Category: 1 John (Page 4 of 7)

The Universal Church

September 28, 2016 / Allan / 0 Comments

“We believe in the holy, universal Church, the communion of saints.” ~Apostles’ Creed

The early Church thought of themselves as a worldwide movement through a network of gatherings spread all over Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. When Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians, he called them one group among those “everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours.”

We are one people — everybody equal, everybody the same — with all Christians everywhere. Universal. One. There are so many wonderful, glorious, Kingdom things happening in and through your church. But it’s so puny compared to what God is doing globally. His Church is growing in every part of the world today except in North America. God is right now today growing his Church; he is today adding to his Church. And we are united together with all of it. One of the reasons we want people to go on short term foreign mission trips and help them pay for it is so they can watch other people following Christ. To see different cultures, different languages, different customs — to see people so different from us worshiping our God and submitting to our crucified and resurrected Lord is profound. The Church of Jesus Christ is a universal Church — all believers for all time in every place forever. One universal Church.

You love your church? Good! I love mine, too! I want you to love your church! But we’re not in competition with anybody (well, except the devil; and he’s already lost). Praise God for our brothers and sisters in the Baptist and Methodist and Presbyterian churches all over our city! Praise God for the Christian churches throughout this country and around the world who are faithfully preaching and teaching and praying and serving and living together in the name and manner of Jesus!

They might have their faults. They might have their shortcomings. They might have their misinterpretations and questionable practices. And so do we! We’ve got ours by the buckets! We’re all in this together!

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 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.” ~Ephesians 4:3-6

And, I know, some of you are pushing back on this. “Don’t talk like there aren’t any boundaries. There have to be some boundaries. You can’t talk like everybody’s in.”

No, of course there are boundaries. If a somebody comes in saying that Jesus is not from God, that Jesus is not divine, he’s out! 1 John 4. If a guy comes in bragging about having sex with his step-mother, he’s out! 1 Corinthians 5. Believe me, the Bible gives us some lines. And we need to pay attention to them. But we don’t need to obsess over it. I mean, myself, if I’m not careful, I can go from zero to Pharisee in 2.9-seconds. But I will not draw any lines of fellowship between Christians that I can’t find in the Bible. I’m too conservative.

You know the disciples see these others casting out demons in Jesus’ name and they run to our Lord with their complaint: “Make them stop, they’re not one of us.” And Jesus responds, “Just because they’re not with you doesn’t mean they’re not with me.” Elsewhere our Lord says he has sheep who are not even from this pen. He says all those sheep will hear his voice and there will be one pen and one shepherd. Drawing those lines is above our pay grade.

When the Church is splintered into different factions, when the Church is divided into different denominations, when we draw lines between us because of our differences instead of tearing down the walls because of everything we have in common in Christ, what we’re saying to the world is that the Church is not holy and it’s not universal. We can no longer in good faith justify or excuse or explain away the sin of the divisions in God’s Church. Going along with the divisions, keeping our distance from other Christians in other churches, contradicts everything we say about one Lord, one Spirit, one faith, one baptism, and one God over all.

Peace,

Allan

Light of Life

March 28, 2016 / Allan / 0 Comments

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not conquered it.. The true light that gives life to every person was coming into the world.” ~John 1:4-9

Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus over and over refers to himself as the light, the true light of life.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ~John 8:12

“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” ~John 12:46

When Jesus was betrayed by his friends and then crucified on the cross, the gospel says it was dark. When Mary went to the tomb early on that first Easter Sunday morning, the Scripture is clear that it was dark. It’s also certain that Mary was not looking for a resurrected Jesus that morning; she was looking for a dead body. Maybe that’s why she didn’t recognize Jesus when she saw him — she wasn’t expecting it. But when he said her name, when she heard his familiar and powerful and loving voice, she knew it was Jesus her Lord, she knew he was alive, and she knew it wasn’t dark anymore.

2 Timothy says Christ Jesus has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light. 1 Peter tells us Jesus has brought all of us out of darkness and into his wonderful light.

I don’t know what kind of darkness maybe you’re living in. Maybe you feel trapped by sin or by some really bad decisions that you’re still paying for years later. Maybe there’s strife in your marriage or in your family. Maybe you’ve been diagnosed with something and your future’s unclear. Maybe you’ve just got this dark cloud hanging over you that follows you everywhere you go and you can’t really describe it or explain it, but it’s just there. It’s just dark.

“You were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light… Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!” ~ Ephesians 5:8, 14

Listen, that darkness is real. I don’t want any of us to pretend that it’s not. You and I are broken. We are fallen. We are sinners. And this world we live in is broken and sinful. There is starvation and disease and violence and injustice all around us. Every day. We can’t get away from it. And we are not called to deny it or ignore it. The darkness is real. The darkness in your life is real. Your sin is real. Your desperation is real. Your sickness, your depression, your lack of faith is real.

It’s OK to feel it. It’s OK to be sad. It’s OK to feel hurt and disappointed. It’s OK to get angry. As a Christian, though, it is not OK to live without hope. It’s not OK to live without courage and confidence. It’s not OK to live like the darkness has any power. Jesus is risen, he is alive, and the darkness, whatever it is, is no match for the light of life.

“The truth is seen in Christ Jesus and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.” ~1 John 2:8

Peace,

Allan

Apostles’ Creed

January 11, 2016 / Allan / 0 Comments

“This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” ~John 17:3

In today’s postmodern world in which the accepted truth is that there is no truth at all, we can’t take for granted anymore the articles of the Christian faith. Biblical literacy is low. Doctrinal literacy is low. There is a tremendous need for the Church to refocus the center of our faith, to get a better grip on our true identity as Christ-followers. We’ve got to get clear on our core. It occurs to me that the best way to keep from being blown by every wind of doctrine is to have a doctrine.

So, yesterday here at Central, we began a year-long exploration of the ancient Apostles’ Creed.

I know, I know; I know what you’re thinking. We don’t do creeds in the Church of Christ. In our faith tradition it’s always been, “No creed but Christ!” That, ironically, is one of our better known creeds. We have traditionally rejected human creeds because “We call Bible things by Bible names and do Bible things in Bible ways.” Again, that’s one of our hardest held creeds. Funny, huh?

All individuals and communities function from a center of belief and practice. These core beliefs that inform and guide a group’s values and behavior can usually be summed up in a short statement: a creed. A statement of belief. Whether they’re written down or not, everybody’s got them. Democrats and Republicans have their creeds. So do Cowboys fans and Hindus, labor unions and college sororities, civic clubs and sovereign nations. Christians aren’t the only ones with creeds — everyone’s got creeds.

And I think Christians wanting to summarize and write down and memorize the specifics of the faith can be clearly seen in the Scriptures. The apostle Paul is very particular about what Christians need to believe and how they need to believe it.
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” ~Romans 10:9

Several places in 1 John make it clear that being a Christian doesn’t just mean believing in Jesus, but believing certain things about Jesus. If you deny that Jesus is the prophesied Jewish Messiah, then you’re denying God. You’re a heretic or, as the passage says, an anti-Christ (1 John 2:22). You have to believe that Jesus came to earth in the flesh and blood of a human being or you don’t have God; you don’t have his Spirit (1 John 4:2-3). There are summaries of the faith throughout the pages of the Bible in Deuteronomy 6, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 15, and 1 Timothy 6 to name a few. These statements clarify the truth and sweep away any false beliefs. Believing the right things in right ways is important. Scripture is very serious about rebuking false teachings and holding to the “pattern of sound teaching.”

The Apostles’ Creed is one of these ancient summaries. Outside of the Bible, it’s the earliest known version of a summary statement of the Christian faith. It goes all the way back to the late second century when candidates for baptism were asked to publically confess their core beliefs on the way into the water. Hippolytus writes the words down in 215 AD as if the Church has been reciting them for years. So, it’s old: really, really old. Technically, it’s older than the New Testament canon. Yes, the New Testament gospels and letters had already been written when the Church adopted the Apostles’ Creed. But the ink was still wet. In fact, the church councils used the Apostles’ Creed to help guide them as they were deciding which books belonged in the New Testament and which ones didn’t. After all, the creed had been faithfully recited by the Church for more than a hundred years at that point. So it played a major role in the canonical process.

Now, I’m not actually preaching the Apostles’ Creed. We’re using the creed as a guide while we preach the Bible. The Apostles’ Creed is not the authority. It has no authority in and of itself. It’s like the moon. The moon is awesome to look at. The moon is beautiful and inspiring, we write songs and poems about the moon. The moon doesn’t have any light in and of itself. But it tells me there’s a light out there.

The Apostles’ Creed reflects the light of the Word of God: the written Word, the Scriptures, and the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.

It’s ancient. It’s good. And it’s strong. It affirms the unshakable beliefs of the Christian faith: only one God, the divinity of Jesus, the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ, the coming judgment, the Holy Spirit, the one Church, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. It’s timeless. It’s withstood all the tests. We’re memorizing it and reciting it in our families and in our assemblies. And it’s going to be good for us.

Peace,

Allan

Holy Spirit Witnesses

November 13, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” ~1 John 1:1-3

But I haven’t heard Jesus with my own ears. I didn’t see Jesus with my own eyes or touch his resurrected body with my own hands. Those apostles, those first Christians in the New Testament, had lots of advantages over me. They were real witnesses. I’m not really a witness at all. How can I be expected to proclaim the same ways they did?

As we established in this space yesterday, you have Holy Spirit power. You have the Spirit of God, the personal Spirit of the Christ, living inside you. I don’t know how that works. I promise you right now I don’t know how to explain it. But I believe it. And I trust it.

The Gospels tell us there is a continuity of personal experience with Jesus for all generations of disciples, not just the first generation. In John 14, Jesus promises he’ll never leave his followers as orphans: “I will come to you,” he says.

“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” ~John 14:23

Scripture says that Jesus ascending to his throne at the right hand of God in heaven does not mean the end of his presence with his followers. Jesus lives inside you.

“Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” ~1 John 3:24

“We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the World. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.” ~1 John 4:13-15

The power of God’s Spirit belongs to you. It belongs to all disciples of the Christ. The Spirit inside you gives you an ongoing personal experience with our Lord. You know him. And you testify to that by the things you say and the way you live.

Peace,

Allan

Holy Spirit Power

November 12, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

I’m in Dallas this week for the Preacher Initiative and ElderLink, both being held at the great Highland Oaks Church of Christ. And what a great week it’s already been. I’ve been blessed to spend a couple of days and nights with my great friend Jason Reeves and his family, I had dinner last night at the home of OLD friends Glen and Becky Burroughs, I’ve reconnected with and been inspired by some of the best preachers and teachers in our church fellowship, and I spent a couple of hours this afternoon with Sally Gary, one of the Church’s most important leaders today. Tonight, it’s dinner with the Four Horsemen and all the wives (except Carrie-Anne who’s in Amarillo) at Kevin and Anita’s new house in Sunnyvale. And then ElderLink begins tomorrow.

Now, the only pressure of the trip besides writing a sermon in the middle of this busy week on the road, comes Saturday when I begin my journey back to Amarillo. There is an empty ice chest in the back seat of my truck. My daughters have told me I cannot come home without a half gallon of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream and a half gallon of Blue Bell Cookies and Cream. I’m not completely convinced I can make this happen. Can ice cream in those paper cartons last for six-and-a-half hours in an ice chest in the back seat? I’m going to be severely distracted over the next 48 hours with engineering in my mind a way to make this happen. I’d welcome your input and suggestions.

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What God has done and what’s doing is real. “We’ve seen it!” the apostle writes. “We heard it, we touched it! It’s real! This is what we proclaim. This is about eternal life. We testify to it and we proclaim it!” As Paul would say, “I am compelled to proclaim the Good News! Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Good News!” Those who experience the salvation of God in Christ, those live in the lordship of Jesus, can’t help but proclaim it.

You’re the same way about a lot of things.

You probably tell your friends when you discover a new soap: “It makes my skin so soft! You’ve got to try it!” You see a good movie and you tell everybody: “Wow! It blew me away! You’ve got to go see it!” You experience a new restaurant and you won’t shut up about it: “Man, we love that place!”

That’s how disciples of Christ are about the Good News of the lordship of Jesus.

Yeah, but I don’t have that kind of personality. I don’t have much Bible knowledge. I don’t have a complete grasp of theology. I don’t have all the answers to all the questions. I don’t have any influence. I don’t have a Christian college education. I don’t have the confidence.

OK. I’ll give that to you. All of that may be true.

But let me tell you what you do have: If you are a Christian, you do have the power of God’s Holy Spirit. You, Christian, have Holy Spirit power. And the reason you have Holy Spirit power is so you can proclaim and so your proclamation will be effective.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ~Acts 1:8

The part we play in Act Five of the Story of God — Proclamation — can only be fulfilled by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is so important. The mission of Jesus is urgent, the Good News must be told. But Jesus wouldn’t let them start until they had received the Spirit. They were prepared, they had been taught, they were witnesses, they were ready. But not without the Spirit. They had to wait for the Holy Spirit. It won’t work without the Spirit. And when the followers of Jesus did receive the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, they could not be stopped.

The Holy Spirit’s main purpose is to speak to people about Jesus. Throughout the New Testament, the Holy Spirit fills the disciples with strength to meet special witnessing challenges. He gives boldness and courage. He provides the right words to say and he provides the power to say them.

The disciples had no academic advantages. They had no political connections or financial strength. They had no upper hand in any way. What they had was Holy Spirit power. By that power they proclaimed the lordship of Jesus. And by that power the proclamation could not be stopped.

Peace,

Allan

Identifying the People of God

August 14, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

The rich man in Jesus’ parable never lifted one finger to help poor Lazarus. He didn’t act to relieve even a small part of Lazarus’ suffering. The rich man totally ignored him. And God’s people do not ignore the hurting. When Jesus gives us that picture in Matthew 25 of the last day, he makes it clear that we’re all going to be separated according to whether or not we helped people who were hurting.

We are saved by God in order to bless others. We are redeemed by God in order to serve others. We don’t love others so we can feel good, we love others because we have been loved. We don’t bless others so we can look good, we bless others because we have been blessed. We don’t lift up others to earn favor or points, we lift up others because we have been lifted up.

God’s desire is to do something in you and something through you. He is changing you so you can bless other people. But that is never going to happen until we see people the way our Father sees people. We must see the hungry, the lost, the poor, the sick; we have to see the lonely, the stressed, the depressed, the sad — we must see them all through the eyes of our God. We see all people for who they are: men and women created in the image of God. We see all people for who they can be: physically and spiritually whole, restored to a righteous relationship with their Creator. We see all people for what our Lord desires them to be: one with him and with all our brothers and sisters in his Kingdom.

But the rich man views Lazarus as his servant. Even after they both die and the rich man is being tormented in the flames and Lazarus is sitting in Abraham’s lap in an air-conditioned heaven with a root beer float. The rich man still sees Lazarus as an object to be used. He still thinks he’s better than Lazarus.

“Send Lazarus to bring me some water! Send Lazarus to warn my brothers!”

Helping the hurting is the evidence that your heart has been changed by grace. It’s a proof that your life has been transformed by the Spirit. It identifies you as a child of God.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth.” ~1 John 3:17-19

Peace,

Allan

Category: 1 John (Page 4 of 7)

The Universal Church

Light of Life

Apostles’ Creed

Holy Spirit Witnesses

Holy Spirit Power

Identifying the People of God

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