The past year saw us focusing on the Old Testament. God’s dream of community with and for human beings was shattered by sin, but God did not give up on his creatures and began preparing them for the day when He himself would come and live amongst his people to redeem them and reestablish community. With the book of Malachi we left Israel broken and scattered with only God’s promise as their hope. There was then 400 years of silence when God did not speak to his people. But then suddenly a voice was heard in the wilderness heralding that a new day was about to break forth.
The life of Christ is so important but it is often ignored – even by people who believe in him and know how important Christ is. But we really can’t understand the life and claims of Christ and go "ho-hum." It’s just impossible to do. Because the life and teaching of Jesus is absolutely preposterous and unique and outrageous in terms of what he claims for himself and does. Jesus breaks all the molds, tilts the mind, shatters all the categories. He doesn’t do anything the way other people have done it. Jesus had an extraordinary impact on the world and yet used none of the tools by which we normally make an impact. He did not use political or military or monetary power.
In fact, he owned practically nothing – maybe only the clothes on his back. He didn’t own a house. He had to borrow a bed to sleep in wherever he went or simply a place on the floor. He had only a small following. He had to borrow a boat to preach from, a donkey to ride on, and finally was buried in a borrowed grave. Yet, he changed the world. We will explore the mystery of Jesus.
Many in our day are not church people. They view religion as boring, irrelevant and untrue. But many of our unchurched friends are interested in this man Jesus and curious about his person, his secrets, what he did, and why he had such an impact on people. This series of messages is for them too. |
