Formed in a New Community

Formation: In Christ, with Community, for the City PART I
24 September 2017
Reverend Abe Cho

Psalm 95
1Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2Let us come before him with thanksgiving
    and extol him with music and song.
3For the Lord is the great God,
    the great King above all gods.
4In his hand are the depths of the earth,
    and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.
6Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care.
    Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8"Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
    as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9where your ancestors tested me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10For forty years I was angry with that generation;
    I said, 'They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they have not known my ways.'
11So I declared on oath in my anger,
    'They shall never enter my rest.'"

What worship can do for you...

REORIENTS (v1-6)
--We have all multiple and fragmented desires.
--We want everything, but they end up destroying us in the end.
--Which desire should we give our lives to
--PRAISE - v1 - Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord...

GROUNDS US (v6-8)
--Does our pursuit of comfort, wealth, status become our atonement process?
--We strive to convince ourselves that we are ok.

CHANGES US (v8-11)
--The end of Psalm 95 - never rests
--Author of Hebrews comments that this is a search that never ends.
--We are no longer the heroic figure in our story.
--Jesus becomes our atonement story.
--We have to give Him our sin--not try to atone for it ourselves.

Confident in Love

Jesus, Mission and Glory: New Confidence PART III
Dr. Timothy Keller
22 January 2017

John 14:7-11
7If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?  Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.  How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?  The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.  Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

WHAT IS IT TO KNOW GOD
--It's possible to go through the Christian motions without knowing God.
--Possible to be a theologian and not know him.
--From the words of Jesus, it you see Jesus, you see the Father.
--v.10 God is "working" and his words are deeds and they bring the light.
--Psalms--O taste and see that the Lord is good.
--How can we know God?
--1) A steady and sustained prayer life.  Prayer is a desire to know God.
--2) Prayer can be a sensory language.
--3) Seeing long term deep changes in our heart
--4) Our anger/pride is exerted and exacerbated by outside forces--they aren't the cause
--5) A sense of the divine nature of the Bible.

WHY IS IT POSSIBLE TO KNOW GOD
--v.7"..From now" on refers to Jesus' death.
--What makes me want to know Him?
--God's love for us cost him something.

Confident in Salvation

Jesus, Mission and Glory: New Confidence PART II
15 January 2017
Rev Abraham Cho

John 14:4-6
4You know the way to the place where I am going."
5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."

The Way, Truth, and Life is found in the person of Jesus Christ.

WAY TO THE PLACE
--We don't have all the information.
--It's not about our own effort.
--If it were through achievement, then it would exclude the weak--which can lead to moral superiority.
--Should everyone be saved?  Does that mean God doesn't care about justice by tolerating oppression and violence.
--Because the way to God is through Jesus, then that is the way to Justice.

TRUTH
--It's  a person.
--Getting to know someone requires self disclosure and revelation.
--Mode of inquiry to get to know God must shift accordingly.
--At the very least, you should read the Bible.

LIFE
--Life we want is in Jesus Christ.
--Relationships are crucial to happiness.
--Life moves fast and the moments of love fly by.

Confidence in Hope

Jesus, Mission and Glory: New Confidence PART I
Rev Aaron Bjerke
08 January 2017

John 14: 1-3
1Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in me.  2My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

God of Faith Brings Life

FEAR OF THE DISCIPLES
--Expectations of the Messiah was political and spiritual.
--Jesus performed actions of a slave and servant and was humble-which were atypical of a "Messiah"
--Jesus was about servitude and weakness.
--V.1 Troubled translates to fear because their hopes were vanishing.
--Fears are related to how we think things will play out.

ANTIDOTE TO FEAR
--An invitation to belong to God.
--Jesus will take care of us--because there's a room in his Father's house.
--Presence of God equals the action of God -- A Relationship.

HOW TO WE GET THIS ANTIDOTE
--V.3 Jesus does the work by going and coming back.
--Nothing can touch our relationship with God.

Come and See

Jesus, Mission and Glory: Advent--Veiled in Flesh, the Godhead See PART VI

Rev. Edward Sirya

01 January 2017

John 1:35-50

35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.  36When he say Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"

37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.  38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"

They said, Rabbi (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"

39"Come," he replied, "and you will see."

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him.  It was about four in the afternoon.

40Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.  41The first thing, Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).  42And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John.  You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).

43The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee.  Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."

44Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.  45Philip found Nathaniel and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

46Nazareth!  Can anything good come from there?"  Nathaniel asked.

"Come and see," said Philip.

47When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of him, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit."

48"How do you know me?" Nathaniel asked.

Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."

49Then Nathaniel declared, "Rabbit, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel."

50Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.  You will see greater things than that.

WHAT DO YOU WANT? v38

--We are what we love.

--How do we orient ourselves in this world?

--What pulls on our hearts?

INVITATION v.39

--Search for truth always involves doubt.

--Andrew shares the news of the Messiah with his brother--come and see for yourself.

GREATER THINGS

--v.42 Jesus changes Peter's name because he can see what nobody else can see.

--Peter means rock because it is the foundation of the church--what Peter will become.

--Seeing Nathaniel under the fig tree could be a sign that he was seeking to know God because that is where Jews some times prayed.

Veiled in Flesh, the Godhead See

Jesus, Mission and Glory: Advent PART IV
Lessons and Carols
Re. Abraham Cho
18 December 2017

John 1:19-28
19Now this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.  20He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Messiah."

21They asked him, "Then who are you?  Are you Elijah?"
He said, "I am not."
"Are you the Prophet?"
He answered, "No."

22Finally they said, "Who are you?  Give us an answer to take back those who sent us.  What do you say about yourself?"

23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'"

24Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, not Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

26"I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know.  27He is the one who comes after me, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."

28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

THREAT OF CHRISTMAS
--New Christians were on the margins of society--but drawing large crowds.
--Will this upset the status quo?
--King Herod understands there can only be one king.
--Christmas means the authority over every aspect of our lives.

OFFER OF CHRISTMAS
--John was free from the need to be "The One"--thus he was able to answer more humbly.
--Liberating moment comes when we stop digging deeper into ourselves and accept that it comes from the outside.

CLAIM OF CHRISTMAS
--V.23 references Isaiah 40
--God incarnate is coming, not a prophet nor a teacher.
--Are we spiritually awake enough to receive this?