Grace Baptist Santa Clarita: Service Podcast

We’ve seen how God gloriously interrupted the lives of Zechariah, Joseph, and Mary. This week we travel to the fields outside Bethlehem where shepherds were guarding and caring for the flocks that would produce the Passover lambs. It was to these special shepherds that God’s birth announcement came. Their lives were interrupted with the greatest declaration ever heard by human ears. “The promise of Messiah has been fulfilled, and you are invited to be among the first to worship him!” O come, let’s all adore him!

Certainly the greatest “interruption” found in the Christmas storyline came in the lives of Joseph and Mary. They were godly people with their lives planned and a marriage on the horizon. But all that was seemingly over when Mary found herself pregnant. Yet as we have seen throughout the biblical story, when God interrupts lives, it is always for purposes that are both divinely ordained and personally beneficial. The only variable is whether or not we will respond to his word with true faith and joyful obedience.

The entrance of God into our world as a baby was certainly the greatest interruption in human history. And as much as we hate to be interrupted, we’d have to admit it was glorious, magnificent, and most of all, life-changing. But his coming also interrupted other lives, and as we look at them this Advent season, we will find that whatever God brings into our lives is always best for us, as long as we see it as his way to make us more like Jesus.

As we finish a major section in Acts, Luke summarizes several characteristics of Paul’s ministry. But today we learn our greatest lesson from the lives of the noble Bereans and Apollos, the incomplete apologist. From the Bereans we learn the value of discernment, while we see in Apollos the necessity of being life-long learners, never afraid to be instructed but always displaying a teachable heart.

Paul’s presentation before the Areopagus in Athens stands as one of the greatest examples of presenting Christ in a pluralistic, even hostile environment. The key: Meet people where they are, find common ground, and then use the truth to take them where they need to be. And expect a mixed reaction … to the glory of God!

As Luke narrates Paul’s ministry in two Roman cities we find some common themes that form a model for ministry in our day. If we want to see lives changed through the gospel, we have to take it where people are, engage them in friendship and dialogue, and invest our lives in turning the world upside down for Jesus.

As we celebrate Reformation Weekend it is so encouraging to know God’s plan to rescue and reform broken lives is ongoing. What started in the Bible, was re-discovered in the Reformation, and continues to change lives today is simply the gospel of Jesus, taught and modeled through the lives of faithful Christ-followers. Today we see yet another example from the life of Paul as he is intentional to live out the gospel with his life and his lips. May the Lord show us just how wonderful it is to partner with him in the greatest rescue mission ever!

What are we supposed to do when disagreements arise among believers? How do we handle our differences differently than those who don’t know Jesus? What about preferences? What really matters anyway? When Paul and Barnabas decided to take a 2nd missionary trip, their plan was derailed because of a sharp disagreement about who should be on the team. As we learn from their experience we also take time to look at a most practical matter: How do we remain righteous when disagreements arise between us and other Christ-followers?

The tremendous results of Paul and Barnabas’s mission efforts among the Gentiles brought about a most divisive question: Do Gentile believers have to come under the Law of Moses? In reality the question was all about the content of the gospel and the nature of God’s rescue in Christ. Are we forgiven because we’ve engaged in certain religious rituals and done the required good works? Or is God’s forgiveness ours by grace alone, through faith alone, because of the work of Christ alone?

The travels and travails of Paul and Barnabas described in Acts are not merely a journalistic description of an ancient journey. Rather, they are meant to be understood as the way Jesus Christ himself was forming and grounding his church. In this text we see his will regarding the perseverance of individual believers in faith and the best way to lead, feed, and govern the church.

In Act’s 14, Paul and Barnabas are continuing on their first missionary journey, bringing the message of Christ to both Jews and Gentiles. But what happens when the gospel of grace is preached? Well, the results always vary. Some may see it as the message of life; others may oppose it with great passion. Either way, as we think about becoming every day evangelists, we must be prepared for the many responses we may encounter.

Though from the beginning God had promised blessing to all the nations through the seed of Abraham, Israel had always considered God to be theirs alone. In Acts 13, through the preaching of Paul, we see how hardened the Jews have become and how open to the gospel are the peoples of the world. Today we are given a glimpse of how the gospel can both compel and repel. For some, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation; for others it acts to bring their rebellious hearts to the surface for all to see. But in every event, when the truth is told, God is glorified, and that’s our only goal!

As we re-enter the world of Acts, we are privileged to walk with Barnabas and Paul as they leave the comfort of the church to encounter their world with the good news of Jesus Christ. Their experience, while historically significant in unique ways, also shows us how our lives can be lived “on mission.” That is, how we can view our everyday evangelism, seeking to intersect with those God is drawing to Jesus in the normal rhythms of life.

This weekend we take time to be intentional about how Grace Baptist Church can continue to influence future generations of Christ-followers. As we plant seeds of truth and love in the lives of our children and students, we trust God to produce in and through them the fruits of righteousness to carry on the mission of Christ after we are gone. Those who came before us looked ahead and, in their time, provided what we needed to follow Christ and serve our community. Now it is our turn. Even more, now it is our privilege, by his grace and for his glory!

The events of Mark 14:32-42 are deeply mysterious. They describe Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before he is murdered. As Jesus turns aside to pray in a way he never has before, we find him in his most surreal moments before the Father. Being given access, we will witness Heaven deliver its verdict through silence, while Jesus’ closest friends fall fast asleep. He is alone, but with voluntary love he proceeds into the will of the Father. What was his motivation? This weekend we find it’s the same motivation he’s given to us in our work of sharing the gospel – the motivation of love.

What does it mean to serve? And why do we call our church meeting a “service”? When Jesus reached out and saved us, was that just his way of saying “I’m here to serve you,” or was he drafting us into his service, as his servants, charged to carry out his will? Let’s look at what Peter has to say to us today and don’t be shocked if he asks us to change some of our thinking. After all, our only desire is to be more like Jesus and do the will of God to the best of our ability.

In order for an organization to successfully live up to its purpose it must have the ability to focus on a fixed point –a purpose statement, a common goal, a leader, etc. The church is no different. In fact, it’s not just an organization, it’s an organism. The church is described as a body; and just as a body needs feeding, cleaning, and general maintenance, so the church similarly has spiritual needs. Ignoring these needs will cause the body to become unhealthy, leaving it unfit and unable to carry out its purpose. In Philippians 2:1-4 Paul prescribes what believers need in order to live spiritually healthy lives with one another. Paul will give us the perfect and only fixed point we need to accomplish the mission–the Lord Jesus Christ.

In a day when some would claim they don’t have to go to church to be a Christian, what God has to say about the church gathered, especially in worship, increasingly grows in importance. If our goal as His children is to be pleasing to the Father, our life practices must be guided by the definitions and instructions the Father has written in His Word and not by our personal biases, especially regarding corporate worship. Only then will we fulfill the greatest commandment, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves.

We know that time in God’s Word is important—something every Christian is called to give themselves to. But often, rather than being a source of our joy and a fuel for our worship, our Bible study is a source of frustration. The Bible wasn’t given to be read begrudgingly. Rather the Bible was given to increase our knowledge of God, which fuels our love for God, which spills over into joyful worship to our God.

In our newest series, Crossfit, we are examining the most essential exercises that enhance the spiritual health of the Christ-follower and the local church. One of those exercises is both regular and spontaneous generosity. However, we know that even as we pursue Christ, our hearts are often pulled in many different directions. It is only when the church recognizes and enjoys the generosity of God that we will be compelled to generously give to others.