fromonedegree

Windows & Doors - Week Nine : 30 March 2017

In response to His disciples’ questions regarding the fulfillment of His Kingdom that will bring about the end of this world as we know it, Jesus tells many parables recorded in Matthew 24-25. In His final recorded parable in the gospel of Matthew Jesus boldly foretells of a great separation, the day of Judgment that will lead to two very different eternal destinies: eternal life or eternal destruction.

In the words of Kenneth Baily, Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats boldly proclaims: “There is life after death and earthly life is related to it.” That we who are in the midst of this earthly life might be certain our destiny is eternal life, we have been given the parable of the sheep and goats

Matthew 25:31-46 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'" Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Windows & Doors - Week Seven : 15 March 2017 - Jeff

Windows & Doors - Week Six : 09 March 2017

Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan is set within the life-story of an expert in the law of God – making it complicated. On the surface it looks as though Jesus is dealing with two different issues: salvation and the kind of love that please God. Jesus shows how both are intertwined.

Stand to read Luke 10:25-37. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."

 Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan is set within the life-story of a lawyer asking about the Kingdom of God that we might set the parable within our own life-story, to see what we know of God’s kingdom.

Making it painfully personal, we are intended to see ourselves in light of Jesus point: D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “We are not meant to control our Christianity; our Christianity is rather meant to control us.”

To see how being a Christian and the kind of love that pleases God are intertwined, we need to first see how – like this lawyer – we seek to control our Christianity. Then see that true Christianity is that which moves us from controlling our Christianity to our Christianity controlling us.

Windows & Doors - Week Five : 02 March 2017

Windows & Doors - Week Three : 15 Feb 2017 - Jeff

Need paragraph here ok

Windows & Doors - Week Two : 09 Feb 2017

In Matthew 13, after five parables describing how God enables one to receive the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus tells two small “treasure” parables illustrating the life of one God has given eyes to see, ears to hear and heart to respond to Jesus message to, “Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

 Matthew 13:44-46 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

 Here we discover in the words of Dutch Theologian Edward Schillebeeckx, “Christianity is not a message which has to be believed, but an experience of faith that becomes a message.”

 Through His parables, Jesus describes what it means to be a Christian, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven: it is to discover what we do not have, to decide we must have it, and then to experience the difference it makes to have what we did not have.

Windows & Doors - Week One : 02 Feb 2017

For those hearing from Jesus that the Kingdom has come, there was a troubling revelation regarding the mystery of His Kingdom: the continuing presence of evil in the world. Likely the most difficult “mystery” of the Kingdom of God –then and now - is God’s delay in judgment. If His Kingdom has come, why is evil still being done?

It is no wonder that of Jesus’ parables recorded in Matthew 13, the parable of the wheat and weeds– confused the disciples most, causing them to ask for an explanation. Aren’t you grateful they did? If you are like me, you too wonder, “If His Kingdom has come, why is evil still being done?” And if you are like me you are even more grateful that Jesus gladly gives His followers –then and now- knowledge into this mystery of the Kingdom in Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43. Stand:

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?'

But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Pray verses 11-12: to whom it is given, more will be given to abundance).

 For Jesus hearers –then and now- He reveals: What this “Kingdom that has come” is; what it is “not”; and why “what the Kingdom is and is not” are both necessary to bring about “what the Kingdom will be.”

Windows & Doors - Introduction : 26 Jan 2017

Adults and children alike – when drawing a house, draw more than a picture. They draw their life being played out. So too are the parables of Jesus. They draw a picture, but more than a picture. Jesus’ parables are windows into familiar life being played out not-so-familiarly. Another world, another Kingdom, is calling this one into question. A Kingdom rejected by some while longed for by others. And this is key –as we will see – as to why Jesus spoke in parables.

 Matthew 13:10-17 Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'"You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive." For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. 'But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Tables & Chairs - Introduction : 22 Sept 2016

Tables and Chairs:

Together Satisfying the Soul’s Hungers

Psalm 34:8,10 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! …Those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

 You are invited to a feast. Plates and platers, bowls and baskets, glasses and silverware, all beautifully set for you. But if you only look at the place settings, you will walk away hungry.

 Gathering around His table we will experience a new day, become a new people. Our study of the feasts of Israel is an invitation to celebrate with the One who desires to satisfy our deepest hungers. Together we will taste and see that the Lord is good; we will discover how each feasts leads to Jesus and the fulfillment of every promise in God’s Word.

 RSVP. Come to the table. Pull up a chair. Dig in and Join the celebration. Feast!

Ever After - Not Missing Out : 10 Mar 2016

Mar 10, 2016