Who is Jesus Anyway?

Jesus and the New Testament penman ascribe a number of titles and names for Jesus.  Each of these terms in some way define who Jesus is and at least part of His purpose for coming to dwell with man.  Below are fourteen titles (names) in alphabetical order.

Jesus is the:
1. Bread of Life - Jn 6:35
2. Christ - Matt 16:16
3. Good Shepherd - Jn 10:10-11
4. Immanuel - Matt 1:23
5. High Priest - Heb 4:15
6. King of Kings - Rev 19:16
7. Lamb of God - Jn 1:29
8. Light of the World - Jn 8:12
9. Lord - Acts 2:36
10. Messiah - Jn 4:25-26
11. Savior - Acts 13:23
12. Son of God - Heb 4:14
13. Son of Man - Jn 12:23
14. Teacher - Jn 13:13-14

Which titles (one or more) stand out as very meaningful to you, and why?

Scott

Passover

As our Jewish friends complete the Week of Feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits), I shared a sermon yesterday on the Passover and our connection to it as Christians.  Here is the slideshare version below.  Some of the formatting from my original changed in the uploading process.

Apr 4  A M  Passover

View more presentations from Scott McCown.

Here is the outline with a few more details:

Passover

• Acts 12:4 – Pesach – paska - Easter in KJV / Passover in ESV
• Lev 23:4-8

• After centuries in Egypt deliverance had come for Israel.
• The first 9 plagues are over 10th is on the way.
• Early spring and Moses gathers the elders of the people together.
o In 10 days the people were to:
o Take a spotless male lamb of a year old
o Separate it from the other livestock for four days on the `4th slaughter it.
o Dip hyssop broom in blood and paint awning and sides of doorway with blood.
o God would Passover (pay-sak) the house where He saw the blood.

Passover by the time of Jesus Day
• Week of feasts not just one day
• Passover day
• Feast of Unleavened Bread
• Feast of Firstfruits

NT Passovers
• Jesus at 12 – Luke 2
• Jesus with disciples – Luke 22:7-13.

Lessons and Comparisons
Leaven
• Matzah – Unleavened bread is a part of Passover
• Passion traditions
o On the night before Passover the father does a final search for leaven in the house.
o By candlelight he sweeps any remaining breadcrumbs into a wooden spoon using a goose feather.
o Crumbs, feather, and spoon are bagged and burned outside the house in the morning.

• 1 Cor 5:6
o Take pains to remove sin from our lives.

Participants sing Hymns during and after Passover
• Matt 26:30
• Tradition suggests one of those hymns was Ps 118.
• Notice verse 22 – stone that is rejected (Lk 21:17).
• Jesus is that cornerstone

Jesus is the Lamb of God
• Jn 1:29
o Remove our sin (leaven)
o Provides blood for sin

• He was Sanctified (separated) for God’s purpose – Jn 5:30
• He was Sinless (spotless) – 1 Pt 2:22; 2 Cor 5:21.
• He was (is) Sacrificed – Heb 7:26-27.
• He provides Salvation – Acts 4:12.

Paul’s statement – 1 Cor 5:6-8.
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Scott

The Original Undercover Boss

On Sunday evenings, when we get home in time, we watch a new "reality" show on CBS - Undercover Boss.  The premise of this show is simple:  A CEO of a major company such as Waste Management, 7-11, or White Castle sheds his suit and tie, dons a "blue collar," and then goes to work in entry level and lower management positions in the different departments of his or her company.  These bosses learn a lot about the companies they run and the people who work for them.  Of the three of four episodes we watched, these bosses began to empathize with their worker, they began to understand the stresses of lower wage employees and as a result are more open to listening to those employees and implementing changes to help.

This is not a new concept.  Who can forget Mark Twain's story, The Prince and the Pauper, where the young Prince Edward VI abandons the palace to switch places with his doppleganger, Tom Canty who lived in Offal Court on Pudding Lane.  The young prince's experience as a pauper serves him well after the death of his father, King Henry VII.

Even that story rings of familiarity.  A ruler stepping down and living as a subject to better understand them so to give them relief from their plight is a classic plot.  Paul records, "(Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." (Col 1:15-18).  Jesus being one with God was king of heaven, and came to earth as one of us to understand us and to save us from the plight of sin. That is why the Hebrew penmen records, "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:14-16).

I am glad God understands me.  Praise God for sending His Son, Jesus, to provide for my deliverance.

Scott 

Top Ten Passages on God's Grace

Here is a list of ten of my favorite passages about grace.  Feel free to add your own passages.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (Joh 1:14-17)

But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will." (Act 15:11)

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Act 20:24)

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Rom 3:21-25)

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 5:15-21)

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! (Rom 6:14-15)

For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. (2Co 4:15)

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2Co 8:9)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:4-10)

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2Ti 2:1-2)

Dear Father, Thank you for the undeserved favor that you offer each of us through the gift of Your Son our Savior, Jesus the Christ. - Amen

Scott

When I Preach

Last Thursday on iPreach, I mentioned the following poem about preaching. After a search on Google, I found the entire poem, but was unable to find the author's name. If any one knows or finds out, please leave a comment and I will give credit where credit is definitely do.

When I Preach
(Unknown)

When I preach, there are some who say
They could listen to me all day.
Others think I preach too long.
And some think I go about it wrong.
Some say my sermon is much too deep.
To others, it's shallow and they go to sleep.
Some report I hold them spell bound,
While others squirm and look around.

Some speak of me as an orator,
But others feel I'm a perfect bore.
Some believe I have no light,
And others think I preach just right.
Some affirm that I'm too bold,
Others wink and say I'm cold.

Some used to say I was much too young.
But others declare my spring has sprung!
Some folks tell I have met success.
Others think my work is a mess.
Some have said my pay is too low,
When they discover the pace I go.
Still others say it is above the peak,
"Why he only works three hours a week."

From all this, 'tis plain to see.
That as a preacher, I'm up a tree.
Condemned if I do, condemned if I don't;
Criticized if I will, criticized if I won't.
I can't please men of such discord,
So I'll just keep trying to please the Lord.

Why I Believe . . .

As I drove through the rain this morning, a passage from the New Testament kept running through my mind, "but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, (1 Pet 3:15 ESV)." I decided to give my readers an introduction to "Why I Believe."

1. The order of creation shores up my faith. The universe, our solar system, this earth, and our bodies are too organized and efficient to be an unintelligent accident.

2. The text of the Bible has stood the test of time and the onslaught of attacks through the centuries. Doubters, skeptics, and opponents of the Bible as the word of God are not new. They may never go away, but in my studies and research, the Bible holds up as more accurate and better preserved than any ancient text.

3. As an historical writing, the history and science recorded in the Bibles pages stands out as true. If then the history and science are true, the rest of the text is true -- including the passages about Jesus.

4. Jesus is an historical figure, and as such, the Bible claims him not to be madman, nor simply a prophet, but the Messiah of the Jews, the Christ that mankind needs. Through the sacrifice of Jesus as Christ, our loving God offers forgiveness of our sin that sentences us to hell.

5. The example of the historical figure Saul or Tarsus (a.k.a Paul) solidifies my belief. Here we have a man who was the biggest opponent of Christ and the Way of Christ than any of his peers. He was zealous to stop this movement. His conversion as recorded in Acts 9, Acts 22, and Acts 26 show his complete turn around to become one the most prominent heralds of the Good News of Jesus as the Christ.

These are just a sample of why I believe. Why do you believe?

Scott

Amazing!

Our Revival continued yesterday evening with an challenging reminder from Brother Levi Sides. He reminded us of the Amazing nature of God's Grace. Through the years many appropriately defined Grace as God's unmerited favor toward us or in the form of this acrostic: God's Redemption (Riches) At Christ's Expense. Bro. Sides gave us a new acrostic to consider as Pillars of the Grace of God:

G - Goodness of God: God's goodness is all around us. The simple fact that the earth, when tended and cared for, provides what we need. God's goodness is especially evident in His gift of His Son.

R - Redemption of God: Redemption is a great theological concept that many of today's generation do not fully grasp. Levi gave us two great examples; 1) Captured African Natives bound for the US and Great Britain in the 1800's being bought back by family before the ship left port. 2) A man whose family gives all they have emotionally to keep him from leaving them for a lover. As I thought more about this illustration on my Morning Drive, I kept thinking of the prophet Hosea and his bride, Gomer.

A - Acceptability of God: God longs for all to be saved. He is not willing that any should perish, He is not a respecter of persons. There is nothing you can do that will prevent God from wanting to save you, nor keep Him from being able to save you. Consider Saul of Tarsus.

C - Conditions of God: Grace is God's offer, yet there are simple conditions of acceptance. These conditions are those of active obedient faith.

E - Enjoyment of God: Once we experience God' Grace, like the Ethiopian in Acts 8, we continue on our way rejoicing in our life in Christ.

Scott.

Who Cares?

Depression hurts. Currently in the US pharmaceutical companies are running advertisements for different medications for the treatment of depression. When one suffers from any level of depression they need encouragement. They need to know someone cares. Even if you are simply feeling "down" or "blue" you need reassurance that someone cares. If you have your moments of self-doubt or if you ever feel alone know the following:

1. Your real friends care - Prov 27:9, "Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel."

2. Your family cares - Matt 7:9-10, "Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?"

3. The Creator cares - Rom 8:31-32, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

4. The Savior cares - John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

BTW -- I care too, even if I do not know you personally. I daily pray for you as a reader of this blog.

Scott

Ten Years and Counting

Ten years ago a young preacher, his wife, and 23 month old son left a good congregation in Niceville, Florida where he had served as Youth Minister and then Preaching Minister and head for a smaller, rural congregation in the Alabama Foothills of the Appalachians. Ten years ago the drove up the the building on the left nervous, but trusting in God that they had made a good decision and that God would bless them in this new work. Five years later that congregation moved into the new building on the right.

Yesterday, Amy, Andrew, and I celebrated ten years with the Church in Parrish, Alabama. God has blessed us in this work and every day we realize the blessings we have from this great group of Christians. Ten years ago 75 - 80 people assembled on that first Sunday in July, this past year an average of 140 assemble each Sunday. The leadership here planned for growth and with God's help we grew and I pray we continue to.

Yesterday, two men asked for prayers of the church. One, a family man, asked for prayers that he might be a better spiritual leader for his family. The second, a single man who fell away from Christ many years ago, stated that he needed to be restored to Christ and His church. What a great way to celebrate 10 years.

Keep praying for our work. We are praying for you. (Phil 1:3)

Scott

Top Signs You Are Not Reading Your Bible Enough

This list developed from a group of friends on Twitter and a post from House to House Heart to Heart ( http://tinyurl.com/crnsm5 ). There were many more posted, but I limited this blog to twenty. I tried to give credit to those who sent them in.

20. You think Tim LaHeye and Jerry B. Jenkins wrote Revelation. (joeysparks)

19. The Bible you recieved at High School Graduation 5 years ago still has pages stuck together. (jrmatheny)

18. You find it under 6 months of Readers Digests and TV Guides. (scottmccown)

17. The binding cracks and breaks when you open it. (jrmatheny)

16. The Preacher calls out Hezekiah 3:6 for his text and you look for it among the minor prophets. (scottmccown)

15. You think, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is in Proverbs. (GallagherPreach)

14. You think Mel Gibson wrote a Gospel called the "Passion of Christ." (GallagherPreach)

13. You think Sleepy, Doc, and Grumpy were among the twelve apsotles. (TimothyArcher)

12. You complain to the publisher that Numbers should be spelled with a "3" not an "e". (faughfamily)

11. You think the Minor Prophets worked in the rock quarries (or were not good enough for the Majors) (joeysparks)

10. The preacher announces the the sermon text is from Genesis and you check the table of contents. (HousetoHouseHTH)

9. You've heard of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and think they may have had a few hits in the 60's or 70's.

8. You are mad because you cannot find Charelton Heston in the table of contents or the concordance. (HousetoHouseHTH)

7. You think Numbers is a gambler's handbook. (jrmatheny)

6. You turn to Psalms and a WWII savings bond falls out. (HousetoHouseHTH)

5. You think Jezebel is a wonderful name for your baby daughter.(faughfamily)

4. You catch your preteen son reading Song of Solomon and you demand, "Who gave this to you?" (faughfamily)

3. You tell your children bedtime Bible story about King Ahab and a great whale. (scottmccown)

2. When asked who your favorite Old Testament character is you answer, "Hercules." (HousetoHouseHTH)

1. You bet on the outcome of the Battle of Jericho and lose. (joeysparks)

Do you have any to add? Keep it going and keep reading your Bible!

The Happy State

According to ABC news this morning, we now know what state is the happiest state in the USA. This happiness index evaluates employment rates, mortgage foreclosures, and citizen surveys. Nebraska, a conservative mostly rural state in the Midwest ranks as the happiest; Florida and California rank as the least happy. I searched Google, but could not find where Alabama ranked on the list, I would suppose we would be somewhere in the middle overall. But Alabama is not my home. I live here, but my citizenship is elsewhere -- Phil 3:20, "But our citizenship is in heaven . . ." If you, like me are 'in Christ,' then you have a completely different place of residence (cf. Gal 3:26-27).

Being a resident of heaven, affords us the honor of truly residing in the happiest, most content, state of all; the state of being blessed in Christ. Paul writes, " . . . I have learned in whatsoever state I in to be content . . . I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." (Phil 4:11-13). So whether you live in Nebraska, Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Florida, California or any other state or country -- you can be happy in Christ.