01. Three in One and One Another

Posted by Chris on May 27, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Sermons

Over the next two Sundays, we will have groups out for summer activities.  I’m mindful of these things because it has an

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effect on our Sunday attendance here, but we should all be encouraged that these groups are serving the Lord elsewhere. I’m never discouraged because church is about more than just occupying a space.

Church is about something else, and I think that sort of concern lies behind statements like “Love Jesus, Hate the Church.” Perhaps you’ve seen this statement or one like it somewhere. It is popular right now seems to be the mantra of our times.  At one time there was a sign posted around town that was advertising a different group and actually had this phrase as a question: “Do you love Jesus but hate the church?”  Obviously it was an attempt to reach out to those who had had a bad experience with church.

It is not my intent to criticize any of these groups who used the slogan.   Actually they make fairly reasonable points including some points that our heritage has made over the last 200 years.

The two images on the screen are from a book and video.   The first is a book titled “Love Jesus Hate the Church,” written by a man named Steve McRainie.   He is of the pastor for the Church Without Walls in Georgia. The book is a statement of how the institutional church is failing to truly represent Christ and the Church Without Walls is calling people to a different kind of fellowship.

Some of you may recognize the second image as a fellow named Jeff Bethke, who at the first part of this year gained attention with a spoken word performance on YouTube. He actually loves the church but he says in his poem that he hates religion.  If you follow his poem, some of it sounds quite familiar.  He says that Jesus didn’t call us to be an institution and Jesus didn’t call us to be hypocritical or Pharisaical. I would say that you can go back and find sermons from 100 years ago in the Restoration Movement that say something similar.  We ought to pay attention to the fact that this slogan is being renewed and revived because it represents an interest in our times.  That interest is focused on a discipleship that is not encumbered by the of the demands of institutional religion.  I believe that we have something to offer in this discussion.   The worst thing that could happen to us is that we start picking up all the of all of the baggage of institutional church and start dressing ourselves up in it and lose out when the rest of the world is having the conversation that we’ve been trying to have over the last 200 years.

Back to this slogan, I can understand that it’s a harsh an offensive statement.  I don’t think there’s any mistake that they are trying to be provocative with a statement like “Love Jesus Hate the Church.”  Hate is strong word, but at least when they’re saying that it is still better than a passive aggressive hate of the church which comes across as a neglect of the church.  I see that sort of contempt for the church when we show no desire, no energy to make a better way.  We may be all for loving Jesus but the church becomes easy to neglect.

To any who say that there is no neglect of the church, why is it that even within the church we have to make gargantuan efforts to boost attendance, promote membership, and increase involvement?  It seems to me that sometimes the church fails to do what the church is meant to do because we must spend so much energy on remedial tasks like getting people to attend a gathering, promoting membership, or getting people to sign up for activities and increase involvement.  Are we trying to overcome a passive aggressive contempt for a bad notion of church?  Our lack of awareness about what it means to truly be church has allowed us to treat church as if it is no more than membership in a social club in which we place membership and all that is required is attendance.

You and I have encountered this in one form or another.  We have either asked the question ourselves or we have been asked this question by others.  If you’re a parent you know you’ve heard this question from your children: “Why do I need to go to church?”

Let us imagine a dialogue with someone who is asking that question.  He will our questioner.  Along comes an adventurous soul who ventures to reply.  He will be our defender and answerer.

Given the question, “Jesus saves me so why do I need to go to church at all?” our defender may say “You are right Jesus our only salvation but you need church because church is going to help you get to heaven.”

To which our questioner may say something like,”Really? That group is going to help me get to heaven? But some of them seem like the very people to keep me out of heaven! Some of them are constantly angry, some of them are constantly rude, some of them are just not happy at all and I’m not talking about being hypocrites because they are not at all hypocritical about it!  They are straight up and face-forward about it all.

Now, our valiant defender says, “Okay so I get that.  But we certainly need you then. We need you to be a part of church.”   The questioner comes back with, “Why is it that you need me? You say that but often when I’m there you ignore me you don’t pay any attention to me. You want me to sign up and be involved in activities which you don’t really seem to have any real interest in what is going on in my world and in my life.”

So our defender drives it home with authority and says “Alright, you must go to church! God says you have to go to church right here — Hebrews 10! It’s a commandment!  Don’t forsake church attendance!  There, that settles it.”

Yet, our questioner is not convinced.  He says, “What exactly is it that I’m not supposed to forsake?  What is the assembly after all?  Is it an appointed meeting time or a community of people?  I can devote myself to people and their needs without showing up for appointed meeting times.”

Now, our exasperated defender comes back and he says, “Listen here, you need to show up because this is where the Lord’s supper is served.  You do want to get your Lord’s supper, yes?  Well, it is served right here only in this time and this place and you cannot get it anywhere else.  Accept no substitutes!”

Our questioner asks the defender, “Have you now gone in for the Holy Mass? You’re saying that this is the only time and place that I can get the special bread and wine?  But you are also telling me that church is people rather than a sanctuary?  Now you are being inconsistent!”

I want to help you because I’ll admit our defender in that little one-act play did not do a very good job.  He tried to make the case that you need to go to church for some sort of salvation but was forced to agree that that is not the case and once we scratch that off the list we have to wonder why do we need to go to church.  Is it for security because church is what checks us in with God and we must make sure that our salvation is still holding up?  Is it for obedience? If so then we just attend church because we are marking time and we have to put in attendance somewhere thus we have to do the things we are told and there really is no other reason.  It becomes obedience to an empty command that degrades into a slavish obedience. Is it for worship? Is attending church about going to the one place of worship where worship happens and it only happens right here and so attending church is all about a worship club?

In the interest of helping, let’s notice that it’s hard to come up with an answer for a question that is invalid. It’s very hard to find biblical answers for questions that are not biblical.

The real problem is the question why do I need to go to church?  When church has been viewed as something that we have to go to we are missing what church is really all about. In the era of the “Love Jesus Hate the Church” slogan, we need a renewed vision of why we are church.  And I say renewed because the answers are very biblical, we just need to renew them for ourselves and we need to embrace them.   Let us recognize that our best defenses for the church, even our best arguments for our love for the church is too often filtered through this view of church as a building, or a place, or an organization.  We may find an answer but we have to go for more than church. You can’t find the rationale or the reason for the church within the church, you have to go higher.  And you may have to go higher than Christ.  It may seem a bit unusual.  How can you go higher than Christ? If the people of God would understand what it means to be church then they must look at Jesus who points to something greater than himself.   He himself is part of something greater.

In John 14 there are at least two statements (verse seven and verse ten) in which Jesus points to something higher.  He says the only way to the father is through me if you really knew me you would know my father too.”  And “ the words I say to you don’t come from me, but the father lives in me and does his own work.”

Regardless of how you think you may feel about the church, if you do love Jesus then you have just cast yourself into love with something more than Jesus.  For if you know Jesus, then you cannot help but know the father.  C.S. Lewis warned us about the nonsense of regarding Jesus as nothing more than a religious teacher.  There’s more to him than that.  Likewise, the notion that Jesus is a good and kind Savior and he’s all you need to know will not suffice.  If you know Jesus, then you already know much more than Jesus.  Jesus himself says that if you know him, you know the father. If you’ve seen him you have seen the father.  A relationship with Jesus means you have a relationship with the Father.  This is why it’s very difficult for those who say “I respect Jesus and I appreciate Jesus, but I just appreciate Jesus from a human standpoint. I think that he is a good moral teacher.  He’s a good man.”  How can you have a relationship with Jesus and overlook God the Father who is a part of Jesus?  As we have observed in our Lord’s Supper, the relationship between father and son is so close, intimate, real that any separation of that relationship brings pain and suffering.  This is why Jesus says, “My God my God why have you forsaken me?”   If you know Jesus, you know the father also.

If you know Jesus you have the spirit as well.  It all comes together and you cannot separate.  You will not be able to pick out the parts you do not like. You decide that you are all for Jesus the Son part of it and so the father makes some sense but the spirit is scary.   You cannot ask God to keep that on the side as you sample it or choose only to have a little of it.  Good people that we are, we are used to having full-service. In John 16, Jesus is once again teaching about who he is, and that a relationship includes the spirit.  Jesus reveals that it’s through that spirit that we have the connection with the risen Jesus.  You need not understand everything there is to understand about the spirit (as if that’s possible).

In John 17:21 Jesus is saying a prayer that same night that he sweats those drops of blood that we focused on in the communion. On that same night that he’s in anguish and agony he’s thinking of us.  During a time when we would’ve forgiven him totally and completely understood if he only cared to focus on himself, he remembers us.  All of God’s children are included in this prayer. He says, “Father just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”  When we are in Christ we are also in the Father and we are also in the Spirit. there is no distinction and no compartmentalization. We are then united one to another.  Our relationship to one another and our relationship to all the earth, at least what it should be, is seen in this prayer of Jesus.

I there are controversies in the past about the word Trinity. It is not a biblical word, but we use a lot of words that are not biblical words because they are good words.  Trinity is just an idea of saying that there are three and yet there’s a unity.  It simply means that the “threeness” of God the Father, the son and Spirit does not mean that there are three separate entities in the sense that they are not connected at all.  Rather, that there is a oneness.  Yet, teachings that get into the mechanics of the Trinity do not always help. In fact, we may have missed the significance of the Trinity because of an over emphasis historically on the mechanics.

What does the reality of Father-Son-Spirit say to us about God?  It tells us that God is in himself all about relationship.  Stop and think about what that means. God is, as the apostle John says, love.   How often we use that statement: we sing it, we teach it, we pray it. We must mean that God is more than a warm fuzzy emotion or just feeling good.  Within himself, as the father loves the son and the son loves the father and the Spirit is the love of both in action, then God himself is characterized by love that’s what it means for us.  That view of God is our source for our unity and for our one another community

When we commune in the name of the Lord, we commune in his love and as we are drawn together by his love we love him and it causes us to love one another.  God’s project of salvation is not focused on me or you alone, as he desires to not only save individuals.  He wants to save me and you. He wants to save our relationships with one another.  All of his rescuing and saving is forming community so we begin to see the church as God does.  God’s love pours out into the hearts of many and God draws them together as his children

Ephesians 4: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace!”  That means everybody get along and everybody build on those relationships, but not just because that’s a good sounding thing to do or because we do not care for troublemakers.  There’s a much better reason rooted in Trinity! Why do we keep the bond of peace and unity of the Spirit? Because “there is one body and one spirit just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”  In that text you see the Trinity: Is God mentioned in that text? Is Jesus mentioned in this text? Is the spirit mentioned in this text? Yes all three.

We are mentioned as well.  All in all.   The unity of the spirit and the bond of peace is the basis of all of our relationships.  Husbands and wives love one another the way Christ loves the church. The model of marital faithfulness and devotion is not the image of a happy couple, but Christ and the church. It all keeps going back to the Trinity.  Marriage is not just a civil union or social contract, it is not simply a hedge against loneliness, but it participates in the relationship with God. Likewise the relationship with parents and children, likewise with all members of the household, likewise with all of us and all relationships route back into the relationship of the father-son and the Holy Spirit.

My hope is that a new view of the Trinity relationship gives us new perspective. I hope you leave here today with new perspective that the church is not a building, the church is not a place, the church is not even a style of worship (people always want to sort out churches by their style of worship. Jesus never said that his church would be known by their style of worship.  Just that the worshipers seek him in spirit and truth). Church is not an organization, the church is not an institution, church is not something external to us. It makes no sense to say, “Let’s all get together and go to the church” when the fact of the matter is we are church.  One cannot have this building without the materials that make it up.  Likewise, you can’t have church without the people who are the church and who are connected to the Father, Son and the Spirit

Church is not a 501(c)(3) entity.  We are not defined by the IRS, we are defined by God.  Tax-exemption is not who we are and it is not what makes us special.  It is fine and good that we have this status and we can use it to accomplish God’s purposes, but we must use this as a tool and not as a definition of church. In the mission field, believers sometimes have to use government registration with the state to function as the church, but those groups understand that that registration is not their spiritual identity and that registration with the government powers is not what makes them church.  If we understand that in the mission field, then let’s understand that in this mission field. IRS qualifications and government definitions are not what makes us God’s people. It may allow us to do certain things according to the laws of this nation, but let’s not assume that we cannot be the church without the state’s blessing.  We must wear those things as lightly as we can just as we see those in the mission field wear it lightly.

Jesus says you will be known as my disciples if you love one another. That’s how we are known as church.  According to Jesus (John 13) the church is those who keep Christ’s ways and keep his commandments.  His teaching is a way of life that brings blessings to us and blessings to others and even when it’s hard we know it is the way of Christ. It is the way to live that honors him and glorifies him. The church are a group of people who are living along the way in relationship with the father and relationship with the son in relationship with the spirit and then in relationship with one another. I hope you love Jesus, and he hopes you love the church.   Because you are the church!  And if it is hard to love the church (and it is because sometimes the church is unlovable, because each of us is at times unlovable), then we have a way to see our love increase.  Our love can increase because we will share in his spirit and it won’t be up to us to come up with it on our own.

3 in 1 and 1 Another

Posted by Chris on May 26, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Sermons

Church is certainly more than an organization, a place, a center for worship, a club of which we are members, or a 501 c(3) tax-exempt entity.

Church is nothing less than the people of God who are living out the sort of love that is rooted in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.  If we want to be the community of God then we must dive into the trinity of God.

Promotion Sunday Sermon

Posted by Chris on May 20, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Sermons, WAYG

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The words that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy shared with the congregation in Thessalonica are very appropriate for our seniors and youth group today.  As I speak to the youth, I invite the rest of the congregation to overhear . . .

1 Thess. 1:8-9 . . . Wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God.

• We are proud  of your  decision to turn  to Christ
• That may be  a Future  decision
• That may be a decision you made years ago.  If so, then renew it and build on it.
• The decision to follow Christ is an everyday decision to turn to Christ in  everything; and to turn away from the idols (distractions, empty pursuits of the world – some that may even seem really good.  False gods often seem quite “godly”).

1 Thess. 1:6-7 . . . You know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you.

In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. ⁷ As a result, you have become an example to all the believers

• Look to those who will be good examples.  Even as you imitate them, you will still be your own person.
• Adults and Peers who set a good example
• Be an Example the other youth who will notice you
  • Sometimes we make too much of the word leader.  If everyone is leading then  who is following ?
  • In the church, Jesus Christ is Lord and he leads thru his spirit.  He is the authority.
  • Leadership is not simply positional authority.  It is influence.  You lead others when the spirit of Christ works in you to be a spiritual influence on others.  For instance, when you set a good example
  • Youth influence us – After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! Yes, you are our pride and joy. (1 Thess)

Our encouragement to you is to do more and more of the good and godly things that you are doing.
Keep growing and following Christ
For, what seems like the end of a path is just beginning.

1 Thess. 4:1-2 . . . Finally, dear brothers and sisters,we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

Extra-Biblical Historical Evidence for the LIFE, DEATH, and RESURRECTION of JESUS

Posted by Chris on May 14, 2012 under Curriculum, Resources

Cornelius Tacitus (55-120 AD), “the greatest historian” of ancient Rome:

“Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man’s cruelty, that they were being destroyed.”

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas, chief secretary of Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD):

“Because the Jews of Rome caused continous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, [Claudius] expelled them from the city.”

“After the great fire at Rome [during Nero’s reign] … Punishments were also inflicted on the Christians, a sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief.”

Flavius Josephus (37-97 AD), court historian for Emperor Vespasian:

“At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive; accordingly, he was perhaps the messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.” (Arabic translation)

Julius Africanus, writing around 221 AD, found a reference in the writings of Thallus, who wrote a history of the Eastern Mediterranean around 52 AD, which dealt with the darkness that covered the land during Jesus’ crucifixion:

“Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains away the darkness as an eclipse of the sun–unreasonably, as it seems to me.” [A solar eclipse could not take place during a full moon, as was the case during Passover season.]

Pliny the Younger, Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor around 112 AD:

“[The Christians] were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food–but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.” Pliny added that Christianity attracted persons of all societal ranks, all ages, both sexes, and from both the city and the country. Late in his letter to Emperor Trajan, Pliny refers to the teachings of Jesus and his followers as excessive and contagious superstition.

Emperor Trajan, in reply to Pliny:

“The method you have pursued, my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of those denounced to you as Christians is extremely proper. It is not possible to lay down any general rule which can be applied as the fixed standard in all cases of this nature. No search should be made for these people; when they are denounced and found guilty they must be punished; with the restriction, however, that when the party denies himself to be a Christian, and shall give proof that he is not (that is, by adoring our gods) he shall be pardoned on the ground of repentance, even though he may have formerly incurred suspicion. Informations without the accuser’s name subscribed must not be admitted in evidence against anyone, as it is introducing a very dangerous precedent, and by no means agreeable to the spirit of the age.”

Emporer Hadrian (117-138 AD), in a letter to Minucius Fundanus, the Asian proconsul:

“I do not wish, therefore, that the matter should be passed by without examination, so that these men may neither be harassed, nor opportunity of malicious proceedings be offered to informers. If, therefore, the provincials can clearly evince their charges against the Christians, so as to answer before the tribunal, let them pursue this course only, but not by mere petitions, and mere outcries against the Christians. For it is far more proper, if anyone would bring an accusation, that you should examine it.” Hadrian further explained that if Christians were found guilty they should be judged “according to the heinousness of the crime.” If the accusers were only slandering the believers, then those who inaccurately made the charges were to be punished.

The Jewish Talmud, compiled between 70 and 200 AD:

“On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, ‘He is going forth to be stoned because he has practised sorcery and enticed Israel to apostacy. Anyone who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.’ But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.”

[Another early reference in the Talmud speaks of five of Jesus’ disciples and recounts their standing before judges who make individual decisions about each one, deciding that they should be executed. However, no actual deaths are recorded.]

Lucian, a second century Greek satirist:

“The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day–the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. … You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property.” Lucian also reported that the Christians had “sacred writings” which were frequently read. When something affected them, “they spare no trouble, no expense.”

Mara Bar-Serapion, of Syria, writing between 70 and 200 AD from prison to motivate his son to emulate wise teachers of the past:

“What advantage did the Athenians gain from putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them as a judgment for their crime. What advantage did the men of Samos gain from burying Pythagoras? In a moment their land was covered with sand. What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise king? It was just after that that their kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three wise men: the Athenians died of hunger; the Samians were overwhelmed by the sea; the Jews, ruined and driven from their land, live in complete dispersion. But Socrates did not die for good; he lived on in the teaching of Plato. Pythagoras did not die for good; he lived on in the statue of Hera. Nor did the wise king die for good; he lived on in the teaching which he had given.”

The Gospel of Truth, probably by Valentius, around 135-160 AD:

“For when they had seen him and had heard him, he granted them to taste him and to smell him and to touch the beloved Son. When he had appeared instructing them about the Father. … For he came by means of fleshly appearance.” Other passages affirm that the Son of God came in the flesh and “the Word came into the midst. … it became a body.”

“Jesus, was patient in accepting sufferings. . . since he knows that his death is life for many. . . . he was nailed to a tree; he published the edict of the Father on the cross. … He draws himself down to death through life. … eternal clothes him. Having stripped himself of the perishable rags, he put on imperishability, which no one can possibly take away from him.”

The Aprocryphon of John, probably by Saturninus, around 120-130 AD:

“It happened one day when John, the brother of James,–who are the sons of Zebedee–went up and came to the temple, that a Pharisee named Arimanius approached him and said to him, `Where is your master whom you followed?’ And he said to him, ‘He has gone to the place from which he came.’ The Pharisee said to him, ‘This Nazarene deceived you with deception and filled your ears with lies and closed your hearts and turned you from the traditions of your fathers.'”

The Gospel of Thomas, probably from 140-200 AD:

Contain many references to and alleged quotations of Jesus.

The Treatise On Resurrection, by uncertain author of the late second century, to Rheginos:

“The Lord … existed in flesh and … revealed himself as Son of God … Now the Son of God, Rheginos, was Son of Man. He embraced them both, possessing the humanity and the divinity, so that on the one hand he might vanquish death through his being Son of God, and that on the other through the Son of Man the restoration to the Pleroma might occur; because he was originally from above, a seed of the Truth, before this structure of the cosmos had come into being.”

“For we have known the Son of Man, and we have believed that he rose from among the dead. This is he of whom we say, ‘He became the destruction of death, as he is a great one in whom they believe.’ Great are those who believe.”

“The Savior swallowed up death. … He transformed himself into an imperishable Aeon and raised himself up, having swallowed the visible by the invisible, and he gave us the way of our immortality.”

“Do not think the resurrection is an illusion. It is no illusion, but it is truth. Indeed, it is more fitting to say that the world is an illusion, rather than the resurrection which has come into being through our Lord the Savior, Jesus Christ.”

“. . . already you have the resurrection … why not consider yourself as risen and already brought to this?” Rheginos was thus encouraged not to “continue as if you are to die.”

Acts of Pontius Pilate, reports sent from Pilate to Tiberius, referred to by Justin Martyr (150 AD):

“And the expression, ‘They pierced my hands and my feet,’ was used in reference to the nails of the cross which were fixed in His hands and feet. And after he was crucified, they cast lots upon His vesture, and they that crucified Him parted it among them. And that these things did happen you can ascertain the ‘Acts’ of Pontius Pilate.” Later Justin lists several healing miracles and asserts, “And that He did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.”

Phlegon, born about 80 AD, as reported by Origen (185-254 AD), mentioned that Jesus made certain predictions which had been fulfilled.

Clement, elder of Rome, letter to the Corinthian church (95 AD):

“The Apostles received the Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ was sent forth from God. So then Christ is from God, and the Apostles are from Christ. Both therefore came of the will of God in the appointed order. Having therefore received a charge, and having been fully assured through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed in the word of God with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they went forth with the glad tidings that the kingdom of God should come. So preaching everywhere in country and town, they appointed their firstfruits, when they had proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons unto them that should believe.”

Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, letter to the Trallians (110-115 AD):

“Jesus Christ who was of the race of David, who was the Son of Mary, who was truly born and ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died in the sight of those in heaven and on earth and those under the earth; who moreover was truly raised from the dead, His Father having raised Him, who in the like fashion will so raise us also who believe on Him.”

Ignatius, letter to the Smyrneans (110-115 AD):

“He is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, but Son of God by the Divine will and power, truly born of a virgin and baptised by John that all righteousness might be fulfilled by Him, truly nailed up in the flesh for our sakes under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch (of which fruit are we–that is, of his most blessed passion); that He might set up an ensign unto all ages through His resurrection.”

“For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection; and when He came to Peter and his company, He said to them, ‘Lay hold and handle me, and see that I am not a demon without body.’ And straightway they touched him, and they believed, being joined unto His flesh and His blood. Wherefore also they despised death, nay they were found superior to death. And after His resurrection He ate with them and drank with them.”

Ignatius, letter to the Magnesians (110-115 AD):

“Be ye fully persuaded concerning the birth and the passion and the resurrection, which took place in the time of the governorship of Pontius Pilate; for these things were truly and certainly done by Jesus Christ our hope.”

Quadratus, to Emperor Hadrian about 125 AD:

“The deeds of our Saviour were always before you, for they were true miracles; those that were healed, those that were raised from the dead, who were seen, not only when healed and when raised, but were always present. They remained living a long time, not only whilst our Lord was on earth, but likewise when He had left the earth. So that some of them have also lived to our own times.”

(Pseudo-)Barnabas, written 130-138 AD:

“He must needs be manifested in the flesh. … He preached teaching Israel and performing so many wonders and miracles, and He loved them exceedingly. … He chose His own apostles who were to proclaim His Gospel. … But He Himself desired so to suffer; for it was necessary for Him to suffer on a tree.”

Justin Martyr, to Emperor Antoninus Pius about 150 AD:

After referring to Jesus’ birth of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem, and that His physical line of descent came through the tribe of Judah and the family of Jesse, Justin wrote, “Now there is a village in the land of the Jews, thirty-five stadia from Jerusalem, in which Jesus Christ was born, as you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing made under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judea.”

“Accordingly, after He was crucified, even all His acquaintances forsook Him, having denied Him; and afterwards, when He had risen from the dead and appeared to them, and had taught them to read the prophecies in which all these things were foretold as coming to pass, and when they had seen Him ascending into heaven, and had believed, and had received power sent thence by Him upon them, and went to every race of men, they taught these things, and were called apostles.”

Justin Martyr, in Dialogue with Trypho, around 150 AD:

“For at the time of His birth, Magi who came from Arabia worshipped Him, coming first to Herod, who then was sovereign in your land.”

“For when they crucified Him, driving in the nails, they pierced His hands and feet; and those who crucified Him parted His garments among themselves, each casting lots for what he chose to have, and receiving according to the decision of the lot.”

“Christ said amongst you that He would give the sign of Jonah, exhorting you to repent of your wicked deeds at least after He rose again from the dead … yet you not only have not repented, after you learned that He rose from the dead, but, as I said before, you have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that ‘a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver, whom we crucified, but His disciples stole Him by night from the tomb, where He was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceive men by asserting that He has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.'”

“For indeed the Lord remained upon the tree almost until evening, and they buried Him at eventide; then on the third day He rose again.”

 

 

For more details of the historical and scientific evidence for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Habermas, Gary R.   Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus.   Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.

Read related: “The Historical Christ–Fact or Fiction?” by Apologetics Press

Full Assurance of Faith

Posted by Chris on May 13, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Resources, Sermons, Uncategorized

by Dr. Michael Cole

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Hebrews 11:6 – Without faith it is impossible to please God. Christians must believe that He exists.

What is “faith”?

Webster’s Dictionary definition of faith:
“firm belief in something for which there is no proof”

Does God expect us to have faith in or rely upon or trust something or someone for which there is no proof? And He expects me to be willing to die for this?

• How do I know Australia exists?
• Was Julius Caesar assassinated?

Genesis 37:33 (NKJV) – And [Jacob] recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.”

Discussion of Origins in Search of Evidence for “Things Not Seen.”

• Origin of the Universe and Age of the Earth
• Origin of Man
• Origin of God (the concept)
• Origin of the Bible

1. Jesus was a Jewish teacher;
2. many people believed that He healed the sick and cast out evil spirits;
3. He was rejected by the Jewish leaders;
4. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius Caesar;
5. despite this shameful death, His followers, who believed that He was still alive, spread beyond Palestine so that there were multitudes of them in Rome by 64 A.D.;
6. all kinds of people from the cities and countryside—men and women, slave and free—worshiped Jesus as God by the beginning of the second century.

Above list is from Yamauchi, Edwin M. (1995), “Jesus Outside the New Testament: What is the Evidence?,” Jesus Under Fire, ed. Michael J. Wilkins and J.P. Moreland (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan), p. 122.

JESUS:

• Legend?
• Lunatic?
• Liar?
• LORD

Fragile Faith is transformed by

1. Believing that God exists
2. Coming to know God through study and prayer
3. Trusting that He will provide for you

I John 2:3

II Corinthians 4:17-18

Can I follow a God who might exist, or will I affirm allegiance to the God who undoubtedly exists and has my best interest at heart?

Shall we disobey a God who might exist, or will we rebel against the God who is known to exist and has expectations of His children?

The Open Door

Posted by Chris on May 6, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Sermons

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Thanks to a relationship that formed with the English Language School at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith, our congregation has been invited to help with international students.

As visitors to our community and our country, these young men and women will be well served by our hospitality.  The actions that are called for are simple works of kindness.  Many of these students have financial resources, what they need most is access to resources, friendships, and conversation partners.

Here are some of the simple opportunities:

1. Transportation and Shopping –  These students need transportation to do their own shopping.  City transit and taxi service are not always reliable nor convenient.  The students have means and will manage their own purchases, though they may seek your advice on products.

Examples:

Grocery stores – Harps on Grand accepts Lion’s Cash- (which dorm students have as a part of their housing package), Wal-Mart or Target, Asian Market , Clothing Stores, Book Stores

2. Other Transportation – TB testing is required by AR law for any student on an AR university campus.  About once every six weeks, there is a need to transport students to the Sebastian Country Health Department for these tests.  This is usually scheduled on a Friday @ 1:30 and the following Monday @ 2:35 for new students.

3. Volunteer Drivers – The ELS will welcome volunteer drivers to their scheduled activities.  In some cases, they will reimburse drivers for their time.  These may include out of town trips or outings to activities in town.  Contact ELS for more information.

4. Food – Providing and Picking Up Orders.  We can be a great neighbor to the coordinator at ELS, Malia, by picking up food orders for the students.  Providing lunch is a bit of a challenge while UAFS is not in session and ELS is having classes.  This gap is from May 7th- 29th and again between Summer 2 session and Fall.

5. Waldron Block Party! – This is one of the first big events we are considering.  We could host all the students for a potluck.  This would give us a chance to make relationships.  We need champions to plan this and all potential volunteers should plan on attending.

6. Conversation Partners – The students are working hard to learn English.  They need practice.  This involves an hour once a week.

7. Hosting a Student – ELS arranges for students to stay in host homes.  Homestay Familes are much needed! A family earns $550 per session (4 weeks) per student living with them.

8. Activities – These can be simple game nights, opening your home, outdoor games, pool parties.  If group size is an issue, please coordinate with us and ELS.

Friends of God – 03.Believe, Speak, Do

Posted by Chris on April 29, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Sermons

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How Do We Speak Belief and Believe? – 02.Believe, Speak, Do

Posted by Chris on April 22, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Sermons, Uncategorized

I believe that you should know that the West-Ark congregation was praised in a recent article on The City Wire.

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Core Belief – 01.Believe, Speak, Do

Posted by Chris on April 15, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Sermons

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Friends Day – April 29, 2012

Posted by Chris on April 12, 2012 under Events, Front Page Announcements, News

If you were a guest for our Friends Day, then please know how happy we were to have you join us.

It was a great day of singing together, encouraging one another, and enjoying a meal together.  We do hope that you will join us again sometime.  We are happy to call you a friend and our friends are always welcome to join in to our events and to worship with us on any Sunday.

If you happen to be reading this and were not able to attend Friends Day, then please know that you are welcome to join us any Sunday at 9:30 for classes and 10:30 for worship.  We have other events during the week and we will be happy to share more information about those.  Details on many of them are featured on this website.

If you would like to know more about West-Ark, please call us or send us a message (office@westark.org).   Please continue to visit this website as we are constantly updating the articles and information.