The Amazing Names of Jesus

On November 25, I will begin a Christmas sermon series on “The Amazing Names of Jesus.” Bill Crowder writes the following about this theme:

 

“During World War II, my father-in-law spent 18 months in a prisoner-of-war camp. In the camp, loudspeakers often played music, including a song entitled "Lili Marlene." Somehow it gave him hope, and he fell in love with the beauty of that name. Years later he gave that name, filled with personal significance, to his only daughter—my wife, Marlene.

 

“Names are like that. They have great importance in human relationships. Nowhere, however, is a name more important than in our relationship with our God. In a way that sets Him apart from all others, He ties His name to His reputation and introduces Himself to us as ‘God with us.’"

 

This series of sermons is about the amazing prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 about the birth of Jesus, where the prophet, 700 years before the coming of Jesus, described the One whose names reveal his importance to us. 

 

Jesus is given his name by the angel that spoke to Joseph in Matthew 1:21 and told him to give his son the name Jesus, “for He shall save His people from their sins.” The name means “the one who saves.” The New Testament tells us why it is important to honor the name of Jesus:

• It is the name by which we must be saved — Acts 4:12.
• It is the name that establishes the tone for everything a Christian does — Colossians. 3:17.
• It is the name at which, one day in the future, every knee shall bow — Philippians 2:10-11.

There are numerous names for Jesus throughout the Bible that describe his character and the scope of the ministry of the One who saves us. Among those descriptions are the amazing names in Isaiah 9:6. Those names clearly point to his human birth and his divine nature. As we examine those names through December, we will once again meet the One whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.

Loving the Story of Jesus

I consider preaching to be an adventure. For me, each adventure in preaching is better than the last one.

I hope my journey preaching through Luke this year has been an adventure for our congregtion. It has been for me. I have preached through Luke before, but this year I discovered new things in Luke about Jesus that I have not seen before. I hope our people have discovered some of those things too.

We will end our time in Luke after two more messages on November 11 and 18. One of those messages will be from Luke 23 on Luke’s telling of Jesus’ trials and crucifixion. The other will be from Luke 24 on Luke’s account of Jesus’ resurrection and his appearances after his resurrection.

As we near the end of this adventure in Luke’s Gospel, I have been thinking about how preaching through the book has impacted me, how I hope it has impacted our congregation. I have pondered these things as I have been preparing for a ministry opportunity that I will have this coming Sunday, November 4, at another church, Waupaca Christian Church.

I have preached at Waupaca Christian Church nine times and have assisted the congregation on mission and vision planning. The last time I preached there was in 2007 on the occasion of ordaining their first elders since the congregation was planted. Now they have asked me to return as they ordain the first person out of the congregation to enter fulltime ministry.

As I have been pondering and praying over what the Lord would have me say to the church and to the man being ordained, I could not help but reflect back on our congregation’s adventure in Luke’s Gospel this year. As I have preached through Luke this year and observed new things about Jesus, I have fallen in love with the story of Jesus all over again. I have been in love with the story of Jesus for as long as I can remember, but this year I relived it and was once again refreshed by it.

It occurred to me that for a church to send people into ministry and for a minister to go into ministry and continue to be effective, they must continue to fall in love with the story of Jesus. He must continue to be new and fresh and exciting to us. If we fall out of love with Jesus and his story, we really have no reason to follow him as our Savior and Lord.

So on Sunday, the Waupaca church will charge Jeff Brookins to “preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2. As we do so, I will have the opportunity to challenge both he and the church with what that charge means for the preacher and the listener.

One of my challenges will be this: Learn the story of Jesus and keep it fresh in your life. When you become discouraged, when ministry is hard, when sin is about to take over, when you are ready to give up, go back to the story of Jesus. Fall in love with that story again. Let it wash over you and let it refresh you, because it is the story of God’s grace coming to offer us salvation.

And at Westwood Christian Church, as we finish the story of Jesus from Luke’s Gospel, we will take on another part of God’s story next year: the story of the Bible, how it all fits together from the Old Testament through the New Testament, and how it impacts our lives. I will share more with you about that next month.

Understanding the Roots and Legacy of Our Faith

As I have been preparing for an upcoming speaking engagement, I have returned to consideration of a question that has been on my mind for a few years. I knew that my grandparents had been Christians for many years and had raised my mother as a Christian, but I did not know how my grandparents became Christians.

My sister earlier this year found that Grandma’s parents had become members of a Christian church in Indiana in my Grandma’s hometown. Then this week, I discovered that both of my grandparents were baptized in 1924 in the church in which my mother was raised. One of them was a member of that church for 48 years and the other for 52 years. Mom was baptized in the same church in 1932.

Within my family, that is where my faith in Christ develops from, but the roots of your faith and mine goes much deeper than the influence of a family member, friend, or church. Perhaps the best person in the Bible to demonstrate this to us is Abraham, the father of faith. His faith is set out as an example for us at some length twice in the New Testament.

First, in Romans 4, Abraham shows us the roots of our faith. Paul spent the first three chapters of Romans arguing that we have all sinned and are declared righteous only through faith in Christ. Then he sets Abraham out as the great example of faith, stating four times that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Our faith, quite simply, has its roots in Jesus — his life, death, burial, and resurrection. Through his son, God has pursued us so that we will put our faith in him.

John Stott, the great English preacher of the last century, described this about his own life: “[My faith is] due to Jesus Christ himself, who pursued me relentlessly even when I was running away from him in order to go my own way. And if it were not for the gracious pursuit of the hound of heaven I would today be on the scrap-heap of wasted and discarded lives. “

Second, in Hebrews 11, Abraham shows us the legacy of our faith. Hebrews 11 gives us three startling facts about Abraham’s faith: (1) when God called him to leave home and go to a place where God would show him, he obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going; (2) he lived the rest of his life in tents as a foreigner, believing God would grant his promise, even though he did not know when he would do so; (3) he accepted God’s promise of a son who would become his heir, even though he did not know how it could possibly happen.

With that type of faith, Abraham built a legacy of faith — an entire nation would come from the son God promised him. In addition, Abraham’s legacy includes all those who put their faith in Christ, from the very first Christian believers up to and including all believers who will be alive when Jesus comes again.

Adoniram Judson went as a missionary to Burma in 1812. By 1834 had translated the Bible into the language of Burma although he would die with few converts. One hundred and fifty years later, all 600,000 Burmese Christians would trace their spiritual heritage to Judson.

We also live by faith in Christ, and he calls us to pass on our faith to others.

“I don’t go to church. I am the church.”

Those who attend Tri-County Church in DuBois, Pennsylvania, wear purple t-shirts for various church activities that have emblazoned across them the phrase: “I don’t go to church. I am the church.” When the people in a church adopt such an attitude, they create ownership.

In their book Move, Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson comment on the difference between “belonging” to the church and “being” the church: “Too many churches are satisfied to have congregations filled with people who say they ‘belong’ to their church— who attend faithfully and are willing to serve or make a donation now and then. But that belonging bar is not high enough; simply belonging doesn’t get the job done for Jesus. The people who get the job done are those willing to embrace a value— and maybe even wear t-shirts stating I am the church.”

Hawkins and Parkinson say that churches in which people have this sense of “being” the church “are living breathing organisms. They are filled with people who gather together and then disperse into their communities to live out the commitment to Christ that binds them together.”

The early disciples of Jesus learned this sense of “being” the church from Jesus himself and then they lived it out as can be seen in the Book of Acts as they literally changed the world. If we will “be” the church, we too can change the world around us — one person at a time as we bring people in touch with Jesus, our Savior, the Son of God. Can you say, “I am the church”?

Move – Four Stages of Spiritual Growth

In 2004, a team of researchers from the ministry staff of Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago began surveying their congregation to determine whether it is possible to measure spiritual growth. They tested and expanded their initial results by surveying congregations across the county.

They concluded that measuring spiritual growth is possible, and discovered a spiritual continuum, a framework that can serve as a powerful predictive description of how people grow spiritually. The four segments of the spiritual continuum are:

1. Exploring Christ: These people have a basic belief in God, but they are unsure about Christ and his role in their lives.
2. Growth in Christ: These people have a personal relationship with Christ, but they are just beginning to learn what it means and what it takes to develop a relationship with him.
3. Close to Christ: These depend on Christ every day, and turn to him daily for help and guidance for the issues they face.
4. Christ Centered: These people identify their relationship with Christ as the most important relationship in their entire lives and see their lives as fully surrendered to Jesus.

Now the drivers of this research, Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson, have developed a new dimension to their research by exploring how people grow spiritually and move from one segment of the spiritual continuum to another. They have identified essential beliefs, attitudes, and practices that move people from one segment to the next. They explore these results in their book Move.

As our congregation has explored the ministry and teachings of Jesus this year from Luke’s Gospel, we have seen this kind of growth movement take place in the early followers of Jesus — his apostles and other disciples. Jesus called the likes of Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew when they were spiritual novices. As they grew he gave them more responsibility, sending them out two-by-two to minister.

As the Twelve grew in their faith, others — people like Mary Magdalene and Zacchaeus — began to follow Jesus and their faith began to develop. Jesus would then send a group of seventy out to minister around the countryside. When we arrive at the end of the Gospels and the beginning of Acts, Jesus ascends into heaven and places the responsibility for ministry with his followers who minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now Jesus has placed that responsibility in our hands. We need to keep on growing in our faith, moving from one segment on the spiritual continuum to the next, without getting stuck in the middle someplace. I have only given you to the briefest of information into Move’s spiritual continuum, but you can pray and meditate over where you are in your spiritual growth. Don’t depend on others for your spiritual growth. Spend daily time in Bible study, devotions, and prayer. Move from exploring Christ to growing in Christ to getting close to Christ to becoming Christ centered.

A CHRISTIAN BAPTISM

On July 22, Jackie was baptized. Her baptism is the story of a single mother in her mid-thirties who has two children and who a year ago had surgery for a brain tumor. The baptism was a combined effort of Jackie, her family, the church, people from the church who have been involved in Jackie’s life, the local YMCA, and the local nursing home where Jackie is currently receiving care.

When Jackie first began discussing baptism, she had been living at home for a few months following her surgery. Due to her physical condition, our church baptistery would not accommodate her needs, but another church had a baptistery that would, and they agreed that we could use it. Then, before we could make the arrangements, Jackie fell, was admitted to the hospital, and then transferred to a nursing home.

Due to the nature of her condition, everyone agreed that we should proceed with the baptism rather than waiting. However, now we would need to find a place to baptize her that would accommodate taking her into the water in a wheel chair. Consultation with the nursing home confirmed that they did not have facilities that would meet the need. Their administrator did, however, assure us that they would assist and provide transportation for her if we could find a place for the baptism.

We knew that the swimming pools for our three local YMCA facilities all had ramps, so we consulted with a contact at one of the YMCA’s. He was willing and able to work out the arrangements for use of the pool at the appropriate YMCA. He did so on a Thursday within a couple hours of our initial conversation, with the baptism planned for Saturday or Sunday.

     

While we had assurances from the nursing home that they would help with arrangements, we then had to work with them to get everything scheduled. A Friday meeting with one of the nurses put those steps in motion, including a call by the nurse to Jackie’s doctor for approval. After consultation with Jackie’s family the time was set for Sunday afternoon and was confirmed with the YMCA.

On Saturday afternoon a group of fifteen to twenty of Jackie’s family and church family gathered at the side of one of the YMCA pools. As we gathered around Jackie, read Romans 6:3, 4, and heard her confession of faith, the lifeguard kept the ramp area clear of those using the pool for an open family swim time. Then, two of us began to back Jackie’s wheel chair down the ramp. When the water was high enough, we lowered the back of the wheel chair into the water, and baptized Jackie.

I was told later, that as we backed Jackie down the ramp, everyone in the pool area became quiet and watched. When we began to lower the chair back to baptize her, two of the children swam over to the railing separating the ramp from the pool, held to the railing, and watched. As we began to wheel the chair out of the water, the people from church sang “Now She Belongs to Jesus.”

We needed some help to reposition Jackie in the wheel chair as we wheeled her up the ramp. Two of the church ladies, waded into the pool to assist, and two of the men swimming with their families came over to assist.

As Jackie’s van driver wheeled her chair from the side of the pool, I saw one of the most powerful scenes that I have witnessed at any baptism. Jackie’s family and the people from church formed a line, and her chair had to stop at each person as each one gave her a hug. In my sermon that morning, I had discussed Luke 16:9 – “Make friends for yourselves [who will] welcome you into eternal dwellings” – and encouraged people to make friends and influence people who will one day welcome them into heaven or who they will welcome into heaven. The line of people on this Sunday afternoon welcomed Jackie with that spirit into God’s family.

This baptism was a cooperative effort that included two community service organizations. This baptism was a witness to Jackie’s family and the families swimming together at the YMCA. May the people of the church and the ministry of the church always reflect such a witness in our communities.

Jesus Cares About People

In 2002, Time magazine ran a story describing a trip former President George Herbert Walker Bush took back to the South Pacific. Bush served there as a bomber pilot in World War II and was shot down by Japanese antiaircraft fire. The article detailed Bush's return to the very spot where he was rescued from his downed aircraft.

During that visit, Bush met with a Japanese man who said he had witnessed Bush’s rescue in 1944. The man told about watching the rescue and hearing one of his friends remark, "Surely America will win the war if they care so much for the life of one pilot."

We see such caring demonstrated repeatedly by Jesus in Luke’s Gospel:

• He healed Simon’s mother-in-law and laid his hands on numerous people with various diseases and healed them— Luke 4.
• He touched an untouchable leper and healed him, and then forgave the sins of a paralyzed man brought to Jesus by the main’s friends and healed him— Luke 5.
• He healed the servant of a centurion who sent others to Jesus to ask for his help and raised the son of a widow back to life— Luke 7.

Other examples could be given, but much of Jesus’ caring is demonstrated in two of Jesus’ most well-known parables — the parable of the Good Samaritan and the parable of the Prodigal (or Lost) Son. Consider the latter one in this regard.

Rembrandt portrayed it in his painting Return of the Prodigal Son which Christian writer Henri Nouwen discussed in his classic book by the same title. Peter Scazzero describes the painting like this: “The younger son is kneeling, resting his head on the father’s bosom. He is bald, seemingly exhausted and emaciated, without his cloak, wearing only one tattered shoe, and disheveled.” In contrast the older son “is well-clothed in a gold-embroidered garment like his father, judging, annoyed, looking down at the father’s lavish reception of his youngest son who has so disgraced the family and squandered the family fortune.”

The older son could not see his own lost condition, so when he asks his father how he could accept his younger son back, the father replies: “We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” This is how Jesus sees lost people, and it is how we should see them— through his eyes.

There are people all around us who are lost. Some of them are angry and lash out at family and friends. Some are so mixed up that they return to drugs and alcohol. Others find their “god” in any of a variety of religious practices. Just as we do, they all need the compassion of a Father, the heavenly Father and his Son. Our challenge is to not take on the critical spirit of the older son, but to love them as the father in the parable and as the Heavenly Father loves us.