Prophet, Priest, King, God: Jesus is God

Prophet, Priest, King, God 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

We worship Jesus because he is our great prophet, priest, king and God.  

Last week:

Jesus the King 

How do we know that God anointed Jesus to be the eternal king of the nations?

We know it by Christ’s sinless life, miracles and resurrection from the dead.  

But the importance and uniqueness of Jesus continues.  

Focus: Jesus is God in the flesh who is to be worshiped and adored to the glory of God the Father.  

Jesus is God

"WHATEVER GOD IS, CHRIST IS. THE VERY LIKENESS OF GOD, THE VERY GODHEAD OF GODHEAD, THE VERY DEITY OF DEITY, IS IN CHRIST JESUS."

- Charles H. Spurgeon

What did the prophets say about the Messiah to come?

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

What did Jesus understand about himself and proclaim?

Jesus said things like:

Before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:56-59)

Jesus said that he and the Father are one, for which the Jews considered Jesus to be blaspheming, calling himself God

(John 10:25-33). 

Jesus said that he was the one who had the ability to forgive sins against Almighty God (Mark 2:1-12). 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭16‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."”

What did those closest to Jesus understand about him and proclaim?

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

It is important here to note several things that were said about Jesus that only pertain to God. 

What did the early church understand about Jesus and proclaim?

‭‭Titus‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

Colossians 1:15-20

Colossians 2:9-10

What did God the Father validate about Jesus?

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

God the Father exalted Jesus through not only his miracles, but through Christ’s resurrection from the dead.  

"Depend upon it, my hearer, you never will go to heaven unless you are prepared to worship Jesus Christ as God." 

~ Charles H. Spurgeon

• Second City Church

Prophet, Priest, King, God: Jesus the King

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Prophet, Priest, King, God 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

We worship Jesus because he is our great prophet, priest, king and God.  

Last week:

Jesus the Priest 

Why is there salvation in no one else and why is Jesus the only name by which we must be saved?

Jesus is not just a priest - he is our perfect, merciful and faithful high priest before God. 

But the importance and uniqueness of Jesus continues.  

Focus: God the Father has us submit to Jesus because he is King of Kings and Lord of lords.  

Jesus the King

We serve Jesus because he is our benevolent king. 

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬-‭11 ‭ESV‬‬

“John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea." 

Jesus is called the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.  

Jesus is our king which means he is to be the Lord and ruler of every area of our lives.  

Just as our lives were saved by Christ’s perfect obedience to and fulfillment of the law of God, so we are now to express our gratitude and love for God by obedience to his commands.  

There is no area of your life that his rulership leaves untouched, whether it be your time, your relationships, your sexuality, your leisure, your resources or your pursuits. 

How do we know that God anointed Jesus to be the eternal king of the nations?

We know it by Christ’s sinless life, miracles and resurrection from the dead.  

Christ’s sinless life demonstrated that he was a king who could be trusted and should be adored.  

Christ’s miracles demonstrated God’s supernatural backing for he who would be our benevolent ruler. 

‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!" His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.”

Christ’s resurrection from the dead and ascension to the right hand of the Father validated his identity as the one who would approach the Ancient of Days and would rule the nations with justice.   

As the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the Almighty, it is said that Jesus is given glory and dominion forever and ever.  

This reflects the words of the prophet Daniel, who ministered in exile in Babylon approximately 530 to 600 years before Christ.  

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭7‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“"As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.”

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

*The point for us is that beyond our personal devotion, God has always shown himself sovereign through ever-changing social and political, domestic and world affairs. 

God’s people were to remain steady, focusing on God as their rock and serve Christ as their king.  

Rulers come and go, governments rise and fall, yet Christ’s kingdom is eternal and remains the same.  

Christ’s kingdom is not only lasting, but historically advances during tumultuous times.  

Why does it matter that we recognize Jesus as king when we see chaos around us?

(ROBINHOOD pictures)

Because we have a king who is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

How do we live in God’s peace and purposes?  

You live in God’s peace by understanding that Jesus is the sovereign ruler over the nations whose government will know no end. 

God has used godless men and women throughout history to fulfill his ultimate ends (think King Cyrus and his decree to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem in Ezra 1:1-11 or those who discipline Israel in I Chronicles 5:26; II Chronicles 21:16).    

God remained seated on his throne and it will be no different now.  

We live in God’s purposes by finding our identity in Christ and our activity through Christ’s body, his church - which should be on mission to fulfill his gospel great commission long after the election is over.  

This purpose keeps us from the ditches of identity politics, single issue politics and the tribalism that flows from ideas of government totalitarianism.  

We are looking to the whole counsel of God. 

There is a primacy of identity where I am a child of God, a follower of king Jesus above all else, and a priority of conviction where I will not be boxed into any party or policy that does not submit to his rule. 

Jesus is to be the ruler of the kings on earth. 

Though important, your hope is never to be in a fallible political leader or government.  

All kings will eventually be subject to Christ’s rule as a benevolent creator. 

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬-‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, "What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, "I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise." And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again, "Behold, I and the children God has given me."”

We must be careful to not be driven by mere emotion, but endeavor to have the mind of Christ, parsing out and applying biblical truths at every point and turn. 

Our priority of purpose is to love Jesus and represent the king well in character (common decency towards others) and conviction (standing on Biblical truths). 

*The gospel is the answer to the ills of this fallen world because it changes hearts and not just policies.  

When Jesus is proclaimed as Lord and king, redemption, restoration and reconciliation are the result - between God and humanity as well as humanity and humanity.  

In our political season it is comforting to know that though we bear with temporary rulers, we serve an eternal king. 

“Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the world, to send us to

the Bible, to drive us to our knees.”

-JC Ryle

Because of Christ’s sinless life, though he would die on the cross as a sacrifice for humanity’s sins, Jesus would rise to live days without end ruling the nations with an eternal Kingdom.  

The government would forever be on Christ’s shoulders.  

We should come to understand Jesus as king through his church.  

Revelation 1:12-20 ESV

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

When we turn to hear Jesus, the first thing that we see is his church.  

John turned to hear the voice and saw the seven lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man.  

We need to see Jesus the king, clearly, not as we’ve supposed him to be, before we can be of benefit to the world.  

Jesus stood amongst the lampstands - the churches. 

Jesus held the seven stars in his hand - the messengers.  

From Christ’s mouth comes the double-edged sword - his word by which he deals with our sin to bring both truth and order. 

So we see that as Jesus is king, he rules in and through the lampstands, his church.  

Below is a picture of the work of God bringing his Kingdom on the earth:

Individual to Christ (work out issues in the heart) >

Christian to Church (work out real issues in safe community under Christ’s benevolent rule) > 

Church to the Culture (work out beneficial societal change as we bring Christ’s light to the world)

“God wants you to be planted…to be present and engaged in the Body of Christ.”

-Pastor Jon Owens

Why?

You can not see Christ’s rule fully worked out in your life without being a part of his local church.  

The church is God’s war room for real world redemption and change. 

The beauty of the church of Jesus Christ is that you get to work out real world issues with real people from every tribe, nation, language and tongue - all serving one king and all having equal concern for one another because we are family united by his blood.  

With this display of supernatural love, wisdom and reconciliation, we provide real solutions to a real world without hope and without God.  

Be godly in social posts. 

So our call today is to turn from our sins to the cross, make peace with Jesus the king and fear not, because he holds the keys of death and Hades, the present and the future in his hands!

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19‬:‭11‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of Lords.”

 - Second City Church 

Prophet, Priest, King, God: Jesus the Priest

Prophet, Priest, King, God 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Last week:

We worship Jesus because he is our great prophet, priest, king and God.  

Jesus the Prophet 

We follow Jesus because he is our great prophet. 

We are told to beware of false prophets and false teachers.  

Why did God glorify his servant Jesus?

Jesus is not just a prophet - he is God’s unique prophet pointing to reconciliation with God through his death on the cross, burial and resurrection from the dead. 

But the importance and uniqueness of Jesus continues.  

Acts‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Focus: God the Father has us look to Jesus because he is our merciful and faithful high priest, forever able to sympathize and save.  

Jesus the Priest 

We trust Jesus because he is our merciful and faithful high priest.  

‭‭

Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

A priest was one who stood as an intermediary to minister to God on behalf of the people and to the people on behalf of God.  

The priests were to remind the people of God’s commands, accurately facilitating worship that was pleasing to God. 

The high priest was the intercessor between God and the people, acting as their representative before God.  

The high priest in particular was:

1. Appointed to offer the most important sacrifices of worship. He was the sole individual to enter the Holy of Holies in the temple, particularly on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) where he would offer sacrifices for the people to cleanse the people of their sins.

2. Appointed to direct the practical affairs of our worship - he had authority in temple operations, directing finances and priestly duties.

The problem was that all other high priests prior to Jesus and after him were both fallible and mortal.  

This meant that the high priest was neither a perfect example of the righteousness which he preached or was able to continue in office to make continual sacrifices for the people.  

Jesus was different in that he was a perfect example of God’s righteousness - so his authority was pure and complete. 

Jesus would also live forever to maintain the duties of his office. 

In these ways, Jesus would become our merciful and faithful high priest. 

Because Jesus was made like us in every way, he too suffered when tempted and is merciful towards us, understanding our fight to do what is right.  

His mercy means not only that he cares, but that he is compelled to move and do something about the suffering in which he finds us.  

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭30‬-‭34‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" And stopping, Jesus called them and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened." And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.”

Because Jesus understands, he is faithful to show up in our battles as we come to him. 

Jesus offers us the help that we need to overcome.  

Ultimately, Jesus would end our slavery to the fear of death by defeating the devil who tries to not only steal, kill and destroy our lives, but held the power of death.  

John 1:29-32

*It matters that Jesus not only offered sacrifices for our sins as our priest, but as our faithful High Priest offered himself, once for all, as the Passover Lamb to make atonement and take away the sins of the world"

The power of death is now gone and we need to walk out of our slavery into the freedom that Jesus provided!

My days, weeks, months and years are different because I am walking into the abundant life that God planned for me from the beginning.  

“We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order. The Bible tells us that God did not originally make the world to have disease, hunger, and death in it. Jesus has come to redeem where it is wrong and heal the world where it is broken. His miracles are not just proofs that he has power but also wonderful foretastes of what he is going to do with that power. Jesus' miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming.”

-Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

Why is there salvation in no one else and why is Jesus the only name by which we must be saved?

Jesus is not just a priest - he is our perfect merciful high priest before God. 

*It matters that Jesus was and is perfect when I am not. 

We look to Jesus as our high priest because he was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. 

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus is our sympathetic high priest. 

Because Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, he sympathizes with our struggles. 

Because he was without sin, he knows the way out and is ready to give mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.  

Always remember, the grace of God doesn’t just remove the consequences of sin - it empowers us to say no to sin (Titus 2:11,12)!

This means you can win your fight!!!

“Our Lord has many weak children in his family, many dull pupils in his school, many raw soldiers in his army, many lame sheep in his flock. Yet he bears with them all, and casts none away. Happy is that Christian who has learned to do likewise with his brethren.”

-J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

We’ve all had seasons when we are these people.  

Let us remember this as we love one another and treat one another as our great high priest would. 

We trust in Jesus because he is our high priest forever who is able to save completely those who come to the Father through him since he always lives to intercede for us. 

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭7‬:‭17‬-‭28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For it is witnessed of him, "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever.'" This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.”

Jesus is our perfect high priest who forever lives to save. 

Two things needed to be done for our salvation and reconciliation with God that we could not fulfill.  

The first is perfect obedience to the law of God to receive God’s approval by satisfying his justice.  

The second is paying the price for our sins, as the wages of sin is death. 

Either I will pay the price for my sins in the judgment, or Jesus in his mercy and grace already paid it for me.  

I enter into this grace through repentance from my sin and faith in Christ’s finished work at the cross - his death, burial and resurrection from the dead. 

Since in both of these cases we are left wanting, we need a perfect mediator to satisfy the demands of a relationship with a holy God. 

That perfect, merciful high priest is Jesus who not only perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law our behalf (Romans 8:4), not only died on the cross to take the penalty for our sins, but now lives forever to intercede for us as we are daily seeking God to be set apart for his pleasure and purposes.  

Why is there salvation in no one else and why is Jesus the only name by which we must be saved?

Jesus is not just a priest - he is our perfect merciful high priest before God. 

‭‭

Hebrews‬ ‭7‬:‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."

Jesus was not only the unblemished sacrifice for our sins, but the perfect, merciful priest who lives forever to mediate the benefits of that sacrifice before almighty God.

“Jesus is the “High Priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3:1). Our confession enlists Jesus as our High Priest, but the opposite, unfortunately, is also true.  If we make no confession, we have no High Priest.  It’s not that Jesus has ceased to be our High Priest, but that we give Him no opportunity to minister as our High Priest.  

He is the High Priest of our confession.  if we say the right things with our mouths in faith, according to Scripture, then Jesus has eternally obligated Himself to see that we will never be put to shame - that we will always experience what we confess   But if we do not say the right things, then, alas, we silence the lips of our High Priest. He has nothing to say in heaven on our behalf.  

Jesus is also called our “Advocate” (I John 2:1).  The word advocate is similar to the modern word attorney.  Jesus is the legal expert who is there to plead our case in heaven.  He has never lost a case.  But if we do not make a confession, he has no case to plead, so the case goes against us by default.  

We can see how important confession is; therefore, it is very important that we give heed to this third “Let us” passage in Hebrews: “Let us hold fast our confession” (Hebrews 4:14).  This principle of right confession has a central place in the gospel, as well as in our experience of salvation. In fact, there is no salvation without right confession.“

-Derek Prince, Declaring God’s Word

Benediction:

“Now may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal high priest himself, the Son of God Jesus Christ, build you up in faith and truth and in all gentleness and in all freedom from anger and forbearance and steadfastness and patient endurance and purity.”

-Polycarp

Prophet, Priest, King, God

Prophet, Priest, King, God 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: We worship Jesus because he is our great prophet, priest, king and God.  

We want to be careful in our time not to proclaim and worship:

“A God without wrath who brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”

-H. R. Niebuhr

Jesus the Prophet 

We follow Jesus because he is our great prophet. 

‭‭

Acts‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬-‭24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.' And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.”

Jesus the Priest 

We trust Jesus because he is our great high priest.  

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Jesus the King 

We serve Jesus because he is our benevolent king. 

‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!" His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19‬:‭11‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of Lords.”

Jesus is God

We worship Jesus because he is our great God and Savior.  

‭‭Titus‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

Second City Church 

But the Greatest of These is Love

But the Greatest of These is Love

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: When attempting to walk with God, if we are not walking in love, we are not reflecting Jesus or his gospel.  

• Mission 

• Motivation

• Maker 

Mission

The mission of God is to be compelled by the love of God.  

Whether in the home, amongst friends, in the community, in the church or at work, loving over a long period of time can be difficult if we miss the focus of God’s word.  

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.”

Love and truth go hand in hand.

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Through the cross we have reconciliation with God, but that reconciliation was produced by the love of God.  

“Because God made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in him.”

-Saint Augustine 

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Those who have come to Christ are now ambassadors for Christ to take that love that has transformed them to the world that others might be reconciled to God through that same good news.  

However, if that mission is not done in love, we are missing it.  

Love and truth are not synonymous - they are designed by God to work hand in hand.  

The apostle Paul spoke repeatedly about not only the gifts of the Holy Spirit that should be operating in and through Christ’s church, but also their motivation. 

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 

Motivation

I need to do a daily heart check to test my motivations to make sure that I am walking in love.   

What does love actually look like? 

“To love is to will the good of the other.”

-Saint Thomas Aquinas 

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭4‬-‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Love is the glue that keeps marriages, families, churches, God-given relationships and nations together and growing, even during challenging times.  

Whereas the devil tries to isolate and separate (Psalm 2; Matthew 12:25), God’s love binds together as we congregate.  

Love is only played out in my relationships with others - real people with real differences, challenges, struggles and needs. 

It is in real relationships, with real joys and pains, that I get to experience and reflect the love of God.  

It is in the joys that I get to clearly see the benefits of God’s love. 

It’s in the pains that God’s love keeps me.  

Only after the fact, as he’s helped me to endure in love, do I see what God has done in me. 

Relating with Jesus must be my foundation - sitting at his feet as at a well, drinking of the living waters that flow from the Holy Spirit.  

“He who is filled with love is filled with God himself.“

-Saint Augustine

 Maker 

Because God is love, everything that we do to honor Jesus should reflect his love.  

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

Because of the evil in the world and the disappointments of our own experience with others, it is easy for the love of God to grow cold in our hearts. 

In this state, we can begin to gravitate towards self-righteousness as our confidence, forgetting our own sins while wanting to point out the failings of others.  

We drift from the cross and forget the gospel that has saved us and others.  

We forget to love. 

Jesus said this very clearly about the last days:

Matthew 24:12-13 ESV

“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

You were drawn by God’s love and will be kept by his love for you.  

What if I find that I am lacking in the love that the Bible describes?

“It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you.  Strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch.”

--Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

May we all repent of our lack of love and once again look to Jesus and his cross to be found in God’s righteousness alone. 

As you look to Jesus and his word day by day, let love be your target as 

the Holy Spirit of God will both heal you and transform you by his great love.  

Second City Church 

Guest Speaker: Divine Acceleration

Guest Speaker: Pastor Reggie Roberson

Great things God is doing in this church.

God spoke this to me for this church. Divine Acceleration

Our Bible passage today speaks to Divine Acceleration.

John 6:16-21

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.  But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Context:

Jesus has just fed 5000 and sent his disciple to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to Bethsaida. The disciples find themselves trying to make progress in their journey but they are making very little and they are stuck in the middle of the lake because of a storm. Jesus walks on water out to them and then gets in the boat. I want to read again what happens when Jesus gets into the boat: and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.” We should all take note of when John says immediately; that is a big deal because he doesn't use that word very often. The gospel of Mark on the other hand, says it all the time so this is very significant. They find themselves immediately on the other side. They went another 3 or 4 miles without an engine or any mechanism to propel them that fast and quick to the other side. This is a miracle. This is Divine acceleration. This is a picture of how it looks when Jesus gets in our boat and we get through the storm, waves, and winds of life arriving at a greater place of deeper relationship with God, victory and biblical prosperity. He is going to divinely accelerate various aspects of our lives:

• Freedom in your soul

• Significance and purpose clarity

• Ministry Impact

• Leadership

God will divinely accelerate various aspects of our lives but we must not miss God's work in our lives that we see in this story.

There are three crucial questions we must consider when it comes to divine acceleration in various aspects of our lives:

Will You Be About God’s Mission?

Divine acceleration happens when we’re engaged in God’s mission. Marks version says:

“Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.”

Mark 6:45

The disciples were following Jesus’ instructions to cross the lake; they were on a journey doing what Jesus had asked, not pursuing their own goals and asking Jesus to bless them after the fact. That’s the critical starting point—being about God’s mission, not our own.

Too often, we set our own agendas and then expect Jesus to align with them, rather than aligning ourselves with His mission. When we follow our own plans, we risk heading in the wrong direction. If we don’t get this, we might arrive at a destination but miss our God-given destiny. You can be moving, but that doesn’t mean you’re growing in the way God intends.

Take my own story, for example: I excelled in academics, basketball, and had favor with people, but I wasn’t aligned with God’s mission. I was busy, but I wasn’t aiming at what truly mattered. It was not until I received Jesus (Gospel) and understood his purpose for me that I began to experience growth and acceleration in my life.

God accelerates and blesses only what He has endorsed. And he endorses his mission. You see, when we are aligned with God’s mission, we come to realize that we each have something to contribute to this world by His grace and for His purposes. We must be about His mission.

Will You Allow God to Address Your Misconceptions?

The disciples had misconceptions that Jesus needed to address, particularly about facing storms while following Him. They had just witnessed the miracle of feeding the 5,000 and were probably on a spiritual high, only to encounter a storm soon after. Jesus wanted to show them that being on His mission doesn’t exempt us from challenges. In fact, divine acceleration often comes through trials and resistance or winds, waves, and storms. Many people become disillusioned because they believe that following God should mean smooth sailing. But the truth is, storms come to everyone, whether we follow God or not. The difference is that when we follow God, He is with us in the storm, making us “storm-proof.” (Western part of North Carolina -Hurricane Helene - God’s people filled with hope). And one day, we’ll be free from all storms in the new heaven and earth.

If we misunderstand this, we might miss the divine acceleration God has for us because we’re looking for an easy journey. Take, for example, the story of a man praying for rescue during a flood. He expected God to save him in a specific way and missed the help that God sent through a canoe, a boat, and a helicopter. This story highlights ho we often miss God’s provision because it doesn’t look the way we expect because of our misconceptions. We must overcome misconceptions.

Will You Make Room for Jesus in Your Life?

In Mark's version of this story in chapter 6:48, we read that the disciples were still rowing in the fourth watch of the night—between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. They had been rowing for nine hours and had only made it three or four miles. I imagine they were frustrated, exhausted, and confused. Jesus was showing them that, without Him, their efforts were in vain. When Jesus fed the 5,000, the people and His disciples saw Him as a new Moses, but when He walked on water, He was showing them He was greater than Moses. Moses needed the sea parted to walk on dry ground; Jesus simply walked on the waves. As Job 9:8 (ESV) says: “who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea.” When Jesus, the God over the storm, winds, and waves was received by the disciples into the boat, the storm ceased, and they were immediately accelerated to their destination.

We often rely on our own intellect, looks, or abilities to progress in life, and we are stuck not making progress but we must make room for Jesus in our lives if we want true acceleration. A powerful story that illustrates this is the life of George Müller, a 19th-century Christian evangelist known for caring for orphans. Early in his ministry, Müller tried to raise funds through traditional means—appealing to people and relying on his own efforts. But after experiencing little success, he decided to trust entirely in prayer, relying on Jesus to provide for all the needs of his ministry. From that moment on, Müller never asked anyone for donations, but prayed for every need. And every time, without fail, God provided, often in miraculous ways. Over his lifetime, Müller cared for over 10,000 orphans, all because he made room for Jesus in his mission and relied fully on Him.(Pic) Müller’s story shows us that when we leave Jesus out of our plans, we experience frustration. But when we bring Jesus into every aspect of our lives, we see miraculous provision and acceleration.

Divine acceleration happens when we depend on God—when we lean on Him in prayer, ask Him to guide our steps, and invite Him into every part of our journey. We must be passionate in our testimony, filled with worship, declare God’s word out of our mouths, and believe that Jesus can do the impossible. We must make room for Jesus. So, remember:

• Be about His mission.

• Overcome misconceptions.

• Make room for Jesus.

These are vital aspects of the atmosphere where divine acceleration takes place in our.

Built Different: Love Different

Built Different: Love Different

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: When we experience the grace of God, we have freedom to look out for other’s interests, and not just our own. 

• Convictions

• Considerations 

• Standing Before Christ

Convictions 

Our convictions should be shaped by the word of God and love for him. 

Romans 14:1-9 ESV

“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

Paul begins the letter by emphasizing the gospel of Jesus Christ - that in the cross God is both judging sin and at the same time manifesting his saving mercy.  

Paul was writing to the Roman congregation which was one that had a diverse population.  

At the time, Rome had just reintroduced the Jewish population, who had been previously expelled from the city under Emperor Claudius (Acts 18:2). 

As the gospel of Jesus Christ spread in Rome, there were Gentile converts who now needed to learn how to interact with Jewish Christians.  

To this end, Paul addressed issues such as 1) can one be counted innocent before God by obeying the law?, 2) the faith of Abraham and his relationship to both Jewish and Gentile Christians, 3) how the law relates to sin, 4) how Gentile salvation relates to the future of Israel as God’s people and 5) whether or not Christians should observe OT food laws, including how to relate to fellow believers properly based on those convictions. 

In addition to a roadmap to salvation in Jesus Christ, how to navigate the cultural tensions that existed between Jewish and Gentile Christians was a central theme of Paul’s letter to the Romans that would serve us well today.  

By the Holy Spirit, Paul communicated how to keep Jesus and his gospel central as the church worked to live as a unified people.  

Unity amidst diversity is God’s desire and is where he commands his blessing (Psalm 133).  

Yet the question is:

How do we build such unity in the body of Christ while maintaining distinct convictions?  

Individually, we each live by faith in Jesus, obeying God with the convictions that he gives us through his word and by his Spirit.  

Collectively, we make a distinction between direct commands and disputable matters. 

Disputable matters is another way to describe what Paul references here as opinions. 

Proverbs 18:2

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.”

Your convictions may not be mine when it comes to what Paul called “disputable matters.”

We are to be unified in the direct commands that are plain as we adhere to what is written in God’s word.  

This means that we strive to have Scriptural chapter and verse for what we think, what we believe and therefore, how we live. 

Yet we are not to go beyond what’s written when attempting to discern how people are to live out the application of godliness on things that are not written (I Corinthians 4:6).  

*This is where relationship with God through the Holy Spirit comes in to give application to people in their personal walks with God. 

There will be diversity in how we apply our convictions before God, many times in relation to our histories, our strengths and weaknesses, or even the particular call of God on our lives.  

Think about the Nazarite vow.  

What we can not do is live by projecting our personal convictions on others allowing ourselves to judge them in regards to disputable matters.  

Always remember, Jesus said if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off - he did not say for you to cut off your neighbors‘ 😆. 

In summary, God’s rule is that we do all things by his word and in love with consideration towards others. 

Mark Ross of Ligonier Ministries wrote an article entitled “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity”

In this article, Ross wrote:

“Philip Schaff, the distinguished nineteenth-century church historian, calls the saying in our title “the watchword of Christian peacemakers.” Often attributed to great theologians such as Augustine, it comes from an otherwise undistinguished German Lutheran theologian of the early seventeenth century, Rupertus Meldenius. The phrase occurs in a tract on Christian unity written (circa 1627) during the Thirty Years War (1618–1648), a bloody time in European history in which religious tensions played a significant role. The saying has found great favor among subsequent writers such as Richard Baxter, and has since been adopted as a motto by the Moravian Church of North America and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.”

Considerations

When Christ is our king, we are built differently to, in love, consider not only our own interests, but also the interests of others. 

Romans 14:10-23 ESV

"Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

We can love differently when we are not looking to maintain our own rights, but are looking to build others up in Christ. 

We can love differently when we’re not trying to judge others, but are attempting to remove stumbling blocks for others so that they can see Christ clearly.  

We can love differently when we are not trying to be proven right but are fighting for everyone to be found righteous in Christ. 

Life on life interactions matter in your Christian development.  

Yet you can not live in a fish bowl, walking on eggshells, perpetually subjecting yourself to the judgments of others, because sometimes their judgments are ungodly and wrong.  

As Paul instructed, we are to:

1. Be fully convinced in our minds that what we are doing is pleasing to God. 

2. Do all things to honor the Lord and give thanks to him in doing so. 

3. Do what you are doing in love and faith - because anything not done in faith is sin.  

Never forget, people had issues with both John the Baptist and the sinless Son of God.  

Matthew 11:16-19 ESV

“"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds."”

A shared life is important vs. simply listening to podcasts or reading articles because the people on the other side of the podcast don’t usually know you or your situation.  

You can be deceived, convincing yourself that your assessments of the world are flawless when they are not vetted by anything but your own wisdom or are without the whole picture in mind in each scenario.  

Proverbs 18:17 ESV 

“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”

People who only tell part of their story to different parties often get conflicting and imperfect advice because those counseling them are getting doctored, revised and colored perspectives. 

“Our self-abnegation is thus not for our own sake but for the sake of others. And thus it is not to mere self-denial that Christ calls us but specifically to self-sacrifice, not to unselfing ourselves but to unselfishing ourselves. Self-denial for its own sake is in its very nature ascetic, monkish. It concentrates our whole attention on self—self-knowledge, self-control – and can therefore eventuate in nothing other than the very apotheosis of selfishness. At best it succeeds only in subjecting the outer self to the inner self or the lower self to the higher self, and only the more surely falls into the slough of self-seeking, that it partially conceals the selfishness of its goal by refining its ideal of self and excluding its grosser and more outward elements. Self-denial, then, drives to the cloister, narrows and contracts the soul, murders within us all innocent desires, dries up all the springs of sympathy, and nurses and coddles our self-importance until we grow so great in our own esteem as to be careless of the trials and sufferings, the joys and aspirations, the strivings and failures and successes of our fellow-men. Self-denial, thus understood, will make us cold, hard, unsympathetic—proud, arrogant, self-esteeming—fanatical, overbearing, cruel. It may make monks and Stoics, it cannot make Christians.”

-BB Warfield 

John 13:34,35 ESV

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."”

Standing Before Christ

Each person will stand before the Lord in judgment, and will only stand because of Christ.  

“After the fall into sin, people remained image-bearers, but Adam’s disobedience brought fundamental changes to our ability to reflect God’s image. The direction of the human heart became oriented not toward God but toward self. In the garden, man began repeating a mantra that will persist until Jesus returns. Adam said, “I want.” “I want glory for myself rather than giving all glory to God.” “I love my own desire rather than loving God.” This came to be known as covetousness, lust, or idolatry.”

-Edward Welch 

Before we stand, we must bow before Christ. 

The goal of all of our convictions and considerations is to love Jesus, love others and bring glory to God amongst all people.    

Romans 15:1-13 ESV

“We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me." For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name." And again it is said, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him." And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope." May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

At the judgment, we will all give an account of our lives to God, with every tongue confessing and every knee bowing, acknowledging Jesus as Lord.

Yet how you respond to Jesus before reaching the judgment seat of God will determine whether you meet God as a friend or foe.   

Attempting to stand on our own merits, we would all suffer a terrible fate.  

We’ve all lacked Biblical convictions, have all loved imperfectly and we all deserve death and hell because of our sin. 

Yet because of God’s great love for us, he sent his son Jesus to live perfectly the life that we should have lived, die sacrificially on the cross to take the penalty for our sins and rise three days later to provide not only forgiveness of sins, but eternal life in him. 

Only bowing before Christ today and choosing to be found in his righteousness, not our own, can we truly stand reconciled to a holy God.  

Now, as we cry out to God, repent of our sins and turn wholly to Jesus, he allows us to be built different to think, live and love in image of Christ - which is better by far!

Second City Church 

Built Different: Live Different

Built Different: Live Different 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

 Focus: Because God is sovereign, we can live with a quiet trust, committed to displaying Christ to the world.  

• Whose Authority?

• Live Differently

• By Putting on Christ

Whose Authority?

We are to trust God that he is sovereign no matter what we feel like we see unfolding around us.  

Romans 13:1-14 ESV

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. 

Acts 5:27-32 ESV 

“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."”

Live Differently 

Because God is sovereign, we know that obeying his commands will ultimately lead to what is best, even while the world reels around us. 

Romans 13:8-10 ESV

"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. "

“To urge men and women to believe in a divided Christ is bad teaching, for no one can receive half of Christ, or a third of Christ, or a quarter of the Person of Christ! We are not saved by believing in an office nor in a work. He is Lord, and those who refuse Him as Lord cannot use Him as Savior. Everyone who receives Him must surrender to His authority, for to say we receive Christ when in fact we reject His right to reign over us is utter absurdity. It is a futile attempt to hold onto sin with one hand and take Jesus with the other. What kind of salvation is it if we are left in bondage to sin?”

-AW Tozer

By Putting on Christ

Because God is sovereign we display that we are built different by clothing ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Romans 13:11-14 ESV

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

“Addictions are ultimately a disorder of worship: we worship our desires over God. We desire the things of earth more than the One who rules it. This being so, worship is the true deepest need for addicts, as it is for all people. It is during worship that we are most fully human. As we worship, the Spirit changes us. Sometimes this change is the more ordinary, imperceptible, and gradual change that is similar to the growth of a child. At other times, worship changes us more dramatically. Either way, when our hearts are pointed toward the risen Christ, we can’t help but be changed in some way. This change, too, teaches us to remember. When we hear the stories of how God transforms people, it reminds us that God is making us to be “like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24).”

-Edward T. Welch, Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave

Second City Church 

Built Different: Think Different

Built Different: Think Different 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

 Focus: When reconciled to God in Jesus Christ, you have a new ability to think differently to transform both your life and your part of the world by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

• A New Mind 

• A New Heart

• A New Lord

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation”

-Oscar Wilde

A New Mind 

We need to actively seek God to be transformed by the renewing our minds. 

Romans 12:1-21

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

If we are not actively being transformed by the renewing of our minds into Christ’s image, we are passively being conformed to the pattern of this world.  

“To return to Romans 12:1: Paul has hereby created the context for the key command which sets all his ethics apart from any suggestion of “spontaneity,” as though once you were in Christ, indwelt by the Spirit, all you had to do was let the new life “come naturally.” No: the mind must be transformed, so that you can think out for yourself, weigh up and consider, what God’s will actually is. Unless the mind is fully involved, not only are you not growing up as a fully (and fully integrated) human being; you are not engaging in virtue at all.

When Paul talks about the “mind,” he is not ranking Christians in terms of what we would call their intellectual or “academic” ability. Some Christians have that sort of mind. Plenty of others don’t. But Paul wants all Christians to have their mind renewed, so that they can think in a different way. We all face many challenges, not only in the sphere of morality as such, but in a thousand different contexts. It won’t do simply to go into autopilot and hope to get through somehow. That will work, as with our initial examples of virtue, only when we have already trained ourselves in the necessary habits. But to do that requires careful and disciplined thought in this new mode, probably over some time. We have to be able to think about what to do – what to do with our whole lives, and what to do in the sudden crisis that faces us in this very minute. Being trained to think “Christianly” is the necessary antidote to what will otherwise happen: being, as Paul says, “squeezed into the shape dictated by the present age.”

-N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, 150-151.

A New Heart

As our minds are renewed in the Lord, our hearts will follow, and vice versa.  

Romans 12:3-8

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

God is making it clear that the place where mind and heart transformation are worked out is not in the midst of isolation, but engaged with his body, the church.  

It is in the life on life ministry to one another where Christ is formed in us and revealed through us.  

Your role and contributions in the body are indispensable in every season of life.  

Both our community groups and upcoming ministry team fair allow you opportunities for a shared life as you are transformed by the grace of God along with others. 

As your mind and heart are transformed, you take bite-sized steps to serve and transform the world around you with the love and good news of Jesus.   

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

-Mother Theresa 

A New Lord 

As our hearts are renewed, Christ’s Lordship transforms every area of our lives for the good.  

Romans 12:9-21 ESV

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

God calls us into a countercultural Kingdom through Christ. 

*Here is the point that can not be missed - as opposed to the world, service in the Kingdom of God is not divorced from love but is made perfect in practical relational love for one another.  

Galatians 5:6 ESV

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

Galatians 5:6 NIV

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Our eyes are opened when we are born-again - when we acknowledge that God has saved us by grace, through faith alone, in Jesus’ sinless life lived for us, death died sacrificially for our sins at the cross and resurrection with power from the dead, proving historically that Jesus is the unique Son of God (Ephesians 2:8-10).  

Yet to enter into that new life takes repentance from our sin and faith.  

It is not a one time repentance and faith, but an ongoing lifestyle where we die daily to self in Jesus to also live daily in his resurrection life.  

Just as there is no salvation without the cross of Christ, there is no sanctification without a commitment to walking out that salvation as we bear our crosses with one another in love. 

Just as love can not be walked out in isolation, true faith can not be walked out without Jesus as Lord.  

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Second City Church 

The Runaway Part 4

The Runaway Part 4

Anthony Connington

Focus: Mercy Triumphs Over Judgement

• Jonah’s Anger

• Justice and Compassion

• Word of Love

Part 1: Jonah’s Anger

Jonah 4:1-4

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

Why was Jonah so angry?

To answer this question we need to examine the Hebrew word for “evil” (raah). This word is used 9x throughout the book and it connects the beginning and end like links in a chain. 

Chain Link of Hebrew word for evil (raah) 

Jonah 1:2–People of Nineveh have done evil (raah).

Jonah 1:7&8–Fishermen accuse Jonah of bringing evil (raah) to them.

Jonah 3:8–King commands everyone to turn from their evil (raah) ways.

Jonah 3:10a—God saw what Nineveh did and how the people turned from their evil (raah) way. 

Jonah 3:10b—God then relented of the evil (raah) that He had planned to bring upon them.

Jonah 4:1–Jonah felt a terrible evil (raah).

Jonah 4:2–God relenting from doing evil (raah) to the people.

Why did Jonah run away?

Jonah was angry with God because he knew that God would forgive the Nineveites when they repented. Jonah felt that was not just and that Nineveh deserved to be punished. 

There is another connection here. What does Jonah say back to God?

This is a quote from the Old Testament found in Exodus 34:6

Exodus 34:4-8 ESV

So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 

What about this passage is different from what Jonah said back to God?

Jonah changes the Exodus passage and takes out the word “faithfulness” or “truth” and replaces it with God “renouncing evil”.

Do you see what Jonah did? He intentionally changed God’s own self-disclosure and then used his own version of who he thought God should be as ammunition to be shot back as an accusation towards God. 

Jonah had shortened his understanding of what God had spoken and in turn could not see how compassion and justice really meet in the person of God. 

A compassionate and gracious God, slow to answer and abounding in kindness

These words in the mind of Jonah have become a great source of terrible evil. But why??

Justice of God: tell the story of police pulling people over and how that justice makes us feel. 

To answer that question we have to first look at the very first verse, who is Jonah? 

• Jonah is the son of Amittai (Emmitt) hebrew for the “son of truth”

• Jonah just “happens” to leave that one word out of God's own self disclosure of himself to us, he intentionally replaced the word truth with judgment.

• Jonah expected God to bring Justice in the form of Judgement not in the form of Compassion.

How can you say you are the God of truth and faithfulness when you change your mind about doing evil (raah)? How can you change the natural consequences of their choices and let them get off scot free? Where is the Justice in that?

Jonah’s complaint toward God was that God changes His mind about doing evil, or bringing judgment to those who deserve it. 

So Jonah waits and watches to see what God would do?

Part 2: Justice and Compassion

Jonah 4:5-9

Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 

Let me ask you a question: What was the purpose of this plant?

The final link in the chain of evil (raah).

Jonah 4:6–The plant is there to save Jonah from his (raah) evil.

The plant wasn't just there to be a source of shade. The plant was an experience designed by God to provide a spiritual deliverance.

Jonah’s problem is not just his hatred towards Nineveh. It goes much deeper than that. His real problem was his hatred towards God.

See what Jonah was feeling…How can a God of Justice let these people just get away with all their evil. How dare you God sweep their offenses under the rug. Jonah can not live in a world where the judge of the universe lets the guilty go free. It is better that I just die. Jonah doesn't want to live in a world without justice. 

But what God was teaching Jonah is that he can not live in a world without compassion. 

Why was Jonah so happy about this plant?

The plant is a pure expression of love and compassion. It was there just because God loved Jonah.

The worm is an expression of justice and the consequences of the natural world playing out. 

The worm kills the plant because the plant does not have a seed. There are no roots. The plant does not belong so justice says it must be destroyed. 

Justice says when something doesn't have the right to be here it must go away.

What was so upsetting about the plant when it died?

Here Jonah was angry because God killed the plant that didn't deserve to be there. 

At first Jonah wanted to die because he didn't want to live in a world without Justice. Now he wants to die because he can not live in a world without compassion. 

The great question of justice is what have you done?

The great question of compassion is what can you become?

One speaks of judgment for what you have done. We get what we deserve. The other speaks mercy and looks toward who we could become.

The argument of compassion is that you may not deserve to be here but it would be such a shame to destroy you. 

When Jonah wants to die after the worm kills the plant he is really saying that he doesn't want to live in a world where beautiful things, expressions of love are destroyed just because they don't deserve to be here.

Part 3: Word of Love

Jonah 4:10-11

And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

True compassion comes from the one who invests and has long suffering towards those which He created and continues to love. 

I think Jonah is party right. In a world of Justice, simply saying sorry and repenting does not change the fact that.

This is a Word of Love.

The power of repentance is not that it changes the past, but rather it changes the future. 

Repentance is more about who you will become and less about what you have done. 

Did you make the connections yet to the New Testament?

The one place where true Love, Justice, Mercy, and Judgment collide is the cross of Jesus Christ. At the cross the wrath and justice of God was satisfied and the mercy and compassion of God was given. 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

The Runaway: This Time Around

The Runaway: This Time Around 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: It doesn’t matter where you’ve been before - this time choose to obey God!

• Jonah Responds

• So Do the People

• So Does God

Jonah Responds

When we obey God, the Holy Spirit will empower us to be bold witnesses for Jesus Christ. 

Jonah 3:1-5 ESV

“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.”

After Jonah’s repentance, the word of the Lord came to him again for the same people in the same city.  

Nineveh was called a great city by God.  

Why didn’t Jonah want to go there in the first place?

God was disturbed by the evil going on in the city, but rather than ignoring it or simply overthrowing it, he raised up a prophet to minister to it.   

God always gives people, cities and nations a chance before overthrowing them. 

The chance that God gives is a warning of destruction from the mouth of his prophet. 

God was giving the people of Nineveh forty days.   

Nineveh was called great in not only importance, but size, taking three days to travel across. 

It would be hard to even know where to start to address the issues there, but God called Jonah to be intentional rather than intimidated by the task set before him.  

He walked a day into the city, right in the middle of its happenings and began to engage those who were there. 

Jesus would later say about to his followers:

Matthew 5:13-16 ESV 

“"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

The people of Nineveh were living in their sin, thinking it normal until they were confronted with the word of the Lord.  

 The beautiful thing is that by God’s grace, when the people of Nineveh heard Jonah’s warning, they believed God.  

 And as they believed God, they responded in humility with fasting and repentance.  

 Revival broke out so that every person in the city, from the greatest of them to the least of them, turned to God.  

If that is what God did in Nineveh through the preaching of one man, what can God do in our great city with a church that loves him, honors him and preaches his good news?

But how? 

We have tools.  

Learn to use the One to One as a tool to minister the good news of Jesus to a family member, friend, neighbor or co-worker who needs to come into relationship with Christ.  

So Do the People

When we obey God, we will see even the most unlikely people respond in repentance and faith.  

Jonah 3:6-9 ESV 

“The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish."”

The king of Nineveh, the gatekeeper of all that went on in the city, was compelled to remove his sign of authority and sit before God in humility at the preaching of God’s unadulterated word.  

The word of God did not have to be watered down to produce God’s desired effect.  

Because the fear of the Lord was birthed in the king of Nineveh as Jonah preached, the king called the entire city to fast and call upon Yahweh.   

The king of Nineveh, who now believed God, called the people of the city to “turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.”

This is the essence and goal of discipleship as Paul the apostle later described it to Timothy:

2 Timothy 2:2 ESV

“and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

The hope of the king Nineveh was that through fasting, repentance and calling upon the name of the Lord, that the people of Nineveh would fall upon the mercy of God and not be destroyed for their sins.  

This is the hope that the gospel of Jesus brings to individuals, families, cities and nations. 

So…

• Are you a gatekeeper in your city? 

• Do you know one who is?

• Have you responded to the word of the Lord to you and for your city?

The question then becomes:

• Why does it matter whether I choose to obey God going where and to whom he’s called me?

• It is because according to God, literal lives and destinies are on the line.  

Consider these passages: 

Ezekial 33:7-9 ESV

“"So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.”

Romans 10:13-17 ESV

“For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

So Does God

When we obey God, Jesus has room to move in grace and power to turn disasters away from individuals, families, cities and nations.  

Jonah 3:10 ESV

“When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

The response was more than lip service. 

When God saw what the people of Nineveh did in turning from their evil way, he relented and did not destroy the city.   

But I thought God doesn’t change his mind?

God did not change his mind, but the people their allegiance and behavior, so that relationally, they found themselves in a position to be recipients of God’s mercy and grace.  

Because of the cross of Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter where you, your family, city or nation have been before, this time you can choose to obey God!

And in doing so, God can release times of not only refreshing, but renewal and revival when we look to his resurrection life!

Jonah 4:11 ESV

“And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"”

Always remember that we serve the God who with miracle power brings dead things to life!

His kindness can lead the hardest heart to repentance and any situation on the brink of disaster into his glorious grace.  

Scriptures upon which I stand as we go out like Jonah to preach:

There is no walking out any of this without first having deep daily roots in relationship with Jesus.  

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”

Isaiah 60:21-22 ESV

“Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it.”

John 14:12-14 ESV

“"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

John 15:7-8 ESV 

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

John 15:13-16 ESV

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

Acts 5:42 ESV

“And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 ESV

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

The Runaway: God’s Dealings

The Runaway: God’s Dealings

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: God will hem us in to call us out into his life and eternal purposes in Christ.  

• Hemming You In  

• Calling You Out  

• From the Belly of the Grave  

Hemming You In

It is an act of mercy to come to a place in life where the only answer for our situation is to cry out to God.   

Jonah 2:1 ESV

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish,”

God will allow you to be hemmed in so that you finally slow down enough to think about what is most important in life - love for and obedience to Jesus.  

It’s in this place where we feel that we have nothing left to lose that we can truly hear clearly from God. 

“The purpose of prayer is emphatically not to bend God’s will to ours, but rather to align our will to his.”

— John R.W. Stott

Calling You Out

The grace of God is found when we turn away from vain idols and once again call solely upon the name of Jesus.  

Jonah 2:2-9 ESV

“saying, "I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.' The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!"”

Deceptively, it is not usually us actively running away from an audible word from God that throws us off course in his plan for our lives.  

It is what Jesus spoke about in the parable of the sower which consumes us without us thinking twice that anything is abnormal in the way that we’ve chosen to live.   

Luke 8:14 ESV

“And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”

Mark 4:19 ESV

“but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”

The only antidote is to allow the Word of God to be a mirror to you and deep prayer to be a refiner to you where you are continually asking the question: 

• “Am I living set apart to God?

• Am I doing the things that Jesus is doing?”

• Am I loving the lost?

• Am I making disciples?

• Am I praying for and helping the gospel of Jesus Christ go to my city and the nations? 

When you are hemmed in by God, it is to call you out on the things in your heart that stand opposed to him.  

Jonah 2:8 NIV

““Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.”

• What is God calling you out on today?  

• What worthless idols are you clinging to - in a search for love, acceptance and identity - that you need to let go of to be found in Him?

There is nothing that compares to God’s love and plan for us. 

Throughout history, even those without God have had the inkling that there could be a change, but failed to reach it without the transforming power found in the love and Lordship of Jesus Christ: 

“You are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.”

-Alan Watts

It is only Jesus and his gospel that enable us to know not only what is eternally valuable, but receive the power to live in it. 

From the Belly of the Grave

Jesus is the proof that God is able to speak to our condition to bring resurrection life where there was once only a grave.  

Jonah 2:10 ESV 

“And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.”

When you are vomited out, you may come with a taste or smell that reminds you of the place from which God brought you, but it is the very thing that will propel you to fulfill his high call on your life.  

It is the anointing of God that then comes upon you to finish that call with the word of the Lord - the gospel of Jesus - and a testimony of God’s mercy to you that he also wants to extend to those to whom he sends you.  

Just as your repentance will see you leave the belly of the great fish, so the message of repentance will call people out of their sin and entrapment.  

Jesus was the greater Jonah facing literal death for us on the cross to pay for our sins.  

He went not into the belly of the fish, but into the grave to snatch the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18) from the enemy. 

Matthew 12:38-45 ESV

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation."”

*Just as Jonah emerged from the belly of the fish, so Jesus rose in resurrection power with a message of repentance and liberty to those who would let go of their vain idols that embrace God’s redeeming love for them. 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

The Runaway: Nowhere to Run

The Runaway: Nowhere to Run 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: God will call us to himself and then to the people whom he works through us to save, whether we like it or not.  

• Where Will You Run?

• God Will Have His Way

• Christ in the Belly of the Fish

Where Will You Run To?

God’s presence is often found in the very place from which we want to run.   

Jonah 1:1-6 ESV

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me." But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish."”

God loves people that we don’t and cares about people and places that we won’t on our own.   

That is good news for us because it is the reason any of us are here today (I Corinthians 1:26-31). 

God always calls his servants to a place, to a people and for a purpose.  

This is a theme that we see throughout Scripture.  

God has his eyes on the city and sends his people to minister to it, not just enjoy and take from it.  

God’s concern is not just the pleasures and career opportunities that people can find in the city, but the evils that exist there. 

*Though God called Jonah to minister to the city, Jonah fled seeking comfort over confrontation. 

This can be a pattern in Christendom, Christians fleeing the cities to find their fortresses of safety free of trial and pain.  

It is interesting that as Jonah fled from Nineveh, he fled from the presence of the Lord who was there to work in that city. 

Jonah found a ship going to Tarshish, away from Nineveh where he did not want to be, but where God wanted Jonah to be.  

*Opportunity does not equate to the call of God.  

*Whether it be a job, a home or a relationship, If you are determined not to listen to God, you can find a vessel to take you where you want to go.  

God called Nineveh a great city.

Don’t run from what God calls great so that you can find what you think is good.  

Jonah paid the price to run from Nineveh and again it was repeated, the presence of the Lord.  

What we can find outside of God’s circumstantial and geographic call is a certain perceived ease, but it will come with a price.

When we step outside of the will of God, we stop asking questions as to what he wants us to do, so that by willfully ignoring his voice, we can create a pseudo-spirituality of our own making where God is available to us whenever we call rather than when he calls us.   

Have you ever found it difficult to engage the presence of the Lord when you knew you were outside of his will?

Jonah 1:4 ESV

“But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.”

God will disrupt things in our lives when we are off course to get our attention and the attention of those around us that things have got to change.  

The trouble that came upon everyone because of Jonah’s sin caused the sailors to call upon their false gods, but no help would come until there was an acknowledgment of the one true God of Israel from whom Jonah was running.  

Have you ever been found running from God?  

How did it affect your life and the lives of those around you? 

God Will Have His Way

God’s peace is found solely in the middle of his will - he will have it no other way.  

Jonah 1:7-16 ESV

“And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done!" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you." Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, "O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you." So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.”

*We are called to walk with Jesus, not just believe in him.   

As always, if you are living in disobedience to God, your sin will find you out.  

God will arrange it so that your quiet life that you think that you’ve constructed for yourself will inevitably spit you out.  

It can be a job loss, relational or financial distress, even a health challenge that comes in the place that you thought you would find peace.  

When trouble came to the ship, the people on board with Jonah were determined to find out why.  

When you are thinking about building a home, raising kids and providing the best future for your family, you need to remember the words of a woman devoted to God through the horrors of the Holocaust:

“The safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.”

-Corrie Ten Boom

Prior to his crucifixion, there were people who tried to throw Jesus off of a cliff as he ministered - yet he walked right through them (Luke 4:29,30). 

The good news is that even in Jonah’s willful disobedience, God came to discipline, deal with and redirect Jonah. 

Don’t be a portent - if God has to redirect you through discipline, he will. 

God will use your trouble in the midst of your discipline to minister to others the truth about Jesus.  

What did God use to finally grab your attention and turn you to Jesus? 

Christ in the Belly of the Fish

Jesus is our great God and prophet leading us to reconciliation with the Father through his own time spent three days in the grave after being crucified for our sins.  

Jonah 1:17 ESV

“And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

This is all a foreshadowing of the life and work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

What was your belly of the fish moment?

How did Jesus meet you or is he now coming to meet there?

“Hold loosely to the things of this life, so that if God requires them of you, it will be easy to let them go.”

-Corrie Ten Boom

Because Jesus was the better prophet, he ran to the city, not away from it, to provide a word that would bring salvation to the world.  

As God in the flesh, Christ lived sinlessly showing us the way of perfect obedience to the Father and walked with him all the way to the cross to pay the price for our rebellion. 

Because of his innocence, though he was in the grave three days, Jesus rose from the dead to provide an opportunity for repentance and forgiveness of sins to those who would put their faith in and truly follow him.  

All who are called of God are called to be servants of God.  

God wants to not only turn our lives around, but then calls us to the very cities from which we would otherwise run, to find his presence, his peace and his prophetic word for the people he has come to save.  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Life Unexpected: The Joy of the LORD is My Strength

Life Unexpected: The Joy of the LORD is My Strength

Anthony Connington

• Part 1 - The Father’s Joy In The Son

• Part 2 - The Word Gives Joy

• Part 3 - A Joy Restored

Focus: Through Christ we can partake in the life of God and share in the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:17

for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

We can have joy in the Holy Spirit

PART 1: The Father’s Joy In The Son

What does it mean to have joy, a true joy that lasts. A joy that can be experienced no matter the unexpected curveballs life throws our way. 

First, let us define what joy actually is and is not.

Joy is not the same thing as happiness, though they are often associated together. There are subtle and important differences between the two.

Happiness is a very good thing to experience and it feels amazing when you have it. Unfortunately, on this side of eternity, being happy is only a temporary experience. It is a fleeting emotion that comes and goes and is never constant in our lives. 

Joy is similar in that it too is expressed at times as an emotion. However, unlike the emotion of happiness, joy is much more than just an emotion.

“Joy is closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more of a state of being than an emotion; a result of a choice” –The Lexham Bible Dictionary

“Joy is a state of delight and well-being that results from knowing and serving God…Joy is the fruit of a right relation with God, It is not something people can create by their own efforts.” –Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary 

Joy is something that is best defined outside of ourselves.

Joy comes not by the pursuit of enlightenment and gaining knowledge and wisdom. Nor is Joy found in seeking your own happiness, personal pleasure, and fulfillment. Instead, true joy is found in giving your life away to God and surrendering yourself to His Lordship. 

True and lasting joy is only found in God Himself. 

God is not a cosmic killjoy as some have claimed. In fact the word joy appears over 150 times in the Bible and if you include the words joyous and joyful that number exceeds 200 times.

The word “rejoice" also appears in the Bible over 200 times.
The fact that these words are mentioned so often shows us that God is in the business of giving and receiving joy. This comes from his very nature, He is a God of Joy. 

Psalm 16:11 

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Joy is best defined in God. God Himself is the very definition of Joy.

Let's take a moment and look at this from another angle, the perspective of the Trinity. 

Here are a few passages that describe the relationship between the Father and the Son.

Isaiah 42:1

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

This passage is speaking about the future messiah to come. The word “soul” here is speaking of God’s essence and fullness of being. All of God takes great joy and delight in the messiah. 

Later we see this same type of language exemplified at the baptism of Jesus.

Matthew 3:16-17 

When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

God the Father is fully pleased and delights in His beloved Son. 

This is how the Triune God relates within Himself, full of delight and joy for one another. The Father perfectly expresses delight, and joy to the Son, the One in whom He is well pleased. The Son relishes in and fully shares and enjoys that same joy with the Father. The Holy Spirit then proceeds from both the Father and Son as the perfect expression of that same joy He shares with the Father and the Son. 

Michael Reeves says it best when he writes…

“First, if there is nothing more precious to the Father than (the Son), there cannot be any blessing higher than him or anything better than him. In every way, Jesus himself must be the very great reward of the gospel... He is the treasure of the Father, shared with us. Sometimes we find ourselves tiring of Jesus, stupidly imagining that we have seen all there is to see and used up all the pleasure there is to be had in him. We get spiritually bored. But Jesus has satisfied the mind and heart of the infinite God of eternity. Our boredom is simple blindness. If the Father can be infinitely and eternally satisfied in him, then he must be overwhelmingly all-sufficient for us. In every situation, for eternity.” –Michael Reeves, Rejoicing In Christ

Do you see it? That same joy can be ours through the Holy Spirit. We see this in Jesus in one of Jesus' prayers, He invites us to partake in that same joy. 

John 17:24-25

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.”

This prayer shows us that Jesus desires to share with us the same intimacy and joy He has with His Father.

Through the Holy Spirit, the Father shares His Son and the Son shares His Father with us. 

Through the Holy Spirit we are invited to partake in that same love and joy the Father and Son share together. 

“To be indwelt by the Holy Spirit is to be indwelt by the Joy of God in God. To be full of the Holy Spirit is to be overflowing with God’s Joy in God. We are not left to our own limited personalities. We are given divine assistance to enjoy what is infinitely enjoyable. God the Spirit is our indwelling ability to enjoy God” –John Piper

The true meaning of joy is to partake and share in the Joy of God that He has within Himself. To know the Joy of God in God. This is to know God, to experience His joy. 

The question needs to be asked, how can we practically do this, share in the joy of God? 

PART 2: The Word Gives Joy

We partake in the Joy of God in God through receiving His Word

The Old Testament prophet says it best when he says…

Jeremiah 15:16 

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. 

When we eat and take in the Word of God, the Holy Spirit imparts His joy to us. This Joy that we receive then becomes a great strength to us. 

No matter the unexpected things that come our way, the Word of God is our guiding light. The Word of God will sustain you and bring you great joy even in the midst of life's most difficult moments.

We see a great example of this in Nehemiah. The people had returned to Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon but things were not what they used to be. Things had changed. For many this was a grievous thing. Although the temple was rebuilt, it was not restored to its former glory. The walls were just rebuilt, the city was just beginning to heal, and things were not as some had remembered. Then Ezra begins reading the Law and we see this brings comfort, joy, and strength to the people.   

Nehemiah 8:1-3

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 

Nehemiah 8:9-12

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”  So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

The people were grieved because they were not as they once were. They were starting over and rebuilding their lives and identity in God after the exile. 

When we hit the reset button in our own lives, it is God’s Word that will become our strength. 

The Joy of the LORD is my strength comes from a deep relationship with God and is given to us through the Word of God. By faith we receive this Word and then choose to live and share in the joy of God. 

But what happens if our joy is stolen from us? 

What if we feel like we have lost our joy?

What do we do to begin this rebuilding process like they did in Nehemiah's day?

Where do we start?

PART 3: A Joy Restored

To answer these questions, let's take a look at Psalm 51:1-12

Behind the scenes of this song is a story, the story of David

Here is King David’s darkest moment in his life. He has just murdered his good friend Uriah, taken his wife by force, got her pregnant, and then shortly after the baby is born God kills the infant as a judgment against David’s sin. 

David’s world is turned upside down. Things are not as they are supposed to be and it is because of him. All of this is his fault.

Psalm 51:1-12

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right[b] spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

The Father reconciles us to Himself by joining us to his incarnate Son, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is through this reconciliation we can now partake in the joy of the LORD.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Life Unexpected: Patiently Righteous

Life Unexpected: Patiently Righteous

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: How you respond whenever there are curveballs in life helps reveal your foundations and refine your love for Jesus. 

• Patience is a Virtue

• How We Respond 

• In the Righteousness of God

Patience is a Virtue

Much of life is here to help test and develop our patience.  

When Paul was instructing the early Roman church, he had to clarify for them the nature of true faith. 

Whereas they were looking to determine their piety by ceremonies involving rituals like eating and drinking certain foods, Paul pointed instead to a life that comes fully alive in Jesus Christ.  

Romans 14:17 ESV

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

When Paul speaks about the Kingdom of God, he is speaking about Jesus as Lord - Christ being the governor and benevolent ruler of your heart, mind and actions. 

True faith is to be based around our understanding of the one true God in Jesus, fortified by a relationship with him and grounded in genuine experience with him.   

Though valuable, true faith is not found simply in external, cultural rituals.  

True faith is found in how we walk with Jesus through life, even in the midst of an unexpected life.  

The question is: 

What is God determined to produce in you through the unexpected curveballs of life?  

Answer: 

Fresh Fruit!

One of those fruits is patience.  

Patience is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that is the bedrock on which righteousness can be received, developed in our lives and expressed toward others.   

Curveballs are the opportunities to grow in this fruit by making determined choices to live righteously despite our surprising, and  at times, frustrating,  circumstances. 

*This is why we need to find a way to encourage one another daily - intentionally filling our conversations with the truth, promises and eternal hope found in Jesus. 

Proverbs 24:10 ESV

“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”

Hebrews 3:12-14 ESV 

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

It is not only how you treat others outside the home, but how you treat people closest to you - in your family, with your roommates - that is the real measure of your devotion to pleasing God. 

Life unexpectedly shows us where our faith, love and our confidence truly lay.  

Were they in God or something else?

“If my house has collapsed at one blow, that is because it was a house of cards. The faith which 'took these things into account' was not faith but imagination.”

-C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

Patience literally means long-suffering.  

That means suffering for a long time. 

• Can we do it with patient, righteous responses?

• Can we do it with peace?

• Can we do it with joy in the Holy Spirit?

How We Respond

Those who understand patience as long-suffering know that God is shaping us to be like Jesus through trial.  

God tests you to break you and then strengthen you.  

This is the real testimony.  

We become a living testimony of the truth of Scripture when we patiently walk with Jesus through an unexpected life. 

“More often than not, it is what you are rather than what you say that will bring an unbeliever to Christ. This, then, is the ultimate apologetic. For the ultimate apologetic is: your life”

-William Lane Craig

*The only thing that truly produces both righteousness and patience is time spent with Christ - reflecting on his sufferings and receiving grace for our own as we look to our reward in him. 

Walking with God is different than just believing in God.  

Walking with God means that you are:

1. Thinking about how to obey Scripture in the decisions that you are making regarding relationships, work and pursuits. This applies to how you spend time, talent and treasure. 

2. Listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit - Inviting God into every moment of your day, including at home, at work, with friends and with neighbors. 

3. Asking God to fill you your heart with the tangible patience of God, as you set your heart on living righteously before him. 

Matthew 18:21-35 ESV

“Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."”

When people are already trying to live for Jesus, harsh judgments discourage rather encourage people to become who God has made them to be.  

How do I know if I’m being patient with others?

We now it by our response and our tone.  

Proverbs 15:1 ESV

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Proverbs 25:15 ESV

“With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.”

In the Righteousness of God

The righteousness of God frees me to develop in Christ and patiently allow others to do the same.  

Whenever we return to the original Scriptural reference in Romans, Paul was addressing a community that was trying to find their right standing with God based on ceremonial rules and traditions regarding their eating, drinking and rituals rather than in Christ.  

Paul was appealing to the Romans that there is no basis of our right standing with God without Christ, his cross for our sins and his resurrection from the dead.  

How often has life unexpected brought us to a point where the fruit of our lives, embittered and disillusioned by disappointment with circumstance, yourself and others, brings out of you what Paul would describe in Romans?

Romans 3:10-18 ESV

“as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."”

Again, life unexpected exposes our foundations to us, not to God.  

“God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn't. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.”

-C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

The surprising righteousness of Christ provides a patience with myself and others that enables me to walk in kindness towards myself and others.  

Romans 3:21-27 ESV

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.”

When I’ve come to understand the righteousness that God has given me in Jesus, I am no longer continually beating myself or others up, but am striving to treat everyone with the same mercy and grace with which Jesus has treated me.  

I can patiently wait on God’s promises and respond in righteous obedience to him because I know my promises are not based on my merit, but on God’s goodness to me.   

The righteous things I do as I wait, I do out of love for the one who has given me his perfect record, and not to earn that which I could never measure up enough to attain.  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Family Matters

Family Matters

Pastor Joel Magpantay

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Uncommon Faith

Uncommon Faith

Anthony Connington

Focus: A faith observed leads to a faith lived that becomes a legacy of faith

1. A Faith Observed

2. A Faith Lived

3. A Legacy of Faith
   

The Life of Isaac

The Family Background 

Genesis 12–God calls Abram from the land of Ur to move and settle into the land of Cannan. He traveled across the world with his wife Sari and in faith believed the promise that God would bless him with many descendants. For years, the deepest longing of their heart, the desire to have children, was yet an unfulfilled promise from God. 

How many of you know your own birth story, or maybe know someone else’s? 

Genesis 21: Isaac is born into this family of faith

Isaac means “he laughs” or “laughter”

Isaac is the direct result of the promise, the fulfillment of the word given to Abraham and Sarah. 

A Faith Observed

Isaac grew up knowing his birth story and that he was the promised son. In the eyes of his parents he was the golden boy, the prized child in his house. All the focus, attention, and love was given to him alone. So much so that his older step brother Ishmael was kicked out of the house. Isaac was then an only child. 

Imagine growing up like this with wealthy parents, God’s blessing present everywhere, and looking up to a mom and dad who have a very strong faith. Isaac grew up watching his mother and father interact with God and he enjoyed all the family blessings and prospered as a result of his parents faith.

Then comes chapter 22

Genesis 22:1-19

“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. 2 “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” 3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together. 7 Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.” And he replied, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide[a] the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together. 9 When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac[b] and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.” 12 Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram[c] caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide,[d] so today it is said, “It will be provided[e] on the Lord’s mountain.” 15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their[f] enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed[g] by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.” 19 Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.”

A few details to take note of

1. This was a test designed and orchestrated by God. It was at God’s command that this sacrifice was to take place

2. Abraham immediately obeyed without question and left early the next morning

3. In verse 7 notice that Isaac was very familiar with Abrahams’s sacrificial worship. Isaac was taught the proper way to relate with and ultimately worship God. This event was very different then all the other times he had seen before.

4. Notice Abrham’s faith, he tells his 2 servants that he and his son will come back to them after they worship. He knew God would raise Isaac from the dead.

5. Notice God’s provision, the ram in the thicket. When tested, God always has a provision for us, but it may come in ways we did not see or expect. 

6. The test re-shaped and re-defined both Abraham and Isaac’s faith in God. The promise was reaffirmed and God used this test to build strength and fortitude within the family. 

Hebrews 11:17-19

“17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, 18 the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring[a] will be traced through Isaac.[b] 19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.”

This event showed that Abraham loved God more than the blessings and promises God had given Him. He was willing to trust God and sacrifice the most precious gift God had given to him, his son of promise Isaac.

Abraham was willing to give it all up to please the LORD.

The question for us today is the same. Are we following God just for his blessings and promises, or are we following God because we desire to be with Him above anything else?

To be clear, the promises of God are very good and essential in our daily walk and relationship with Him. Cling to those promises and with uncommon faith hold fast to them. However, the question still needs to be asked, do we love the blessings and promises of God more than the person of God? 

Are we following God because we think we can get what we want? What if God’s plan is for us to be transformed and become more like Him? What if that plan includes pain, suffering, rejection, and persecution? Are you willing to sacrifice your prized promise and blessing in order to gain Christ the ultimate blessing? 

A Faith Lived

Isaac could not live on his fathers faith, he needed to make his faith his own. He needed to learn how to walk with God on his own.

Isaac experienced a series of tests.

The first test happened when Isaac was 37 years old. His mother died and during this dark period, the family had many choices that needed to be made. Abraham bought a field from the Hittites. This would ultimately be the only land he actually possessed during his lifetime.

During this period of mourning and major life transition, God was faithful and showed his love again to this family. 

At this time, in his old age, Abraham sought a wife for Isaac. In faith Isaac agreed to marry and stay in the land. Genesis 24 recounts this beautiful love story, it is my personal favorite.

Isaac chose to obey and not marry a foreign woman and also chose to obey even when he was struggling with this major loss, he did not give up faith in God, but persevered–uncommon faith. 

Later in In Genesis 25 we see that Abraham dies. Isaac is now charged with leading his family and everyone looked to him to lead. 

Isaac’s next test happened when his wife was unable to conceive. He knew his own story and that God is able and would come through to fulfill the promise. He chose to pray.

Genesis 25:21

“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.”

Uncommon faith was not just for Isaac. Take note in the next verse what Rebekah did when complications arose during the pregnancy. 

Genesis 25:22-26

“But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” [a] So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her:

Two nations are in your womb;
two peoples will come from you and be separated.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.

24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25 The first one came out red-looking,[b] covered with hair[c] like a fur coat, and they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob.[d] Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.” Ed

In faith Rebekah inquired of the LORD. In response, God gave her a word of prophecy that would then define the lives of her two sons. In this story it was Rebekah who took this prophecy to heart and was comforted knowing God would follow through on His promises. 

Isaacs next major test was the famine that came upon the land. What would he do?

Genesis 26:1-5

“There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. 2 The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; 3 stay in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed[a] by your offspring, 5 because Abraham listened to me and kept my mandate, my commands, my statutes, and my instructions.”

We see that God reaffirms the promise to Isaac and in faith Isaac obeyed God and built his life in the land. Unlike his father, Isaac did not go to Egypt and instead chose to plant crops and do business where God commanded him to live. As a result he was blessed a hundredfold and became very wealthy. 

Genesis 26:12-14

“Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped[a] a hundred times what was sown. The Lord blessed him, 13 and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy. 14 He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him.”

“When the whole world is running toward a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.” – C.S. Lewis 

Watch the journey. Isaac observes his parents faith and grows up with this great legacy. But he needed to build his own life in God. Isaac needs to go through his own test, trials, rejections, and persecutions. He needed to take that faith he had seen and then put it into practice himself. 

Whether it be choosing a spouse, enduring a loved one's death, experiencing barrenness of the womb or living through a famine, Isaac displayed uncommon faith time and time again.

*Personal Story*

Uncommon faith is not the same as perfection. Isaac struggled over and over again, he wrestled with God, prayed, worked, planted, and chose to live and worship God no matter the sacrifice, pain or disorienting circumstance. Uncommon faith is choosing to believe, choosing to look to God when you are helpless. Choosing to bless His name even when you feel utter despair. 

God is our anchor. He alone is our rock, our firm foundation. He can be trusted. 

I

A Legacy of Faith

Leaving a legacy of faith is great because it endures beyond our life time and impacts more people than you can count.

In Isaac’s story God was not just concerned with his own family but in the background orchestrating events that would last for generations to come. 

Is your faith walk marked by multi-generational thinking? Do you have faith to believe God working not just today with you, but through your great-great-great-great-great grandchildren? Are we praying with that type of legacy in mind?

God is always thinking beyond just our lifetimes. Look at this example here.

2 Chronicles 3:1

“Then Solomon began to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah where the Lord[a] had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan[b] the Jebusite.” 

Mount Moriah is the place where God met with David, and where Solomon built the temple of the LORD. This is a LEGACY of FAITH.

Do you see it! 1000 years before David, God ordained Abraham’s test as a reflection of things to come. Sometimes our tests and our trials are not so much about us in the moment but about something bigger we can not see. 

Moriah is the land of Jerusaleam. Years later Jesus would step on the scene and this is the same city in which he died on the cross. Same mountainous region that God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. 

Everything in this story is a complete typological reflection of what Jesus would do. Jesus carried his own wood up the same mountain. Instead of God sparing His only son of promise, God the Father let the knife fall and His son was killed. The fire is our punishment.. Jesus bore hell on our behalf. Do you see the connections?

When you face your mount Moriah, your famine, your test, know that Jesus walked that same path. He completely understands. You can choose to have uncommon faith. You can choose to trust even when you don't feel like it.

Even when you don't see it, God is faithful. He will fulfill all His promises in Christ. He will deliver and set us free. 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Uncommon Healing

Uncommon: Healing

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: In all the stages and circumstances of life, there is an uncommon, redemptive purpose to your pain and supernatural healing available to those who submit to Jesus Christ.

• God’s International, Eternal Sovereignty

• But I Thought…

• Uncommon Healing in Christ 

God’s International, Eternal Sovereignty

We need to run to God for healing rather than stay in the holes to which we’ve become accustomed.  

We will look at this familiar passage today not just from the perspective of Naaman, but the young woman who was taken captive into his service.  

‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "Would that my Lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." So Naaman went in and told his Lord, "Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel." And the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy." And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me." But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, "Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and said to him, "My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

It is clear that you can have great success in life but still be in desperate need of healing.  

This was true of Naaman.  

How many people do you know who are professionally successful but have bodies, families, mental or emotional states that are literally falling apart?

The good news is that Jesus is no respecter of persons and comes for both the high and the low, those who seem to have it all together and those who are fully aware that their lives are unraveling.  
It is amazing that in Naaman we see God working outside of the walls of his people Israel, showing his concern for all of the people of the earth. 

The Scripture says clearly that Naaman, though neither knowing or serving the one true God of Israel, had won a great victory for his Syrian people by the hand of the Lord.  

This is a poignant communication that God is sovereign even in the international affairs of nations.  

In the midst of God’s sovereignty, the young girl mentioned had been carried off from Israel to serve Naaman’s wife.  

How much pain, heartache and loss would her family have experienced, not to mention the young girl herself?

However, God allowed this Syrian raid and her abduction for greater missiological purposes.  

*In all of our lives, when we are thrown circumstantial curveballs, we will either get bitter or be buffeted to become even more useful in the hand and eternal purposes of God. 

The young girl had a choice in those circumstances - to allow her pain to divorce her from her allegiance to Yahweh, the one true God of Israel because of her pain and foreign captors, or allow her pain to be a bridge to God’s supernatural plan and glory in the nations.  

The young girl chose the latter.  

Have you ever wondered why pain was allowed in your life?  

Did you see this pain as a prison or a platform?

“To stay away from Christianity because part of the Bible's teaching is offensive to you assumes that if there is a God he wouldn't have any views that upset you. Does that belief make sense?”

-Timothy Keller

The young woman was positioned through her pain to be a witness to Naaman of God’s supernatural grace and healing.  

But I Thought…

We all have ideas in our minds of how our healing will come, but need to learn to trust God’s word and his plan.  
God’s word and his ways are always higher and better, though it may take more time than we prefer and his healing comes in a manner different than we would have engineered it. 

God has purpose in the process. 

God used the humility that it would take for the great military general to listen to this servant girl’s testimony of Yahweh to bring him to a place of healing. 

*You may be captain of your world in business, work and industry, but you need to be open to hearing the voice of God in the way that he chooses to deliver it. 

*Part of God’s ordained process of healing is worked out as you intentionally develop Christ-centered relationships in the church.  

“The glory of God is available to you in the church in a way it’s not available to you anywhere else. . . . There is no more important means of discipleship than deep involvement in the life of the church.”

-Timothy Keller

Have you begun building life transforming relationships in your church community?

II Kings 5:10-12 ESV

And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, "Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. 

We must submit to God’s process until it is complete for the healing to take place. 

This is why Elisha told Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan, the Biblical number often associated with completion. 

In each of our lives, the real issue is sin that has introduced physical, emotional and spiritual death into our worlds.  

Bitterness is an example of the results of that sin. 

Bitterness is a poisonous trap that we feel justified in nursing.  

Usually, we have some valid reason in our minds that allows bitterness to be an option - an offense, some disappointment or a way against which you’ve been legitimately sinned. 

However, God does not allow us to remain in bitterness, since in the end, not only do you suffer, but you poison the well from which others drink.  

Here’s how bitterness affects you:

Matthew 5:21-26 ESV

“"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

‭‭

Here’s how bitterness affects others:

Hebrews 12:12-17 ESV

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.”

Again, why would God have chosen the methodology (not to be replicated) of dipping in the Jordan for Naaman’s healing?

1. To humble Naaman

2. To associate Naaman with the Jordan River - the place of Yahweh’s miracles for Israel and not just any cultic or spiritual power source. 

3. To release Naaman, a man of stature, rank and success from his bondage to control.  (He needed to learn, as we all do, that the only way to serve Jesus is as Lord)

In the places in which God has wanted to heal you, how has:

1. Pride kept you from following God’s prescriptions for cleansing?

2. Syncretistic philosophies kept you from crying out to Jesus as your ultimate source (even as you embrace his natural means of treatment)? 

3. Control kept you from submitting to and persevering in God’s process with his designated people?

Uncommon Healing in Christ 

It is only through repentance (a change of mind to go in a different direction) and faith in the foolishness of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection that we can be forever healed from our deepest needs. 

What could have been the devil’s plan for the young woman who testified to Naaman?

To shut her down in bitterness so that in her pain, she no longer engaged with her captors and inevitably cut off her service and witness to the foreshadowed Christ.  

“Contemporary people tend to examine the Bible, looking for things they can’t accept; but Christians should reverse that, allowing the Bible to examine us, looking for things God can’t accept.”

-Timothy Keller

We also look for things we can’t accept in others and distance ourselves from the very people who would aid in our healing. 

There is a complete, supernatural healing, either now or at the resurrection, for those who come to Christ - for those who’ve submitted to Jesus at the cross.  

There is supernatural healing through prayer. 

If you are stuck in your soul, first do all that God has prescribed in his word (including medical attention as needed) and then cry out for God to heal your body, soul and spirit through prayer.  

I Corinthians 1:18-25 ESV

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Romans 10:8-13 ESV

“But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."”

Whether now or at the resurrection, there will be complete, supernatural healing for those who call on the name of Jesus - mind, body and soul.  

No one who calls on the name of the Lord will be put to shame. 

That is God’s promise and he never fails.  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Uncommon Freedom

Uncommon: Freedom

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: We are called to live in an uncommon freedom through the power of and eternal perspective of Jesus Christ. 

• Feelings vs. Flesh

• Spirit vs. Flesh

• Uncommon Freedom in Christ

Feelings vs. Flesh

Our feelings are valuable and God-given, but must not be our masters in this world.  

“You are tempted without ceasing, so pray without ceasing.”

-Charles Spurgeon

We have constant enemies of:

• Bitterness (we’ll speak about this next week)

• Jealousy

• Envy

that war against our souls (our mind, will and emotions). 

Jesus comes to be the Lord and liberator of our souls as we repent of our sins and look to his healing and forgiveness at the cross. 

Galatians 5:16-26 ESV 

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

Though your feelings are very real to you, it does not mean that they are reality.  

We were introduced to Anxiety, Ennui (boredom), Embarrassment and Envy. 

Our feelings can become our reality if we focus on them more than we focus on God’s truth in his Word and what the Spirit of God speaks to us.  

“What we think about when we are free to think about what we will – that is what we are or will soon become.” 

― A.W. Tozer

Proverbs 23:7 NKJV

For as he thinks in his heart, so  is  he. “Eat and drink!”  he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

Spirit vs. Flesh

The Word and Spirit of God lead you to power over corruptible flesh and common anxieties of this world.  

A recent study found that as an older generation, we have fallen short in creating environments allowing people to fail and pick themselves up again - we haven’t taught them how. 

Many young adults feel paralyzed thinking, “I don’t want to commit to anything because if I’m labeled, then I have a pressure to succeed at it.”

A 2021 Gen Z Barna report identified them as having these driving characteristics:

• “A pressure to be successful”

• “A need to be perfect”

• “Judged by older generations”

• “Pressured by parents expectations”

Yet these pressures affect not only Gen Z, but have filtered into societal consciousness as a whole. 

Choice overload, otherwise known as choice paralysis or the paradox of choice is a very real challenge in today’s modern environment.  

Whereas rising income promised to give freedom, technology opportunity and social media connection a window to the world, what people have instead been met with are paralyzing anxiety, doubts, envy and jealousy regarding the lives that they do not have rather than joy in the ones that they are actually living.  

Even in the church, we see it reflected. 

One of the young women interviewed for the Fuller Youth Institute described it this way:

So what is the solution?

Proverbs 22:4

“The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.”

Even in business, the exhortation given by Rick Warren in the Purpose Driven Life is appropriate:

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Humility is thinking more of others. Humble people are so focused on serving others, they don’t think of themselves.”

What do we do when we’ve failed to meet such lofty and pious goals?

We learn a new confidence and freedom through the gospel and Spirit of God.  

Romans 8:1-11 ESV

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

In the gospel, we learn how to fail and allow God to pick us up again. 
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. 

The righteous requirements of the law have been fully met in us because of Jesus’ sinless life - his record imputed to us by faith. 

We are freed from the paralysis of indecision because we are walking with God, and are not afraid to give ourselves to the trying because our identity is not wrapped up in others’ perception of success, but in Christ.  

The key to uncommon freedom is setting your mind on Jesus and what the Holy Spirit desires as revealed in God’s word.  

When we are not myopic, but choose to die to ourselves in order to glorify God, we access the power of resurrection life and actually live.  

“Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity 

Uncommon Freedom in Christ 

There is an uncommon freedom released to us when we learn to live for Jesus alone.  

Romans 8:12-17 ESV

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

There is an uncommon freedom available to us as we put our faith in and submit to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Spirit by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Acts 16:7; Philemon 1:19). 

When we turn to Jesus, God distributes an unmerited favor, a grace that paid for our sins by the death of Christ at the cross and a forgiveness released by Christ’s resurrection from the dead as we repent of our self-absorbed rebellion.  

In this gospel, he calls us to live no longer for ourselves, but him who died and gave himself for us - for our freedom. 

There is a freedom in learning to die to yourself that you might live solely for Christ. 

“People imagine that dying to self makes one miserable. But it is just the opposite. It is the refusal to die to self that makes one miserable. The more we know of death with Him, the more we shall know of His life in us, and so the more of real peace and joy. 

His life, too, will overflow through us to lost souls in a real concern for their salvation, and to our fellow Christians in a deep desire for their blessing.”

The Calvary Road by Roy Hession

In the workplace, in our relationships, in the recesses of our own minds and hearts, we can all find this uncommon freedom and an eternal joy when we truly allow Christ to be our anchor and his good news our all in all.  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Uncommon Value

Uncommon: Uncommon Value

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: When you belong to Jesus, you have uncommon value because you were not only created in God’s image but have been purchased by Christ’s blood.  

• Looking for the Special

• Finding Someone of Value

• No Greater Worth 

Looking for the Special

We are all looking for a place where we can feel special and belong.  

Proverbs 19:22 ESV

“What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.”

This is the theme of so many of our popular movies and works of literature.  

A recent study by the Fuller Youth Institute resulted in the book:

3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager book by Kara Powell and Brad Griffin

• Identity - Who am I? 

• Belonging - Where do I fit?

• Purpose - What difference can I make?

A recent seminar with Andy Jung of the Fuller Youth Institute noted that:

Harry Potter was filled with these three driving questions.  

So were movies such as Shang-Chi

and Encanto…

*We find that the same questions are in the transition of empty-nesters. 

“There is something so valuable about human beings that not only may they not be murdered, but they can’t even be cursed without failing to give them their due, based on the worth bestowed upon them by God. The image of God carries with it the right to not be mistreated or harmed.”

-Timothy Keller

Yet even further than the value placed on every human being because they were created in the image of God, what does God say about people that he’s called his own - who have been adopted into his family through their repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ?

God foreshadowed his answer regarding his people through the prophet Isaiah who ministered about 700 years before Jesus:

Isaiah 43:1-7 ESV

“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true. "You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.”

There is no other savior for your emotions, mental state, sense of security, value and your very life, but Christ alone. 

Through him alone were you made (John 1).  

We have all sinned and become broken vessels.  

Through Christ alone can we truly be redeemed, made whole and saved (Colossians 1:16-20).  

The truth is that if you have put your faith in the perfect life of Christ, his sacrificial death at the cross for your sins and his triumphant resurrection from the dead for your eternal life, it is evidence that you are called by God and special to him.  

As Jesus said, 

John 6:44 ESV

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

If you feel that drawing to Christ today, it is the very same tugging to which Jesus was referring - God drawing you to repentance (a change of mind, and thus, direction) and life in Christ.  

Finding Someone of Value

When you find Jesus, you find life and the value that he places on yours.  

From what do you attempt to derive your value? 

Is it Christ-centered or others-centered?

If you try to derive your value from anyone or anything other than from the immutable, benevolent Creator to whom you belong when you turn to Jesus, you will forever be a ship without an anchor.  

About eighty years after Isaiah, God continued his ministry calling people through the prophet Jeremiah who hailed from a priestly family.  

This meant that he was around the things and people of God, but still saw the ways that they were looking to other saviors to make them whole.  

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. "Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant? Why then has he become a prey? The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant. Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head. Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, when he led you in the way? And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord God of hosts.”

The value of anything comes from who made it, the quality of the design and how much you are willing to pay for it.

You were fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:14).  

Yet sin marred God’s beautiful design. 

God settled the question of value by giving the life of his perfect Son, Jesus, to pay the price to make atonement for your sins and mine at the cross. 

The power of Christ’s resurrection calls us not only into the forgiveness of our sins, but an eternal, restored life of infinite worth in Jesus. 

When the three aforementioned issues (questions) are settled in your heart by God’s grace and not your merit, you are free to love and serve others with the same grace of God.  

You are no longer a leech trying to suck life from others, but become a life giving source (Proverbs 10:11).  

“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”

-Timothy Keller

No Greater Worth 

There is no greater worth than relationship with Jesus and living for his eternal Kingdom.  

Matthew 13:44-46 ESV

“"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

God’s Kingdom is the only thing that answers the three questions with benefits that last forever.  

When we come to Christ, the three questions are answered in this way:

Who am I?

I am a child of the Most High King of all Creation - God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth (I John 3). 

Where do I fit?

I am a part of the body of Christ, and therefore have an indispensable role in his family, the church (I Corinthians 12). 

What difference can I make?

I am an ambassador for Christ and am effectively a minister of reconciliation between loved ones and God, calling people out of God’s wrath and the cracked cistern existence in which they’ve lived into the forgiveness of sins and the abundant life of Christ.  

"Christians will not, interestingly, benefit society if they’re just like everybody else in society. We’re not going to benefit a society filled with self-actualisers unless we really are different, unless we do believe Jesus died for us, unless we do believe that we live through the self-sacrifice of the great Jesus Christ, and therefore we’re going to live by self-sacrifice. You see, unless we are shaped deeply by that, then we’re really not going to be of any kind of benefit."

-Timothy Keller

Let’s cling to the mercy of God found at the cross of Jesus Christ, and through his grace, live a life empowered by the uncommon value that he placed upon us when he gave his life for us.  

May we forever praise him in response and point people to the only one who can truly mend and make their souls whole.  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher