Hearing the Music

Sabbatical on the Horizon

This in my penultimate Friday Letter before our upcoming sabbatical, which officially begins following our Easter services on April 17th. While away, Lisa and I hope to renew, re-center, and reset for continued service in the church. As many of you know, once we get our daughter Lydia married to Noah, we will do some re-creating through family European travels. There will also be some re-deployment as I will be teaching "Christ Centered Preaching" and "Preaching Christ from the Old Testament" to 3 different seminary groups in Peru. Outside of that, we hope for large swaths of rest and renewal, reading the Word, prayer, walks together, etc...

While Lisa and I disconnect from all official Christ Church responsibilities, plans are in place for you as the body to be well cared for and to thrive in our absence. We have a great preaching schedule lined up with guests invited to preach a text that the Lord has "Etched on their Heart" and which they invite you to etch on yours. Our elders are on point to follow through with pastoral care needs as they come up. Feel free to reach out to them, to Pastor Addison, or any other staff for encouragement or help. Other ministries and programs will continue unabated.

While 16 weeks feels long, I am sure that it will go by more quickly than we imagine. For now though we have this last week to settle into the greatest story ever told. A story of a king who went to a cross to gain an unlikely victory. This Sunday, as Jesus begins to wrap up his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:13-20) he invites would be disciples to the Narrow Little Road. 

Photo by Moritz Kindler on Unsplash

Most Well Known Verse

In years past, if you were to approach the average Joe or Jane on the street and ask them for a bible verse they would most likely reply with John 3:16, "For God so loved the world ...". But it seems that the tides have changed and that the same question today may more likely yield Matthew 7:1, "Judge not, that you be not judged." Why the change? What has caused this shift?

In speculating the spirit of the age, the move could certainly be noted from an awareness of our need for God's intervention in our lives (John 3:16) to a more general denial of any wrongdoing that require a savior (Matthew 7:1). While this may be an assessment of the spirit of the age, it is not an accurate interpretation of Jesus' intent in this part of the Sermon on the Mount. This Sunday we will be opening the first 12 verses of Matthew 7 in an attempt to understand what it is that Jesus is saying. As he continues to lay out a blueprint for life in the Kingdom, it appears that Jesus is giving some instruction for his followers on how to live in right relation to one another and to the broader world. While the words of this text are well known, our prayer is that the Holy Spirit will make their meaning clear to us as well!

Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash

Anxious and Troubled

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38–42)

Over the last several weeks Jesus has been zeroing in on our hearts, teaching us to ask questions about things like anger, lust, truth-telling, our motivations for spiritual disciplines, etc... This week in Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus continues his deep heart dive by honing in on our worry and anxiety. Like Martha in the passage above, it could be said of us that we are "anxious and troubled about many things". This is understandable; the world is full of trouble and our lives reflect that reality. Jesus certainly does not deny these realities nor does he invite us to a way of viewing the world that glosses over its difficulties. But Jesus does invite his followers to engage their difficulties through their relationship with him, with hearts that are fully surrendered to his care. This is a timely subject and I look forward to uncovering these deep and precious promises with you.

art by Morgan VanderMaas