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The Easter Story - John Three Sixteen
Posted by thomas | Filed under Uncategorized
Easter is just around the corner… thank God for a holiday when we get to celebrate and commemorate the moment where He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross and to rise from the dead - for us.
One of the most descriptive verses about that day, when Jesus was on the Cross, is also one of the most famous. You’ve probably seen it at sporting events on a banner or sign in the the crowd… maybe even complete with a guy wearing aviator glasses & a truckie’s hat…
It’s obviously the famous verse of John 3:16, And as we’re coming up to Easter, let’s take a few moment to check out what this verse contains:
God
It all starts with God. This verse, life, and the Easter story, starts with “In the beginning God…” Colossians says that everything was created by Him, through Him and for Him. Sometimes we can be tempted to think that one random day Jesus just appeared on a cross & saved us. But it didn’t happen like that: Jesus had a life, his ministry & history behind him, the Cross was the climax of the story, not the start. And the same goes for you and me.
You didn’t just live your life normally, and then suddenly God showed up one random day (maybe at church, or in a hard moment where you cried out to Him). God had always been chasing you down. God is the one who takes initiative. Nothing inside of us desired God - but it’s because of His great mercy that He approaches us. He initiates the chase! Often we say "I finally found God", when really He found you! God was in your life long before you were formulating an argument against him.
Even as Christians, we need to remind ourselves that it is all about God. We can easily move from having God do His amazing work in us, to us doing our work for God. The focus shifts to us - but don’t let it! It was, is, and will always be about Jesus!
So loved
If there’s one thing the Cross shows us, it’s God character. It tells us that God IS LOVE. It was love that drove Him. He wanted to reconcile the relationship between God and man. There’s incredible comfort in the love of God. And it also comes with a challenge: if God can bridge the gap between life and death how much more should we have love? How much more should we bridge the gap with our friends and families where there might be some differences or offence?
The world
There was nothing good about us in this story. We were all still sinners - yet Christ died for us! We can easily start to compare and say, "I am worse than that person" or, "at least I’m better than that person". But when you are in a dark room it doesn’t matter how dirty you are, we were all in the dark and all in need of light!
That
"That" is one of those words that has cause. God took action… He doesn’t love and then sit there and do nothing. God is an active God! He will not remain passive about you, He is fighting for you! God loves you so much that He will step in to your life, move in your situations, and orchestrate events so that you can come to know Him deeper. No one else on this planet might seem to care but Jesus is fighting for you!
He gave His One and Only
No one took Jesus - He was given by God - and there was a purpose behind the gift. God gave up His most valuable treasure in Heaven, Himself. Worship is said to come from the word "worthship", where we show what someone or something is worth. This one day Jesus showed you what you are worth by giving Himself for you. Don’t let your worth be determined by your achievements in life or lack thereof…. Look to the cross and see your real worth.
Son
It had to be a perfect sacrifice. It had to be someone, who could stand in the place of all of humanity. It had to be Jesus. I said that God is love but He is also just. God is a holy God and sin cannot enter His presence, so someone had to be judged for the sin of humanity. When sin entered the planet, it had to be taken care of - and Jesus took that judgment, He took the wrath. That means that we aren’t saved by doing good things that please God. Jesus is God’s pleasure, and Jesus took our place!
So that whoever
No matter what you have done, no matter where you have been… WHOEVER is a big all-inclusive word. The invitation goes out to everyone. Including you and me.
Believes in Him
Like I said before, no amount of good actions will ever get us anywhere with God. Jesus took care of that. It’s not about action, but about faith in Jesus. Our belief, purpose and security is in Jesus alone. This means that we don’t have to get our worth & identity from our job, our grades or our boss, but in Jesus.
Shall not perish
As I said, sin leads us down the path of destruction. But when we place our faith - and our continual faith in Jesus, we are saved! And we are being saved, where we are empowered by His grace to live this life that God intended for us. It’s a continual thing. God saved you from eternal destruction, and saves you from daily destruction, when you put your trust in Him.
But have eternal life
This is not just about eternity in terms of time. The author John normally used a different word for forever. This words definitely does cover the notion of eternity but it also refers to “quality of life”. That you may have life and life to the full. That you may have life, life and more life (John 10:10).
Remember the cross is not just a moment in history or one moment in your life. We are called to daily carry the cross as we follow Jesus. This is not a heavy yoke but it is a choice of discipleship and commitment to Jesus and as we make a daily choice, the process of salvation continues daily as we are being saved and transformed into His likeness.
Bless you and Happy Easter,
Thomas
Retreat Program & Vid Blog no.2//Andreas+Berto
Posted by nmiller | Filed under Uncategorized
Watch the video for some reasons why you shouldn’t come to Powerhouse Retreat. Register now for Overflow at a discounted price!
Here’s a sneak peek at what’s going down @ Retreat, aka the Program
THURSDAY AM
10am -2pm Uni Students Day
THURSDAY PM
5pm - Registrations Open
7pm - Summer Beats w/ DJ DNA
7:30pm - Opening Session
After Party in the Dark
FRIDAY AM
9:30pm - Session #1
11:30pm - Session #2
FRIDAY PM
7pm - Summer Beats w/ DJ DNA
7:30pm - Opening Session
SATURDAY AM
9:30pm - Session #1
11:30pm - Session #2
SATURDAY PM
5pm - Prayer Meeting
5:30pm - Closing Session and Ministry Night
You’ll get a more detailed guide when you register at the venue
