A Garden & Jesus the Man of Sorrows

Last week, Pastor Rick shared with you the first message of this series, where we talked about a donkey and Jesus the Messiah.  We discovered that the donkey itself was a prophecy fulfilled and that this humble animal heralded THE Messiah.  We learned that the story of the donkey mattered because it underscored the accuracy of the Scriptures as trustworthy.  It emphasized that Jesus the Christ was fully cognizant of His own identity as both God and man and lived according to the Messiah paradigm.  It demonstrated that Jesus willingly purposefully approached Jerusalem to fulfill his destiny: not of an earthly throne but a cross.  And, finally, it highlighted the fact that having fulfilled hundreds of prophecies and promises to come the first time, Jesus’ promise to come again is rich and full and can be relied upon.  He kept His promise to come the first time.  We can be sure He will keep His promise to come the second time. 

Having considered Jesus the Messiah, we now turn to another picture – another glimpse of the Passion – It is a picture of Jesus the Man of Sorrows.

The song shared today was performed by Keith & Kristyn Getty titled "Gethsemane Hymn" written by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty.  The copyright is 2008 ThankYou Music.  Its CCLI License # is 5567746. We listened to it via YouTube here: https://youtu.be/mKfzrNs4-UU

A Donkey and Jesus the Messiah

Listen as Pastor Rick begins a sermon series called "A Donkey, A Garden, A Cross, & A Tomb."  In honor of Easter month, Pastor Rick will explore the themes of Jesus as Messiah, Man, Mediator, and Master.

In this first message of the series, Pastor Rick shares why it is important to recognize Jesus as the prophesied Messiah.  He also reminds us that if He fulfilled His promises to come the first time, we can trust his promise to come again.   

"Finally it tells us that we can trust the promise that Jesus the Christ – The Anointed One –  will come again.  He came once and fulfilled hundreds of prophecies so thoroughly that it is a mathematical improbability for them all to be fulfilled by anyone else.  This same precise, intentional, thorough God-man – the Word Himself – has promised just as earnestly to return again in triumph.  And this time, he will not only rule in the hearts of believers, but His permanent eternal kingdom will be established in an entire universe birthed anew!  His first triumphal entry points directly to another triumphant entry yet to come – to promises we await to be fulfilled.  Are you looking for His return?"

THE EASTER COVENANT

Listen as Pastor Rick explains the significance of The Lord's Supper and the Communion celebration.  It is a beautiful ritual with rich meaning!  Remember, Recognize, and Rejoice!

Life on a New Level

The 2nd of two excerpts from "The Law of Faith" by Norman Grubb:

We are summoned to step right off the level of the visible, the natural, carnal, and take the giant leap into the invisible.  Witnesses are piled on us to press us into it.  The inward light.  The outward Scriptures.  The historic fact of Christ.  The miracle of changed lives.

               Very well, at last we do it.  We state to ourselves that we have begun life on a new level of reality – in Christ.  We pronounce the new realities to be the new facts of our every-day life.  We are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.  We are crucified with Him and He is living in us.  We have His love, His wisdom, His power.  We are in a mystical union with the Godhead.  We are in a new timeless, spaceless realm; a fourth dimension, where, in the spirit, we reach everywhere, possess all things, and touch all lives or supply all needs by the law of this invisible kingdom, the law of Faith.  And in the magnificence, wonder and glory of this new and full livingness, like Paul, we lose our hold on all the paltriness and trivialities which were once the sum of all life to us, our little bit of earthly dignity, position and reputation, our miserable scraps of earthly possessions, our little world of friends and relatives, even our tenacious hold on our minute particle of physical life.  All these rivulets of the good things of existence are now merged and submerged in the endless sea of ALL in Christ…not lost…merely absorbed, as the light of the night lamp in the morning glory of the sun.  How can we grasp tight and cling to our petty dignities, our few bits of things, our tiny circle of loved ones, when hands and hearts are brim full with the wealth of the universe, the honor of the divine sonship, the whole family in Heaven and earth, and we are busied in praising, blessing and dispensing, in place of coveting, grabbing, and keeping? (p. 62,63)