Jesus=God’s Son

“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Matthew 16:16)

The lesson this Sunday at Studio 10:10 is on Peter’s confession that Jesus is God’s Son. The passage is from Matthew 16:13-20. Some observations from this passage:

1. The world is unclear about who Jesus is v.13-14 – “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Jesus asked. He got a variety of answers. Still today, there are many answers about who Jesus is. Some say he was just a good man, some say he was a teacher, some say he was a prophet. Others say he was a lunatic. Who was Jesus? The world was, and still is, unclear about who He is.

2. Jesus and his followers are clear about who Jesus is. v.15-17 – Peter’s answer that Jesus was the Messiah and the son of God was approved by Jesus. Jesus believed that he was the Messiah and the Son of God. I agree with Jesus.

3. Jesus is clear about what the church is v.18-20 – Jesus states clearly that on Peter’s confession, He will set up his church and not even the gates of Hell can stand against it. God has his plan to reconcile humanity though the church.

Make no mistake about it, Jesus is God’s Son. He said so Himself.

Kid 2.0

Last night we had a special class for children who are considering following Christ and being baptized. We called it Kid 2.0 (based on 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.”) I spent about 20 minutes explaining the Gospel in visual form for the children. Parents were also invited and were also present. I fielded some questions from them as well and then we took a little tour.

I took the nine families into the sanctuary and into the dressing room where one goes to be baptized. I explained how everything went down in this room and then we went up into the baptistry. I let each child walk down the steps and look out into the congregation from the baptistry so that they would get a feel of what it would be like. They all enjoyed it.

After the tour, we went back to the classroom where Dr. Estep spoke for about 20 minutes to the parents about the importance of living your faith in front of your children and bringing them up in a Christian home.

Kid 2.0 was a great success and we will look to have another sometime this summer. It’s always rewarding to see children get excited about coming to faith in Christ.

Studio 10:10

This week we are starting our new Sunday morning program for gradeschoolers called Studio 10:10. It is going to be a television studio theme set in the large group environment. After this, they will break up into their small group times where their teachers will reinforce the lesson theme.

Baptism

Click here to see Richard Bisbee’s baptism yesterday. It’s right after “Great is thy Faithfulness” at the beginning. Great job, Richard!

The Holiness of God

Have you ever pondered the holiness of God?

Throughout Scripture, we are given glimpses of the magnitude of God’s holiness. In fact, these glimpses are so magnificent it is hard to imagine what the scene looked like.

For instance, in the book of Exodus after seeing the backside of God’s glory, Moses’ first reaction was to worship. And upon coming down from the mountain the Bible said that his face “shone” as it reflected the backside of God’s glory. Everyone that Moses came into contact with noticed the reflection and apparently it was so noticeable that Moses had to wear a veil over his face. He did this every time he met with God. God allowed Him to get a glimpse of the back of his glory during these conversations.

Why just the backside? Because God’s face, or his full glory, would have killed Moses. That’s how holy God is. He is so holy, and we are so unholy, that one look at his full glory will kill us. Why? One look at him would kills us because He cannot allow sin to exist in his presence because he is the definition of absence of sin. The entirety of the law that God gives Moses and his people is primarily given to them so that they understand how sinful they are and how holy He is.

Romans says that “through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20) Therefore, the point of the entire Old Testament Law was for us to know that we are sinners and that God is holy and it is only by his grace, mercy, and salvation that we are allowed to live in this life, and next one as well.

The law gives us a glimpse of God’s holiness by looking at our sin. And as we get this ever-so-slight glimpse of God’s holiness we can make two decisions: We can ignore it and continue to worship ourselves in the prideful advancement of our own lives or we can admit it and start to worship God in the humble advancement of our lives for Him. Only an understanding of his holiness will lead us to the proper decision.

Sick

Sorry for the lack up updates this week. The stomach flu rocked the Wallace house early Tuesday morning. My wife, son, and I all got it within 2 hours of each other. For further details, click here

Baptism

Click here to view Hallie Wenger’s baptism this week. It is after the first song, “A Mighty Fortress is our God” – Great job, Hallie!

The Courtyard of God

One of the most amazing things about being a Christian is having total access to God. How often do we really dwell on the thought of having Jesus living inside us? I’m not sure if I can even accurately describe where or how he is, but he is. If we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior then he dwells in our hearts forever.

What’s so amazing about this is it has not aways been this way. The book of Exodus describes the formation of and entering in the tabernacle where God dwelt. Not everyone had access to God back then. If you were a Jew you could dwell with God in the courtyard of the tabernacle. If you were a priest you could go inside the tabernacle to the Holy Place. If you were the High Priest you could enter the Most Holy Place and finally have complete, although still reserved, access to God. If someone other then the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place he would instantly die. Also, if sins weren’t forgiven or something went wrong with the ceremony, the High Priest could be struck down as well. That’s how utterly holy our God is. Sin cannot even begin to exist in His presence.

That is what is so amazing about having God’s Spirit dwelling inside of us. For years He dwelt outside of people…now he dwells inside those who accept Him. What have we done to deserve this indescribable gift? Absolutely nothing. By grace through faith are we saved. So the next time you are reading through Exodus and wonder to yourself, “what do all these rules have to do with me and why do I care?” dwell on the fact that God no longer dwells in the tabernacle. He dwells in your heart. This fact alone should lead you to a lifetime of worship.

Jesus Keeping it Real

As I read the Bible, one of the things about Jesus that always intrigues me is his disgust at hypocrisy. If there ever was a man who was all about “keeping it real” it was Jesus. There were many problems with the established religious order (pharisees, scribes, etc) that Jesus publicly exposed. He was able to do this because of his fear of God and not his fear of man. Jesus didn’t care what people thought of him, but amazingly he didn’t sin while not caring like a lot of our maverick Christian leaders do. He “didn’t care” in a humble and powerful way. Of course, he could do this because He was God.

As Jesus is making his way towards Jerusalem to be crucified, he keeps it real with his disciples about how they should live as he talks to his disciples about prayer. Really, if we are not praying consistently we are missing out on the blessings of God by being conformed to his image and his will. He says,

“…I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:24-25)

How many of us have read that first part of Jesus’ command and thought, “I can do that…” and then asked for selfish desires. However, how many times do we forget to dwell on the second part of Jesus’ command? He said that whenever we are praying, we should forgive others. Why does he say this?

Unforgiveness is a sin that has destroyed many relationships. In fact, if you watch movies, television and listen to popular music, you would not even know that forgiveness was a virtue worth emulating. The world tells us to make people pay when they wrong you…to stand up for yourself. However, Jesus commands us to forgive others. Amazingly, Jesus forgave those people who we would want to get even with. He even forgave those who killed him: the Jews, the Romans, and ourselves.

That’s my Lord: Jesus – teaching, forgiving, and keeping it real all the way up to his sacrificial death on the cross.

The Joys (And Expectations) of Ministry

Came across this “job description” here.

Take a look at it:

Wanted: Youth Pastor

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
To: Claiborne County Herald
From: Calvary Baptist Church, Parker, Georgia
Re: Youth Pastor

The Calvary Baptist Church of Parker Georgia is currently seeking a part-time youth pastor. We are a close congregation of about 400 active members and a youth group of about 25 students.

Duties will include (but are not limited to) organizing and conducting any and all youth functions, activities and Bible lessons, Sunday Schools and youth choirs. The youth group currently meets on Sunday nights after our evening service from 7-10PM and on Wednesday nights from 6-9PM. An extra weekly activity is also expected on the weekends. Planning for these events is absolutely essential, but do not expect any child to tell you they are planning to come until the last minute. Be prepared also to attend any and all pep-rallies at the local school, all dance team and cheerleading functions, and it would be nice if you showed up at football, baseball, soccer and tennis practices a couple of times a week to cheer the boys on. It is also expected that you meet with each of the students privately at least once a week for lunch or something.

All activities much be chaperoned. We prefer the parents to not be chaperones, because otherwise none of the kids will want to come. You’ll need to find creative ways to get non-parents to want to come on the trips and convince the parents that do want to come not to.

Planned activities are expected for any and all school holidays. A spring break trip is a must as well as a summer conference somewhere at the beach. You will be expected to emphasize and impress the idea of modesty upon our female students. Be careful not to tick off the parents when doing this, as some of them might not take well to you criticizing the bikinis they bought. Careful judgment will be needed.

You will also be expected to attend all deacons meetings as well as be on the education committee. You will want to have a good presence in the church, so it will be important that you also get involved personally in several Bible studies for yourself, and be at any and all church functions.

Oh, and also, the youth choir meets on Sunday afternoons before evening worship. Our turnout for this group hasn’t been good in the past as few of the students are interested. But we need someone to spark their interests and make them sing well.

Finally, we’ll need you to fill in for the pastor when he’s out sick or gone for whatever reason. This will mean preaching both Sunday services, and doing some hospital visitation.

The position is roughly a 10-15 hour per week job. We are generously offering a salary of $18,000. You will need to find your own medical insurance. Married applicants will be preferred as the youth minister’s wife will be expected to function as a mentor to all of the girls in the group and personally chaperone all trips.

In case you can’t tell, you just read a satire. Those in full-time or part-time ministry can relate I’m sure…