CrossPointe Community Church

Month: July 2018

  • Apostles All

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    Mark 3:13-19
    Luke 10:1-2
    Acts 13:1-3

    The noun ‘apostolos’ appears 79 times in the NT; 10 times in the gospels, 28 in Acts, 38 in the letters and 3 in Revelation. This word implies three things that are important for us to understand.

    First, it refers to and means ‘one who is sent.’ As Luke has it, first in chapter 9, the 12 apostles are sent out by Jesus to accomplish His work and in the next chapter, the number of Apostles sent out increases 6 fold as Jesus sends 72 on their way to share His grace with others. Thus an ‘Apostle’ of Jesus is one who is sent out by Him to accomplish His work.

    Second, more than the act of sending, this word includes the idea of the authorization of the one doing the sending. In the Great Commission that we reflected upon last week, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me; therefore, go!” (Matthew 28:19). Those who go are therefore, as Paul writes the Corinthians, (II 5:20) “Ambassadors of Christ, God is making His appeal through us.” As an ambassador for the US has the authority to act on behalf of the President so as ambassadors of Christ we act on behalf of and in Jesus stead.

    Third, as time passed the people to whom the term ‘apostle’ applied to increased. To be sure, at first, only Jesus is referred to as an apostle. Then the term begins to be applied to the 12 chosen by Jesus to be His disciples. But as time went on, the term began to be applied to anyone who is sent in the name of the Lord to represent His Kingdom. Acts refers to Paul and then Barnabus as apostles and as he closes his letter to the Romans with personal greetings, he mentions Andronicus and Junia, people we don’t otherwise know, except as apostles.

    In other words, we would say today that the word apostle can be applied to anyone who is sent by Jesus into the world as His representative. And that therefore applies to any and all of us who not only should consider ourselves disciples (followers) of Christ but also apostles of Christ . . . Apostles all!

    Sometimes we get discouraged with our station in life.

    (more…)

  • Go!

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    Matthew 28:18-20
    Romans 10:10-15

    Last Sunday, I was a cheerleader for the church: I celebrate the church of Jesus because it is a great place for people to find community, healing and love. I celebrate the church of Jesus because it provides motivation for the most lasting, valuable, selfless efforts of humankind. I celebrate the church of Jesus, the Christ because it is the only institution in society that provides perspective to give dignity to all human beings. I celebrate the church because it is the only institution in society dealing with the ultimate issues of life and death.

    Today I want to expand on that last point. As I mentioned last week, the whole ball of wax boils down to the fact that you and I are either creations of God or we are not. You and I are either complex neuro-physical beings moving without rhyme or reason throughout time and space, who came from nowhere and going nowhere, or else WE ARE UNIQUE CREATIONS OF A HOLY GOD. If we are simply cosmic accidents, if we just happened to have evolved from some primordial soup and this whole thing is some kind of great cosmic joke, the worst thing about that joke is that in the end there will be nobody around to even laugh about it. If that is true then you and I have a deep problem that we cannot solve with all the oratory in the world.

    But if on the other hand, this is our Father’s world and if Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was born into this world with the express purpose of dying on a cross so that sinners such as you and I could be reconciled to God if that is true, then some institution on the face of the earth must stand up and remind us of those truths. And Jesus said that His Church is going to be that institution and that He Himself is going to build it one life at a time through people like you and I who have the honor and privilege to point people to Him!

    So last week, I was painting a sort of philosophical/theological picture of the church, meant to increase our appreciation of the church, today is more a nuts and bolts message that will enable us to faithfully participate in the evangelistic task of the church.

    With that in mind, listen to the scripture for today:

    Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20).

    If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” (Romans 10:10-15).

    (more…)

  • Hooray for the Church!

    Matthew 16:13-19

    One balmy day in the South Pacific, a navy ship spied smoke coming from one of three huts on an uncharted island. Upon arriving on shore they were met by a shipwreck survivor. He said, “I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been alone on this island for more than five years!”
    The captain replied, “If you’re all alone on the island why do I see THREE huts.”
    The survivor said, “Oh. Well, I live in one, and go to church in another.”
    “What about the THIRD hut?” asked the captain.
    “That’s where I USED to go to church.”

    Today, I am here as your cheerleader as I want to celebrate the church of Jesus by reminding all of us of some basic truths about this institution that we are all associated with. And by reminding us that Jesus is inviting us to participate with Him to build what is, in my mind, the most important institution on the face of the planet.

    I celebrate the church of Jesus because it is a great place for people to find community, healing, and love.

    Our society has been undergoing tremendous cultural changes for the last 50 years and the really frightening thing is to realize that these kind of cataclysmic changes are going to continue at an ever faster pace.

    One of those changes has to do with the nuclear family, where Leave it to Beaver, Family Ties, and Family Matters, has evolved into Modern Family. ‘Over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go’ to enjoy a home-cooked meal has become down the freeway, through the toll booth, off the ramp, down the boulevard, into the guarded gate community, where grandma pops something in the microwave.

    One of the results of the decline of the nuclear family is that more people are living alone than at any other point in human history.

    Here is where the church excels; being a place where people can find community, healing, and love. In other words, family.

    In this congregation, when we dedicate an infant, the parents are stepping forward to declare their desire to see the child raised in the church. And notice that as part of each dedication the church asks you, the congregation, to be surrogate aunts and uncles.

    “Brethren of the household of faith, I commend to your love and care this child,
    whom this day recognize as part of the family.

    Surrogate aunts and uncles; that’s what we are. (more…)

  • Outrageous Grace

    Luke 23:33-43
    Romans 3:20-25a

    There was once a handyman who had a dog named Mace. Mace was a great dog except he had one weird habit: he liked to eat grass; not just a little bit, but in quantities that would make a lawnmower blush. And nothing, it seemed, could cure him of it. One day, when the handyman was working on a tractor he lost his wrench in the tall grass. He looked and looked, but it was nowhere to be found. At dark, he gave up for the night and decided to look the next morning. When he awoke, he went outside to see that Mace had eaten the grass and his wrench now lay in plain sight, glinting in the sun. Going out to get his wrench, he called the dog over to him and sang, “A-grazing Mace, how sweet the hound, that saved a wrench for me.”

    Today, I don’t want to talk about Grazing Mace, or even Amazing Grace; I want to talk about the ‘outrageous’ Grace on display in the scene that Luke paints.

    Think about it; a convicted felon hanging on a cross next to the Lord’s. The hinge on death’s door is squeaking and just before the door slams shut, a prayer of desperation, “Jesus . . . remember . . . me when you come into your Kingdom?” The only thing more outlandish than the request . . . was that it was granted! “Today, you shall be with Me in paradise.”

    “Any chance you could put in a good word for me, Jesus?”
    “Consider it done.”

    And he who in all probability never even said grace, much less did anything to deserve it, received outrageous grace.

    I say outrageous because there are many, perhaps some of us, who wish this scene would disappear. For many, the promise of paradise for a common criminal is more than our religious sensibilities will allow. It doesn’t make sense, it’s not right, it’s just not fair! If this guy chose to live life as a thief, then he deserves to pay for it. After all, he never extended grace to others, so why should he receive it now; especially at the end of his life?

    For this kind of outrageous grace to begin to make sense, we must come to grips with the biblical fact that God’s grace cannot be earned by human achievement. (more…)

  • Lord, Come and Change Our Lives

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    John 15:1-11
    Ephesians 4:21-5:2

    There was a guy who bought a parrot that reportedly talked a lot. He got the parrot home and found that the parrot not only talked a lot, but his speech was peppered with profuse profanity. Being a Christian man, he tried to get the parrot to change his ways by teaching him new words, but try as he might, the parrot kept cussing up a storm. Finally, out of frustration, he threatened his pet parrot, “You say one more cuss word and I’m going to put you in the freezer.” However; it wasn’t long before the parrot blurted out another profanity, so the man grabbed the bird, opened the freezer put him in, and closed the door. After about five minutes, he heard the parrot cry out, “OK, OK! I give up! Let me out! I promise I won’t cuss anymore.” So the man removed the desperate bird from the freezer. Greatly relieved, the parrot said as he shivered, “I just have one question: ‘What the heck did the chicken do?’”

    Like the guy who tried to force his pet parrot to change, many times we try to force people to change. Sometimes preachers engage in such a fruitless effort. I say fruitless because the truth is, effective and meaningful change usually only occurs when someone like you or I choose to change. And that doesn’t happen very often.

    Change? People say, “Leave me alone; why should I change? I like myself the way I am, change is hard, change takes work. I don’t have the desire to self-evaluate. I don’t have the time or the energy to change.

    If any of this so far rings true for anyone here, I have good news for you today; especially if you are a believer and follower of Christ Jesus, the Lord.

    For the Bible truth is that not long after we become Christians; positive changes begin to occur in our lives despite ourselves because they are motivated by God’s Spirit given to the new believer.

    Sometimes these changes are immediate and enormous and are indicative of the probability that we have been a rather dastardly person. I remember after I came to Christ I was enabled by God’s grace and the work of His Spirit to quit swearing immediately. (And no one had to put me in a freezer to make it happen).

    Most often; however, the changes occur more slowly and are more subtle. The good news is, if that’s the way change has happened and is happening to you it is likely that you were not a despicable person to begin with.

    But to be sure, after we have accepted Christ, and we begin to draw near to Him, we begin to become more like Him. We begin to think and then behave in ways that Jesus did, even if we don’t notice the changes in growth. (more…)