Word of Life Church Podcast

Ascension Day is easily the most overlooked holy day in the church calendar. In Western culture Christmas and Easter remain very prominent (even if commercialized). In the church Good Friday and Pentecost are still recognized as holy days. But Ascension Day has been almost totally lost. This should tell us something: We’ve lost the meaning of the Ascension of Christ. The gospel is the story of Jesus: Incarnation, Proclamation of the kingdom of God, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. If we fail to understand the Ascension, our gospel is incomplete.

The demonic seduction of accusation, empire, and propaganda (dragon, beast, and false prophet) always lead humanity to another bloody battlefield. Armageddon always looms. Yet hope abides. Armageddon is always a possibility, but never an inevitability. If we reject the ways of the beast and follow the way of the Lamb, Jesus will lead us away from the doom of Armageddon into the shalom of the New Jerusalem. Though the fires of destruction are always burning outside the walls, the Spirit and the Bride are always calling us into the city of the Lamb...and her gates will never be shut.

The Book of Revelation may be the most important biblical text for American Christians right now, but only if we can rescue it from its egregious misinterpretations and learn to read it properly. Revelation is NOT a 1st century prediction of the geopolitical events of the 21st century; Revelation IS a prophetic critique of the idolatry inherent with economic and military superpowers. The overarching message of the Book of Revelation is this: Jesus is Lord and Rome, etc., etc., is not.

The eschatological vision of the Bible is the answer to our constant prayer, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” So at the end of the Bible we are shown a prophetic picture of the arrival on earth of the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem; a garden city that embodies fidelity and justice.

“Jesus stands before a broken world and says, 'Come follow me.' He invites you to discover a beautiful life that lasts forever." - The Journey at Word of Life ChurchA beautiful life is the kind of life that last forever.A beautiful life is the kind of life that saves the world.The most beautiful life is the life of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.It is the beauty of Christ that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. It is the beauty of Christ that compels us to join with the Roman centurion at the Cross confessing “Truly, this is the Son of God.” In the bleak landscape of our bottom-line, results-obsessed culture, may we find new life as we join Jesus on this journey of beautiful living.

From the beginning Jesus has been gathering together a flock, a community of people, who follow Jesus and believe his teaching, a community that would share his life, eternal life. The Journey at Word of Life is not a solo project. It is an adventure we share together with friends and also with people who we would not necessarily be friends without outside of our shared faith.

Following Jesus is something we do together, but it is a self-initiated journey. No one can walk this journey for you; it is something you determine to do. God does give his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to be our helper and companion. However, you make the daily decision to either cooperate with or work against the Holy Spirit. We are each responsible for our own exploration of The Journey. We have the help of the Holy Spirit, but we also have the help of the collective wisdom of those who have followed Jesus before us. We have summed up much of this wisdom in what we call The Four Practices: awareness, learning, reflecting, action.

In a culture of consumerism worship is an act of holy rebellion. Worship is gloriously impractical—a royal wast of time. Because contemporary models of worship involve a band, a stage, and popular music, we are tempted to confuse worship with entertainment. Worship is not entertainment! Entertainment is evaluated on the basis of did we personally find it enjoyable. Worship is evaluated on the basis of did we give God the glory due his name.

April 8, 1966—fifty years ago today—Time magazine published its most iconic cover, asking the question that haunts modern man: “Is God Dead?” After the horrors of the Holocaust and Hiroshima should we concede that Nietzsche was right in his provocative prophesy about Western civilization? Is God dead? This sermon is on the "Doubting Thomas" story. In his commitment to empiricism and the doubt it engendered, Thomas was a prefiguring of the modern age and the crisis of faith. Thomas was called “The Twin” (Didymus). He had the twin experiences of crippling doubt (“I will never believe”) and soaring faith (“My Lord and my God!”).

On the evening of the resurrection Jesus appeared to his frightened disciples as they were hiding in the upper room. He spoke peace to them, breathed the holy spirit upon them, and sent them into the world. From that locked room on that first Easter the gospel message of Jesus has traveled around the world and down through the centuries launching billions of spiritual journeys.