There has to be an easier way...

The Problem

It is hard to find the right thing to do when you do not really understand the problem.

Crazy politics and frustration

Could not find an answer because I could not find the underlying problem

Scott McKnight quote from Kingdom conspiracy

Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church Church as Kingdom Politic

In one simple sentence: what Christians want for the nation should first be a witnessed reality in their local church.

Jesus Politics book - discovering Christian Political Values

A lot of work for one small problem for one time in one nation

What problem did Jesus come to solve?

Our Problem

Sometimes we get so caught up in one or two details that we miss the big picture of the Gospel.

There is a problem: sin

sin is not a sickness or some kind of stain (although it shares characteristics with both)

sin is rebellion against God

How then does Jesus stop sin, stop this rebellion against God when we see that attitude of rebellion every bit as prevalent today as it was 2000 years ago?

The Way of Jesus

Why this way?

He will not stay put

First, we have to recognize that there could have been another way. It didn't take more than a day to die on the cross, or more than a week to convince the Jewish leaders to have him crucified. Why did Jesus spend 3 years with those 12 disciples and teach them all that He did if He was only the Lamb of God, waiting to be sacrificed? What did He hope to accomplish with all that?

Disappearing acts

Likewise, why did He keep appearing after the resurrection to so many people if forgiveness had already been offered?

John 20:19–23 NRSV

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

The movie "Risen" and the way Jesus kept disappearing all the time...

Forgiving and Retaining sins

The movie "Risen" and the way Jesus kept disappearing all the time...

Listen again to what Jesus actually said to those disciples during those times though.

Peace, Breath, and forgiveness

Forgiving and Retaining sins

Forgiving and retaining sin

What does that even mean? I thought only God could forgive sins?

What did they talk about after He left?

What might Thomas have overheard?

John 20:24–29 NRSV

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Doubting and meeting that doubt

Without that personal experience with Jesus, we are just guessing

Thomas doubted the resurrection, but because he doubted, he could not move forward and become the person god created him to be.

If you believe Jesus died for your sins and that He rose from the dead, but it does not change your life, you are mixing a vital part of what it means to believe!

John 20:30–31 NRSV

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

By believing, you may have life in His name

Peace, breath, forgiveness

Peace, breath, forgiveness

Becoming a fountain of life

1 Peter 1:3–5 NRSV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:6–9 NRSV

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Our inheritance: Peace, breath, forgiveness

You

The church as the solution to the problem of sin (rebellion against God)

We offer peace.

We offer new life (breath)

We offer purpose in passing on grace and forgiveness

Coptic Christians in Egypt

Challenge?

Will you squander your inheritance or will you grow it?

The Church as an answer

The church as the solution to the problem of sin (rebellion against God)

The church as the solution to the problem of sin (rebellion against God)

We offer peace.

We offer peace.

We offer new life (breath)

We offer new life (breath)

We offer purpose in passing on grace and forgiveness

We offer purpose in passing on grace and forgiveness

Coptic Christians in Egypt