The entry in which Kat (who is teaching Burundian children in Mae Sot, Thailand), gets caught up on what's going on at church this week, and everyone else gets to listen in, in case they missed stuff, too.
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Hey Kat!
How's the future? Fourteen hours ahead. Cool.
We pray for you, you know. I think you come up in some way or another just about every week. You are loved.
Want to skype in a couple weeks? The 13th? Let us know.
This week was awesome, Kat. Things are so good right now. And I don't mean that in the visionary pastor speaking things that are not as though they are kind of way. I mean they're really awesome.
The reading plan has really brought a sense of foundation and unity to our community in every manifestation. We're all getting onto the same page, and you can feel it. On Friday night, a group of half a dozen or so guys were talking about my Sunday message before I even preached it. I didn't ask them too. I wasn't even there. This is so great.
When people share with one another and pray together there is a real sense of unity, of all going the same direction, even if in different vehicles. There's an obvious raised level of faith and expectation as well. People's speech is peppered with an urgency to go and share, to serve in the community, to love and incarnate the gospel authentically.
Smallgroups are meeting all the time, the attendance of which is higher than Sunday morning. But besides small groups, there is the brunch team, responsible to cook on Sunday mornings, and the communion team, responsible to deliver communion every week. These and other teams forming are creating an intentional web of relationships where everyone has an opportunity to serve or be served, lead or be led at any time. It's interconnected, real, and active.
This week we "introduced" the brunch team. It's Amanda, Joel (Jackson), Katie, and Simon (the Zealot). Amanda had planned to make brunch with only one helper, but the whole team just ended up showing up and getting it done together. They also gave each other nicknames.
We prayed for Joel Short this week. Every week we get a letter from an absent community member, read it, pray for them, and send them a letter back. Joel is at Regent College in Vancouver. Joshua prayed for him and sent him our response. Joel has a girlfriend apparently, but is being coy as to any further details.
Music and worship was beautiful. This has been growing in depth and beauty as well. There is a freedom there. Kate led.
BTW, we're definitely in a season of growth right now. We have new visitors every week, and every three to four weeks, one or two of them stay. We'll probably have at least six new people that you don't know yet when you return. This week there were people all over the floors and standing in doorways.
I suggested that maybe a group of people could rent a house with a bigger living room in the neighbourhood, and we could meet there. By the end of the service, there were serious conversations happening between about six people about actually making this happen. Many jokes ensued about being a multi campus church, or starting a "satellite location" that has the other location present via skype. ha. I don't think it's going to happen, but it's a fun thought.
Joel Jackson led communion again. He is really growing as a speaker. He is showing a gift for preaching.
My message was called "Born Again to See the Kingdom of God". You can hear the recording on our website in a few days. Just search for the message labeled the 27th of February. I'll post the notes below.
Elijah and Grace are being dedicated next week after church. We'll try to video record it and email you the file. They joined us for almost the entire gathering this week, which was nice.
Finally, after the service was all over, Kate's smallgroup went to Remedy where they continued to share and pray for each other and talk about their lives for a couple hours in the afternoon.
Sooooo, we like you, we're thinking of you, and we're very excited to receive you back into a church that is healthy and growing right now. Rawk!
Love,
Shawn, a pastor
on behalf of your Monk Punks
and Look to the Cross for Victory
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Here are my notes. Just like last time, they're made more for me than for you, so forgive me if they ever seem incomplete. Check out the recording, or email me if you want any clarification.
Feb 27, 2011 – Shawn Birss – LTTX
Matthew part 3 - Born Again to See the Kingdom of Heaven
INTRO
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Matthew 4:23-25 ESV
First year of Jesus’ ministry – The year of Inauguration or The year of Popularity
Not mentioned much in the synoptics (Matthew, Mark or Luke), but more in John.
In Jesus’ first year, he gets a lot of crowds. Matthew 4:23-25 summarizes , as well as introduces the Sermon on the Mount, which represents Jesus’ teaching of the crowds he has gathered during that first year of his ministry, at the height of his popularity, and before the crowds become cynical and the Pharisees find him controversial.
Jesus’ message – Repent (change the way you live) and believe the good news that the kingdom of heaven has arrived!
Right from the start, he’s a fisher of men, and calling his disciples to be the same.
He’s not a “keeper of the aquarium”, spending the next three years teaching and training until the disciples are “ready”. In fact, it takes the entire book of Matthew before his disciples clearly understand who Jesus really is, and what his (and their) mission on earth is.
Jesus is getting busy, and the disciples are following, watching, learning, and believing.
John 4:1-42 – the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s Well
…And he had to pass through Samaria.
…A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
…But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ) . . .
…Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."
Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you seek?" or, "Why are you talking with her?"
…Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
(What are they seeing? They are seeing crowds of Samaritans coming toward Jesus)
…Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony
…And many more believed because of his word.
They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."
Again, Jesus was busy, spreading the gospel of the kingdom
To every available person
By every available means
And involving his disciples in his mission. He’s teaching them by example. They follow.
Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Lift up your eyes! Lift up your eyes!
What do they see in Sychar?
A woman. A woman worth ignoring. And a Samaritan.
A place to buy food. A place to pass through and leave quickly. Gasoline Alley in Red Deer on the way to Calgary.
Samaritans. A town filled with obstinate people that just don’t know how to worship God properly. God would probably be better off without them.
Jesus saw fields, white for harvest. Right now! Good news too, that the heavy lifting’s been done.
Check it out, guys! We’re cherry-picking! We’re practically stealing these goals! We’re playing HALO, we’re heavily armed, and we’re waiting at the respawn point, here! Cast your line in, these fish are a-biting!
Lift up your eyes!
How do we get this kind of vision?
The Kingdom of Heaven is here and now!
Mat3:2-at hand
4:17-at hand
10:7-at hand
12:28-has come upon you
Mk1:15-at hand
Lk9:27-not taste death until they see the kingdom of God – then the Transfiguration
10:9-come near to you
10:11-has come near
11:20-has come upon you
17:21-in the midst of you (or within you, or among you)
John 18:36-not of this world
(Matthew – “Kingdom of Heaven” all but twice. Mark, Luke, John – “Kingdom of God”)
The KINGDOM OF HEAVEN has not yet come in all its’ fullness. It is coming. But it also has come. And it is here. The Kingdom of Heaven is here. (There are other Kingdoms, too. We’ll talk about that more another time.)
Lift up your eyes!
John 3:1-21 (ESV)
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."
Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"
Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."
I want to see the Kingdom of God. Really see it.
When we do not see this ever present, living, active reality at work all around us it is because we have been looking only through the eyes we were born with.
Who is Jesus?
John 1:1-14 ESV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John SAW his glory.
Luke 9:27-36 ESV
But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."
Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said.
As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!" And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
(This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 ESV)
Paul used to see Jesus as a heretic. A false teacher. A cult leader. A nuisance. He killed followers of Jesus until Jesus blinded him so that his eyes could be opened.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV
These critical eyes. Full of darkness. Regarding people according to the flesh.
We need our spiritual eyes opened. We need to perceive the world through our renewed vision. Our eyes of faith. Our spiritual eyes gifted me by a spiritual father.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 ESV
"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Matthew 6:22-23 ESV
I want to see the Kingdom of God all the time. I want to see the love that is strong enough to give his life to give true life to those he loves.
I want eyes so reborn that the brilliance of this Kingdom of love would shine more brightly than the condemning sight of the evil of the world.
We MUST be born again. Only by the inner working of the Holy Spirit giving birth to new eyes of the spirit may we see clearly to walk in the light of God’s love.
Lift up your eyes!
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:8 ESV
To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
Titus 1:15 ESV
Our “Born-Again” life is a new heart and new spirit and new eyes to believe (in faith) and live and respond as a pure, Holy-Spirit enabled, Jesus-following disciple.
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Living in the light
John 3:16-21
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."
When we’re born again we love light more than darkness. When we are born again, and live in faith, we will see and we can be seen. We don’t hide. We live through and for our king and for his glory.
We live in the LIGHT
Our good works glorify God. AND If we sin in the LIGHT, we can be forgiven as we confess and repent.
Christians should be very honest people. We know we’ve sinned. We’re not ashamed, because we’ve been forgiven
Pecca fortiter, sed forties fide et gaude in Christo Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ more boldly still – Martin Luther
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Living life in the Kingdom
How do we get new eyes? How do we live in the light? How do we lift up the new eyes we have?
1 Realize and admit that you are blind
and that you do not live as a citizen of the Kingdom.
(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.
Matthew 13:13-16 ESV)
And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."
And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart. Get up; he is calling you."
And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?"
And the blind man said to him, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight."
And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."
And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
Mark 10:46-52 ESV
Blind Bartimeus could have just been calling for alms. He probably called for mercy to every person who came through that gate. Recovering his sight would have been as costly to him as it was costly for the disciples to leave their nets, or Matthew to leave his tax collecting. Bartimeus would rather lose everything and see, then keep his livelihood and remain blind.
But he had to submit to Jesus.
2 Believe in and submit to the King of the Kingdom
John 3:11-16
Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. (Jesus has seen the Father, and we have not. We must submit to HIS vision of our state and his) If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. (Jesus has seen and knows the Father, and wants to reveal the Father to us) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
(Numbers 21:4-9 – the bitten people of Israel lifted up their eyes to the snake of the pole and received their healing)
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus became poor and blind for our sake. He became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), and then died in our place. If we confess and believe that HE is the light, and that HIS PERFECT LIFE can become ours, our old, sinful, blind, dead life will die with him (Romans 6:3-4) and we will be filled with the same spirit that raised him from the dead (Romans 8:11).
This is eternal life!
This is being born again!
How?
Agree with what the King says about himself, and you in his word.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. - Psalms 119:105 ESV
Confess back to the King what is true about himself. This is PRAISE and WORSHIP.
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. - Matthew 26:30 ESV
Psalm 118 (Hallel Psalm) – this is the HYMN OF PRAISE they sang AFTER the Last Supper, and BEFORE Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemene. Imagine singing these words right after your Rabbi said he was about to be betrayed and crucified. Imagine being Jesus and singing these words.
3 Continue to live daily as a citizen of the Kingdom
Live in the spirit that you’ve been reborn into BY FAITH
This means AFTER recognizing that you’re blind, and AFTER recognizing that only through Jesus can you be made new and have your sight restored, you walk IN THE LIGHT as a REBORN PERSON in the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Start walking according to what the Bible says.
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Psalms 119:11 ESV
Matthew 25:34-40 ESV
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.'
SEE the Kingdom of God. SEE Jesus. We need Spiritual Eyes. Born again eyes. Eyes of faith
These eyes see love, not condemnation.
And we need to LIVE EVERY DAY BY FAITH, running with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.
Lift up your eyes! Live in the light!
Realize you are blind. Submit to Jesus. Walk in the light of the Kingdom
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I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Ephesians 1:16-18 ESV
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19 ESV
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