Pastor’s Corner – January 4, 2014

 Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Cor. 5:17)

 God the Father tells us in Lamentations 3:23 that his mercies and compassions are new every morning.  How thankful I am for that!  Who am I that God is mindful of me?  By his design each day is created new.  Each day is fresh.  2013 is behind us.  And 2014 is a new, fresh year!

 Along with my excitement of a new beginning is a measure of soberness as I realize the significance of “merices.”  Why mercies?  Sometimes I find myself thinking that I am so good and so right on my own accord.  Truthfully though, I’m not that great.  God doesn’t owe me anything based on my merit.  In fact I’m far short of God’s standard of holy.  I’m not beating myself up – I’m just being realistic about the things I think, say and do. 

 The reality is that I don’t deserve His mercies – it is in God’s power and authority to respond with punishment.  Instead, God sent Jesus to be the scapegoat on my behalf.  It is right for me to be excited about new mercies every morning, but the cost of that new mercy is the significant sacrifice on a cross.  Because of that incredible display of mercy, I have the opportunity to live well, to live with integrity and strength.  In fact, I have the responsibility to live in such a way that I – through Christ – make a difference in this world. 

 The Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12-14 (NLT) says it this way, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. ¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

 It is a season of making resolutions.  And it is soon to be a season of forgetting resolutions.  However, let’s resolve to always allow Christ to mold us and shape us into the men and women of God that he designed us to be.  Let’s resolve to always look to Author and Perfecter of Life as we celebrate the new life we have in Christ.

 2 Corinthians 5:15 “[Christ] died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”

 “The future lies before you,

like a field of pure white snow.
Be careful how you tread it,
for every step will show.”
–Unknown

Cody Haar

Associate Pastor

August 17, 2013

I’m not really a morning person.  It takes a while for me to wake up.  Sometimes I’ll just sit and stare in to space for a while.  I’ll grab a cup of coffee in hopes that it will jolt me awake.  A couple months ago I was preparing for my day like normal.  I looked out my kitchen window with my usual blank stare while the coffee brewed.  I started watching the pigeons hunt for food.  I stared at the branches that had fallen since I last cleaned up the yard.  And all these thoughts started to come despite my slumber.   

As I was watching the birds find food on that cold, windy, rainy morning I began to think about how inefficient the tree was in so freely giving away the fruit it worked so hard to produce.  It seemed like such a waste for a tree to grow for years and years only to give it all away.  And then it dawned on me.  That’s the purpose – God designed the tree to freely give away its own life. 

This particular tree sheds thousands and thousands of seeds each year. Trust me.  I have to clean them up.  Success in this case is not thousands and thousands seeds turning in to saplings.  A successful tree is one that offers life on a much larger scale.  The fruit of the tree sustains the life that takes residence in its branches.  The shade shelters smaller plants from the intensity of the hot summer sun.  Even the dead branches that fall give life back to the soil underneath.  If the tree fails to produce a single sapling it will have made possible an incredible amount of life.

Someday this tree will no longer stand.  However, the community would not be the same without it.  The tree does not live or die in futility.  

Jesus says it this way in John 12:24-26, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.”

Even in death there is life.  Jesus has this counterintuitive thing going on – he is the Author of life and he asks us to die daily.  The purpose of dying daily is not to live forever – even though eternity with Christ for those who trust in him will be a result.  The purpose of dying daily is to make room for Christ to live daily in us.  If Christ is living in us we might make an impact on those around us.  We might be able to defend the fatherless.  We might be able to befriend the lonely.  We might be able to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.  All of this is so we will know Christ and make him known.  You see, there is no futility in a life given by Christ.

Cody Haar

Associate Pastor

This question and our response are paramount for all who claim to follow Jesus.  How we answer this question determines how we regard Scripture, how we respond to the call of Jesus, and the extent to which we live out this thing we call faith.  If faith is in a name, a book, or a set of rules then we live without hope and life.  If our faith is in Jesus then our lives begin to reflect his character and his heart. 

Jesus was very good at asking questions.  He had a way of looking straight at the heart with his words.  It seems he was very interested in the answer when he asked this question, “Who do you say I am?”  And his response to Peter’s answer went beyond, “yes, that’s correct” or “nope, that’s not quite right.”  He said that Peter was blessed, not just for having the right answer, but because the Father in heaven revealed this to him.  One might say Peter was blessed because God the Father had changed his heart, not just his mind.  He could have answered the question in so many ways, just like others had done and still do today.  He chose to give the answer that the Father revealed to him.  “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

As I contemplate his response there are several things that jump out to me.  First, that this was a conversation between two men, two humans, two living and breathing persons.  Jesus came not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a ransom on our behalf.  Jesus is approachable and knowable.  He’s not far off or unresponsive.  He is present, God with us. 

Second, Jesus is the Messiah.  Jesus came to save, to redeem, to deliver.  This was his mission.  Not even a criminal’s death could hold him back.  On the third day he rose and now we look forward to his return.

Third, Jesus is the Son of the living God.  In a mystery that continues to confuse men Jesus walked the earth fully man, yet fully God.  He had authority and power.  He healed with a physical touch and from a distance.  He calmed the storms.  He walked on water.  He took the sins of the world on himself.  And he rose again on the third day.  Only the Divine could accomplish these things.

If I were to have a face to face conversation with Jesus today and he asked me, “Who do you say I am?” I hope I would have the courage to answer as Peter did.  A part of me wants to be my own Messiah.  Too many days I say the things I don’t mean to say and I do the things I don’t mean to do.  Too many days I come up with my own plan and later on ask God what he would have me do.  Thank God for his grace and mercy – grace for the things I don’t deserve and mercy for not getting what I do deserve.  I am so grateful his mercies are new every morning.

This is what I believe.  I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer.  I believe that Scripture is true and accurate and that it is beneficial for teaching me just what I need to know about God and living in this world.  I believe the grace, mercy and sacrifice of Jesus has saved me from a lifestyle of destruction and chaos in the hands of the enemy.  And I believe that Jesus cares about how you answer this question: “Who do you say I am?”

Cody Haar
Associate Pastor