Showing posts with label Greater Things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greater Things. Show all posts

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 12:01 AM

Today marks the last "official" day of our daily readings in the New Testament for Greater Things.... But, I hope you'll continue reading. After doing this for 31 days, I hope it has begun to become a habit for you. Our Gateway website, under the Life Journal heading, has the daily Scripture readings for New Testament and Old Testament. You can even read online.

I won't be writing everyday, though I will keep doing my daily readings. I do plan to still write a few times a week on the Scripture readings, plus other things. If God has used this to encourage you this month, you might think about bookmarking this or subscribing to it.

I've been amazed all this month with the way God has been using these readings, at least in my life. I keep feeling like God picked all these Scriptures just for us, even though the reading plan was put together a few years ago at a church in Hawaii. For instance, our key Scripture for Greater Things... is John 14:12, where Jesus said: "'I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.'" (italics added) Jesus says the key to doing even greater things is our faith in him.

So, our reading today comes from Mark 7-8, and there's a passage in Mark 8 that sums up all we've been trying to do this past month. Jesus and his disciples have headed north from Galilee, and as they're walking along, Jesus asks them who people think he is. His disciples repeat what they've heard, saying people like the prophets, Elijah or even John the Baptist (who had been executed by King Herod Antipas, Mark 6). But then Jesus gets to the crux of the matter when he asks his followers, "...'But who do you say I am?'..." (8:29, NLT - italics added)

That's really the question, isn't it? Not just who people or disciples in First Century Palestine said Jesus was, but who do we say he is. Who we say, what we believe, makes all the difference in the world. It determines whether we believe what he says, whether we're willing to follow him, no matter what. It determines whether we're a follower in name, or a follower in reality. And Jesus tells us from John 14:12 that who we believe he is, our faith in him, determines how much God can and will use us.

Peter makes the amazing statement that must have been floating around in the minds of at least some of the disciples, but no one had said it yet: "...'You are the Messiah.'" (8:29) The Messiah was the Hebrew term (or Old Testament term) for God's anointed One. It was believed by First Century Jews that someday the Messiah would come, from the line of King David, and he would liberate his people, freeing them from captivity and slavery. Jews today are still looking for the coming of the Messiah, whereas Christians believe he has already come in Jesus Christ. The Greek term for "Messiah" is "Christ." Peter was saying to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the anointed One of God." "Christ" is actually a title, not a proper name. Jesus is the Christ.

The Jews pictured their Christ or Messiah as a warrior-type king who would vanquish their foes and lead them to re-establish the Kingdom of Israel, as in the time of King David, a thousand years earlier. There were certainly prophecies that pointed to the Messiah being a liberator, but there were other prophecies that most Jews had overlooked. As if to say this to his followers when Peter made this statement, Jesus proceeds to tell them what will happen to him - and it wasn't exactly according to the script most of them imagined for the Messiah or Christ. Perhaps this was one reason Jesus wasn't fully understood until after his death and resurrection.

Jesus told that, as the Messiah or Christ, he "...'must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.'" (8:31) I'm certain the disciples didn't really hear what Jesus was saying, because all of this went against everything their faith had taught them about the Messiah. How could their conquering King be killed? The reason the disciples had a hard time at first believing in Jesus' resurrection, even though he told them he would (as we see here), was because this was so far outside their expectations, they couldn't begin to swallow what Jesus was saying.

But Jesus doesn't stop there. He goes on to talk about what it means to be his follower - then and now:

"...'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?'" (8:34-36)

Here is the picture Jesus paints of what it means to follow him, to put our faith in him. It's a radical turning from self to God and others. It's selling ourselves out for Jesus Christ, so that nothing and no one is more important. It's sacrificing everything for him, and receiving eternal life! And it is this kind of life, a life of faith in Jesus fully lived out day-in and day-out, that Jesus says he can work in and through to do even greater things. Every time we fall short of this picture, we diminish what Jesus can do in us and through us. Yet, this goal is so impossible, in and of it self, that it takes the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, living in us to move us in this direction, enabling us to live this radical lifestyle.

The question Jesus confronts all of us with is actually very simple: "Do I really believe you are who you say you are - the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed One of God? Am I willing to redirect my life and actions to align with this belief - to live what I say? Ultimately, this is the question that confronts every one of us. Who do you say Jesus is?

What are my motives for fasting and praying?

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , | Posted On Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 6:58 AM

I'm always amazed at how God works, though I shouldn't be. This morning, as I was reading my Life Journal passages, the Old Testament reading was from Zechariah, chapters 7-9. Right away, a passage in chapter 7 jumped out at me, speaking to me as I and Gateway prepare to enter into October and a month of prayer and fasting and reading our Bibles as the foundation for Greater Things...

Scholars tells us this passage takes place in December 518 B.C., as many of the Jews have returned from their exile in Babylonia to Jerusalem and are beginning to rebuild the Temple, which was destroyed in August 586 B.C. by the Babylonians, when they conquered the nation of Judah. Apparently, some Jews had been fasting and mourning the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple, and they came to Zechariah to seek God's answer as to whether they should continue these practices, now that the Temple was being rebuilt.

God gives this response to Zechariah in chapter 7, verses 5-6: "'Say to all your people and your priests, "During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting? And even now in your holy festivals, aren't you eating and drinking just to please yourselves?"'"

Over twenty-five hundred years ago Zechariah recorded God's response to the Jews that speaks to me today, on the eve of our own period of fasting and prayer. What are my motives? Am I doing this to show how spiritual I am? Am I doing this because it's the "spiritual thing to do"? Am I trying to manipulate God to give me what I want? All these questions come back to a root issue for me - the battle of selfishness within me.

Jesus addressed this directly in his Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus said, "'And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.'"

The issue of prayer and fasting comes down to our motives. This October, as I pray and fast, I'm going to work hard to keep folks from being able to tell what day I'm doing this. I'm going to work hard to avoid the temptation of letting folks know how "spiritual" I am because I'm fasting. I'm going to be honest about what I'm doing (when I'm asked), but I'm not going to try to draw attention to myself. Instead, I'm going to focus on honoring God and listening to God. When I feel hunger pangs, I'm going to use those as reminders to pray. Those times when I would ordinarily eat will be intentional times for me to pray.

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12 NIV - italics added) I'm going to pray this scripture, that God works in me, that He transforms me more and more into the image and likeness of His Son Jesus Christ. I'm going to pray the items on my prayer card. I'm going to ask God to do greater things in me and in the people of our church, so He can do even greater things through us. I don't want this period of prayer and fasting to be about me and my motives and my rewards. I don't want God to question my motives, as he did the people in the time of Zechariah. I want to do this for God, so that my fasting and my prayers bring honor and glory to Him - and not me!

Starting tomorrow I'll be sharing with you my thoughts daily about the New Testament Life Journal readings. You don't have to read the Life Journal readings - just read your Bible daily, using any plan that works for you. It's all a part of our month-long journey of prayer and fasting for Greater Things...

By the way, this Sunday at 5:30 is our First Sunday New Life Service, followed at 6 p.m. by our regular Gateway Academy classes. In addition, Marianne Gignac will be teaching a class on prayer and fasting, and this will be the perfect opportunity to learn more about prayer and fasting.

I won't tell you prayer and fasting is always easy for me. And though you may not have the same struggles I do, I hope and pray that all of us, together, will examine our motives and ask God to do all this for His glory. I'm convinced God is calling us to this, and so if we strive to do our part, He will do even greater things through us for Him and His world. And that gets me excited! I hope October goes well for you - I'm looking forward to what God's going to do!

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , | Posted On Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 1:13 PM

Join Gateway in October Prayer & Fasting

Welcome to my blog - I don't have a snappy name for it (and I don't know if I want that or not), but if you've got a suggestion, email me at rhageman@gateway-community.org.

Our capital campaign theme for adding much needed educational space is Greater Things… Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 NIV – emphasis added).

In order for God to do greater things through us, in our community and beyond, we have to first allow God to do greater things in us. We have to allow Him to grow our faith in Jesus. I shared with our congregation this past Sunday that I believe God is calling one hundred of us to fast and pray each day of the week (for a total of seven hundred of us), plus at least one thousand of us to read our Bibles daily.

This is a huge challenge for us, and already several hundred of you have said, “Yes!” But, we haven’t reached seven hundred, and there’s no reason we can’t go beyond that. I know this will stretch some of us beyond anything we’ve ever done before, but it is precisely in these kinds of experiences that God grows us most – and uses us most! If you’re not sure about what fasting is, or for medical reasons you shouldn’t miss meals, I’ve attached a brochure that gives more information about fasting and other options that also work.

I’ll be preaching in October about faith from Hebrews 11. In addition, our Life Groups will be using a study by Pastor Andy Stanley called Simple that lays out the simple basics of faith. I’ll also be sending you weekly email updates that may also include additional prayer needs. I am starting this new blog, where I’ll be sharing my thoughts about the New Testament scripture readings from the Life Journal each day, and I invite you to check it out, beginning October 1st. (Actually, I set it up earlier in the year, but I never really got started - this is the official beginning).

I believe October will be a great month of renewal and revival in our church. I’m convinced God wants to do greater things through us, so I hope you will join me in letting God do greater things in us!
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