Genesis

Saint Augustine wrote, “You ascended from before our eyes, and we turned back grieving, only to find you in our hearts.” How different would the world would be if Jesus had not ascended? What did Christ accomplish by ascending?

In his book The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey writes about Jesus’ ascension saying, “The law and the prophets had focused like a beam of light on the One who was to come, and now that light, as if hitting a prism, would fracture and shoot out in a human spectrum of waves and colors.” What is Philip Yancey saying about the impact of Jesus’ ascension in this quote?

Vicar Matthew

April 30th we're kicking of a new series.  I'm anxious to get into it.  We will be walking through the book of John and examinining who Jesus is according to his own words.  There are a lot of voices out there selling us many versions of who he was.  At the heart of this series is the most eternally important question we could ever answer.  If he is who the DaVinci code says, or the Jesus papers or the slew of tv documentaries state he is then he was no more than a man and we are hopeless.  If he is the son of God, the perfect sacrifice, the Lord of our lives then that affects everything.  I am looking forward to exploring this, to face doubt and ask questions.  Who is he, makes all the difference.

 ben

I'll be simple this week, and if you were there you know why I feel content to write this one phrase...

 He is Risen!

ben 

What is it that we perceive we are most in need of being saved from? What burdens, stessors, sin or more have clouded our vision and captured our thoughts.

We talked today about perspective. We have an eternal perspective. The world has a temporal one. In other words for the world it is all about today. For us it is all about eternity. That's why in the 1 Corinthians passage we read, the cross if foolishness to those who are perishing, but everything to those who believe. Does that thinking truly pervade our thoughts, minds and actions. Or are we just as caught?

Here's a link to the video we saw today.

If you peak around you may
also get a sneak peak to some other videos we may be using in the future.

ben

Isaiah was given a task to lead Israel into a time of pruning. What a task right? The time of pruning would come years after Isaiah's prophesy, but he was called to speak even though these people Israel wouldn't understand it! But Israel would be restored through a holy seed (v. 13). Can we say that Israel was condensed to one seed, that sprouted bringing life to the gentile and the jew? Due to the holy seed's death and resurrection, Israel (God's people, have increased now and spread all over the world. So God cleanses in order that her can replenish. Have you experienced cleansing in your life, spiritually, physically or emotionally? What changes did you notice?

 Vicar Matt