NEXT

Reilly led us in worship this year at Next. Learn more about the band in just six questions.

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1) Who are you guys? What’s your musical background like?

Reilly is a violin-rock band out of Philadelphia, PA. We all met in college through Campus Crusade for Christ and have been playing together for a number of years. John Reilly is our lead vocal and primary songwriter (hence the name “Reilly”). He’s accompanied by husband/wife violin duo, Dan and Noele Huie, Matthew Bomberger on bass and recent addition Jordan Lenhoff on drums. We all go to Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills together.

Our musical backgrounds are pretty diverse. John started out as a singer/songwriter in college, leading worship at Crusade. Before the entire band formed he and Dan would just gig around at small venues with one acoustic guitar and violin. He still plays an occasional acoustic show. John loves Martin Sexton’s music and (here’s a piece of trivia for you!) 80’s rock! 

Dan and Noele were orchestra nerds growing up, primarily trained in violin (they joke that they might have been stand partners as kids but they wouldn’t have been friends, since Dan was also in the ultra nerdy marching band). Both have since picked up other instruments in Reilly; Dan is also the lead guitarist and Noele plays keys. Dan actually learned to improvise from Noele’s previous band’s CD before they were friends. He then stole her for Reilly. Dan loves Dave Matthews Band and their ‘jam sound’, Noele is a huge Nickel Creek fan. Matthew played in an EMO garage band in high school, and was a guitarist and songwriter for a band with his identical twin brother before agreeing to “fill in” on bass for Reilly. He’s still filling in! Matthew loves MeWithoutYou.

2) What has been one of your previous highlights at Next? (i.e. New Attitude)

In 2008 we played a late night acoustic show that was very special to us. We were surrounded by hundreds of our friends and family in the body of Christ. Many people were singing along with every word which just blew us away. We felt so much love from everyone.

3) What was one highlight for you this year at Next?

I really enjoyed hearing Kevin DeYoung’s message on Christ’s life. What struck me was our tendency, even as followers, to reduce Jesus and minimize his greatness. Jesus’ contemporaries were struck with fear and awe of his authority and power. Yes, Jesus is approachable, because he is good.
But he is also powerful, making his incarnation and personhood so amazing!

As a band I know we were also really thankful to have our Sunlight music video played before one of the main sessions. That was definitely a highlight and we were grateful for the opportunity to share it with so many folks.

4) Can you describe your band’s sound in four words?

Dual Violin Alternative Rock

5) Where do you guys play? (at church? in clubs? christian events?)

We’ll be touring the U.S. this summer playing at major Christian festivals including Creation, Atlantafest, Purple Door, Alive, Unity, Big Ticket, Lifest, Icthus and a few others. We love playing for church and campus ministry events. We also enjoy leading corporate worship at retreats and on Sunday morning. We play an occasional club venue, too. If you want to bring Reilly to your church or school, just shoot us an email ((JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)).

6) Where can people learn more about you guys or listen to some music?

You can hear our music at REILLYtheband.com or Myspace.com/REILLYtheband. We’re on Facebook, Twitter, and all that good stuff, too.

I walked out of the store I manage at 10:34 PM, locked the doors, and walked towards my car with one of my co-workers. We were talking about leadership, things he could do to be promoted at work, and particular areas in his working habits that he could be working on. We finally made it to our cars, and continued to talk until the parking lot lights went off.

With only lights from surrounding restaurants and a gas station, we began to discuss things we loved about our job, things we disliked, and about areas this young man could improve in.

Then as I was speaking, C.J’s message suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks.

“We cannot think of his death too often because in this life his death is a matter of first importance. Scripture is gloriously redundant on this topic,” C.J. told us all at Next, “And if you are a Christian, you will not cease to think and to glory in his death and the life to come. Heaven is never indifferent to the cross, it never gets tired of the cross. We will never cease to praise Christ for his death. We are never done with the cross, nor ever shall be.”

And suddenly in my conversation and words the cross came through. I detailed how the cross had been the cornerstone for me at work, particularly by keeping me humble when I was tempted to be proud. God’s grace came shining through in our conversation.

It was a moment where I realized God had given me a perfect opportunity to proclaim the gospel and how it had affected my life – and I didn’t blow it. By his grace I took the opportunity and told my co-worker that the only way he was going to truly “improve” was to realize that he simply cannot improve on his own. I took the small issues of work, and helped him see that there is a lot more to this life. I wanted to deal with bigger issues than promotions at work, so I talked about Christ as our substitute and reminded my co-worker that through his death we are raised to fullness of life.

“This was the scream of the damned in my place,” were the words that echoed in my mind. “It was the scream of the damned for us. He did this for sinners like you and me. He drained the cup dry, leaving us not a drop to drink. He experienced wrath so that we might experience grace. He was forsaken so that we might be forgiven by the father. He screamed so that we might sing nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ. He was forsaken so that we might never be forsaken.”

In the little things of life, the cross has begun to shine through. In the small things of life, I am now realizing, Christ must become preeminent by becoming a daily part of my speech, and I am praying for more opportunities like the one that happened at 10:34 the other night, because I will never be finished with the cross.

At the conference this year one of our highlights was hearing testimonies of how Jesus had changed people lives. Some of them were radical, others were more “ordinary” but all of them were encouraging to hear. They helped Jesus become bigger in our eyes. Over the next few days we’ll post them here on blog.

Here’s the first one:

Amanda Darby Testimony from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

Amanda
Covenant Life Church, Gaithersburg MD

My name is Amanda Darby and this is my story of how Jesus Christ changed my life.

I was raised in Birmingham Alabama in a loving home with both parents and two younger brothers, although we were not a religious family. My mom has told me that it seemed too difficult to get 3 children ready for church on Sundays, and it never became a priority.  Several of my friends and their families went to church and on many occasions, I went with them to Sunday services, and sang in church choirs, attended Christian summer camps, and even was confirmed Methodist, but it was as if I was just going through the motions, with no faith or heart motive. I remember always being curious and intrigued about what people were getting from church, because I could see a clear difference in the lives and attitudes of believers from my own life.

In middle school I began experimenting with drugs and alcohol, and my life became filled with rebellion and anger. I treated my parents with absolutely no respect and was hurtful in the things I did to them and began to rob them of the experience of being a part of my life. One by one, everything that once was important in my life, such as good grades, cheerleading, band, family and even friends started to become secondary to my rebellion. I went down fast.  If anyone ever asked why I was doing the things I was doing, I would just say that I wanted to have a good time and if people would just let me do whatever I wanted to do, I’d be happy. The truth was, I felt an emptiness that I tried to fill with drugs, alcohol, partying, boys, anything to distract me. I progressively got worse, and did things that were demoralizing and that I said I would never do. 

When I was in high school, I found out that my dad had been having an affair, and my parents were going to be divorcing. This rocked my world, and I began to blame everything that I was doing on the fact that my parent’s divorce was too hard to handle and drove myself even farther into trouble. I was running away from home, getting suspended from school, getting arrested, cursing at and fighting with my parents, and the whole time hating what I was doing to myself and my family. I wanted desperately to turn my life around, but knew I was powerless.  I tried to fix myself by going to college at Auburn, joining a sorority, seeing therapists, taking medication, hypnotherapy, changing friends, rehab, and I even ran away to live out in California, thinking that maybe if I moved to a sunny place, I could just start my life over, and finally be happy. Within only a few years, I found myself addicted to drugs and living out of my car. I was constantly putting myself in extremely dangerous situations, such as driving drunk and hanging out with dangerous people, and looking back on it now, I know God must have been keeping me safe.  Many times I was even suicidal. I felt so desperate, so empty, and so disappointed in what I had become.  I just wanted to the pain to stop and I tried to numb myself with drugs, alcohol, cutting, eating disorders, you name it.  I felt hopeless, and had said many prayers and made a million broken promises to God, but always thought to myself “how could there be a God if my life has ended up this way? And if there is a God, he must not care about me at all”. 

By age 20, through a series of what I then considered “coincidences”, I found myself in a twelve step program.  In this program, I was finally able to get sober and my life began changing dramatically. I was held accountable by other members, and was told I needed to come to believe in a “higher power” in order to continue to stay sober.  I was encouraged to find a spiritual solution, and live by spiritual principals. I haven’t had a drink or a drug since May 11, 2003 and over the last six years of sobriety, I began to believe that God did in fact exist.

Although most of my most glaring problems were getting better, I still was living completely for myself.  I was still struggling with sin. And I was even unaware that some of the things I was doing were sinful. I truly believed that if I could manage to get what I wanted in life, then I would be happy, but anytime I got something I wanted, I still felt an emptiness and unhappiness.

I had not heard the gospel in many, many years. I had the idea that I wasn’t good enough of a person to go to church, and that sobriety would just have to be enough for me. In early 2008 I began attending Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland where I was living. I was very attracted to Christians and their lifestyles, but I was always waiting for a magical experience or for something just to click, where I would suddenly become a believer. In fact, I desperately wanted to believe, but felt lost.  I remember often being frustrated because I felt like I just wasn’t “getting it”.  I knew something was wrong in my life one Sunday morning when everyone was taking communion, and I knew I couldn’t because I had not put my faith in Christ. I can’t even describe how uncomfortable I felt, and I even remember getting emotional and had no idea why. I starting praying desperately, asking God to help me have a real relationship with him.

I had heard that Covenant Life was starting a course about the basics of Christianity and I started attending classes on Wednesday nights. I loved the discussions and began reading suggested books and started asking questions. I loved learning about who Jesus was. Before this course, my conception of God was that he was loving toward everyone, and that all religions and spiritualities were just different paths leading to the same God. I believed that if there was a heaven, that basically everyone got in. But I had no truth to base my beliefs on. In fact, before that, I thought anyone who believed in Jesus was a fool, and I really only used his name as a swear word. Slowly, God had started softening my heart, and helped me to become more open minded. I learned that the only way to have a relationship with God is through the faith that Jesus died for my sins. I was still very skeptical about everything, and wanted to learn as much as I could so that I could develop my own convictions.

A few weeks into the course, my boyfriend broke up with me and it devastated me. I really had put all of my dependence on that relationship, and without even realizing it, I had come to believe that if he could just love me enough, then I would be okay. The day after we broke up, his mom shared the gospel with me – the good news that Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sins and if I put my faith in him, my sins would be forgiven and I could have a relationship with God forever.  She encouraged me to say a prayer, and I couldn’t have been more ready. I prayed for God to save me from my sin and asked Him to help me believe with my whole heart. I repented of my sins and put my faith in Christ. 
Since that day only several months ago, I have seen amazing changes in my heart, my desires, and my relationships. I have been far from perfect, but have become very aware of my conscience, and I feel as though God is constantly helping me to make better decisions, and I want to please Him.  I have been blessed with a passion for reading God’s word and reading other books about the gospel. I’ve found scripture memorization and seeking to apply scripture in my daily life to be very helpful. I have loved building new friendships with other Christians. I am constantly amazed at the unselfishness, care and love I’ve seen in so many Christians. These are all qualities I have been asking God to help me grow in.  Something very important that I am learning is that absolutely no human relationship can satisfy that desperate emptiness and be my ultimate happiness; only Christ can fill that void in my heart.

Even after I gave my life to Christ, I found that I was embarrassed to tell other Christians about my past, but have come to learn that we are all sinners who are forgiven by Jesus’ death on the cross. I’ve even seen how the suffering and trials I’ve had throughout my life were all for my good because God humbled me enough to finally search out a relationship with Him, and also, hopefully I will able to help someone else with my experiences. I’ve already had the opportunity to begin to share the gospel and parts of my testimony with several friends and family members, and have had people asking me a lot of questions. I’m amazed at God’s love; that He would still want to have a relationship with me as his daughter after everything I’ve done, and that he would want to use me as a vessel to share the gospel with others. Just a few days ago, I found out that I have the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Uganda in January. A few months ago, I could’ve never pictured myself even considering going to Africa, but I can’t begin to tell you how excited and grateful I am to have this opportunity for outreach with other members of my church.

Since becoming a Christian, I’ve had to face some difficult circumstances. God has used these trials to teach me that I can trust him through everything, and I’ve been able to use these times to focus on growing in my relationship with Him. I could probably tell a hundred stories where God has shown himself to me in little ways in the last several months. I believe in the past I would’ve discounted them all as coincidences, but today I’m convinced that God is trying to show me that He loves me. I used to always be fearful and anxious about my future, but today, I know without a doubt that God has a plan for my life and I can fully depend on him. I’m excited to continue seeking to know Him better and to be an example of Christ’s love that has been so graciously given to me.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

We caught Kevin at Next and he gave a brief exhortation for our generation to become “plodding visionaries.” Take a look:

A Message from Kevin DeYoung from Next Conference on Vimeo.

If you didn’t get a copy of one of Kevin’s books at the conference, don’t let that dissuade you, you can still get them online:
_Why We’re Not Emergent (co-written with Ted Kluck)
_Just Do Something

And a quick reminder that Kevin’s latest book releases soon. It’s called Why We Love the Church and it’s co-written with Ted Kluck (who also wrote “Why We’re Not Emergent” with Kevin). It debuts July 1. Here’s a description of its contents: “Why We Love the Church… paints a picture of the local church in all its biblical and real life guts, gaffes, and glory in an effort to edify local congregations and entice the disaffected back to the fold. It also provides a solid biblical mandate to love and be part of the body of Christ and counteract the “leave church” books that trumpet rebellion and individual felt needs.” You can pre-order it from Amazon and they’ll ship it to you when it debuts.

Last, you can follow Kevin on his blog DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed. Or to learn more about Kevin you can also read the short interview we did with him in April.

A few people have asked for the list of songs we played as you entered the general sessions at Next. In no particular order, here they are:

“Song Title” - Artist (Album)

“Fire & Rain” - Mat Kearney (City of Black & White)
“Heaven” - Jars of Clay (The Long Fall Back to Earth)
“Teen Angst” - M83 (Before the Dawn Heals Us)
“Shadows and City Lights” - Deas Vail (All the Houses Look the Same)
“Wish” - Paper Route (Absence)
“Runaway” - Thriving Ivory (Thriving Ivory)
“Can You Feel It” - David Crowder Band (Remedy)
“Too Far (Remix)” - Bernard (A View Beyond the Cave)
“Say” - Sleeping at Last (Ghosts)
“All I Have” - Mat Kearney (City of Black & White)
“Carousel” - Paper Route (Absence)
“All That Is Beautiful” - Sleeping at Last (Ghosts)
“These Are the Words” - Blackbird Lewis (Blackbird Lewis)
“Here We Go” - Mat Kearney (City of Black & White)
“Weapons” - Jars of Clay (The Long Fall Back to Earth)

Enjoy!

During his session at Next D.A. Carson recited some beautiful verses. I was wondering, like many people were, where they came from. Well, we are indebted to Justin Taylor for the answer. The verses are an, as yet, unpublished poem by Dr. Carson. Justin posted the poem on his blog here.

The Prologue

  Before there was a universe,

  Before a star or planet,
  When time had still not yet begun—

  I scarcely understand it—
  Th’ eternal Word was with his God,

  God’s very Self-Expression;
  Th’ eternal Word was God himself—

  And God had planned redemption.

  The Word became our flesh and blood—

  The stuff of his creation—
  The Word was God, the Word was flesh,

  Astounding incarnation!
  But when he came to visit us,

  We did not recognize him.
  Although we owed him everything

  We haughtily despised him.

  In days gone by God showed himself

  In grace and truth to Moses;
  But in the Word of God made flesh

  Their climax he discloses.
  For grace and truth in fullness came

  And showed the Father’s glory
  When Jesus donned our flesh and died:

  This is the gospel story.

  All who delighted in his name,

  All those who did receive him,
  All who by grace were born of God,

  All who in truth believed him—
  To them he gave a stunning right:

  Becoming God’s dear children!
  Here will I stay in grateful trust;

  Here will I fix my vision.

  Before there was a universe,

  Before a star or planet,
  When time had still not yet begun—

  I scarcely understand it—
  Th’ eternal Word was with his God,

  God’s very Self-Expression;
  Th’ eternal Word was God himself—

  And God had planned redemption.

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A huge huge hat tip to Justin Taylor for getting hold of this. Please go to his site and click on all his sponsor ads several times as a thank you.

More snapshots from the conference.

See more photos on our Flickr Page.

Just back from the conference? Wondering what to do next?

Here’s a video message from Josh on how to apply the material from the Next conference. Take a look.

A Message From Josh from Next Conference on Vimeo.

And for those interested, here’s what’s coming on the Next website in the next few weeks:

_Conference message audio is available right now on our resources page.
_We collected some great stories of how Jesus Christ changed people during the conference and we’ll begin posting those this week.
_We’re working on an application page that will contain edited message notes, application questions from John Loftness, and a recommended reading list. It should go live next Monday.
_The album of live worship from Next 09 will release (God willing) in just a few weeks. The plan right now is to give you 12 songs for five bucks.

And if you’d like to share what God did in your life at Next 09 just post it in the comments somewhere or, better yet, send it to me and we’ll look at getting some stories from the conference on the blog. If you want to share your story email your story and a picture to me at ralcantar [at] CrossOfGraceChurch.com.

Thanks for spending four days meeting Jesus with us.

Here is the most important thing I can say about the second coming: He is coming.

Notes from session 6 of the Next 2009 Conference.
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Hebrews 9:24-28

This passage speaks of the three appearings of Jesus Christ: His first appearing in order than he might wear and assume our humanity so that he would bear our sins. Then His appearing at the right hand of the father where he lives to intercede for us. And then his appearing to provide final redemption and salvation for those eagerly waiting for him.

We rejoice in his appearing, and we rejoice in his heavenly appearing, but we eagerly long for his third appearance. We know that simple truth and it makes all the difference in the world. The person who isn’t a Christian doesn’t believe life and history are going anywhere. But the simplest Christian has their life revolutionized by the forward look to the glorious day of Christ’s return.

Here is the most important thing I can say about the second coming: He is coming.

Our greatest need when we discuss the second coming of Jesus is to remember that it is first and foremost the coming of Jesus. The Bible’s teaching is not given us so that we can become theological crossword puzzle solvers. When we do that we take our gaze away from the Lord Jesus. The Lord will award the crown of righteousness to all that solve the puzzle? No, the Lord will award the crown to all that love the appearing of the Lord Jesus. Never be diverted from the thought that what the Bible has to say about the end of history is actually about Jesus himself. “Love the appearing of Jesus,” is the great message of the New Testament.

1) The Promise of Jesus Coming

First, there is no part of the New Testament that lacks the message that Jesus will come in glory. The nearer Jesus gets to the cross he helps them understand that he’s actually going to return at the end of the time.

Second, in the New Testament angels announce his coming. Remember when the disciples are staring into heaven after Jesus and they saw the cloud of glory and an angel comes along and says, “Excuse me, why are you looking up there? This same Jesus will come in like manner as you have seen him go.” As that glory cloud that you read about in the Old Testament, the external manifestation of God’s glory, the angels are saying get on with your work but keep your eye on this same Jesus

The return of Jesus Christ is not an added extra to the gospel. It’s a bookend of the gospel. It’s one of the things that distinguishes Christians. One of the characteristics of really old people is that they revisit the past, but a Christian who is an old saint is looking to see what Jesus is doing and wants to hear about the church. It’s

2) The Manner of Jesus Coming

Why would he give this promise to his disciples? Because the disciples saw him progressively rejected, they saw the horrors of Gethsemene, they saw his crucifixion. Do you know what Jesus wants? He wants those who have seen him in his humiliation–where you work and where you study–to see him in his glory. Jesus has been so humiliated and rejected but we’ll see him in his majesty and glory.

Jesus will come visibly. We’re told that every eye will see him. What supernatural marvel will it be. When somebody says the Messiah has come don’t believe them because when the Messiah comes no one will need to tell you.

He’ll come audibly. When Jesus comes it will be noisy. At a certain point in our service we transition from the choir singing to the congregation rising and singing the doxology. The transition is heralded by these trumpets in the back and the visitors jump.

Jesus will come triumphantly. 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Jesus is teaching about the “lawless one” who will be revealed, and whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his coming. Do you ever say, “It blew me away”? Jesus will simply blow and this power will be gone.

3) The Time of Jesus Coming

First, we know that the time he’ll return is unknown. Even critical scholars who rubbish the New Testament say that Jesus was clear that no one knows when the second coming is, not even the son.

Second, nobody knows the time of his coming. It’s not only unknown but when it happens it will be unexpected. (2 Peter 3)

Third, the Lord will come soon. How do we understand this? Think about it this way: The return of the Lord Jesus is the next big day in Jesus’ calendar.

Fourth, the return of Jesus’ return is being delayed. 2 Peter 3 says that a day in heaven is a thousand years here on earth and that the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise. He is patient, not wishing that any should perish. If Jesus had come just a year ago some of you would be in hell.

4) The Purpose of Jesus Coming

First, to raise the dead. The resurrection Lazarus is a picture of what he will do with the whole world. In the miraculous power of the one who made creation of nothing will reunite body and soul. What it means for us to be sons of God will actually be visible in resurrection bodies. Sometimes you may wonder if you’re a Christian. On that day who you are on the inside will be who you are on the outside. Christ’s makes glory in the resurrection body partly out of the struggles of Christian believers.

Second, he’ll come to judge the world. Look at Romans 2

Third, he’ll come to transform the righteous and the groaning creation. The whole creation is standing on tiptoe waiting for the world to be restored and remade.

Where the first Adam brought chaos the second Adam will accomplish what Adam was supposed to do in the beginning. He’ll bring it all back together, a new world order–the singing, sin-free, people of God. And in our humanity he will say to his Father, “This is yours. Receive from your loving children.” And God will be all in all.”

5) Our Response to Jesus Coming

First, use the delay well. The New Testament doesn’t use the second coming as a reason for evangelism but it does use the delay as a reason for evangelism.

Second, realize that the Christian life until that day is one of groaning inwardly. The Apostle Paul teaches that it’s those who have the spirit as the firstfruits groan expectantly.

Third, we should live in a godly way. We should do that together, encouraging one another and strengthening one another.

Fourth, we should grow in the grace of anticipating joyfully the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul contrasts Demas here with the faithful Christian. He says Demas has deserted his faith, having fallen in love with this present world, but Jesus Paul goes on to say that God will give a crown for those who have fallen in love with Jesus.

So we as Christians shouldn’t long for the second coming simply because we’re interested in the way the crossword puzzle will be solved but simply because we love him.

Many books I grew up with concluded with these words: “The End.” The great thing about the coming end is that it’s only the beginning and it will last forever.

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*Note: The notes are approximate. Forgive misspellings and typos. We’ll clean all the message notes and have them edited next week.

The gospel falls to pieces unless Jesus was actually raised from the dead.

Notes from session 5 of the Next 09 Conference.
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Let’s begin in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.

Focusing our attention on the person and ministry of Christ is an enormous antidote to narcissism and to the overly subjective spirituality that abounds in our day. To fix our eyes on Jesus and fill our hearts with Jesus is one of the great privileges and should be the high distinction of the Christian life. And to think especially about his resurrection–that he is not merely a glorious hero in an old book, that he has risen, that he is alive, that he is available to us, and that he is known as a present risen living companion. This belongs to the very heart of the gospel.

Once I heard a well meaning person tell me, “The Christian life is so wonderful I would enjoy it even if Jesus had never been raised from the dead.”

I thought there was something disastrously wrong about that. The apostle Paul is teaching us that it’s really about our resurrection. The gospel falls to pieces unless Jesus was actually raised from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus isn’t just fundamental to the gospel it is essential to our salvation. No resurrection, no salvation. No resurrection, no living savior, no meeting him on the road to Emmaus, no meeting him on the road to church, or ever.

1) The Nature of the Resurrection

First, we should be confident of the resurrection as a historical reality. It is anchored in history. It is one of the best attested events in the first century. If you know your Scriptures you know the apologetic for this is actually already found in the Scriptures.

For example, if someone asks “How can you know he was really dead?” Well, the answer is there. He was put to death part of whose business was doing crucifixions. They were expert crucifiers. They had done this over and over again. If the Roman centurion believed Jesus died on the cross, Jesus died on the cross.

Do you remember how Jesus left evidence behind that the body had not been stolen? Imagine yourself as a professional body stealer. Somehow you get the stone away, somehow you get past the guards but…before you get the body away you carefully unwrap it? And then one of you leisurely folds up the linen cloth over the head? Really? I don’t think so.

Think of all the appearance his Peter says and of all the appearance his appearance to James says. And he appeared to 500 at once. Paul is saying that one of the clearest evidences of Jesus Christ is the existence of the Christian church. They were in no doubt that Jesus was raised from the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus is a historical reality but it’s also a physical reality. The resurrection of Jesus was a resurrection of Jesus body. He appears to the disciples after his death and they say that they’re seeing a ghost. And he tells them to touch him to prove he wasn’t dead or a spirit. In Luke 24 Jesus asks his disciples if they have anything to eat, and they give him a peace of broiled fish, and he eats it. The disciples are beside themselves with joy and it’s almost as though Jesus is having some resurrection fun with them to prove its him.

In 1 Cor 15 Paul is teaching us that our resurrection bodies are the fruit of Jesus resurrection. Therefore when Paul goes on in verse 15 he’s really giving us clues about the resurrection of the body of the Lord Jesus. Then he goes on to tell us specifically what the difference is between his dead body and his resurrection body.  His body was raised as an incorruptible body. He died in weakness but he was raised in power. The body Jesus assumed in his incarnation was suited to life in this world. But the body he was resurrected in was suited to a new world order. A change took place. He was able to do extraordinary things in that body.

One of the glorious things that the NT teaches us is that he’ll never jettison that body. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s pledge that Jesus has permanently committed himself to being the man in heaven for us, to be our savior. Our bodies, at the end of Phillipians 3 says, will be like his body of glory.

Some of you already know the poisons in your being that cripple you. Some of you have had surgery over and over. Jesus not only comes to die in our body, he comes to raise our body from the grave. Salvation is not just a matter of the forgiveness of our individual sins, God has in view a complete renewal of heaven and earth for which we’ll need these new bodies we’ll give us.

2) The Significance of the Resurrection

John Calvin wrote in his catechism: “What manifold benefits come to us through the resurrection of Christ?” The answer: “By it, righteousness is obtained for us, it is a sure pledge of our future immortality, and even now by its power we are raised to newness of life that we’re able to live in holiness.”

There are two ways Christian thinkers have thought about the resurrection:

The first way to think about the resurrection is in stages. First the stage of humiliation. Jesus was used to hearing the praises of angels and yet he came and died and was laid in a tomb. Then the second stage is that of exaltation.

All that humiliation is something Jesus is done because his heavenly father has sent him to be the second Adam.
God sends a second man who would be such a man that he would bear all the judgment of God against the first Adam’s sin. So Jesus Christ provides for us a perfect righteousness by dying the death we deserve and then is carried through to the new order of reality. He dies as though he were a sinful Adam, alienated from the presence God and cries out as Adam should have cried out, “My God why have you forsaken me?” Then on the third day there are stirrings in the tomb. You see what this last Adam is doing. Just as the first Adam dragged all of us down into sin and judgment and alienation. Jesus is breaking through to death to the new order of the new life and he’s dragging with him all those who belong to him. 1 Tim 3:15-16 says that by the power of the holy spirit Jesus was justified or vindicated. In his death Jesus was covered with our sin. But in his resurrection God is saying, “You are the righteous one.”

Romans 6 helps us see that Jesus died to sin. In some mysterious way he came under the dominion and reign of sin. He did that because we were under the dominion of sin. And in his resurrection he breaks the power of cancelled sin. God says, “Let us glorify the body of the Lord Jesus Christ so that it’s suitable for the world to come of eternal glory.” God is adopting and is justifying and glorifying him who appeared before me on the cross as a sinner, in order that those who are in the risen Christ might share in his adoption. He does this so that what is done to Jesus might happen to us–that we might be adopted and justified and sanctified and glorified.

The resurrection of Jesus gives us a righteousness that comes from the other side of the resurrection. He was put to death for our trespasses but he was raised for our justification. Let me put it his way: If you are justified tonight can’t be more justified in five years. If you are justified tonight no matter what distinction you have or what you do in Christian service you can’t be more justified than you are tonight. When you stand before the throne clothed in beauty not your own you can stand there as righteous as Jesus Christ is righteous. If you are a Christian you are as righteous as Jesus before God because the only righteousness you can stand before God in is Jesus ‘righteousness. The resurrection not only provides us with justification but it also effects a resurrection in us. Salvation is not something God says about us, it something God does in us in our union in us.

There’s another way you can think about his resurrection: the three offices of Jesus. In the Old Testament you see three offices anointed: prophet, priest, king. Jesus fulfilled the office of the priest by making perfect sacrifice on us. Jesus fulfilled the office of the prophet because he perfectly proclaimed God. Jesus fulfilled the office of the king by defeating death and Satan.

He is our priest. In the Old Testament the priests in the presence of God he had bells on so that the people would know he was still alive. Then he would come out and pronounce peace to the people. Interesting then, that his first words to the disciples are peace be with you. The Lord Jesus does for us what he does with Peter. Satan asked to sift Peter. Where is our hope when we are molested by Satan like that? Jesus said that he had prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail. He is Peter’s intercessor and our intercessor.
He is also our risen prophet. The disciples on road to Emmaus and said, “Did not our hearts burn within us?” If you’ve never had your heart strangely warmed then you’re probably not a Christian.

Jesus is our second Adam. Do you remember the first Adam’s job? He was a gardener. The world wasn’t in a final state. God told Adam that he would give him a little start but that Adam should turn the whole world into the garden. But Adam was thrown out of the garden. Do you remember what Mary said in the garden? She was supposing him to be the gardener. She’s wasn’t far off. He was beginning the garden and beginning his work of final transformation.

I’m old enough to remember the first moon landing. Armstrong said, “That’s one small step for a man and one giant leap for mankind.” I don’t think he was the first to say this. I think Jesus may have thought as he stepped out of the tomb,”That’s one small step for a king and a giant leap for all the citizens of his kingdom.”

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*Note: The notes are approximate. Forgive misspellings and typos. We’ll clean all the message notes and have them edited next week.

“Jesus came to be with the Father for an interlude before his betrayal, but found hell rather than heaven opened before him, and he staggered.” – William Lane

Session 4 of the Next 2009 Conference
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“Dear friends I am going to preach to you again upon the cornerstone of the gospel. How many times will this make, I wonder? The doctrine of Christ crucified is always with me. As the Romans sentinel in Pompeii stood to his post even when the city was destroyed, so do I…every thing else can wait, but this one truth must be proclaimed with a voice of thunder. Others may preach as they will but as for this pulpit it shall always resound with the substitutions of the Christ…Our blessed Savior would have us hold his death in great reverence; it is to be our chief memory we cannot think of that death too often.” – Charles Spurgeon

Some from Spurgeon’s church believed that they knew all they needed to know about the gospel. Some perhaps are present this day with indifference towards the gospel, having grown up in the church, having heard the message of Christ preached countless times.

If we are indifferent to this message, or even tempted to be indifferent to the message of the cross we would be wise to heed the message of Mr. Spurgeon. We cannot think of his death too often because in this life his death is a matter of first importance. Scripture is gloriously redundant on this topic. And if you are a Christian, you will not cease to think and to glory in his death and the life to come. Heaven is never indifferent to the cross, it never gets tired of the cross. We will never cease to praise Christ for his death. We are never done with the cross, nor ever shall be.

We cannot think of that death too often. Everything else can wait.

Mark 15:33-39.

We are ushered by Mark to the foot of the cross where we are informed by Mark of the deepest mysteries of the cross. It is not the physical suffering on the cross. There is little detail on the physical suffering of the Savior in Mark. Simply “and they crucified him.” Why the brevity and no specifics?

The answer is that the original readers were aware of the crucifixion. He desires that our understanding of the cross be theologically informed. A physical description would be superficial and would bring about a sentimental feeling. Our observations would not reveal the deepest mysteries of the cross. The cross involves more than physical suffering.

There at the cross we clearly hear the Savior’s cry. There we observe the savior breath his last and die on the cross. There we discover that the cross is more than physical suffering. Much more. In order to understand the cross one must perceive first the forsaken savior.

1) The Forsaken Savior (v. 33-34)

For 3 hours the savior has been hanging on that cross. At noon darkness moves in and this darkness overwhelms the land. It is atmospheric confirmation that the savior is suffering for our sin. This period culminates with the cry of the Savior. That cry informs us that something much deeper than physical pain and suffering is taking place. In order to understand this, we must take a brief visit to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Gethsemane prepares us for Calvary.

Mark 14:32.

Prior to his betrayal and arrest 15-18 hours before the crucifixion the Savior’s soul is very sorrowful even unto death. His sweat becomes like blood falling down to the ground. What is going on? Why this sudden extreme distress of soul?

It is the cup. In the garden he confronts the cup. In the garden he contemplates the cup. It is the cup that dominates his soul in the garden.

What is the cup?

This cup is a reference to the wrath of God. The cup of his wrath. He will ultimately be forsaken by God. He is getting a foretaste of what it means to be the sin bearer. This distress is so great he prays that it will be taken away from him.

“Jesus came to be with the Father for an interlude before his betrayal, but found hell rather than heaven opened before him, and he staggered.” – William Lane

Though sinless, he staggers. As he contemplates the cup, he staggers. Though sinless he prays for an alternative. Twice he prays for this. Twice he hears silence from the Father. God the father is silent because there was no alternative. If there was an alternative God the father would have given it. But God so loved the world that He remained silent in the garden when the son asked for an alternative in the garden. The son loved sinners so much, he resolved to drink the cup. Prior to that cry on the cross the Savior is drinking that cup. He is being made sin. For 3 hours he is the object of God’s furious wrath against our sin. Not a few seconds. Not a few minutes. Hour after hour. After hour. When is this going to stop?

Finally, in the midst of this horrendous suffering and 3 hours of this horrific suffering he can no longer remain silent. Before, he had given no resistance, not a word of protest. But in the 9th hour, he can no longer remain silent. He becomes the object of the wrath against sin. In the midst of this horror and darkness, he cries out in a loud voice “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” That cry reveals to us the incomprehensible depth of his suffering. The most painful aspect of his suffering was being forsaken by the father during his suffering. That cry has little to do with nails, and thorns, and pain. It is the pain of being forsaken by the father.

He was alone.

“He had not, of course, ceased to be God the Son. He remained one in his being with the father as the second person of the trinity. But he had been cut off from all fellowship with the father from all expressions of his love…now he hung between earth and heaven with no home in either. His Father’s smile was hidden. His Father’s favor was withdrawn. Laden with sins of others, the sinless one sank into the lowest depths of hell as the waves and billows of God’s wrath swept over him.” – Richard Allen Bodey

“It represents the most agonizing protest ever uttered on this planet. It burst forth in the moment of unparalleled pain. His scream was the scream of the damned for us.” R.C. Sproul

More than physical suffering takes place of the cross. Christ was forsaken by his father. The one who did not deserve this in any way took this pain that that no other has experienced. Alone. Only the savior has been the object of the righteous and furious wrath of God and been the forsaken by the father in the process. I cannot identify with that. All I can do is observe it, be humbled by it, and wonder and worship.

This was the scream of the damned in my place. It was the scream of the damned for us. He did this for sinners like you and me. He drained the cup dry, leaving us not a drop to drink. He experienced wrath so that we might experience grace. He was forsaken so that we might be forgiven by the father. He screamed so that we might sing nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ. He was forsaken so that we might never be forsaken.

You cannot rightly or accurately understand the suffering of the savior on the cross if it is confined to physical suffering. Much more than physical suffering took place on the cross.

2) We must understand the dying Savior

He is not only forsaken by the Father- he also dies.

Death is no accident. Death is God’s just punishment for our sin resulting from the sin of Adam and Eve. One day it will be said “And he died.” We all will die because we sin. All of us have sinned and deserve to die. There are no exceptions to this reality. But why death?

“Death is God’s limit on creatures who want to be god…death limits our arrogance.” – D.A. Carson

We are all waiting in line for death, but the judgment against sin is not confined to death. For sinners who have offended a holy God and have not put their hope and trust in the death of our savior, eternal wrath and punishment awaits them. However on the cross this enemy is conquered when the Savior dies in the place of sinners like us. Through his death and resurrection death is defeated and the effects of sin on a fallen world begin to be reversed. Death no longer has the final say because of this death. Our death ushers into God’s presence and eternal life instead of eternal punishment and hell.

His death is like no other, and all those who trust in his death no longer fear death. This death makes all the difference in this life and the life to come.

Death – I am really frightened, but I am not terrified. Why am I not terrified? It’s that death! It’s the difference that death makes. If we did die, the next face we saw, and the next voice we heard would be the Savior. For the Christian no longer fear death because of his death, or live in fear of wrath upon death, but instead – Grace. That’s the difference death makes.

3) The Revealed Savior (v. 39)

The story begins with bloodthirsty Romans bludgeoning the savior and concludes with the Roman centurion saying, “Truly this is the Son of God.”  He becomes the first person declaring that Jesus is the Son of God. This death of this man was revelatory in nature. The death of Jesus was the moment of revelation for the centurion. The full disclosure of the Savior’s unique identity only comes by understanding his death. His identity cannot be understood apart from his death. It was not just for the centurion, it was for all of us.

I cannot relate to the savior’s pain, but I can relate to the centurion and his moment of his revelation. I can say by the grace of God I’ve been there. I’ve had a centurion moment.

Are you indifferent to the cross or are you repentant? Do you see the sacrifice of the savior as your only hope? Do you see the cross as the ultimate demonstration and expression of God’s love for you?

For the Christian I pray that this proclamation of his death leaves you amazed by the grace of God. We cannot think of his death too often.

May this his death be our chief memory from this conference. Everything else can wait.
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*Note: The notes are approximate. Forgive misspellings and typos. We’ll clean all the message notes and have them edited next week.

Here a are a handful.

See more photos on our Flickr page.

You may not know who Jesus really is if he has never made you feel uncomfortable.  You must be uncomfortable to some degree when you encounter Jesus or you haven’t really met him.

Notes from Session 3 of Next 2009.
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What I want to do tonight is look at the work of Christ as a declaration of the person of Jesus Christ. I want to look at the life of Jesus as a demonstration of his identity.

Here’s why we’re going to look at the life of Jesus as the demonstration of his identity: Jesus death does not matter if he was just a good teacher or great man.  Almost everyone in this country likes Jesus because they think of Jesus as Bono in a bathrobe. He’s just a nice guy. We need to the gospels to get a more complete, glorious, and frightening picture of who he is.

Luke 8: 22-25–Jesus Calms the Storm

According to Mark Jesus says, “Peace, be still.” That’s it. Not just a lessening. He rebukes the wind and the waves and they just cease.

You can rebuke employees and students and children. But you don’t rebuke your car. You don’t rebuke your computer. You don’t rebuke someone or something unless you think that the thing you’re talking to can understand you and owes you obedience.

The wind and the waves listened to Jesus because he made the wind and the waves. In him they live and move and have their being. He is the radiance of the glory or God who upholds the universe by the word of his power. Notice that the disciples don’t hug Jesus or thank him. They were filled with great fear. They began to ask, “Who is this that even the winds and waves obey him?” They weren’t half as scared in the storm as they are now. They know he’s a teacher and holy man and prophet…but after this they have no title for him. Jesus yells at the weather channel and it works. And his disciples are afraid. This is not a long skirt, soft spoken Jesus.

Luke 8:26-39–Jesus and the Demoniac

His name is legion–meaning that there are numbers of demons here in this man. There is a battle between good and evil and the good guy–Jesus–is really outnumbered. These demons are so powerful that this man cannot even be bound with chains. And yet Jesus simply commands the spirits to come out. No incense or chants or special bowls of water; just a command. This man falls down at just seeing Jesus. After Jesus just asks his name, the demons beg for life. If the disciples don’t know who Jesus is, these demons do. Jesus has just as much power over violent spirits as he does over violent storms.

What happens to the countryside? More fear. They’re afraid because the demoniac is scary, but the guy who can cure the demoniac is really scary. Both miracles here result in more fear!

You may not know who Jesus really is if he has never made you feel uncomfortable.  You must be uncomfortable to some degree or you haven’t really met him. This isn’t an ethical teacher or a guru with a blueprint for world peace; this man speaks and strange things happen. To come into contact with him would mean to sense something was strange–something was different about him. The disciples here began to feel that Jesus wasn’t entirely safe. They could see he was a man. But there was something different about him. The disciples are just beginning to see him for who he is.

Luke 8:40-48–Jesus and the Unclean Woman

My wife and I are having a baby in a few weeks. Early on this pregnancy we had a scare when my wife began bleeding and we thought the baby had been miscarried. It was a painful and scary experience. This woman has had this condition for 12 years. And according to the Old Testament a woman bleeding was unclean–she couldn’t go to the synagogue or offer sacrifices.

The law says whoever touches you will be be made unclean. But Jesus says the opposite. He says that whoever is unclean and touches me will be made clean. Jesus is saying, “My holiness is more contagious that uncleanness.”

Do you believe that Jesus can save you and rescue you from addiction and from self-loathing no matter if you’ve lost your sobriety or virginity? Do you believe he can make you clean?

When you say, “I can’t forgive myself” it’s just unbelief. We want to believe we’re not bad people. But the problem is not that you feel too bad about yourself but that you don’t feel bad enough. This woman stopped “believing in herself.” She gave up and started believing in Jesus.

Luke 8:49-56–Jesus and Jairus’ Daughter

Jesus says, “Child, get up.” And she gets up.

My kids don’t listen to me. I have to give them first middle and last names and offer them popsicles and they don’t want to obey me. But this girl just sits up when Jesus says her name.

Notice that Jesus isn’t speaking a lot in these passages. Not a lot of red letters. In Genesis God said, “Let there be light” and there was. Jesus said, “Lazarus arise” and he did. He speaks and things happen. And notice that these miracles have happened to all kinds of people. Every kind of person from every strata of society. Jesus reclaims them all. Jesus can save anyone and save anyone from anything–nature, demons, disease, death itself.

Luke 9:18–Who Is Jesus?
In Luke 9 Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” After all this, who did the disciples say that he is.

Like a lot of you I can’t think of a time I didn’t know Christ. But I didn’t always “get” what it meant to follow Jesus. I wasn’t a bad kid but it wasn’t until high school I really started growing. Then I met these Christians that had quiet times, that prayed every day. I was trying to sit at the table with the “cool people.” But I met these Christians where at their table that were discussing all this theology. I realized that these guys don’t care what was on SNL last night. I started to learn that being a Christian was more than just Sunday. I went off to college where I just grew like a weed–really fast, really tall, and mostly a weed.

Two things I realized in college: 1) I realized I didn’t know what I believed or why I believed it. I began reading. I read Calvin’s Institutes in five pages a day. Then I read it again. 2) I learned I was proud. I thought being a Christian was not doing drugs, not drinking and not having sex. My rebellion in my heart was to be a conservative person. In Romans Paul says God gave him the thorn so that he wouldn’t be proud. See, being tormented by Satan is better and safer than being proud. So, God broke me through many things. I had to learn about my identity in Christ.

The gospel is not about what you need to do for God; it’s about what God has done for you. We’re giving people to go out and change the world for Jesus. We need to tell them first that God can change your heart so that then God’s kingdom will grow when and where and how he wants it to.

There are a lot of popular versions of Jesus in culture. There’s a Republican Jesus who’s for free-market economics. There’s a Democrat Jesus against Wall Street and Wal-Mart. There’s a therapist Jesus who helps us cope with life’s problems. There’s a Starbucks Jesus who loves fair trade coffee and Apple computers. There’s touchdown Jesus who helps Christians run faster and jump higher. There’s the martyr Jesus who died so that we could feel sorry for him. There’s nice guy Jesus. There’s spirituality Jesus. There’s good example Jesus.

And then there’s Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter says, “You are the Christ of God.”

Do not get inoculated with Christ. You get just enough Christianity in your veins to keep you from getting the real thing.

Most young people have a shrunken, domesticated Christ who is safe, easy and manageable instead of the real Christ. The closer you get to him the more you love him and the more you fear him. God is calling you stop playing games and making excuses and open your eyes to see Jesus as the Christ. He is more glorious and loving and gracious and powerful and more wonderfully terrifying that any of us can ever imagine.

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*Note: The notes are approximate. Forgive misspellings and typos. We’ll clean all the message notes and have them edited next week.

“Do you want to see what God looks like? Study Jesus, the Word made flesh.”

Notes from Session 2 of Next 2009.
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John 1:1-18.
The opening line of John’s gospel is strange in many ways. The “word of God” is used only in these first 18 verses. The question is, why introduce it at all? Why not say “in the beginning was the Son of God”? That is a phrase that’s used throughout the entire book. Why use a title that is used only here?

If he had used “Son of God,” it would be a flag at the beginning of the book that the most important thing about Jesus is that he is the Son of God. But you can almost hear the gears in John’s head as he writes the book…he may be thinking “should I call him Son of God, Christ, Messiah? I want something that captures the whole.” He can’t use one that is the rest of the book because it makes it the super word.  This “word,” we understand, is connected with creation, (Psalm 33, Genesis 1), connected with revelation (Is. 9). It is connected with deliverance, salvation.

John decides that this word is capturing it. The one whom John is speaking of is God’s very agent of creation. He is not just the spoken word, but God’s own disclosure. More commonly in John’s usage, it means “the self expression” or “the expression of something.” God’s ultimate expression of himself is Jesus.

In the beginning God expressed himself. His self expression was God. Wherever God was, God’s self expression was there. Jesus is “God’s own fellow.”

The ultimate revelation is not more words, the ultimate revelation is Jesus.

1) The Word Creates us
This Word, this self-expression, or self-disclosure, was God’s own agent in creation. That too is also picked up in Hebrews 1. Creation, including you and me, was made for Him (Colossians 1). It is all by Him and for Him. That is an immense claim and it grounds everything in the entire Bible.

It is the doctrine of creation that grounds all human responsibility in the Bible. The Bible says that I don’t give a rip what kind of God you believe it, I only care about the God who is there. So when you read of the rebellion called the fall, it is a rebellion against the creator himself. God is not simply a souped-up human being. He made us. We are accountable to him. Responsibility is locked and rooted in scripture.

This gives us a picture of the sheer grandeur, the greatness of God. Sometimes we don’t pause to think about how spectacular the notion is. In eternity past, God was entirely content with what he had. He didn’t think “it’s lonely doing this God thing. I need to make a universe so they can break out their guitars and worship me.” We have to understand that God doesn’t need anything. The term “Aseity” means God doesn’t need us. I need him, he doesn’t need me.

God is not a trading partner. He doesn’t need to be praised and stroked while I need blessings. If God was a god who needed stuff, he couldn’t have been big enough to make the stuff.

2) The Word Gives us Light and Life

All good writers give you a good read the first time through, but they also write in layers so that you see more when you read it the second time. This was how John was writing. At first read, we see the Word was God, the word is God, and he created all people, so you read the rest of the verses in light of creation. In him there was life, he put life into all things. At first, one may think that it is only referring to creation. However, this life is not just creation, it is eternal l life. The word not only creates us, he gives us life and light – eternal life.

The Glory Theme

Exodus 23-24

The glory theme in the 1st 12 chapters is bound up in the signs of Jesus. The disciples saw his glory. When Jesus knows he is headed toward the cross it changes in 12. Jesus is then going to be glorified in the abomination of the cross. The greatest display of glory is not in the water turning to wine – it is in that wretched cross.

Do you want to see what God looks like? Study Jesus. We can see Jesus, the Word made flesh. The Word did not become a junior God, or hide out in Jesus, or that there are two persons (added to the flesh). The Word became the flesh. He was God and human being at the same time.

3) The word Confronts us and divides us (The Fall)

John 3:16 – the world is the human created order and their rebellion. His love is not awesome because the world is not so big, it is because the object of his love is so bad. The world did not recognize him – the world he had made – and this is unthinkably bad. The most heinous that we do are not rape, genocide, or lying. It is ignoring our maker. The first sin is to not love God with our heart, mind, and soul. It happens every time you sin. It is the sin of idolatry. The de-Godding of God. Absolutely everything that is evil comes from this. We become so corroded in our thinking that we can’t see him. We justify our need for diversity because we are still at the center of the universe. We think we can choose our own gods.

Human lostness begins with idolatry, the de-godding of God. The world we live in doesn’t know him nor does it want to know him. Mysteriously some still do receive him and are born again. We must understand that this happened because of the Incarnation: God becoming flesh.

Jesus tabernacles among us. Jesus will be presented as the tabernacle, or the temple, of God. The tabernacle is the great meeting place of God and sinful people. It was a place of Sacrifice. Jesus himself is that temple.  No other temple is needed.

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*Note: The notes are approximate. Forgive misspellings and typos. We’ll clean all the message notes and have them edited next week.

Are you living your life and shaping your life around the reality that Jesus is preeminent?

Notes from Session 1 of Next 2009.
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Colossians 1:15-20

In everything Jesus is preeminent. That’s a powerful word. It means to “far surpass” others, to “tower above” them. Colossians says that Jesus is pre-eminent in every possible comparison–not just in his day and time and nation, but in all nations in all times and in all history.

Jesus is God. He perfectly represents God’s character. He has eternally existed. Like a firstborn he was there before everything. But he wasn’t created, he created everything and it was created for him. He is supreme over all earthly power–whether human institution or government, whether spiritual or invisible. Jesus is greater. There is no one, no thing, more awesome, more significant, more central, more capable, more beautiful, more wonderful…the words run out in describing the fact that Jesus is preeminent in all things.

Do you believe that?

I think most people believe Jesus is pre-eminent. But let me ask you another question, maybe even a more important question: 

Are you living your life and shaping your life around the reality that Jesus is pre-eminent?

I think that’s what Jesus was getting at in Luke 6 when he said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, but then don’t do what I say?” Jesus was confronting the hypocrisy of religious people–maybe people like you and me–who don’t always live in a way that matches their theological convictions. He was challenging people who had preeminence on paper, but didn’t have Jesus preeminent in their lives.

Luke 6:46-49

Have you ever sung about this stuff in Sunday school? I did, and even though this is traumatic stuff, I was never worried, because I thought I was a rock person. I mean I was there in Sunday School singing a song about Jesus! But in this passage Jesus isn’t talking about godless people…he’s talking about people like us. Religious people. People who go to church and come to Christian conferences. People who know their theology. People who say that Jesus is preeminent.

What does it mean for us to be built on the foundation? Jesus gives us the answer. He says, “It’s coming to me, hearing my words, and putting them into practice.”

1) Come to Jesus

Jesus immediately makes himself the main issue. This is so basic.

So often we come to Jesus on our way to something else. We come to him but leave him behind chasing something else. He becomes a ticket to something else. He becomes a means to an end.

When you think of your Christian faith, what immediately comes to mind? When you think of your identity as a Christian what comes to mind? Would it be the church you’ve always gone to? Your Christian family? Would it be the building you meet in? A denomination? A Christian author or teacher? Or a system of theology or a theologian? All these things are good. But no matter how good or useful they are, none of them can be the foundation our lives are built on.

Jesus said in John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

2) Hear Jesus’ words

There are so many words in the world today–so many people talking. We’re constantly coming up with new ways for us to be talking to each other. It takes real effort for us hear We filter out so much, we ignore so much. But that shouldn’t be the case when we come to Jesus’ words.

When Jesus talks about his words, he’s referring to more than just the “red letters” in the gospels. All the Bible’s words are inspired words. It is the firstborn of creation speaking to us. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his words will not. “Hearing Jesus words” is just another way to say holding on to sound doctrine. Doctrine is just truth from God’s words on any given topic. Many Christians find doctrine dry or lifeless. But that’s not true. Jesus says that if we want to be built on a rock we have to hear his words. Doctrine is coming to Jesus and hearing his truth being communicated through his words.

Last year at the conference C.J. Mahaney said: “If you want to feel deeply, you need to think deeply.” If we want to emotions and feelings for God, we need to be ready to think deeply and study God’s word. Emotion is a good thing, but it needs to be built on something. Something solid. Something that’s not going to change based on the weather or your emotion. What’s unchanging is the truth about Jesus. You dig your way into truth about Jesus and emotions will come, feelings will come, and they’ve be built on the foundation of truth about Jesus.

3) Put His Truth Into Practice

The main emphasis of the parable is on doing what we’ve heard to do from Jesus. Notice that the person who built his house on the sand wasn’t uninformed. Jesus is talking to religious people. This foolish builder wasn’t ignorant–he had the truth but he didn’t apply it. You can know all about Jesus, you can grow up listening to his words being preached, you can read all the theology in the world, you can know the facts backwards and forwards, but if you don’t put it into practice your house is built on sand.

Christian doctrine is for living. It comes to us in words on a page, but it was never meant to stay on a page, it was meant to be lived in our lives. It’s not enough to have your life in close proximity to the rock. It’s not enough to be near people who are dug down deep into the rock. You have to build your house on the rock. And that’s expressed in doing what he says.

I read the story of a pastor who has a young boy got the amazing opportunity to not only meet one of his sports heroes, but get to know him. But he said that the better he get to know him, the smaller this hero became. Then later in life he wrote that he met a new hero. He writes this: “I have walked with my Jesus for 35 years now. And in that time I’ve often disappointed him. But he has never disappointed me. I’ve come to know him better and the nearer I get, the bigger he becomes.”

There’s more to know of Jesus. And the nearer we get, the bigger he becomes.
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*Note: The notes are approximate. Forgive misspellings and typos. We’ll clean all the message notes and have them edited next week.