The King of New Life

This Sunday we will look at Jesus entrance into Jerusalem. On April 6, 32 AD Jesus sat atop a colt, and begin his ascent into the city.  We read the description in Matt 21:

And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt 21:8-9)

In my mind I can picture something like the hero’s parade they had in NY City at the close of WWII, or when the astronauts returned from the moon in 1968.  People lining the streets, shouting and cheering, excitement everywhere!  The Jewish people are known for their public display of excitement, and I think this day was no exception! But strangely enough, with all of their excitement about Jesus coming to town, not five days later this same crowd would be calling for his death.  Crowds can be fickle!

A similar thing happens even today.  A person comes to church, perhaps struggling in some way, needing a new beginning.  They come face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ, and man they are excited about Him! They are excited about what He offers, and how He can change their lives! But after the crisis recedes, they don’t need Jesus as much as they thought.  Matter of fact, some of His ways really get in the way of their lifestyle.

In the same way we are faced with a similar question.  We know who Jesus is, maybe we’re even excited about Him, but are we willing to make Him Lord?


Join us this Sunday for episode 2 of our series, "The King of New Life."

...till the whole world hears

Pastor Clay

The Promise

What if you knew the date that your life would end? One the one hand, most of us wouldn’t want to know that kind of information. It would make those last days dreadful, counting down the days, one at a time! But on the other hand, it would allow us to take care of any important business that needed to be wrapped up before we go. We could set our affairs in order. We could communicate the things that we felt were of great importance to the people close to us. 

 With this in mind, I cant help but think that in the days and weeks leading up to Jesus arrival in Jerusalem, and His ultimate appointment with the cross, Jesus may have felt a heightened sense of focus in the things He shared with those around Him. Jesus was about to unveil the greatest promise ever to be shared in the history of the world: The Promise of New Life. No gift could be greater, no blessing more abundant. The New Life that Jesus brought to the world contains present and future implications that we will spend the rest of eternity learning about! 

This Sunday I’ll be opening up a four-part series for Easter: The Dawn of New Life, where we’ll be tracking Jesus from the teachings he shared before His entrance into Jerusalem, all the way through to His resurrection and the great commission. I believe it will be a powerful series that will change lives forever, not because I am teaching it, but because it's the account of the greatest gift ever; The NEW LIFE we have in Christ! 

I hope you’ll join us this Sunday, March 25th, for the first installment of our series, “The Promise of New Life.” 

 PS – be sure to invite someone to church this Sunday. You can tell them they’ll hear the greatest story ever told! 

Pastor Clay

How to live when you're DEAD

How to live when you're DEAD

…don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Rom 6:3-4)

This Sunday we will celebrate the baptism of more then ten precious souls who have given their life to Jesus Christ (I say “more than ten” because people are still signing up!). 

Baptism is one of the most significant events in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ.  It is significant not because of what they are doing, but because of what it represents – something that is already DONE!  Baptism is an outward expression that a person has begun a new life in Jesus Christ. It symbolizes what has taken place inwardly when you received Christ as your savior and accepted God's grace:

You are now DEAD to sin, and

You are now ALIVE to Christ!

But what does that mean?  Will I never sin again?  If I do, does that mean I have failed as a Christian, and I have to get baptized all over again? If I totally blow it, does that mean something didn’t “take” and I’m not really a Christian after all?

Short answer:  No, no, and NO!

Baptism is simply an outward act of obedience to Christ, and a public testimony to all who are witnessing it that says “I have become a new creation in Christ.”  It’s the “new creation” part that changes who we are, and how we live.  Because you see, it’s no longer US who are living out our lives, but Christ IN US who is living through us.  New life – not mine, but HIS.

Join us Sunday as we celebrate a spiritual milestone with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and learn about the new life that lives in us.  I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t miss if for the world!

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

None of these things...

But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)

Today the devo from Oswald Chambers (utmost.org) made the statement “Joy means the perfect fulfillment of that for which I was created and regenerated, not the successful doing of a thing.”  I thought about that for a good long time.  Pretty profound, that when I am fulfilling the ministry that God called me to, that is where I will be the most fulfilled, and that is when my joy will be complete.  And its true: The sweet-spot of my life is when I am leading worship, and teaching the bible.  I love doing a lot of things, but nothing comes close to the times when I am doing the things God created me to do.

So, do you know what God has created you to do?  Do you know the ministry He has called you to?  If yes, then the greatest commission you can have is to be loyal to that ministry, however great or small it is.  If not, then perhaps now is a good time to seek Him, and ask Him (Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you – Matt 7:7), because you’re missing out on the joy and fulfillment that God wants you to have.

Crazy Kings - 1 Sam 22

Several years ago there was a public service commercial about the dangers of using drugs, and the key line of that commercial was; “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” There are many disabilities that a person can overcome, but for a person to lose their mind is a frightening and helpless situation.  Anyone that has watched a loved one fall prey to Alzheimer’s can attest that it is indeed a cruel disease.

But some mental declines are not so much the fault of a physiological condition, but rather is the result of a moral and spiritual decline, which brings about a mental decline. When a person begins to live in a way that is in direct opposition to what they know to be right and true, when they violate the moral and ethical principles that they once held so firmly, it has an effect on that person’s perspective of reality. In order to live with themselves, that person is forced to rationalize their behavior, and to justify their logic, faulty as it may be.  They begin to believe their own lies. The result is that a door is opened for the father of lies, the enemy we know to be Satan, to being to wreak havoc in that persons life.  Many of us know people that have walked away from the foundation of their faith, and years later if we talk to them, we walk away thinking “man, their not thinking right.”

That is exactly what we are seeing here as we watch the decline of king Saul (hereafter to be known as ‘crazy king Saul).  Saul has done some terrible things, but it’s about to get a whole lot worse. We are witnessing a man who had it all go down in flames like the Hindenburg. I think Saul’s life is a living example of what can happen if we walk away from what we know to be true:  Who God is, His word, and who we are to Him!

Join us Sunday morning for “Crazy Kings and unintended consequences.”