and physically, he was also providing for her spiritually. By asking his Mother to view the disciple John as her son, Jesus was inviting her to see him there on the cross for who he is truly is - not essentially her son but rather her Savior. There at the cross the relationship was forever changing. Their earthly relationship was forever folding into the more holy and heavenly relationship between a believer and her Savior. Author Colin Smith said it this way, “In this moment Jesus wanted her to see that although she was losing an irreplaceable son, what she was gaining was an incomparable Savior." Her loss was turning into her gain, as Jesus was providing eternal life for all who believe in him. If pictures are worth a thousand words, then this picture of love speaks volumes. This picture teaches everyone what it truly means to love others in a way that costs us something, in a tangible way of tenderness, care and provision.

by Jeremy McKeen

Everyone needs hope. Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said that, ‘To live without hope is to cease to live.” And psychologists will tell you that a lack of hope is where depression comes from. Yet, what is hope? Hope is the combination of two things: desires and expectations. Hope is not just wishing for something to happen; it’s living with the expectation that it will happen. Unfortunately, the English word hope has come to mean just wishful thinking. So, you’ll hear people say, “Expect the worst, but hope for the best.” But the biblical concept of hope is a confident expectation of a positive future. It’s not simply what you want to happen; it’s what you know will happen. Everyone needs hope, and what Christianity offers the world is a hope that if you see it and experience it, you’ll be able to face anything in life. One of the best places in the bible that this hope is described is in Revelation 21:1-5. This passage is a vision of the ultimate cosmic renewal of the five main aspects of life.

Creational RenewalJohn says, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” The word for new that John uses is not new in the sense of time, but new in the sense of quality. It’s like the difference between Apple releasing a brand new product versus Apple releasing an amazing new update. It’s not new in that it just appeared, it’s new in that it’s now everything that it was meant to be. It may come as a surprise, but heaven is not a believer’s final destination or home. Don’t get me wrong, heaven is a real place. It’s a real state, but it’s not a Christian’s permanent real estate. In the bible, the ultimate goal is not to get earth to heaven, but to get heaven to earth. That’s why they pray, “Thy Kingdom come.” That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote, “…Creation has been groaning” (See Romans 8:22). Creation is waiting for the day when, just like in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia, “Everything that is Winter will turn into Spring.” One-day creation itself is going to be renewed. God is not going to release a brand new product; he’s going to release an amazing new update.

Relational RenewalNext, John says, “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Now, the point of the city metaphor is not for readers to imagine buildings and skyscrapers going up, but to imagine a diverse group of people going out. The church is meant to reach out to the world as a new community of radical relational diversity. And this relational reconciliation and renewal is meant to start now and be a glimpse of what’s to come. It’s also said to be a city wearing a wedding dress. Obviously, this is highly symbolic. John is showing his readers that when they get to the end of the story, they’re not going to be alone, and they’re not going to be ashamed. They’re going to be together, and they’re going to be fully redeemed by God. Christ is going to look at his people with the look of affection, love and lasting approval.

Spiritual RenewalMoreover, John says that “…The dwelling place of God is with man!” In other words, one-day God is going to permanently move right into our neighborhood. The union and communion, the relationship and the fellowship that believers have now with God will one day be complete. There will no longer be any sin to confess or any distance to interrupt fellowship with God. Listen to how John Piper put it – “The greatest frustration of this age for the child of God is that we still sin. We want to be holy and we fall short. We want to love and we say hurtful things. We want to worship and we feel cold. We want to walk in peace and we feel anxiety. We want to be pure in thought and impurity bombards our minds.” But one day the struggle will give way to victory because every believer will see God face to face and experience the ultimate spiritual renewal.

Emotional RenewalThen, like a father who has compassion on his children, God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” The hope set before every Christian is the day when eyes full of tears will turn into eyes full of wonder when they see how God has turned every single apparent tragedy into triumph and every evil into good. One day all mourning will turn into dancing.

Physical RenewalLastly, John says, “And death shall be no more.” The bible describes our current bodies as a tent, because a tent is temporary. It’s not meant to be a permanent dwelling. Tents gets torn. Tents get torn down, but a home is lasting. There’s coming a day when every believer will be in their permanent home. They will have bodies that never breakdown and die. What a picture of hope and renewal this is. It’s ultimate renewal. Creational, relational, spiritual, emotional and physical. Everyone needs hope, and this vision is offered to all believers so that when they are tempted to look at their circumstances and see a hopeless end, they would look at their future and see an endless hope.