http://sjchurch.org/ en webmaster@sjchurch.org Copyright 2010 2010-07-28T16:01:24+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/evangelism-implosion/ http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/evangelism-implosion/#When:16:01:24Z In this sermon we started our new series on learning to have a healthy Gospel witness. We as Christians talk a lot about “evangelism” event though the word is not in the New Testament, but more importantly, how we use it is not there either. When the church normally uses it, we tend to think of efforts at converting people as a separate discipline from discipleship, pastoral care, service, etc. But the NT does not use these limitations, but rather calls us to “make disciples.” In this sense, everything the church does is oriented toward converting and shaping faith and spiritual life. The witness of the Gospel is for both non-Christian and Christian. In the church we are meant to encounter a gentle reforming process of spiritual formation where the Gospel can take root in our lives over time. Unvangelism, Luke 2010-07-28T16:01:24+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/the-unknown-god/ http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/the-unknown-god/#When:15:45:16Z In this sermon we we follow up on the theme of repentance that we looked at in Jer. 18:1-11, but from the perspective of a New Testament Text. Here we look at Acts 17 and Paulʼs preaching to the philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens. Here Paul acknowledges how religious they are even in their worship of “an unknown god” to which he responds, that this time of ignorance God was patient with but now because of the Gospel, God calls all men everywhere to repent. One major question dealt with is the question of Godʼs need for worship. Here it is suggested it is not that God need our worship, but rather that we need to worship him. Special, Acts 2010-07-28T15:45:16+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/jesus-call-to-repent-and-believe/ http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/jesus-call-to-repent-and-believe/#When:12:59:31Z In Mark 1:15 Jesus begins his ministry by proclaiming “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God​​ is near. Repent and believe the gospel!”. This call to repent and believe is something very important to the scriptures and to the Christian faith. Apart from this call, Christianity would be no different than other religions. Theologians will call this the "External Gospel Call" because it is something done openly to all people. God has called everyone, everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel and it is our job as Christians to share this Gospel Call with people. This call is not exclusive in any way, but it is for all people. Gospel Living, Theology 2010-07-26T12:59:31+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/is-the-church-gathering-a-home-or-hotel-to-you/ http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/is-the-church-gathering-a-home-or-hotel-to-you/#When:18:33:30Z When you go to Church gatherings on a Sunday morning, do you approach it like you are a family member going into your home or a consumer visiting a hotel? 2010-07-20T18:33:30+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/blog/details/discipleship-repentance/ http://sjchurch.org/blog/details/discipleship-repentance/#When:13:58:40Z When John the Baptizer appeared on the opposite side of the Jordan river preaching the coming of the kingdom of God, his message was a call to repentance (Matt 3:2). In the same way so was the ministry of Jesus marked by a call to repentance as was the continuing ministries of the the apostles. What is repentance? It is the core biblical idea of man dealing with his sin problem. It includes both the mind and the behavior. It is a change of mind that results in corresponding action. It describes an “about-face” in someone’s life orientation. For the Gospel of the kingdom, it describes how someone hears the call of discipleship, recognizes his or her inherent sin problem, believes the Gospel message, and then makes a conscious decision to obey its call. It is to reorient one’s life around the 2010-07-15T13:58:40+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/the-potter-and-his-people/ http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/the-potter-and-his-people/#When:16:58:57Z In this sermon we jump into a prophetic text, namely Jer. 18:1-11. Here the prophet is preaching to Israel a warning of coming disaster (Babylonian invasion of Judea and exile) and calling them to repent. They have forgotten the covenant with their God. The sermon draws a parallel between Jeremiahʼs preaching and the gospel, to repent and resubmit to the Lordship of God. Within this there is also a contrast drawn between the typical evangelical rhetoric about our relationship with Christ that speaks of “inviting Jesus into our heart” as a guest or “accepting Jesus” as if he is the passive recipient with low self esteem. Here we are called back to a theology of lordship that recognizes God for what he is, the giver, not the receiver and the Cross is placed front and center. Jesus only came as a suffering servant the first time, the next time as a conquering king. For this reason we are challenged that the question of Jesus is not something we can escape, that all men must someday deal with Jesus, if not in this life, at death when it is too late. Special, Jeremiah 2010-07-12T16:58:57+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/the-rythms-of-disicpleship/ http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/the-rythms-of-disicpleship/#When:13:31:42Z Part One of the Rhythms of Discipleship Series The Rhythms Of Discipleship 2010-07-12T13:31:42+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/blog/details/discipleship-breaking-bread-1/ http://sjchurch.org/blog/details/discipleship-breaking-bread-1/#When:18:53:26Z When Luke says that they also “devoted themselves continually” to the “breaking of bread” this does not just mean eating meals together, thought that is important too. Jesus ate with social outcasts which was a radically social move on is part to visually proclaim his acceptance of them. Eating meals together are in and of themselves a means toward deeper relational commitment. This is why so many people go out to eat on a date. But when Luke is talking about “breaking bread” he is talking about the ongoing sacrament of the Lord’s table, communion. It is of course not surprising that Jesus chose to transform the passover meal into a regular sacramental reality for his disciples to enjoy fellowship with their risen Lord after his ascension. The paschal feast was always infused with the story of redemption, God redeeming Israel out bondage in Egypt. Jesus transforms it into a regular meal to celebrate redemption from sin and the coming eschatological triumph of God over all sin, death and suffering. As we already noted though, meals naturally imply intimacy, and so in choosing to make the primary sacrament of the church... 2010-07-07T18:53:26+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/choosing-a-healthy-church/ http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/choosing-a-healthy-church/#When:15:52:57Z Unfortunately most of us do not know what that good Gospel criteria for discerning what an healthy local church looks like. Even more unfortunate is the fact that the reasons most of us pick one church over another, more often than not, has little or nothing to do with the Gospel. In fact, as we will see below, much of our typical criteria for deciding where to make our church home is actually most of the time very subjective and contrary to the Gospel, if not purely selfish and all out hostile to it. Theology 2010-06-30T15:52:57+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/unvangelism-a-new-series/ http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/unvangelism-a-new-series/#When:15:59:11Z On July 11th Sacred Journey will be starting a brand new mini series on the topic of evangelism and mission called Unvangelism. Unvangelism is a word some of us played around with to sort of poke fun at modern American "evangelism". Most forms of evangelism are not overly helpful or even based off the paradigm Jesus laid down when he was here on earth. Mission 2010-06-29T15:59:11+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/blog/details/discipleship-life-together/ http://sjchurch.org/blog/details/discipleship-life-together/#When:22:53:10Z The church is the family of God. In the Old Testament and Ancient Near east, when the Hebrews were at odds with someone, the way they remedied the situation was to become family members with them. The way they did this was through an act called covenant. Covenant was a way to extend the bonds of family unity beyond the boundaries of blood. So when people were enemies or potential enemies, they would make a covenant with each other to create a state of peace, what the Hebrews called Shalom. This is precisely what God has done with us in the cross. He has made a new covenant with us, who were originally his enemies. Ephesians 2:13-16 states this like no other: 2010-06-28T22:53:10+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/practicing-joy-and-contentment/ http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/practicing-joy-and-contentment/#When:12:40:54Z In Philippians 4 Paul ends his communication with a series of very practical admonishments for living out the Gospel practically as a community of faith. In last weekʼs sermon we learned about how to manage our anxiety. Here Paul moves on to godly contentment with our circumstances. This sermon focuses on the often misquoted text, Phil. 4:13 where he proclaims “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Far from being a Christian incantation or self improvement mantra as it is normally twisted to be, Paul is actually speaking of how the mind of Christ produces contentment in every circumstance, not just plenty and success, but in hunger and in need. For Paul, learning the mind of Christ eventually takes us to a place where we come to accept everything that comes our way through a growing sense of humility and thankfulness. A Beautiful Mind, Philippians 2010-06-27T12:40:54+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/contentment-part-2-their-god-is-their-belly/ http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/contentment-part-2-their-god-is-their-belly/#When:15:10:19Z I’ve been learning more about contentment as I’ve experienced minor losses in a few different areas of my life this past year. God has most definitely been disciplining my heart in this area because I believe the issue of contentment ultimately reveals a much deeper problem. I believe it’s an issue of idolatry, allegiance to a god and its kingdom, sometimes subtle, often minimized, and always dangerous. Apparently, I have issues and I'd like to explore this topic a bit more in depth. On a cultural level, contentment isn’t so much a state of being; it’s more a state of achieving or gaining. Gospel Identity, Theology 2010-06-26T15:10:19+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/the-marks-of-christian-maturity/ http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/the-marks-of-christian-maturity/#When:16:00:44Z In Christianity, there are many different streams of theology and practice that we can swim in. In Churches the marks of maturity are how many spiritual gifts you possess such as speaking in tongues or prophecy. Gospel Identity 2010-06-25T16:00:44+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/the-theology-of-head-heart-and-hands/ http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/the-theology-of-head-heart-and-hands/#When:20:23:48Z At Sacred Journey we have been working through the book of Philippians at our Sunday gatherings. This book has tons of rich theology and practical teachings to help us live out the Christian faith. In this past Sundays meeting we covered a section in Philippians 4 which talked about not being anxious but instead adopting the posture of humility and going to God without our anxieties. Paul goes on to tell us to put into practice the things we have learned and received heard and seen in him. This brings up something very familiar to my own life and walk with Jesus. Gospel Living, Theology 2010-06-22T20:23:48+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/managing-anxiety-through-the-mind-of-christ/ http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/managing-anxiety-through-the-mind-of-christ/#When:18:19:03Z In Philippians 4:6 Paul gives strong admonishment to “not be anxious for anything” in keeping with Jesusʼs preaching on the same in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:25-34). Here we looked at the types of anxiety we face such as general and relational anxiety and some practical steps on how to manage it in a godly manner. Chief in this endeavor is Paulʼs accompanying admonishment to have a proactive stance of bringing our earthly needs to God in prayer and practicing a posture of thanksgiving with what he is seen fit to grant us. Most importantly Paul calls the Philippians to “practice these things” which they had learned and had received from him especially actively thinking on those things that represent what is good, praiseworthy and Gospel fitting in this fallen world. A Beautiful Mind, Philippians 2010-06-22T18:19:03+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/communion-in-suffering/ http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/communion-in-suffering/#When:02:49:15Z I recently read a quote by a man named Alvin Reid that intrigued me greatly: "We must revisit the biblical teaching that we are never more like the prophets or Jesus than when we are rejected." It intrigued me because it implies a special communion brought about by the shared suffering of Christ and his people. We've all heard that suffering can lead us to greater intimacy with God but can suffering and rejection be seen AS intimacy with God? Does scripture display this? I believe it does and that is what we'll explore in this post. We are offered an opportunity that is both beautiful and humbling; God allows us, even in our suffering, to commune with Christ. 2010-06-21T02:49:15+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/going-to-church-or-being-the-church/ http://sjchurch.org/community-blog/details/going-to-church-or-being-the-church/#When:02:17:38Z Have you ever said the phrases? Where do you go to church? Let's go to church. After we leave church, we will go to lunch. It is important to be in fellowship and go to church. Mission, Theology 2010-06-17T02:17:38+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/agree-in-the-lord/ http://sjchurch.org/media-library/details/agree-in-the-lord/#When:01:56:20Z In Philippians 4:1-5 Paul gives an admonishment to two women to “agree in the Lord.” This implies that these women must have needed to be admonished because of conflict between them. Sometimes we are under the false pretense that life in community should always be rosy, but Paul suggest that it takes work and a conscious decision to be unified and to have a forbearing spirit. A Beautiful Mind, Philippians 2010-06-16T01:56:20+00:00 http://sjchurch.org/blog/details/discipleship1/ http://sjchurch.org/blog/details/discipleship1/#When:15:41:29Z People learn by example because that is how they are designed as humans. The family is the fundamental discipling community. The Church and all missional communities are patterned after the family. Everything we learn as people started and had its foundation in our family. The Church is the family of God, and because of this, it adopts the pattern of the family which is an unconditionally loving context for shaping us, as children of God. This is what makes it so intuitive, and nurturing. As the family is meant to nurture children into adulthood, so the discipling community is meant to nurture Christians into mature children of God. This brings us to Acts 2:42... 2010-06-14T15:41:29+00:00