You Have to Choose - The Sermon on the Mount Series

This week’s devotional was written by Timothy Tennent and is entitled The Two Paths (Psalm 1). Dr. Timothy Tennet is the former President of Asbury Theological Seminary and is a contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

PSALM 1 (NIV)

Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

CONSIDER THIS

Psalm 1 is the doorway into the entire Psalter. In this first psalm, the grand theme of the Psalms is revealed: the two paths—the path of the righteous and the path of the wicked. This psalm marks the beginning of the greatest journey of life. Even in this first psalm, we begin to see why the Psalms are known as the Sung Torah because all the great themes of the Old Testament find their way into this book of worship. The Torah set forth the way of life and the way of death. The psalm sings of these two ways. Likewise, the book of Proverbs is the wisdom of the Torah, setting forth the way of the wise and the way of the foolish. Psalm 1 sets forth the basic worldview of worship, which reminds us that the way of the wicked is filled with the ungodly, who scoff at God’s law and if followed, will lead us astray. The psalm shows us, in advance, what the final end or trajectory of the wicked will be; namely, they will be like chaff that the wind drives away, and they will not be able to stand in the day of judgment (vv. 4–5). In contrast, the righteous are like a fruitful tree, which prospers and is steadfast (vv. 1–3).

Hymns and choruses frequently celebrate the way of the righteous, but a proper understanding of the way of the wicked has been lost. As Christians, we need to understand both trajectories. We must see the final end of the wicked. We must also recognize that only Jesus has steadfastly walked in the way of the righteous. The two paths of righteousness and wickedness remain far apart except for the one point in history where they converge: namely, at the cross of Jesus Christ. It is there that Jesus took upon himself all the shame, guilt, and judgment of wickedness. Yet, he remained the Righteous One. It is at the cross that we who have traveled the way of wickedness can finally cross over through grace to the path of righteousness. It is, therefore, by grace that we are found in him and we are enabled to sit, walk, and stand on the narrow way, which leads to life, not the broad way, which leads to destruction (see Matt. 7:13–14).

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Trusting In God for All Things - The Sermon on the Mount Series

This week’s devotional was written by Dan Wilt and is entitled, In Christ We Set Our Hearts And Minds On Things Above. Dan Wilt is a contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

CONSIDER THIS

One of the most popular ideas in self-help these days is captured in the word “mindset.” The common encouragement from the personal-makeover mavens and motivational speakers of the age—who dominate social media—is that if you change your mindset you can change your life. While some social media influencers may encourage a person to focus on the wrong things, they are not wrong about this—what you set your mind on can change the course of your life.

Jesus and Paul understood that one’s mindset is a powerful thing. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is helping his listeners change their mindset in verses like Matthew 6:25: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” One could argue that Jesus’s entire ministry was a call to change one’s mindset about God, oneself, and others.

Paul, following the lead of Jesus in Colossians 3:1–2, talked directly about mindset. But Jesus and Paul did not tell us to set our minds on positive thinking, increasing our influence, or business success. Rather, Jesus and Paul instruct us to get our hearts set and our minds set on things above—on the person of Jesus (Heb. 12:2), the love of the Father (1 John 4:16), and life in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).

First, in verse one, Paul tells us to get our hearts set—fixed on, locked in–on things above. On Jesus. And what does Jesus have his heart set on? Loving the Father and loving his people. 

We could think of setting our hearts on things above as setting our affections, our desires, our loves, on Jesus. Christ is seated at the right hand of God, so that’s where, and toward whom, our desires should be oriented. We are seated in that same heavenly place with Jesus (Eph. 2:6) and, in that place, we have the heart of Christ (Heb. 8:10).

Paul wants us to be heaven-hearted, meaning our affections and desires should be set on knowing Christ and the eternal goal of life forever in communion with him. That heartset will change how we spend our days, years, or decades.

Second, in verse two, Paul tells us to get our minds set—meaning fixed on, locked in—on things above. On Jesus. So, what is the mind of Jesus set on? “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2b). 

Do you remember the temptation in the wilderness when the devil tempted Jesus with the kingdoms of this world and the tiny thrones of those tiny kingdoms? Jesus was seeing another kingdom ahead and his mind was set on the joy before him.

We could think of setting our minds on things above as setting our thoughts, our attitudes, our intellect, on Jesus. Christ is seated at the right hand of God, so that’s where, and toward who, our thoughts should be oriented. We are seated in that same heavenly place with him (Eph. 2:6) and, in that place, we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).

Paul wants us to be heaven-minded, meaning our thoughts and intentions should be set on thinking the thoughts of Christ and being guided by the Spirit’s wisdom in our decisions. That mindset will change how we spend our days, years, and decades.

What is your heart set on today? Through worship, prayer, and intimate communion with Jesus, your heartset can change for the better.

What is your mind set on today? Through Scripture reading, meditation, and learning in fellowship with Jesus, your mindset can change for the better.

In Philippians 4:8, Paul writes: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Heart and mind, we can meditate on what leads to love and eternal life.

Jesus is in you, giving you his heart and mind every day. United with him, we can become people whose hearts and minds are fixed on things above—loving and serving others from that place.

THE PRAYER 

Lord Jesus, I am in you and you are in me. I set my affections, desires, and loves on you. I set my thoughts, attitudes, and intellect on you. By your Spirit, help me set my heart and mind on things above as I love others in your name. In Christ Jesus, I pray, amen.

THE QUESTIONS

What does it mean to you to have your heart set on things above? Your mind set on things above? What is something you could do today to fix your desires, your thoughts, on Jesus?

Living An Authentic Life - The Sermon on the Mount Series

This week’s devotional was written by Andrew Dragos and is entitled, What Does Authenticity Have To Do With Holiness? Andrew Dragos is a contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

One of the primary reasons nonbelievers cite for their lack of faith is the hypocrisy of Christians. This is echoed in Gandhi’s damning judgment about liking Christ but not liking Christians. The history of moral failures and sexual scandals from some of the church’s most public figures need not be repeated here, but their negative effects are indeed far-reaching and long lasting.

According to philosopher and cultural critic Charles Taylor, our secular age is the age of authenticity. Our culture expects a “what you see is what you get” experience and insists that the most heroic thing we can do is to be true to ourselves. The greatest offense is, therefore, being inauthentic.

The virtue of authenticity, or “being real,” is both one of the greatest needs for the church today, and also its greatest threat. We live in a time when the church’s testimony regarding Jesus, salvation, and truth, is scrutinized largely by how well we display this claim to redemption. Nonetheless, the church must resist the temptation to make authenticity the chief end of the Christian life, or even what receives the most emphasis in our self-reflection. Failure to do so would be a profound mistake, and its consequences would be costly.

Why Authenticity Matters

First we must recognize that authenticity is an all-important theme for the Christian life. Surely relationships built on authenticity are rightly cherished, as love and trust are built on transparency and true knowledge of the other. Furthermore, small groups and accountability groups built on the premise of authenticity are invaluable, as they elicit powerful moments for confession of sin, empathy, and solidarity with one another (James 5:16). These experiences bring an uncommon vibrancy to church life (even if sometimes the most destructive sins are concealed while trite sins are announced with gusto). In fact, such small groups were a key ingredient to the 18th century revival in Great Britain.

But we have further reason to welcome the rise of authenticity. Jesus spared no words in rebuking religious people whose public lives modeled one reality while their hearts were in a different place altogether (Matt. 23; Luke 12:1). “Being real” appears to be the starting place for God’s work in our lives, as entering the kingdom of God requires admitting our guilt and acknowledging our dependence on God for forgiveness.

The Problem with Authenticity as the Chief End

While authenticity remains a basic starting place for Christians, and is often the conduit by which God works to put us into meaningful community, the church has a higher calling—it is to share in the holiness of God.

First, we must note the near silence of the New Testament on the theme of authenticity. While something could be said about integrity, which means consistently demonstrating sound moral character, authenticity is not treated as a virtue. On the other hand, the pervasive themes of holiness and sanctification are reassuring. Holiness is both the call and promise for the Christian in the gospel (Matt. 5:48; 1 Pet. 1:15-16; 1 Thess. 5:24).

Second, universal experience signals that a person’s first impulse is typically not the one that honors God. If a person were to engage in self-expression through the heroic act of being true to one self, there is no telling what might happen to our social fabric. Not to mention, what one culture says is being true to yourself may be exactly what the next culture rejects with vigor. Take self-promotion and aggression, for example: these were once heralded as virtues to be celebrated. Today, they are considered repulsive and even dangerous.

The Promise of the Gospel and Redeemed Authenticity

The marvelous thing is the way in which the gospel redeems both God’s people and the place of authenticity in our communities. When the church pursues holiness as its chief end, being true to ourselves actually becomes beautiful and virtuous, as the church is transformed into a truly holy people. By practicing the means of grace and developing holy habits—that perhaps begin as difficult, mechanical rhythms that rage against our flesh—we take on the image of Christ more and more. We begin to desire the things of God by training our spiritual senses (1 Cor. 9:27).

Notice that Paul writes literarily in Romans 7 as one who cries out without the Spirit of God. This, however, is categorically not the enduring struggle of the Christian. Indeed, we “are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:9). This is why Paul was able to write in another place, “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord…” (1 Thess. 1:5-6). Here we see both authenticity and holiness modeled in the lives of God’s servants.

The threat authenticity poses for the church is that of settling into a defeatist mentality. On the other hand, it may just be that the most heroic thing a Christian can do is to live out of their identity in Christ. By developing holy habits and surrendering ourselves to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we can truly become a holy people, and this transformed life is the kind of authenticity our world needs to see.

The Joy of Baptism - Baptism Sunday

This week’s devotional was written by Dr. Ben Witherington and is entitled, A Retelling of Jesus’ Baptism. Dr. Witherington is a contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

Jesus walked slowly, picking his way through John’s disciples, many of whom stood mesmerized by the sight of so many people entering the Jordan. Andrew led him to a good spot where they could both hear, down a path to a little sandbar next to the river. Jesus saw that all eyes were focused on John, who did indeed cut a remarkable figure in the blazing sun. He looked like a wild man, with his tousled hair, his scrawny frame, and his garment of animal skins. There were reports that he had taken to eating the insects of the desert—locusts—with a little wild honey to wash them down! There could hardly be a sharper contrast between John and some of the Pharisees and Herodians on the far shore, attired as they were in their immaculate robes, even here in the wilderness. John continued staring at them for a long moment, and then began to exhort them in a loud voice.

“You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you that G-d is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire.”

Andrew turned to Jesus. “If looks could kill . . .” Jesus, seeing the expressions on the faces of the Pharisees, nodded in agreement. Andrew sneered. “You won’t see any of that lot getting their pretty robes wet in the river with John. No, look there: it’s tax collectors and soldiers. John tells them how to change their lives. What they must do before G-d’s judgment falls on them.”

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They watched as John baptized those immediately around him, one after another. Then he addressed the crowd, speaking once more in a deep, clear voice:

“I baptize you with water, but One who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. The rake he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.”

Andrew turned to Jesus again. “He keeps deflecting attention away from himself, keeps denying he is G-d’s Sent One. But it’s so clear that he is indeed G-d’s prophet, preparing for the great and terrible Day of the Lord. It’s all very confusing, but it’s also breathtaking, to think that we might be living on the edge of the end of days!”

Jesus was silent for a while in reflection, as John returned to baptizing. Andrew looked at Jesus but could see that he needed to be left to his own thoughts. After several more minutes, Jesus suddenly stepped into the Jordan and started wading forward. John’s back was turned, so he did not see Jesus silently and steadily moving toward him. Now standing in water up to his waist, Jesus reached out and touched the prophet, saying gently, “John.”

Hearing the voice, John jerked around abruptly. He appeared shocked, but before he could speak Jesus said, “Baptize me, John.” Looking incredulous, John protested, “It is you who should baptize me, for you have come from G-d!”

Jesus smiled at his cousin. Then Jesus’ face stilled, as if listening to an inner voice. His eyes widened and then he said, “Still, let it be so, to fulfill all righteousness.” John paused, looked deep into Jesus’ eyes, and then nodded his assent. Placing his arm on Jesus’ back, he held Jesus’ two hands with his other arm. Very slowly he lowered Jesus completely into the water and then lifted him back out again.

Time stood still.

Jesus looked up, and his eyes grew wide. A single cloud had formed in the sky, which was suddenly rent in two, and people started at the loud clap of thunder that accompanied it. But as Jesus later told his disciples, he did not hear thunder, but instead a voice from heaven that said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” And there was more than just the voice. Jesus would tell them that he received power from on high on that day, the mighty Spirit of G-d falling upon him and remaining on him. In fact it was only after the Spirit descended that he heard the voice from heaven. The Spirit heightened all of Jesus’ senses, and he could hear the voice of G-d so much more clearly from then on. Indeed, from that day forward, he felt empowered, equipped for the task before him. Yes, this was the time. His decision to leave his family, however painful, was part of his Abba’s plan for him. The experience at the Jordan had been the confirmation he needed: not merely a confirmation of who he was, but also that it was time for him to begin to fulfill his calling, to engage in the work he had been sent to do.

But as suddenly as Jesus had come to John, he left and waded out of the Jordan on the Judaean side of the river. Once on the shore, he walked rapidly away so as not to draw any further attention to himself. It was as if he had an urgent matter to attend to, a pressing task to complete.

Andrew, who had seen the whole encounter, was left to ponder, muttering to himself as he stroked his beard: “I wonder who that man really was. And why did John say that Jesus should have baptized him?”

Resistance, Revenge, and Loving our Enemies - Sermon on the Mount Series

This week’s devotional is from Renovaré. It is an excerpt from an article written by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and is entitled, On Love and Nonviolence. Rev. Dr. King was a minister and Civil Rights leader who advocated for nonviolent resistance as a Christian response to injustice. We hope you will be encouraged.

On Love and Non-Violence

This is a spiritual movement, and we intend to keep these things in the forefront. We know that violence will defeat our purpose. We know that in our struggle in America and in our specific struggle here in Montgomery, violence will not only be impractical but immoral. We are outnumbered; we do not have access to the instruments of violence. Even more than that, not only is violence impractical, but it is immoral; for it is my firm conviction that to seek to retaliate with violence does nothing but intensify the existence of evil and hate in the universe.

Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and evil. The greatest way to do that is through love. I believe firmly that love is a transforming power that can lift a whole community to new horizons of fair play, good will and justice.

Love is Our Instrument 

Love is our greatest instrument and our great weapon, and that alone. On January 30 my home was bombed (1956). My wife and baby were there; I was attending a meeting. I first heard of the bombing at the meeting, when someone came to me and mentioned it, and I tried to accept it in a very calm manner. I first inquired about my wife and daughter; then after I found out that they were all right, I stopped in the midst of the meeting and spoke to the group, and urged them not to be panicky and not to do anything about it because that was not the way.

I immediately came home and, on entering the front of the house, I noticed there were some five hundred to a thousand persons. I came in the house and looked it over and went back to see my wife and to see if the baby was all right, but as I stood in the back of the house, hundreds and hundreds of people were still gathering, and I saw there that violence was a possibility.

It was at that time that I went to the porch and tried to say to the people that we could not allow ourselves to be panicky. We could not allow ourselves to retaliate with any type of violence, but that we were still to confront the problem with love.

One statement that I made — and I believe it very firmly — was: ​“He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). I urged people to continue to manifest love, and to continue to carry on the struggle with the same dignity and with the same discipline that we had started out with. I think at that time the people did decide to go home, things did get quiet, and it ended up with a great deal of calmness and a great deal of discipline, which I think our community should be proud of and which I was very proud to see because our people were determined not to retaliate with violence.

Hold to Non-Violence 

Some twenty-six of the ministers and almost one hundred of the citizens of the city were indicted in this boycott (of the Montgomery busses). But we realized in the beginning that we would confront experiences that made for great sacrifices, experiences that are not altogether pleasant. We decided among ourselves that we would stand up to the finish, and that is what we are determined to do. In the midst of the indictments, we still hold to this nonviolent attitude, and this primacy of love. 

Even though convicted, we will not retaliate with hate, but will stand with love in our hearts, and stand resisting injustice, with the same determination with which we started out. We need a great deal of encouragement in this movement. Of course one thing that we are depending on, from not only other communities but from our own community, is prayer. We ask people everywhere to pray that God will guide us, pray that justice will be done and that righteousness will stand. And I think through these prayers we will be strengthened; it will make us feel the unity of the nation and the presence of Almighty God. For as we said all along, this is a spiritual movement.

Purity and Faithfulness - Sermon on the Mount Series

This week’s devotional was written by J.D Walt and is entitled, Why the Heart of the Law is the Law of the Heart. J.D Walt is the Executive Director and contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

EXODUS 20:13-17 (NIV)

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

CONSIDER THIS

Why aren’t these five laws enough?

I remember early in my law school days, one of my professors made this sage comment. He said, “We can assess the morality of a nation by the number of laws it has recorded in its books.” 

13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 

Why can’t those be enough? They are sufficiently broad. What is it about people that we assume if the law is not written down the activity must not be illegal? What is it about people that we always look for the loophole to get around the law? Every loophole requires another law to close it. 

Jesus takes another approach to the law; on at least two levels. First, he articulates the great positive law of the comprehensive love of God, neighbor and self. Where there is love there is no need for law. In fact, the breaking of the law is the failure of love. Law is not about us but others. Second, he moves us to understand the law at the level of the heart rather than at the level of behavior. 

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Matthew 5:21-22

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28. 

The law is not about behavior but about the heart. Far before the law is broken the heart is broken. It raises the final point about the law. 

Some years ago I had the privilege of meeting and getting to know a bit the preacher to the Papal Household (under John Paul II and beyond)—Father Raniero Cantalamessa. He surprisingly accepted our invitation to come to Wilmore, Kentucky, to minister among us when I served as Dean of the Chapel at Asbury Seminary. He said many things on many subjects. He is one of my favorite teachers in the Kingdom on the Holy Spirit. In a lecture on Pentecost he spoke this striking word,

“The Law was given so the Spirit may be desired. The Spirit was given so the Law might be obeyed.” 

Let’s give Ezekiel the last word today. He will bring us full circle. Here is a word of fulfilled prophecy for you and me today: 

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20

THE PRAYER

Father, thank you that by your Spirit you give us an undivided heart, you remove from us our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. We have your Spirit, Lord, and yet we must have more of your Spirit; or rather your Spirit must have more of us. Work on me at the level of my heart. Renovate my heart Lord. In Jesus name, Amen. 

THE QUESTION

Have you entered into the heart level discipleship of the Spirit? Are you ready to get beneath the behavioral level of life and into the matters of brokenness and becoming? 

Unrighteous Anger - Sermon on the Mount Series

This week’s devotional was written by J.D Walt and is entitled, Why Anger Management Will Never Get It Done. J.D Walt is the Executive Director and contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

COLOSSIANS 3:7–8

You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

CONSIDER THIS

“You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. . . .”

Paul had never been to Colossae. He didn’t actually know these Colossians, but he knew Jesus. And he knew that when Jesus enters a person’s life, everything changes.

We all have a “life [we] once lived.” We all “used to walk in these ways.” It’s good, from time to time, to take stock of the change in our lives. What are the ways you used to walk in the “life you once lived”? How would you describe the ways you walk in today?

OK, I’ll go first. I used to be a really angry person. You would have never known it because I spent a lot of energy keeping it at bay. Only the people closest to me would have had a sense of my anger. And the crazy thing about anger is you aren’t really angry about what you are angry about. You know what I’m talking about?

Anger is a normal human emotion—until it takes root in your inmost self. Then it becomes like malignant cancer. Anger unbridled becomes rage. Anger imprisoned within becomes depression. It can be really complex, but the primary source of anger is pain. You don’t get rid of anger by trying to not be angry. You have to deal with your pain. Anger is pain’s wounded ambassador.

What does it look like to rid ourselves of our particular sin propensities? My journey toward ridding myself of anger was long and complex, but I think there may be a general pattern and progression that can be helpful for other issues.

First, and for the longest time, I was unaware of my anger issues. Somewhere along the way, by the grace of God (and a little help from my friends—also the grace of God), I became self-aware. Then, because I began to understand how my anger was hurting others, I started to care. I realized how powerless I was against this volcanic force within me. As noted, trying harder to not be angry did not work. It made me angrier. At that point I began to pull out my hair (not literally) and swear (see also “filthy language” from the list above). Are you feeling my rhyme scheme yet?

Throughout this process I was meeting regularly with a few trusted friends who were listening and praying with me. I sought the help of a counselor, who helped me identify and delve into the deeper sources of my pain, which led me into a process of forgiveness. Further, this led me to work with a pastor friend of mine who led me through a process of deliverance prayer. (Catch that rhyme?)

All of this brings me to the final rhyme in the scheme of this journey of riddance—share. God shared his nature with me, which is love. From beginning to end it was the love of God that delivered me from anger, and when anger is touched by love, it becomes love. Anger management, like any other form of sin management, will never get it done.

So, there you have it—the life I once lived—from unaware to self-aware to beginning to care to pulling out my hair to the temptation to swear to healing prayer to God’s decision to share. We want it to be so much simpler and quicker, and sometimes it is. The cross always has a will of its own, and it is always for God’s glory and our good.

Do I ever get angry anymore? Of course. Like everyone else, I have anger. Anger just doesn’t have me anymore.

THE PRAYER

Abba Father, we thank you for your Son, Jesus, who not only shows us the way of the cross but who walks every step of the way with us. Open my eyes to the sin I am unaware of, and lead me on the grace-filled journey of riddance, for your glory and my good. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Fulfilling the Plan - Sermon on the Mount Series

This week’s devotional was written by the Bible Project Scholarship Team and includes excerpts from an article entitled, How Does Jesus Fullfill The Law? We hope you will be encouraged.

You have heard it said that Jesus came to fulfill the law, but I tell you that Jesus never made that claim. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says he came to fulfill “the Law and the Prophets,” a traditional phrase that refers to the whole Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament). And he’s not talking about simple obedience to the statutes. For Jesus, following the law’s 613 commands matters, but to truly fulfill it, or to “fill it full,” is something more. 

So what is Jesus really saying here? What does it mean to fill the Law and the Prophets full? We can tackle the question in two parts. 

First, context can show us how Jesus fulfills the law by completing a long story. The Law and the Prophets describe a time when God would start healing all humanity and creation through one key person (and a group of people). Matthew believes Jesus is filling the Law and Prophets full by becoming that key person. 

Second, Matthew 5:17 is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), where he is teaching from the Hebrew Bible. Jesus is giving instructions for a specific righteousness—a way of right relating with God and neighbor—that the Law and the Prophets have long described. Following these instructions fills all of Scripture full. 

Jesus does obey the Law and the Prophets, but his deeper work is to fulfill them. He and his followers live in a powerful way that the Hebrew Scriptures had been talking about since “In the beginning…” (Gen. 1:1).

Jesus Fulfills the Biblical Story

In the garden of Eden, after humanity’s decision to disobey God’s first instruction (Gen. 3), we read about many like Moses and the people of Israel who try to partner with God but fall short. Jesus accomplishes what these human partners attempted but could not complete, which is one way to understand what it means for Jesus to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. Others partially fulfilled what Jesus entirely fulfills. 

Imagine what it might have been like to listen to a skilled orator tell Jesus’ story as a Jewish person during the 1st century. The speaker starts with Jesus’ birth, describing how King Herod’s hatred and jealousy drove him to order the murder of all male infants in the region (Matt. 2). You’re connecting the dots between Herod of Israel and the Pharaoh of Egypt, who also ordered the murder of Israelite male babies in his region (Exod. 1). 

Your people’s foundational salvation story seems to be happening again—but in a new way. Moses fled from his home to survive, but he returned to set the people free. The orator says that Jesus and his family also fled to survive, and they also returned (Matt. 2). Moses’ return started an exodus—an escape from slavery into freedom through the waters (Exod. 4-10). Is Jesus a new Moses, starting a new exodus? 

You hear about Jesus passing through the Jordan River in his baptism, signaling his intent to lead everyone safely through the waters into a renewed world (Matt. 3), which sounds a lot like Moses leading people through sea waters en route to God’s promised land. And by the time the speaker has finished telling Jesus’ story, you can’t help but see the connections. Jesus is exactly like the anointed one spoken about by the prophets, going through the same kinds of tests that Moses, Israel, and other key Hebrew Bible characters faced (but did not pass). 

As a new Israelite leader, Jesus stays true to God through every test, filling the Law and the Prophets full at every turn (Matt. 4). And, interestingly, it’s not only about Jesus. By choosing and guiding an expanding group of people who choose to follow him, Jesus is filling full another part of the story that often gets missed.

We find clarity in his Sermon on the Mount. 

Jesus Teaches People How To Fulfill the Law and the Prophets

Matthew captures Jesus’ most poignant teaching in chapters 5-7, often called the Sermon on the Mount. He begins with his vision for human life in the Kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 5:1-12). It’s an upside-down kingdom where the humiliated and afflicted find honor, never to experience poor treatment again. It’s a world where the greatest power is love, not wealth or might. It’s a kingdom where the ways of God and the ways of humankind become united as one. 

Life in God’s Kingdom, Jesus says, is about completing (or filling full) one's love for others. By loving God and neighbor, average people join God in the work of establishing his Kingdom (e.g. Matt. 22:37-40). Through their love, people living in Jesus’ way welcome all others to enter his world, where Heaven and Earth meet (see Matt. 5:14-16). 

For example, the command “Do not murder” seems achievable on the surface—just don’t murder people. But Jesus suggests this is not the law’s ultimate goal. Yes, the point was to end human violence, but even more it was to guide people into the attitudes and ways of loving one another. 

When we avoid murder, we partly fill the law. When we love, we fill it full. 

New Testament scholar R.T. France says Jesus’ teachings deal “not so much with the negative goal of avoidance of the wrong but focuses more on the positive goal of discovering and following what is really the will of God for his people.”1 The Apostle Paul understands Jesus’ teachings in the same way. “See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone,” he writes, “but always pursue what is good for one another and for all” (1 Thess. 5:15).

Read on its own, apart from the whole biblical story, biblical law often gets misinterpreted, leading to religious-looking behaviors that still allow space for ongoing contempt and hatred in our hearts. But Jesus and the apostles say that these commandments, taken together with the rest of the Hebrew Bible, are instructions that restore human beings’ love for one another (e.g. Matt. 5:17-19, 7:12, 22:37-40). 

In this way, love fills full the Law and the Prophets.

Don't Be Road Dust - Sermon on the Mount Series

This week’s devotional was written by J.D Walt and is entitled, Would You Like Some Fries With That Salt? J.D Walt is the Executive Director and contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

Matthew 5:13

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

CONSIDER THIS. . .

Something about salt. . . . I love to salt every chip at the Mexican Restaurant. The salt acts as a kind of catalyst, an activator at work between and among the chip and the queso and the salsa. Not only does it bring out the flavor of each member of this magnificent trifecta of Hispanic delight, but it effects an explosion of taste among them that none of the ingredients, either alone or together, can produce. We might even say the salt activates a type of trinitarian unity among them.

When I’m at Five Guys , I love to salt every bite of the burger. I don’t care that I have to deal with the cumbersome little salt packages. Something about a tiny bit of salt calls out the deepest flavors in food. Then there’s the famed McDonalds’s fries. You know it’s not the fries don’t you? Those are just ordinary potatoes thinly sliced. It’s the salt! Watch as the fry chef dumps the basket of deep fried goodness into the fry trough behind the counter. What happens next? The fry-meister takes that large container of finely granulated salt and artistically sifts it  over the fresh batch of glistening glory. If only we could see into the unseen spirit realm of the world of the french fry– might there be a burst of unapproachable light flashing as the salty savor descends upon the ordinary spuds? Might this even be akin to the spontaneous ignition of the fiery tongues of Pentecost as the savor of the Holy Spirit descended on the ordinary humanity of the Apostles?

I know. I’m getting carried away. But isn’t that the point?! Most of the time when someone is referred to as a “salt of the earth” kind of person, it means they are a hard working, generally rural, upstanding citizen. Though there’s nothing wrong with that, don’t you think it misses the point of what Jesus is saying here?

I like the way Wesley speaks of this metaphor of salt in the following excerpt: 

“It is your very nature to season whatever is round about you. It is the nature of the divine savor which is in you, to spread to whatsoever you touch; to infuse itself, on every side, to all those among whom you are. This is the great reason why the providence of God has so mingled you together with other men, that whatever grace you have received of God may through you be communicated to others; that every holy temper, and word, and work of yours, may have an influence on them also.

Would somebody pass the salt?

Characteristics of the Kingdom - Sermon on the Mount Series

This week’s devotional is an excerpt from the book, The Call to Contentment: Life Lessons from the Beatitudes written by Norman Wilson and Jerry Brecheisen. We hope you will be encouraged.

Introduction

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.…—Matthew 5:1–2

It was the traditional posture for a Jewish teacher. Seated, surrounded by watchful eyes and eager ears. Also sitting on the hard ground were devoted students who hoped that the truths of the ages would fall from the lips of their rabbi. They were attentive, expectant.

But this was no ordinary educator. This was the Master whose words had echoed through the halls of heaven. And these weren’t merely the truths of the ages. They were the truths of eternity. These were authoritative insights from One who had lived a perfect life yet walked shoulder-to-shoulder with the common man, life lessons from the Giver of Life.

There was no doubt that what He would say would be worth enduring the discomfort of a Judean hillside to hear. The God of Creation was about to school mere mortals on the Kingdom of Heaven. He would show them how to be whole and happy in the here and now while keeping the gleam of eternity in their eyes. This would be no lifeless, yawn-inspiring oration, but a refreshing draught from the well of wisdom, welcome encouragement for world-weary pilgrims. The disciples gathered; the crowds listened in.

We’re still listening.

You and I need to know how to focus on the eternal.

We still need to learn contentment and love while living in a world of grabbers and users. We still need blessing. We still need peace. Perhaps now, more than ever.

The Secret to Happiness

Pascal said, “We never really live, but we hope to live,” and it’s true. Most of us are straining for something that seems just out of reach. Or else why are some people happy while others are steeped in misery? Why do some whistle while others whine?

What would it take to make you happy? A new job? A new home? A new relationship? Money in the bank? Better health? I’ve learned—often the hard way—that none of these things bring contentment. Oscar Wilde epitomized our condition when he wrote, “We are always arranging for being happy, but we never are.”

Is it even possible to be content in a discontented world?

Jesus of Nazareth says yes.

In this awesome introduction to the world’s greatest sermon, He spells out the winning formula in practical terms. Answers flowed from the heart of the Galilean that day as He defined happiness in a way that would cause any of us to sit patiently on the cold ground, eagerly awaiting the next word.

And the lesson was remarkably simple.

Jesus taught us that blessedness—happiness—isn’t something you do or something you have or even something you are. Happiness is the response of your heart to the grace of God in your life. We are blessed—we are happy—because we have sought God and found Him. Happiness springs from knowing His peace and purpose in our lives.

The Real Thing

The Beatitudes form the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Matthew, the tax collector turned truth-gatherer, documented the event, recording the words of his Master. Here is the most practical job description for a human being that has ever been written. No greater life lessons have ever been taught.

Jesus began at the very center of human need—the longing for contentment. “Blessed are—,” He pronounced. The phrase blessed are can be translated happy are.

The Greek language has two words for happiness. One indicates a happiness derived from external sources. The other, the one used here, denotes happiness that comes from within. The former draws joy from circumstances: good weather, good health, and good friends; possessions, position, and prestige.

That brand of happiness seldom brings lasting contentment. As Thackeray reflected, “Vanity of Vanities! which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?”

The latter happiness exists even when the perks of prosperity are lacking. It is plugged into a different power source. Jesus says you can be refreshed even in the desert. You can sing even in the storm. You can learn to wrap your arms around a persecutor and call him friend.

That’s not happiness as we usually understand it. It isn’t happiness based on external conditions; it has an internal source. This is happiness that can be experienced regardless of the situation. It’s the state of being that allowed the Apostle Paul to write from the confines of a Roman prison, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).

The Starting Point

It’s said that the first word in the teaching of Buddha is suffering. I notice that the first word in the teaching of Christ is blessed. The Christian life is a life of blessing. Through these powerful principles, Jesus tells us how to live above the wanting, whining, and warring of society.

He tells us how to find comfort in the midst of pain.

He tells us how to feel joy in spite of grief.

He tells us how to feed on abundance though surrounded by poverty.

The Master Teacher says that we can be content without material things, holy without natural goodness, and loving without obvious graces.

Unnatural?

By whose standards?

Jesus set the bar high enough to make the leap humanly impossible, but low enough to make it attainable this side of heaven. Multitudes of hungry hearts departed the mountain filled with the Bread of Life.

The feast continues.

The Sermon on the Mount doesn’t have an expiration date. The Beatitudes have an eternal shelf life. If you are seeking—really seeking, desperately seeking—a spiritual nail upon which to hang your tattered burdens, I invite you to begin here, with the Beatitudes.

Here are eight statements of eternal truth for times like these.

Sermon on the Mount Series - Pastor Holly

This week’s devotional was written by the Bible Project Scholarship Team and includes excerpts from an article entitled, What is the Sermon on the Mount: Jesus Teaches About The Good Life. We hope you will be encouraged.

The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ most well-known teaching and one of history’s most famous speeches ever. Jesus delivered this sermon 2,000 years ago, and the implications of these words are still shockingly relevant and meaningful.

Emphasizing humility, forgiveness, and generous care for our neighbors, Jesus encourages people to choose God’s way of love, which will eventually renew all of creation. He calls this restored world God’s Kingdom. This is a realm in which Heaven and Earth are inseparably combined, a place where life flourishes that’s free from injustice, suffering, and death. 

We’re not sure if Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount as one big speech or if Matthew collected Jesus’ key teachings over time and organized them into a sermon-style scene (recorded in Matthew 5-7). Either way, this sermon contains some of the most rigorous ethical demands in the Bible. It has wild ideas like “blessed are the peacemakers” and “love your enemies” and “pray for people who persecute you.” 

These ideas might pass for utopian ideals, but they’re nonsense (and weak) in our modern empires, where leadership usually means strength and power more than vulnerability and love.

Jesus as the New Moses

Throughout the biblical story, God instructs people in many ways, but two teachers—Moses and Jesus—become primary human instructors. Moses was the only one who experienced God face-to-face (Exod. 33:11), and Jesus is God himself in the flesh. In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, through Jesus, God shows up like a new Moses, arriving to rescue not only all of Israel but all of humanity. 

As such, Matthew casts Jesus not only as a new Moses but also as a greaterMoses. Somehow, in a speech where Jesus never tells people to respect him or to bow down, the crowds still recognize strong authority in Jesus’ words. His teaching seems to have the ring of truth, and it fits with the Hebrew Bible’s instruction they already know, yet it leaves them utterly astonished (Matt. 7:28). 

Jesus is disrupting the common expectations of their world. Moses' teaching also disrupted the common expectations of the Egyptian empire and its Hebrew slaves. Moses taught an enslaved people to become free, not by turning to violence but by turning their attention to God and following his lead—trusting his instruction—which becomes a core theme in the Exodusnarrative. That had to sound crazy to enslaved people. Just follow God and trust him to deal with their enemies? But they did, and God set them free as promised. 

Like most of us throughout history, the crowds listening to Jesus assume that evil gets eradicated from our world with strong military power and the wealth it takes to build armies. But Jesus goes nowhere near that or an idea that depends on force, coercion, or violence. He promises with his life that the power of God’s love, along with those who choose to embrace it, will eventually outlast and overwhelm all evil everywhere. 

Don’t fight evil with the power of evil, Jesus says. Instead, join God in creating goodness throughout the land. If Jesus’ followers listen to his words, they will start seeing their enemies as neighbors and miracles of God who are worthy of love. All evil and every oppressor will ultimately be defeated, Jesus teaches, not with swords but with God’s creative, renewing love. 

Moses’ law had always been pointing in this exact same direction. It always intended to form its followers into loving people who honor God by blessing every family on Earth (see Genesis 12:1-3). Jesus is now making good on that intent by finishing—or filling full—the work that Moses’ instruction started.

How God’s World Will Be Transformed

Moses joined God in this life-renewing work back in Egypt. And Matthewportrays Jesus as a new Moses to signal that Jesus is doing the same thing. He is continuing the rescuing work God started long ago. But he’s introducing an unexpected trajectory through his Sermon on the Mount, opening humanity’s eyes to the deeper meaning of Moses’ Torah. 

As it is, Jesus’ teaching implies that the world won’t be fixed through the elimination of human enemies or through merely escaping our world for a better utopia in the clouds. God’s world—on Earth as it is in Heaven—will be transformed by changed human hearts. Jesus’ frustrated Galilean crowds were probably as unhappy to hear this as we likely are. They want God’s power to destroy their enemies, not God’s power to bless and heal and love them. In fact, Matthew says at the end that Jesus’ crowds were utterly shocked, astounded, and amazed. 

Despite hearing the most intense ethical teaching they had ever heard, far greater than any legal experts or religious elites, the people still somehow knew that Jesus spoke truth. And isn’t it true for each of us that, deep down, we prefer kindness and love more than hate or contempt?

“When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed by his teaching,” Matthew writes to conclude, “because Jesus taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law” (Matt. 7:28, NET).

Freedom Sunday 2025 - With Rev. Dr. Kevin Austin

 
 

Every so often, we will have a guest speaker at CrossView Church. We are so grateful for the gifted women and men that serve the Lord through teaching the word. This week we hear from Rev. Dr. Kevin Austin. Kevin is the founder and director of the Set Free Movement. The Set Free Movement works to mobilize faith communities, financial partners, and all segments of society towards ending human trafficking and creating new futures through community-based action. You can find out more information about The Set Free Movement by clicking here. We hope you are encouraged by this week’s message.

Usually, when we have a guest speaker, we will not have a weekly devotion. We encourage you to watch the message again at some point throughout the week.

Blessings on you and your week.

Pastor Kyle

Resources:

Guest Preacher - Pastor David Hicks: God's Big Table

 
 

Every so often, we will have a guest speaker at CrossView Church. We are so grateful for the gifted women and men that serve the Lord through teaching the word. This week we hear from Pastor David Hicks. Pastor David is a retired Free Methodist Pastor and Leader. He served as Lead Pastor at CrossView Church in the early 2000s. We hope you are encouraged by this week’s message.

Usually, when we have a guest speaker, we will not have a weekly devotion. We encourage you to watch the message again at some point throughout the week.

Blessings on you and your week.

Pastor Kyle

The Light of Christ at Christmas - Christmas Sunday 2024

This week’s devotional was written by Mark Sorenson and is entitled, Deep Darkenes and a Great Light. Mark Sorenson contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

ISAIAH 9:2

The people walking in darkness
       have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
       a light has dawned.

CONSIDER THIS

One of my favorite times of the day during the season of Advent is early in the morning before the sun comes up when the house is perfectly quiet and still. I’ll fix a cup of coffee, grab my Bible, turn on our Christmas tree lights in the living room, and settle into my favorite chair. There’s nothing quite like reading the Word by the light of the Christmas tree.

This morning, while reflecting over this devotional by twinkly lights, I must confess that I got curious. When did the first Christmas tree with electric lights happen, and what was the story with that? Good news. There’s a Wikipedia page for that.1

The year was 1882, and his name was Edward Johnson. Though you may not be familiar with his name, you might be more familiar with who he worked for: Thomas Edison. Edward Johnson was Edison’s associate and served as the vice president of Edison Electric Light Company. On a cold day in December, he got a crazy idea to invent walnut-sized light bulbs in the colors of red, white, and blue and string them on a Christmas tree that would illuminate and flicker when plugged in. Though it didn’t catch on initially, the idea would eventually take root, and by 1930, most homes had them on their trees.

I can’t help but think about how lights have changed over the years. My earliest memories of Christmas tree lights go back to my childhood and visits to my grandmother’s house in East Texas. One of my favorite decorations at her house was an aluminum Christmas tree that had a color wheel that was plugged in next to it. Though that tree didn’t have any lights on it, it was still magic. As the silver aluminum Christmas tree sat there, the color wheel would slowly turn, changing the tree into the colors of orange to green to red to blue. I would literally sit and stare at it, mesmerized. But, by far, my favorite Christmas lights were the ones on the other artificial tree at Grandmother’s house; they were known as bubble lights. They literally got so warm that the liquid inside them would bubble in the spirit of old-school lava lamps.

Though the lights may have changed over the years, their purpose has not: to bring light into the darkness. No matter the setting or surroundings, no matter how dark a room or neighborhood street may be, once you flip on those small Christmas lights, the room or street takes on a different perspective. Illumination minimizes the darkness, and the world is just a little less scary as a result.

That’s the beauty of light, and that was the promise and prophecy Isaiah made seven hundred years before that first Christmas morning.

In Isaiah 9, the Israelites had done it again. Though they were once in captivity in Egypt, God had led them into a place of freedom and the promised land. Yet, little by little, they wandered. The line from the hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” comes to mind: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.”2 And that is exactly what happened to the Israelites. They wandered, and, as a result, once again, they found themselves in captivity—this time in Babylon.

It had to have been a dark and scary time for God’s people. Yet it was here, within captivity and darkness, that Isaiah would throw out a spark of light and hope: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (9:2). How beautiful is this promise? Isaiah was declaring that a time was approaching that not just darkness but deep darkness would soon be illuminated by light, and that light was not just any ordinary light, it would be a great light.

Deep darkness cannot stand against the Great Light that is to come.

What was true seven hundred years before Christ’s birth is just as relevant for us today, some two thousand years after his birth.

Perhaps a good suggestion for today is this: plug in this truth and shine that over the dark places of your life today.

THE PRAYER 

God of wonder, we thank you for light. What comfort it brings us all to know that darkness does not and will not have the final word over our lives. Jesus, thank you for being the Light of the World. May we not only hold this light in our lives but shine that light to all we encounter in Jesus’s mighty name. Amen.

A Love That Transforms - Advent 2024

This week’s devotional was written by Matt Leroy and is entitled, Love Local (Go Small and Go Home). Matt Leroy contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

Colossians 1:15-20:

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

CONSIDER THIS

It was one of those mornings. My twin sons, Luke and Sam, were about 5 or 6 years old. And they once again transformed the drive to school into an open forum Question and Answer session where no theological curiosity was off limits. I did my best to answer in a way they could grasp. It went something like this:

Luke: Dad, if Jesus is in my heart, how can he be in heaven at the same time?

Me: Great question, buddy. Because Jesus is God and he can be everywhere at once.

Luke: But Dad, I thought there was only one Jesus. How can one person be everywhere?

Me: Another great question. He is so big that he fills up everything everywhere so he can be everywhere and right there with you at the same time.

Sam: But Dad, if Jesus is so big, then why can’t we see him?

These Kindergarten / Kingdom sized curiosities are answered in Advent. This season of mystery invites and awakens childlike faith. Not just to grasp the right answers. But to keep asking the right questions.

Author Madeleine L’Engle employed the phrase, “the irrational season” to describe this journey we’re on. This moment that asks us to believe the impossible and stake everything on it. That the massive God who fills all things makes Himself small enough to see. For all the times He reveals Himself through fire and flood and plague and blinding glory, in this moment we see Him most clearly. As the Transcendent descends. The Universal localized. The image of the invisible God.

In addition to my role as theology student under Luke and Sam, I’m also one of the pastors at a quirky little church called Love Chapel Hill in downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Our name is our mission: Love Chapel Hill with the heart of Jesus. In the early days of planting this church, we often heard hyped up strategists and leadership experts repeat the rallying cry, “go big or go home.” Instead, we took on the counter approach of “go small and go home.” In other words, start small, right where we are. Love Local, we like to say, as a reminder that the next opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Jesus is not waiting in the spotlight on the biggest stage, but right in front of us as we walk down the street, hiding in the form of outcast or neighbor or stranger. Every moment is an opportunity to make the highest truth and deepest theology and largest love small enough to see.

Of course, this no innovation. It is simply an imitation of the image of the invisible God. The One in whom all the fullness of God dwells, and yet He comes and dwells with us. The massive God who fills all things and makes Himself small enough to see.

THE PRAYER

God of fullness who fills all things, make Yourself small enough to see through me. And give me eyes to see You made small through others.

The Joy of God's Presence - Advent 2024

This week we want to share with you a devotion entitled “Joy to the World: A Reflection on Advent” This devotion was written by Jonathan Powers. Dr. Powers is Assistant Professor of Worship Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. We hope you will find these words to be helpful and encouraging as you read.

One of the most popular and well-beloved hymns of the Christmas season is Isaac Watts’ “Joy to the World.” Not only is it common in the weeks surrounding Christmas to hear the song played on the radio and sung in the church, but the words “Joy to the World” are also frequently found imprinted on Christmas cards, displayed on banners, and woven in Christmas sweaters. Undeniably, it is difficult to find better words that sum up the jubilant celebration of Christ’s incarnation than “Joy to the world!” Yet, as wonderful and fitting as the words are, the song was not originally written as an observance on Christmas.

The hymn, “Joy to the World” first appeared in 1719 in a hymnbook of psalms for congregational singing published by Isaac Watts entitled The Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament and Applied to the Christian State and Worship. Much of the congregational singing during Watts’ time was limited exclusively to metrical paraphrases of the Psalms. This practice was established by John Calvin, who, during the Reformation, translated the Psalms into the common language of the people to foster congregational singing. Watts was not satisfied with the practice of psalm-singing, however, and felt a lack of joy and emotion among congregants as they sang. His father therefore offered him a challenge – write a different hymnody for the church. Taking up the challenge, Watts began a lifelong practice of composing lyrics that wed personal and emotional subjectivity with theological and doctrinal objectivity. 

Isaac Watts’ inspiration for “Joy to the World” came via a Christological meditation on Psalm 98. Verse 4 of the psalm especially grabbed his attention: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.” As Watts thought about how the verse could be understood through the person and work of Jesus Christ, he believed the psalm was to be rightfully interpreted through the lens of Christ’s second coming rather than his first. Particularly, Watts believed verses 8 and 9 frame the psalm in a future-orientation rather than a past event: “Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.”

Take a moment and read through the lyrics of the hymn (which are provided below). Note that the opening line is not, “Joy to the world! The Lord has come,” as if Watts was talking about a past act, but rather “Joy to the world! The Lord iscome.” Also note that none of the typical Christmas imagery is present. There is no explicit focus on Christ’s incarnation or birth. Rather, the lyrics speak more about Christ’s rule and reign. Not that the reign of Christ is an unfitting topic for the Christmas season – see Charles Wesley’s “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” for example – but it is also a very fitting topic for another season in the church calendar, the season of Advent, a time of anticipating Christ’s final rule and victory.

Advent is a season focused on preparing for the coming of Emmanuel. It is both a beginning and an end to the Church’s pilgrimage through the life of Christ – a time to recall the world’s expectation and longing for the first coming of Jesus Christ into our humanity and a time to anticipate his second coming in final victory.

Take a moment and read through the lyrics again. Think about them in light of Christ’s second coming. When interpreted primarily through the final chapters of Revelation instead of the first chapters of the Gospel of Luke, the lyrics take on a different dynamic meaning for the church today. The words bring hope in the midst of darkness, trial, and tribulation. They anticipate the joy that Christ’s reign will bring. They proclaim the cosmic doxology that will occur when heaven comes to earth. They remind us that sin will be eradicated and truth and grace shall rule.

May these words find their way into our eyes, ears, mouths, and minds this Advent and Christmas season. And may we all be filled with joy as we look forward with hope, as did God’s people long ago, to the coming of Emmanuel.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.

Proclamation of Peace - Advent 2024

This devotion was written by Andy Stoddard and is entitled, “Can We Really Have Peace?” Andy Stoddard is a contributing author at Seedbed.com. We hope you will find these words to be helpful and encouraging as you read.

I’ve been thinking a lot about peace recently.  We are in the midst of Advent, a season of hope, peace, love, and joy.  It’s in this season when we proclaim the words of Isaiah 9:6-7:

For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

The Prince of Peace is born!  That’s what we say.  That’s what we believe.

That’s what we believe: as Christians, as the church, that’s what we believe. And in the world that we live in, that makes us look different.  Off.  Odd.

And you know what?  Good.  We are supposed to.  We aren’t supposed to be like the world.  We aren’t supposed to be like the culture.

We are supposed to be different.

As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:10 – we are fools for Christ.  We are supposed to look differently, believe differently, act differently.  We are called to have a different hope, joy, love, and peace.

As I regularly say, if you tell folks you are Christian and they say, “really?”  that’s not a good sign.  We have to look and to be different from the world.

I’m not saying that there aren’t things to be afraid of.  I’m not saying that there aren’t things that can take our peace, take our joy, take our hope, take our love.

Of course there are!  There are big, scary, worrisome things.  But please hear me.

God is bigger.

God is stronger.

God is more mighty.

He is bigger than your fears.

And as Christians, believing that is who we are.

And the world needs us to believe it and know it.

Your peace will not come from an absence of conflict or absence of things that are you are afraid of.

Your peace will come from the trust and assurance of this truth: no matter what you face, no matter what you are afraid of – God is bigger. And God is good.

Jesus Christ is the prince of peace.

Yesterday.

Today.

Forever.

He is our peace.

Will you trust him today?

Hope as an Anchor - Advent 2024

This week’s devotional was written by Sarah Wanck and is entitled, A Hopeful Invitation. Sarah Wanck is a contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

CONSIDER THIS

The beginning of Advent doesn’t begin in the story of shepherds and angels or even in John’s joyful introduction of a coming Messiah. Advent begins long before, when the darkness was all-consuming, and all hope seemed lost. Advent begins in the dark. Much like light broke forth over the pitch black of an unformed creation, Advent begins in the helplessness and hopelessness of the night. Today’s passage is no different. An important part of our reflection, our preparation for the coming Christ, is remembering the despair of the people of God and how God’s promise entered in there too. 

The book of Isaiah is a narrative of the events regarding the people of God during a painful time of destruction and division and Isaiah’s prophecy in it. Just before this passage, Isaiah spoke of sin, conviction, and the death that comes in separation from God. But the previous chapter ends with a glimpse of a coming hope for a people lost in hopelessness. 

Before we talk about today’s beautiful words, we have to acknowledge what was happening for those who first heard them. The people of God, long ago, had been chosen, set apart, favored, and protected. Even though they struggled with seasons of great disobedience and rebellion, God would reach in with his promise of redemption and care, repeatedly renewing his promise to make this nation as numerous as the stars in the night sky. But the people of God, in this season of Isaiah’s prophecy, had been divided, destroyed, and oppressed. They were as far from the fulfillment of God’s promise to be a great nation as they could ever be. They had been conquered by another people, their territory divided, and their holy city destroyed.

While they are actively living in the darkness of deep despair, Isaiah commands these words. “Arise, shine, for your light has come.” Arise. Get up. The glory of the Lord rises on you. The power of that contrast has a hard time sinking in for me. In the division. In the despair. When we are convinced everything’s gone, is that when we’re supposed to rise up? And, with a clarity we only have in hindsight, even as Isaiah declared this prophecy, there was more darkness ahead when their holy temple would be laid bare by a conquering nation. The place where they worshiped, the very place of God’s presence with them, would soon be gone. 

How in the world can you rise up when so much has fallen flat?

In the darkness of their despair, Isaiah shares a prophecy of encouragement, that God has not forgotten them, that the world’s redemption was still coming, and to not lose hope for the coming of their Messiah and King. 

But when you’re in the darkness, it’s hard to believe. 

Some of you know our story; many others do not. Part of the redemption of our pain is sharing it, so others can find God in their darkness too. Late in December 2020, actually the day the Bethlehem star appeared in the sky, Gabe and I learned we were, quite literally, miraculously pregnant. Many years before, we had given up hope for biological children, and the Lord healed our hearts through the incredible gift of adoption. But just to show off, the Lord gave us the gift of pregnancy and a sweet baby girl. We shared the story of her miracle with anyone who would hear, so God would be glorified in her gift. Then, just weeks before we expected her arrival, she was gone. Without notice or cause, our little miracle slipped through our grasp. And we fell into a pit of incredible despair. 

If you’ve been in a place of deep darkness and incredible despair, you know that somehow the emotions of despair, fury, and heartbreak swirl around in the numbness and confusion that strips you of all capacity. And sometimes, many times, all you can do is allow yourself to be swept up in the grief and the darkness of night. 

Just three months after that incredible heartbreak, Gabe and I returned to our spiritual home at the New Room Conference. We needed to be there. We needed our spiritual family and to worship the Lord in spite of our pain. One particular night of the conference, the speaker invited us to a time of ministry and prayer to find our way forward in surrender if we needed to “rise up” out of the graves of our despair. 

I couldn’t move forward fast enough and laid myself upward across the steps of the altar and stage. I laid there peacefully, honestly, and in the fullness of grief; I invited God to raise me up, lift me out of this darkness, and restore my broken heart to fullness of life. And as I lay there, he eventually, and so very gently, said to my soul, “not yet.”

The tension of Advent is the pull between the darkness and the light. We live in the pain of actively unfolding darkness, even while the promise of Christ’s breaking into the darkness is already accomplished. The people of God were living in the pain of destruction and oppression, but Isaiah was calling them to take heart in a brightness that would still come, but they couldn’t yet see. He was asking them to believe that the dawn was breaking before it actually did. In fact, it would be seven hundred years before Christ’s light would dawn on earth. Isaiah was encouraging them with hope, the promise that God had not forgotten them, that he would prevail, and one day, in Christ’s time, they would truly “rise up.” 

Until then, until that day, the rising of their dawn would not be in the physical arrival of the Messiah or the restoration of their nation; the rising would simply be in them as they allowed the hope of God’s faithfulness to break forth in the dark places of their spirit and bring new life. Though in the darkness of our pain, my “rising” wouldn’t come for a while. When the Lord said, “not yet,” the yet was evidence that one day I would. 

This Advent, Christ breaking in through you, maybe the hopeful encouragement that one day, your rising will come, and one day, his return will come too. 

THE PRAYER

Father God, we give you thanks for your faithfulness through the ages. We stand in awe of your vision that can see from the beginning to the end, the promise of resurrection, redemption, and arrival. And we join you in the believing command that your presence with us can raise our spirits, repair our broken hearts, and give us hope to cling to. When we’re not ready to rise just yet, help us to feel your patient presence, waiting with us in our pain, but pointing forward for a day of renewal still to come. And as we walk through our grief, may we, like the words of Isaiah, allow your glory to shine all over us. In Jesus’s name, amen.

The Way of Jesus - The Practice of Witness

This week’s devotional was written by J.D Walt and is entitled, The Difference Between Witnessing And Being A Witness. J.D Walk is the Executive Director and contributing author at seedbed.com. We hope you will be encouraged.

MARK 1:43-45

Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

CONSIDER THIS

22. When a person experiences the work of the Holy Spirit, as this leper did, they will tell others about it. It’s that simple. No one has to tell them to spread the news. I am convinced human beings were created to spread good news.

It’s interesting how hard churches work to motivate people to “witness” to other people about their faith. They want us to tell others about Jesus, to lead others to Christ and so on. Don’t get me wrong. Those are great things, but we go about it in the wrong way. At the end of the day, all this activity adds up to is marketing.

You can’t talk people into being a witness. Really you can’t even teach or train them to be a witness. A witness actually has to witness something happening in order to be a witness. A witness is a witness by virtue of something they have experienced. Sure, we can get people to do marketing for Jesus, but that’s a far cry from actually being a witness to his work through the person and power of the Holy Spirit.

Not even Jesus could stop this leper from spreading the news about what happened. Our best “marketing” efforts can fill the seats of our sanctuaries, but getting people to talk freely and spread the news about Jesus—that only happens when the Holy Spirit does the work of Jesus within them.

23. Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses. . . .” I think he had in mind something of the scene in today’s text—the unstoppable sharing of the good news of the God who turns everything around. We live in a day when the gospel has been reduced to information about God that we should feel compelled to share with other people, and we call that evangelism. Real evangelism looks like witnesses telling stories in such a way that the people who hear them flock to the countryside in search of Jesus. Jesus can’t even get past crowd control to get into the building. Because of the witness to the Holy Spirit’s work in and through him, he can’t even get into the towns. People hate marketing for Jesus. They hunger for witnesses who will tell stories of what the Holy Spirit is doing through the people of God in the name of Jesus.

What if this actually happens better and more often on the outskirts of town, in the lonely places, than in our Sunday morning worship services? Just asking.

THE PRAYER

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. I want to witness your working in a fresh way in my life and in the lives of others. And I want to share the story of it with others. Even more, I want them to witness your life in me. Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me. For the glory of your name, Jesus. Amen.

The Way of Jesus: The Practice of Community

 
 

Every so often, we will have a guest speaker at CrossView Church. We are so grateful for the gifted women and men who serve the Lord through teaching the word. This week we hear from Pastor Scott Rossiter. As one of CrossView’s online pastors, Pastor Scott hosts our online services and leads our online prayer group. To join our Thursday evening online prayer group, click here. To share a prayer request, click here.

Usually, when we have a guest speaker, we will not have a weekly devotional. We encourage you to watch the message again at some point throughout the week.

Blessings on you and your week.

Pastor Kyle