Jesus, the Lamb of God

The innocence of a lamb is hard to match. God choose innocence as the sacrificial exchange for guilt--your guilt and mine. Guilt is not a favorite topic for discussion in our culture today. We are quick to shift the blame even as Adam did in the Genesis record. Some are even proposing that the guilt we feel is self-induced or taught to us by our society; in other words, guilt is not a genuine spiritual reality. But, we know guilt is a genuine reality. Paul wrote to the Romans, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god." (3:23) We feel guilt because we are guilty!

As far back as we can read or remember, sacrificial offerings were required by God's law because of the spiritual reality of guilt. Hebrews 9:22 tells us "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Forgiveness is the byproduct of the great exchange which the innocence of Jesus makes with our guilt. all we have to do is receive the forgiveness offered to us.

Too often, we overlook God's over of forgiveness and seek out our own path to dealing with, hiding from, ignoring, or covering over our guilt. All God requires is that we acknowledge the sacrifice of Christ and run to His protection and forgiveness of our sin. It really is that simple! I want to encourage you this week to run to the cross and embrace Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Join us this week at New Life as we continue the series The Beauty of Jesus and look at Jesus as the Lamb of God. See you at the ARC at 10:15 AM on Sunday morning.

Blessings, Pastor Tom

The Beauty of Jesus in an Ugly world

Sunday, we had a great gathering focusing on the beauty of Jesus in an ugly world. If you weren't there you really missed out. You don't have to look far to uncover the ugliness of our world. Child abuse, sexual slavery, and other injustices remind us that evil is real and present in all of our lives.

Just this last week two stories caught my attention in the daily news. The first was the story of Jaycee Duggard, a young girl abducted, raped, and kept prisoner for 18 years by a husband and wife. How could a couple do this do a young girl and another family? And worse, the guy who perpetrated the heinous crime was defending himself. Also in the news was the story of a couple who basically beat their two-year-old to death. Unbelievable?! What kind of home allows such behavior? We all like to ignore it or avoid it, but the truth is -- we live in an ugly world full or hate, evil, and moral ugliness.

That's why we need the beauty of Jesus in our lives. We all like beauty. We are attracted to beauty and like to surround ourselves with beautiful people or visit beautiful places. The real beauty we seek is the moral and spiritual beauty that can only be found in a relationship with God through Christ.

The apostle John had seen this beauty in Christ Jesus. In his gospel he used the word "glory" to describe the beauty of Jesus. He wrote in John 1:14, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. The glory of Jesus is what each of us needs to make our lives more beautiful.

For many, Jesus is beautiful because he was a great teacher. For others, he is beautiful because of influence on human history. Why is Jesus beautiful to you? I hope you will decide this week to invite the beauty of Jesus into your life. John's gospel reminds us that Jesus is beautiful because he is the savior of the world and the very image of God.

See you next week for more of the beauty of Jesus! Pastor Tom

The Beauty of Jesus

This Sunday, we are kicking off a new series entitled "The Beauty of John" from the gospel of John. We will focus on three questions: 1) Who is Jesus?, 2) What is His mission?, 3) How should we respond to His claims? As we focus on Jesus, we are going to be looking into 18 chapters of John's gospel and unpacking the stories which tell us the most about the identity, mission, and claims of Jesus. I hope you will join us each Sunday as we re-discover the beauty of Jesus and learn to live it out!

Sadly, our culture today is suspicious of the church and unsure about Christianity. Too often the church has failed the culture down through the ages. Although the church has changed over the years, one thing which hasn't changed is the beauty of Jesus. His teachings are beautiful, His life is beautiful, and the way he has changed human history is beautiful.

Personally experiencing the beauty of Jesus is one of the primary reasons I am Christian today. The joy, peace, and purpose I experience in my life on a daily basis are all the result of my relationship with Jesus. I hope you will join us at New Life Community Church over the next few weeks as we consider the beauty of Jesus and how we can live it out in our neighborhoods.

Join us Sunday as we kick off the first message out of the gospel of John looking at the message of John's gospel as a whole.

Blessings to you and your family,

Pastor Tom

The Holy Spirit is . . .

Last week we began a series entitled, "The Holy Spirit is . . .". The goal of the series is to talk about the Holy Spirit and how He works in our life to help us to grow spiritually. I hope you will join us on Sundays to share in the series.

We began the series focusing on Adventure. If you have time, take a look at Genesis 12:1-3. Genesis records the call of Abraham. God called Abraham to an adventure. He called him to leave his familiar country and move out to his promised land. Obtaining your promised land is not always about finding a new location. Your promised land is your God-given dream. What has God promised your life? What is your dream? Whatever it is, God wants you to trust him to accomplish the dream. God wants us to believe and not give up!

This Sunday, we are going to talk about "Life-change" from Romans 8. When I think of the Holy Spirit, I think of life-change. God wants to transform your life and He has given us the Holy Spirit to work out that change. Join us on Sunday. See you there.

Pastor Tom

This is God's Country

This Sunday, we are beginning a new series entitled, "This is God's Country." Now, I know some of you are probably thinking, "Why is pastor Tom getting political with the 4th of July?" So let me calm your fears--I'm not planning to get political and yes, I believe that liberals, conservatives, and moderates can all love America. So while I'm not looking to get political, I am looking to get you thinking about why America is a great country and what we can do to keep her great.

This Sunday, I will begin the series with the title" Why I Love America". Join us at the ARC.

Pastor Tom