Pursuing Love: Jesus - Lord of ALL - or not at ALL

Who is Jesus?

It really is a great question isn’t it. Jesus is Lord! we said on Sunday. The one who is in charge – the one who changes the world with a single word – the one we pledge allegience to – the one who we joyfully and voluntarily enter into the service of – wholehearted, absolute, non-wavering.


That’s what it means to say “Jesus is Lord.” To put ourselves totally at his beck and call, to line up our way of thinking to be HIS way of thinking, to obey his teachings instead of our own thinking, to make our resources His resources, to totally commit to following him.

Is that how you are living your life today? All of that is easy to say on Sunday morning. Easy to hear too. But what about on Monday morning when you wake up and have to go to work for a boss who thinks that he or she is the Lord of your life? Or when the car breaks down and you have to decide whether to tithe or to fix the car? When is Jesus Lord of your life – all the time or just when it is convenient?

My favorite phrase from Sunday is still this one:

Jesus is either Lord of ALL – or he is not Lord AT all.

YourPastorDude-

Pastor David

Pursuing Love: Who do you say Jesus is?

I have it on pretty good authority that Jesus has been written about, spoken about and sung about more than any other man in history. (W Publishing Co) He has been identified in a myriad of ways, some that are positive, some that are negative. Almost everyone you meet has an answer for the question he originally posed: Who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:13)


I am wondering how you answer that question yourself. Who do you say that Jesus is. Nice guy? Teacher? Counselor? Mighty God? Savior of the world? Redeemer? Miracle worker? Jesus own claims have come to be seen as controversial and I find them to be explosive in mixed company. You can end a party or start a fight with the question just as quickly as you can have a well meaning conversation about it. We take it personally and we give our opinions personally about it. We add emphasis because it is important or because we want people to think that it is.

What is amazing to me is the answers that come to me from church people all around the world. From person to person - the answers are different - because he is experienced differently by each one.  What I have found to be true is that how we experience Jesus is how we share Jesus - and this is extremely important. If we share Jesus as our friend, our friends learn of him that way. If we share of Jesus the miracle worker - the feeder of millions, the healer, the teacher, the warrior, the Lord - then that is how we share him. It is in fact impossible for us to truly do otherwise and to try to do so is to betray who Jesus is.

As we enter into the season of Lent I want to encourage you to ask this question:  Who do I say Jesus is?  And I want to ask you to try vocalizing the answer.  Start with in front of mirror.  Then to a loved one.  Then to someone you know who may need to know Jesus the same way.   If you want to know what will happen - think about what happened when you experienced Jesus that way.  It's called transformation.  It will change your life.

Who do you say Jesus is?
 
On the journey - answering the question!
 
YourPastorDude

What a fellowship...what a joy divine....

Pursuing Love through fellowship. 

My mother told me more than once that to have a friend you have to be a friend.  I have come to understand this even more when I have read Acts 2:42-47:

 "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved." 

Churches talk a lot about fellowship.  We usually mean coffee and cookies after worship, a pot-luck dinner or a night out with the ladies or men.  But in this description of what the church is to be and do it is easy to see that this is not what Luke understood fellowship to be.    "They" - the church members are listed 4 different times and "all who believed" is a fifth notification of what it meant to be in the church.

To be in the church means to:
  learn together
  worship together
  pray together
  eat together
  share together

It is about "being together" as a body - with Christ as the head.  Meeting the needs of the people - physical, emotional, spiritual needs all.  Real fellowship ends with miracles being done, lives being changed, hope being found, hunger being satisfied.  Real fellowship results in new people coming into the church  every day.  Real fellowship results in a sense of "awe" being experienced by all the people.  Real fellowship results in generous hearts.  Real fellowship results in "good will" being expressed by ALL the people.  

This is the kind of fellowship I want to be a part of.  How about you?  Know where it starts?  Right here with each of us.  Right here with you and I coming together.

Blessings on your journey - on our journey!