Anthem Church

The second half of the great commandment instructs us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Unfortunately, God has not simply called us to love those with whom we see eye to eye. In this sermon, we explore who God has called us to love, and what it really looks like to love them.

The apostle Paul shows us how both Christ's death and Christ's resurrection are made manifest in his life. He suffers but still lives with hope and is not driven to despair. Through his words we can learn how we can display the life of Christ through our suffering.

Pastor Allen concludes the book of Ruth in redemptive fashion. Keeping to his promise, Boaz settles the matter as Ruth's redeemer, through shrewd legal dealings and total sacrifice. In similar fashion, Jesus settles the matter of our redemption through the legal, sacrificial, substitutionary atonement on the cross. Our ultimate and final redemption has been purchased, announced and witnessed. Jesus' amazing love should remind the Christ follower that our suffering is never without victory.

Now having been blessed by a God who favors her, Ruth steps out in active faith as a response. When our faith is passive, we simply seek to avoid evil. However, Ruth demonstrates a faith that actively seeks to do what is right. How about you? Are you passively trying to avoid evil? Or are you actively pursuing what is right? Likewise, we must understand that Jesus is actively working on our behalf to set things right by way of the cross.

Chapter 2 concludes in start contrast to its opening. Ruth begins the day hoping for blessing and ends the day blessed beyond her imagination. Though God may not bless us circumstantially as we all would like, He has blessed us with everything that matters (Ephesians 1:3). In spite of what our circumstances may tell us, in Christ we are soaked to the bone with the blessings He has rained down on our lives.

Sometimes through pain and suffering it becomes very difficult to see the favor of God. However, if we're willing to examine ourselves and the things we think will bring us pleasure and peace, we will find that we're the problem. To see God's favor on us most clearly requires us to be fully satisfied in Him alone.

The first chapter of Ruth reminds us of God's sovereignty even in our suffering. William Cowper wrote: ". . .behind every frowning providence is a smiling face." We trust that God is in control over each and every difficulty life can throw at us, as He works out all things for His glory and our greater joy. This is gloriously good news, in spite of how we feel sometimes, because it means all hard things are ultimately redeemed for His people.

The Lord is good and even restores us when we need it. So often, we lean on our own strength and our own remedies. However, the scripture paints a different picture where His children find refuge, solace, and restoration another way. Pastor Allen describes his own journey and need for restoration in his upcoming sabbatical.

Friday begins one of humanity's lowest points in history. Saturday is one of humanity's most hopless points in history. But this is not the end. Sunday is only a day away. We have all thought to ourselves, "this is not how I thought it would end". Pastor Allen takes us through the 3-days of Easter and allows us to connect with the human condition and the hope of a living savior.

Sectarianism is the withdrawal from and letting go of culture. "Visiting sectarian churches is like visiting a museum dedicated to the past. This is because all sectarian churches eventually become dated from being removed from people in the world. Sectarians do not live by the necessary faith in the gospel and therefore believe that evil hearts and sinful actions and worldly social structures are more powerful than God, unable to be redeemed, and therefore are a waste of our energies because they are destined to be meat on God's grill anyway, so why bother?" (Mark Driscoll | Vintage Church)

God has a mission...we don't have a mission. Rather, we are to participate on His. That mission is that we are a sent people, just as Jesus was sent to us. And the mission has a church. Which is what he sends corporately. The local church is a specific group of regenerated believers in a specific place at a specific time. As so, God's mission is always done with expectation of community. In this sermon, we will explore transactional and transformational based communities and which should undergird the missio dei.

Christopher J.H. Wright says, "There is one God at work in the universe and in human history, and ... this God has a goal, a purpose, a mission that will ultimately be accomplished by the power of God's Word and for the glory of God's name. This is the mission of the biblical God."

Not being ashamed of the Gospel means a lot to the believer. Paul's letter to Galatia has been evidence of that. What are you branded to? What do you suffer for? Shadows? You won't ever be able to fully get your arms around the shadow, so what you need is the substance found in the true Gospel of Jesus.

Galatians: Part 9 of 10 at Anthem.

It is Paul's desire to see the Gospel fully formed in the life of the Galatian church. Like a mom who gives birth, it requires a substantial amout of effort, pain and time. First, the Father draws us so that the Gospel might come to bear on our lives and save us from the penalty of sin. Then, it seeks to save us from the power of sin by sanctifying us under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Finally, we look forward to the day it saves us from the prescence of sin when Christ returns.

Galatians: Part 6 of 10 at Anthem.

When Jesus died 2,000 years ago, did he die for my sins past, present, and future? Sins that I committed last year. Sins that I'll commit today? Sins that I have planned but I've been so busy, I haven't even gotten to them yet? Did Jesus die for those sins? Yes. And when He was on the Cross, his final words were what? "Finished!" It's completed. It's done. It's over! That's why Paul is arguing so strenuously against this false teaching. What religious people believe is, "Yes, Jesus died, but it's not finished. There's something now you must do. Whatever it is. There's something you must do now to be holy and pleasing to God. When Jesus said, 'It is finished,' that was hyperbole. This is just not true. The grandson of the great Billy Graham, Tullian Tchividjian, said: JESUS + NOTHING = EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING - JESUS = NOTHING.

With the Jews, Paul abstained from what was forbidden. With the Gentiles he exercised his freedom. In this passage, it's not so black and white as Paul is dealing with converted believers. Similar contextualization is not necessary, in fact it can be confusing. The issue for Paul with Peter is not one of contextualization, rather hypocrisy. Peter's offense here is weakness with the religious Judaizers. It's not the action that is the problem, but the end. What it communicates in this context is that Jesus does not justify us alone. And this is what happens when legalists push agendas in the church and you want their approval.

In going to different churches, many find disdain for different ministry, music and preaching styles. But if you look around and people are praising the Jesus of the bible and love the Lord, we should rejoice. However, if another gospel is being preached or a compromise of the principles of the Bible, we are obligated to speak clearly the way Paul does to the Galatians. The right hand of fellowship is a sign of agreement, and in this case, with regards to the Gospel. This is the beautiful thing that promotes real unity. Unity has nothing to do with how often we have services together, get together or even serve together (even though those things are all fine and well). Rather, it has do with the diversity of all those sharing in the work of the Gospel. Methods must change and differ depending on context and calling. Biblical principles are universal and binding. Unfortunately, more often than not we reverse this and, as a result, create division.

What we find about Christianity is that it never makes the claim of being widely popular. It never makes the claim of being academically pleasing. It never makes the claim of keeping your culture or religions or your traditions intact. The one thing that God continually declares through his Word is that it's simply true. It's just the way it is. That's exactly what Paul's claim here in Galatians.