We are not the Savior of the world by Travis Sinks

Although it’s an obvious statement, it’s still a relief to say, because we are naturally bent towards trying to be our own or others' "saviors”.

So as a wonderful reminder:

I am not the Savior.

You are not the Savior.

We are not the Savior.

It’s always been this way. Jesus told His disciples that they were meant to be salt and light. To have His light in them and to let that light be shown for all to see:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:13-16

We are salt, that make people thirsty for Jesus.

We are light, that illuminates the path to Jesus. 

We are an example, that people would see our good works and see how Jesus can change a person.

If only the people in our lives knew of the goodness of God, they would come to us as these men came to Philip in John 12:21 and would have only one request: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” For He is all we need.

And I confirm:

I wish to see Jesus, for He is all I need.

Although Jesus is truly all we need, we all still have a messiah complex: a desire to be that thing, or that person, that someone else needs. But this isn’t what we were meant to be. We need the power of God in our lives, and as do others. So rather than trying to be a functional savior in the lives of others, we need to point them towards the same source of power that we ourselves need. Nothing else will do. Nothing else can replace that.

So remember, next time you see someone reaching out and looking to you to be their functional “savior”:

The next time you find yourself enjoying being someone’s crutch, when they actually need Jesus’ healing:

Point them to Jesus.

Because we are not the Savior.

Don’t forget about the people

Nehemiah 1:3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

Nehemiah is a great leadership book! We see amazing leadership principles throughout the book of Nehemiah and see God use him to accomplish the great task of rebuilding the broken down walls of Jerusalem. Leaders like to get things done, but don’t miss that this book is something bigger then just a construction project…it is a book about people! What makes Nehemiah such a great leader is that his heart broke for the people, and that drove him to action. The people were in “great trouble and shame,” and if we ask God to open our eyes and look around, we will see that there are still many people today all around us that are in “great trouble and shame”. 

If you have been in leadership for any amount of time, you have probably felt the pressure to put the priority of a project over people’s needs to try to accomplish the task at hand. I can often be so task driven that I forget that I am doing certain projects for people to serve and love them. We must remember, as servants of Jesus, that He wants us to love and serve people. This is part of the great task God calls us to do. Leaders want to get stuff done, but we should never put aside the greatest project of all: loving people and leading them to Jesus who can restore and redeem all things.

How can you love some of the people you lead today? 

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Colossians 3 | Ups and Downs

Narrow Road | Imagine That

Cover | Who You Are

Scissors | Best Time

Moments | Symphony

Okay with awkward by Alesha Sinks

“I think they felt really awkward.”

I whisper to my husband as we walk away from yet another chance encounter during our evening walk downtown.

“You should have ended the conversation sooner.”

I hate awkward. I think we all do.
Awkward conversations.
Awkward pauses.
Awkward people…and I am an awkward person sometimes.

I hate it because I’m uncomfortable.
I hate it because I don’t want the other person to be uncomfortable.
I hate it because…it’s awkward.
And I’m so paranoid of what others will think if I make an awkward thing any more awkward than it already is.

“I know.” He whispers back, “It was awkward. But I want to be okay with that. I want to give them an opportunity to talk.”

“Why? It’s awkward!!!” I said. As if the obvious needed to be pointed out.

And then he talked about how people have value and how you never know if pressing through a little awkwardness could create the space for the breakthrough you need get deeper with someone…to really love them.

We moved here to help start a church, so we orient our lives to be with people, to spend time with people, and to love people where they’re at.

But if I spend the whole time dodging and sidestepping, hoping to never offend or create awkwardness, then will I ever make a difference worth making?

And I could see the little quiver of nervousness lingering in his smile and in the controlled rush of words as he talked. And I felt relieved and frustrated all at once.

Relieved because I’m not the only one who hates the awkward.
Frustrated because if he can push through the awkward and the nervousness for the sake of relationship, for the sake of the gospel, then what excuse do I have?

And I remind myself, wasn’t Jesus awkward? Didn’t He ask the hard questions and say the controversial truths? So what is my excuse?

Be blessed, 

Alesha

We have been adopted by PILGRIM BENHAM

Jane was born in an impoverished area of Ethiopia, which is an understatement to say the least. Children like Jane are born into conditions of extreme poverty and malnourishment, disease, danger and terrible suffering. Even with one or two loving and protective parents, many newborns don’t live very long, and many don’t live to even see their 4th birthday. Jane had an added disadvantage: her biological parents left her in a public place so that she would be found, which is often the case when parents are unable to provide for their children. She was found by a loving police officer the next day and taken to an orphanage. Eventually they discovered she had an internal cyst. This was something very treatable in the United States, but without surgery her health was quickly declining.

Jane’s story would have ended tragically like so many other children born in similar conditions, but it didn’t.

Jane’s life was forever changed in a moment.

She did nothing to help or change her situation.

She can’t look back to a decision she made or a discipline she kept that made her life better.

She was rescued: adopted by an American family that loved and welcomed her into their own lives to be one of their very own beloved daughters.

Today Jane is 4 years old and thriving! Her father Matt, a good friend of mine, doesn’t look at her as a ‘second-class citizen’ of the family. All the blessings and benefits that his biological daughter enjoys are available and provided for Jane, his adopted daughter. Her life will never be the same, and her identity is forever legally associated with her new family.

This is such an apt description of the adoption you and I have received through faith in Jesus Christ! The believer’s adoption as a child of God was determined by God from eternity: God “predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ” ( Eph 1:5 ). This adoption is not the result of any merit on the part of the believer, but solely the outworking of God’s love and grace (Ephesians 1:5 Ephesians 1:7). Romans 8:15 says “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’”.

Jesus instructed us to pray to “our Father”. He told Mary Magdalene that He was ascending to “my Father and your Father”. For our sakes Jesus was rejected by the Father and cast out of the city gates and given to “dogs” to be consumed and conquered. He knew no sin yet became sin for us. Jesus was cursed on the tree and took the curse of sin and death for us. But because Jesus rose again and conquered death, God has elected by His grace to pursue those in despair born in the family of Adam. By faith in Christ we have been adopted into the family of God and are now recipients of the promises the Father intended to bestow on His beloved Son. We are now co-heirs with Christ, our elder brother.

We have been adopted from the line of Adam to the line of Jesus. Let this wonderful truth resonate in your soul as you consider the great love of the Father in Christ.

Pastor Pilgrim

Who’s will are you following by David Baldwin

Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise … Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. —Ephesians 5:15-17

Many believe in Christ but not all who believe follow in His ways. Believing in Christ is a start but not the end. The end is to yield to “all” the ways of the Lord—to seek "His" will. Sadly, many are pursuing “their" will on “their" terms thus failing to pursue the higher ways of the Lord. Your freewill was never intended for you to pursue your “selfish” will. You were created to have kingdom impact which can only happen when there is a selfless pursuit towards seeing that His will be done.

… continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. —Philippians 2:12-13

Note the scripture says to “his” good purpose and not to your selfish purposes.

Jesus gave you the perfect example to follow as He had no selfish-will in His heart—only the will of the Father.

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. —John 5:30

Takeaway:

Live wisely—pursue the Lord's will.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. —John 15:5

CHRISTMAS & the miracle of prophecy

I love Christmas. It brings so much joy to be around those you love, celebrating the miracle of Jesus’s birth. It always is a wonderful time of reflection for me. One of the things I find myself thinking about a lot during this season is the miracle of prophecy. It truly leaves me in awe at times as I remember the miraculous ways that God prepared His people for the arrival of His Son, using prophecy as a wonderful and remarkable sign of His coming.

So, what exactly is PROPHECY?

In the Bible, we see that prophecy is the prediction of something to take place in the future. It affirms the truth and trustworthiness of God’s Word to us when we see His words come true as they were predicted many years before, and the Bible is full of prophecy! The Bible contains approximately 1,000 prophecies of which approximately     two thirds have already been fulfilled. The remaining prophecies will be fulfilled during the end times, the days when Jesus returns for the second time!

Why is PROPHECY important?

It is exciting that God chose to use prophecy to show us that He is God. He tells us in the book of Isaiah that He proves Himself to us in this unique way. It is an amazing evidence to us that God is who He says He is, and it is a foundation for our trust in Jesus and the Bible! 

Isa 46:9-11 says, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’…I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”

So, as we examine a few of the prophecies fulfilled by the birth of Jesus, I pray that this will give you a greater view of the magnificence of our God and the gift of His Son!

Here are 8 prophecies fulfilled in the birth of Jesus: 

 1.  That the Messiah the son of God would be born of a woman (Gen 3:15, Gal 4:4-5)

 2. That the Messiah would be from the line of Abraham (Gen 12:1-3, Gal 3:16, Matt1:1-17)

 3. That the Messiah would be from the house of David (2 Sam 7:12-13, Rom 1:1-6, Matt 1:1-17)

4. That the Messiah would be born of a virgin and be called Emmanuel (Isa 7:14, Matt 1:22-23)

5. That the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Matt 2:3-6)

6. That the Messiah would be worshipped by wise men and presented gifts (Ps 72:10, Isa 60:6, Matt 2:1;11)

7. That the Messiah birthplace would suffer a massacre of infants (Jer 31:15, Matt 2:16-18)  

8. That the Messiah would be in Egypt for a season (Num 24:8, Hosea 11:1, Matt 2:13-15)

Why did God give PROPHECY about JESUS?

God wanted us to know that Jesus was the Messiah! He demonstrated this by giving us so many unmistakable prophecies about the coming of His Son. The undeniable odds of all of these prophecies being fulfilled in the life of one man, Jesus, are almost incomprehensible. It is truly amazing that God did give such specific details about the nature of Jesus’s birth so that we could recognize Him upon His coming.

In the article, “Jesus is the Greatest Gift ever Foretold,” Jim Muelhausen puts this miracle in perspective in a tangible analogy: 

“There are so many prophecies which are fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ that it is difficult to fathom how extraordinary their fulfillment is. To help conceptualize the remoteness of the probability that one man could fulfill the prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Dr. Peter Stoner, a renowned professor of mathematics, calculated the probability to be 1 in 10 to the 17th power that a person would fulfill 8 of the prophecies which were fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ.

To better understand 1 in 10 to the 17th power, imagine that the state of Texas was covered with 1,000,000,000,000,000 silver dollars — this would bury the entire state of Texas 2 feet deep in silver dollars. Now assume that an “x” is placed upon one silver dollar and that it is mixed together with all the other silver dollars covering the state of Texas. The probability that one man would fulfill just eight of the prophecies which were fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ is equal to the probability that a blindfolded man would randomly select the silver dollar marked with the “x” from the two foot thick mass of silver dollars covering the state of Texas. As if that isn’t impossible enough, Jesus fulfilled more than 300 Old Testament prophecies, not just 8.”

Isn’t that incredible? God wants you to know and worship Jesus as the Messiah, and that is why He gave us such an amazing gift to let us know that He is God! Our God is gracious and the giver of all good gifts. Let this gift of prophecy cause you to be grateful and have an attitude of thankfulness. God want us to know His power and grace this Christmas season. 

May we enjoy His grace this season by worshipping His Son.

-Pastor Daniel 

Leadership Nugget: A Leader Passionately Prayers

A LEADER PASSIONATELY PRAYS

Nehemiah 1:11c For I was the king’s cupbearer.

Every great story has a beginning. The book of Nehemiah is a great story full of amazing leadership principles and great accomplishments….but it all started with Nehemiah praying. Don’t overlook this. Nehemiah passionately prayed. Before the great accomplishment of a wall being built, the restoration of a ancient city, families being restored to their homeland and the rise of a great leader, it started with prayer. It started with God. 

Prayer is simply talking and listening to God. As we pray to God, we are aligning our hearts to His will, and we get to know Him in a closer way. This is why Jesus prayed, “not my will, but your will be done,” before he endured the cross. So we also pray according to God’s will. Many even say the words “in Jesus name,” which is another way of saying “according to your nature and will.” We take all sort of circumstances, situations, and emotions to God through prayer and allow His will to be done and pray for His plan to succeed. 

Often, when we hear successful stories of leaders, we want to learn from them so we can succeed as well. We learn that Nehemiah wasn’t a great commander or leader in the nation of Israel, he wasn’t even living in the Jewish nation at the time. He was simply working as the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes in a foreign land. Although he didn’t seem like the greatest candidate to lead the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, God had great plans for Him to accomplish this great task. We see His journey start with him praying passionately to God for the nation of Israel, and as he prays, God starts to align his heart to His plan to restore His people, the city and rebuild the wall through Nehemiah. I believe Nehemiah’s success started with the secret Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” 

Don’t miss how this book starts off. In Nehemiah chapter 1 we see Nehemiah passionately praying. If you want to lead well, it will be good for you to pray to God as well. 

Luke 14:11 ”For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Be blessed,

Pastor Daniel 

Christmas Tree Lighting: A Photo Essay

Every year, in early December, downtown Delray Beach fills up with over 100,000 people, sponsor booths, food trucks, and live music for the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting. You can feel the festivity in the air. For the 3rd year, Redemption Church has hosted a booth during this event. It is a wonderful way to support our city, meet new people, and serve together as a church. This year we handed out over 1,000 church service invitations and dozens of candy canes. Also, as has become tradition, we showed the Charlie Brown Christmas movie, which consistently attracted several watchers. This booth was about so much more than candy canes or kids games or lighting a 100 foot Christmas Tree or even serving together...it was about Pursuing and Proclaiming Jesus in our city.

Seven works that testify to the Deity of Jesus

1. Jesus claims to be the Messiah & proves it through prophecy

Isa 9:6 tells us that the messiah would be God in flesh and would be known as the Son of God

One example of Biblical prophecy concerning the messiah that Jesus fulfilled:

The messiah would also be born of a virgin—-Isa 7:14 and fulfilled in Matt 1:21-23

Jesus claimed to be the Messiah & proved it through prophecy (Luke 4:17-20 & Matt 11:2-6)

Jesus’s Disciples teach us that Jesus was the messiah (Acts 2:22-41, Matt 1:1, John 20:30-31)

2. Jesus claimed to be God

John 8:57-59 —- YHWH-The LORD

John 10:30-33 —- Son of God (same nature)

John 5:18 —- Calling God: Father (same nature…equality with God)

3. Jesus spoke as God and not a prophet

Example: The Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) & Matt 7:28-29

4. Jesus accepted worship as only God stated He should receive

Ex 20:3  --- “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Jesus accepted & approved the worship of people (Matt 14:33, John 20:28, & Matt 16:16-17)

5. Jesus forgives sin and heals a man to prove He is God —- Mark 2:1-10 

Other examples when He forgave sin: The adulterous woman, woman anointing His feet, man on the cross ,etc

1 Tim 1:15 --- The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

6. Jesus conquered sin and death and proved it in the resurrection (1 Cor 15)

7. Jesus’ disciples accepted His claim to be God

Example:Most of Jesus’ disciples got martyred because they wouldn’t recant this truth.

They also preached that Jesus was God and could only do things that God can do.

Examples: Col 1:16, 2 Pet 3:18, 1 Cor 4:5, 2 Cor 5:10, Acts 10:36