We had a wonderful time celebrating our Risen Savior with everyone today! We wanted to shared the special video we played during our Easter service today featuring many members of Redemption Church sharing why THEY have chosen to worship Jesus! We are excited for all the things God continues to do in our hearts as we pursue and proclaim Him together.
Easter is an extremely popular holiday around the world—I recently read an article from CNN called “Easter By The Numbers” which talked about how Easter has become such a big deal specifically in the United States. In 2015, Americans planned to purchase 180 million eggs for dying and decorating and planned to spend approximately $16.4 billion dollars on the holiday. The same article stated that 50.8% of Americans planned to attend an Easter Service over the holiday weekend that same year. It is easy to see that Easter is a big deal not only in our country, but all around the word—and I want to remind you that this a good thing!
Some people criticize this national holiday and say it is too commercialized and has become a tradition without substance and meaning. The idea that people relate Easter to the Easter bunny instead of Jesus causes some to write it off completely as a pagan holiday. And while I agree it has become a secular tradition for many, I still consider Easter to be a wonderful and important holiday because the message of JESUS has the power to save!
The tradition of remembering and proclaiming the death and burial of the resurrection of Jesus is a good thing for our nation whether they want to accept it or not. And the gospel of Jesus is not only good for those who have never heard this wonderful message, but for those who have already believed and are following Jesus. The Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 1:12 “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.” We should be remembering and proclaiming the gospel in our churches all year long, but God has also granted to us a national holiday to celebrate Jesus being alive!
If we have a chance to remember and proclaim the gospel of Jesus to people who may attend our churches because it is Easter, this is good news! This holiday gives us an opportunity where more people are open and interested in attending a church service where the focus is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus! What a wonderful opportunity to share how Jesus gives hope, life and joy to everyone who believes and follows Him. This gospel message has the power to save everyone who calls upon Jesus as Savior and Lord, including those who may not understand the full significance of the Easter Holiday! And we have the opportunity to tell them!
Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Because Jesus is alive, we can trust His word. For He proclaimed many times that He would die and rise again (Mark 8:31; 9:30-32; 10:33-34) proving to us that what He says is truthful and all His promises are for sure. Because Jesus is alive, we know that our sins are truly forgiven by the work on the cross, that the Holy Spirit dwells with us and that God has the power to raise us up as well. (Romans 8:11; 1 Cor 15:49)
I like what theologian Leon Morris said about the resurrection of Jesus, “The cross is the victory, the resurrection is the triumph…The resurrection is the public display of the victory, the triumph of the crucified one.” The resurrection was to be the sign that demonstrated Jesus as the one whom He claimed to be and proves to us that He conquered sin and death (Matt 12:39-40; 1 Cor 15:55-56). So because Jesus is alive now we can know that He is God, we can have life in Him and know that He worthy of our praise!
We don’t need a national holiday to remember that Jesus rose again, but what a wonderful opportunity to celebrate! Remember, that many people around us still have never heard the Gospel preached, so let’s take every opportunity we can to be inviting people to our Easter services and proclaim this wonderful news to everyone we know. Let’s not miss out on the wonderful holiday that we get to remember and profess that Jesus is alive. And because Jesus is alive, He is able to saves us from our sin and makes us spiritually alive! Praise God! We can all find hope, satisfaction and joy as we worship Jesus as our God. This national holiday is an important one to celebrate. So let’s enjoy Easter and remember and proclaim that Jesus is alive!
I would like to consider with you one response we might receive from the Lord when we pray and what impact our reaction can have on our lives. It can be a real struggle to even open up to the Lord, but even greater change can occur when we listen to his voice and act accordingly.
When we seek the Lord, we need to be open to listen. He speaks, we follow, we continue to search him, and he continues to reveal to us. Sometimes he prevents us from ruining ourselves, sometimes he guides us to victory and may even specify the individual steps to take, but sometimes he doesn’t speak. The above mentioned Psalm isn’t just a prayer to the Lord, rather it is a cry, begging the Lord for revelation. It demonstrates the anguish of uncertainty as verse 9 cites, “Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger…” (ESV)
In the previous responses, we are charged with obedience and humility. This passage demands that we give the Lord our patience and trust. The level of faithfulness required when we desperately need an answer and are not receiving one is challenging. We must remember that the Lord has gifted us with reason and logic. It is not wrong to move in the direction that we understand as best, but this is not always possible. There may be times where we simply lack the capacity to reach into the abilities that the Lord has given us due to our inadequacies. We are not called to sit idly, and when in complete lack, confused and desperate, the Psalmist does not acquiesce into fear. The Psalmist waits, but also searches.
This particular response is especially important because our attitudes in these moments can sow something significant in our lives. Before a farmer is able to reap the fruits of his labor, he must first find the appropriate seeds, plow the ground in the right places, and sow at the appropriate time. The farmer nurtures his seeds and gives them attention. He comes to this patch of soil, where he cannot see growth, cannot see what is occurring beneath, but the farmer continues to give the necessary amount of water and fertilizer. He needs that fruit to sustain himself, but knows that should he reach into the soil preemptively, there will be nothing there but a half grown seed. A bit more time and work and fruit will come that then provides for sustenance and new seeds for another harvest.
Our souls hunger for the Lord and our physical beings depend upon this nourishment to reap fruit. We cry to the Lord. In our moments of need we are tried, our hunger and desperation grows and our physical bodies are unsure if the fruit will be enough to pay the bills, to put food on the table, to get the grade, to bring our families to Christ, to allow us to know the Lord more, to provide us with whatever it may be that our spirits are shouting for. We are challenged in our wait and it is frightening because as we wait, our needs do not wither. To wait is to have faith that our God is greater than our needs, our real and challenging needs.
The Psalmist presents his needs to the Lord. He cries out, leaves his anguish before the Lord and seeks. He seeks and leaves what he can before the Lord’s feet, he seeks and leaves more. The Psalmist seeks and declares victory in his surrender to the Lord in verse 13: “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!” He is calling us to seek and to leave our needs before him continuously. Whether we are able to leave everything at his feet or must learn to let go little by little, he strengthens us to continue to do so.
Waiting in the Lord can be frustrating and scary. Our doubts grow and are constantly gripping us, so we must continue to lay them before the Lord. We fight off our fears and continue to seek. As we seek, we are sacrificing more and more of ourselves to the Lord. Waiting in the Lord is a unique opportunity to be cherished, for the needs may be great, but our Lord is greater and will demonstrate Himself as faithful every time.
Every week between now and Easter Sunday, we are focusing on a specific way we can be involved what God wants to do in people's lives this Easter! This week our focus is SOCIAL MEDIA! As Easter Sunday approaches, we want to encourage you to start sharing Redemption Church posts on your Facebook, instagram, and twitter pages! Share our invite videos and statuses on your pages as a way of letting people know about our upcoming Easter service! Also, every time you LIKE a post from Redemption Church, everyone on your news feed will see what you’ve liked! So LIKE and SHARE all you can, and keep praying for God to do great things in people’s lives this Easter! You find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by searching REDEMPTIONDB.
His institutions that include the church, marriage, and family…guess what? They’re all about people. Ministry, both inside and outside of the church…yup…also about people. Life guarantees that challenging situations and difficult people will often come our way. We won’t ever be able to fully insulate ourselves from these factors, unless you want to live in some remote place, like Alaska. If, however, you find yourself wanting to live life with some sense of normalcy, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you’re probably going to be with and around people.
As a parent, I have such a fierce love for my kids. I want the best for them and tend to worry about them here, in the now, but also about their health and safety in the future. In a sense, I see them as extensions of myself. Out there in life, exposed, there is great potential that I/they will experience life and feel pain. Sometimes it feels like a giant risk having kids. Risking my own sanity and my own emotions, as my very being is so tightly knit together in their existence. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
It seems like a gamble to get out there and trust people with your heart and your friendship and to navigate this life and all the social and communal institutions that we potentially face. But it’s part of God’s plan. To be with Him. To be with others. To engage in relationship, fellowship, and community. When God asked Solomon what he would ask of Him, Solomon’s response was for wisdom and knowledge. This was in direct correlation with his relationship to his people, Israel, as their king.
There won’t ever be a time or season when we are done with instruction in God’s Word. We learn some things, and then life throws new challenges, situations, and new people at us and we need to learn more. This is where God uses the church, pastors, and the Christian community to impact individual lives and whole communities so powerfully. A faithful expression of God’s church is going to have an emphasis on the most important training and equipping source…God’s Word. So, enter the community, get the big picture, and get into the game. Even if it seems risky. Understand that love, relationship, and community are a huge part of everyday life. Understand this is where the devil will often try to wage his war and bring division and a break in relationships. Let God’s Word train you, equip you, and dwell richly within you. Learn, affirm, and confirm to others the truth of His Word, and then encourage them to get in the game, too. Get to that place where the miracle of the Gospel is working something amazing in you, and help others to get there, too.
Romans 12:14-21 say this: “Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads. Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”
Are we living in peace as much as it depends on us? It can be a challenging, messy, swampy relational world everywhere you go. If we claim to be His, this should lead us ask how we think about and act toward each of the precious people He has put into our lives and the various situations we face. Are we being faithful? Like Solomon, we need wisdom. He’s got the blueprints for a life triumphant and victorious. So, be instructed. Allow Him to guide, direct, and equip you. He doesn’t simply desire us in heaven, but He desires for us to be fruitful and victorious here on earth!
Every week between now and Easter Sunday, we are focusing on a specific way we can be involved what God wants to do in people's lives this Easter! This week our focus is SERVING! As Easter Sunday approaches, we want to encourage you to sign up as a volunteer for our Easter service. We are praying that God will bring many new people who need to hear the good news of Jesus, and we are asking you to join us in serving in some capacity that day. We will need extra greeters and Redemption Kids helpers on Easter Sunday and so there will be more volunteers needed to make that happen! We would love to have you be a part of serving those who join us on Easter Sunday, and you can e-mail us at info@redemptiondb now to let us know you will be available to serve that day. This will help us schedule ahead of time and know how many volunteers we will have. Thank you! Keep praying and inviting!
Why should you read the Bible? Is it really relevant in today’s world? Will it make any difference in your life? Pastor Eric of Reach Jacksonville shares his passion for the Bible, the impact and influence of reading God’s word and teaching it to others. You will hear his thoughts on how and where to read the Bible, study habits for getting the most from what you read, suggestions of helpful resources and recommended podcasts to listen to while you’re out and about in life. “I fall more in love with the Lord the more I know Him.” Pastor Eric
Every week between now and Easter Sunday, we are focusing on a specific way we can be involved what God wants to do in people's lives this Easter! This week, our focus is INVITING! Steve challenged us on Sunday morning to invite 2 people per week leading up to Easter to join us for our Easter service next month. Be praying about who the Lord might want you to invite this week! Most people who are Christians now first came to a church service because someone personally invited them, so be encouraged that God will use your willingness to step out in this way. And keep praying for the people on your prayer card from last week! If you missed it, you can download a prayer card HERE.
Social justice has been, and always will be, a part of Christian living and one of the many ways the church loves and serves its surrounding community.
As we seek out Jesus’ purposes for His church, it’s always good to go back to scripture and see what He had to say about it.
As one of His final words to the disciples, Jesus said,
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
We see that the primary purpose of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus, to see people believe in Jesus (baptizing them as an outward sign of their inward belief), and teaching those disciples to follow Jesus in all of His teaching.
So what was Jesus’ teaching all about?
Everything else Jesus teaches hinges on us accepting His sacrifice for our sins. He taught us how to pray, give, serve, seek the Father, love others, and generally live the life we were meant to live - but this is only possible through accepting His Gospel.
One of the many things Jesus taught was social justice. However, there isn't much specific teaching on equality, and social justice - but He clearly lived a life of caring about these things. He never taught to organize social justice movements within His church, or to seek lobbying of any kind - but rather that a transformed life would engage in social justice daily. This is because social justice (as well as any person-to-person interaction) cannot simply be legislated, but must come from a transformed life and heart-change.
Truly effective social justice cannot come from simply changing laws, but only from changing hearts. This is why we never see Jesus pushing for new laws or government because He is most concerned with the salvation of people.
This is why Jesus emphasizes people’s salvation more than anything else. An amazing example that is covered by three of the four Gospels is when He first forgives the sins of a paralytic man and tells the scribes the the primary reason He will then heal the man is so that they will know that He has the power to forgive sins (Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:18-25).
Jesus clearly had a primary emphasis on salvation through forgiveness of sins above anything else.
I really like how Bruce Zachary explains it:
“Activism emphasizes the social gospel & tends to produce cause-oriented rather than Christ-centered people. Attempts to effect social change without a change of heart/nature. Caring for the poor, for example, is very important, but it should not be divorced from Jesus & man’s greatest need –salvation.” -Bruce Zachary
Jesus mission for His church is that we would be gospel oriented people which would result in the people of His church bringing social justice and love to those around them.
As a church in Delray Beach, we have seen many people loved, served, helped, and brought into life-bringing community. However, it all flows from our mission to “pursue and proclaim Jesus” as He intended for us to do.
We may not have a “social cause” that we emphasize or all gather around, but that is because we are called to gather around Jesus. And as we have, and continue to, He promises that we will continue to see lives changed, families restored, and equality and hope brought to all people through receiving His Gospel and surrendering to His grace.
Every week between now and Easter Sunday, we are focusing on a specific way we can be involved what God wants to do in people's lives this Easter! This week, our focus is PRAYER. Pastor Daniel shared on Sunday morning how vital it is that we all be praying for those we know who do not know Jesus! You can download a prayer card HERE where you can write down the names of a family member, friend, co-worker, neighbors and others who need Jesus. Print out this card and keep it with you or in your Bible to help remind you to be praying that they will come to our Easter service if they live nearby or that God will work in their lives wherever they live so that they will come to Jesus! We would love to have you send us their names by e-mailing info@redemptiondb.com and we will add their names to our prayer list. We know that God hears our prayers and we are excited to see how He will work as we pray for people by name!
