Don't be discouraged!

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He is Risen!

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Jesus's Blood - Delirious?

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He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:3-12 (ESV)

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Life and Death

Death is a really big problem for us. The resurrection of Christ advertises to us the availability of the ultimate solution. Many misguided philosophers prefer to speak of the accounts of Jesus' resurrection as metaphor, principle or some inspirational concept. But if Christ's resurrection wasn't real, then the reality of a solution for our very real problem is lost. The Bible presents the resurrection of Christ as the physical prototype of our own resurrection: life, real death, time, real life again (cf. 1Cor.15:20). Only the "real life again" is promised to be without all the effects of sin – which include deterioration, pain, weakness and susceptibility to death (cf. 1Cor.15:42-43). The catch is that this enjoyment of an ageless, painless, diseaseless physical existence is held out for those who take Jesus at his word. At a funeral of his friend, face to face with every human's ultimate problem, Christ declared the essence of the Christian message: "I am the resurrection and the life, he who trusts in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (Jn.11:25-26). That is precisely the solution we need.

--Pastor Mike

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Rejection

Rejection hurts. And unfortunately our Christianity increases the likelihood that we will encounter it more often. Part of the cost of “taking up our cross” and “following Jesus” is the harsh reality of “bearing the disgrace he bore” (Heb.13:13). As Jesus himself said: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (Jn.15:18). It is a vain hope to expect the favor of Christ and the accolades of everyone else at the same time. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you,” Jesus warned (Lk.6:26). Amid the pain of rejection, our challenge is to learn to value and cherish the approval of Christ more than the acceptance of those around us. But that, of course, is easier said than done – especially when the rejection comes from those we love. In the lyrics of his inspired song, David is resolute as he sings: “Though my father and mother forsake me, Yahweh will receive me” (Ps.27:10). While we can expect the pain, we can also anticipate the incomparable treasure of being embraced by the King of kings and Lord of lords!   --Pastor Mike

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“Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!”

1 Chronicles 16:35-36 (ESV)

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Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

1 Chronicles 16:28-34 (ESV)

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Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.

1 Chronicles 16:23-27 (ESV)

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Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered.

1 Chronicles 16:8-12 (ESV)

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Prayer in a Noisy World

We live in a "noisy" world. It seems that every waking hour is filled with an onslaught of clamoring sights and sounds that relentlessly bombard our eyes and ears. Around the clock, something is always vying for our attention. New Testament times weren't as different as you might think, particularly for Jesus. Luke records that he had to "withdraw to desolate places" to engage in undistracted times of prayer (5:16; 6:12; cf. Mk.1:35). If this was Christ's necessary practice, we would be foolish to think that we could ever garner the spiritual strength and emboldened faith that we need without fighting for those guarded respites of secluded prayer. We cannot afford not to invest in these times of solitude, pouring out our hearts and petitions to God, especially when the world's "noise" is often so hostile to our faith (1Jn.2:16-17; Ps.62:8). Prayer is the indispensible means by which we acquire and maintain our strength and spiritual vitality (Heb.4:15-16). So find a desolate place and extend your times of prayer this week. Make prayer a priority, knowing that those quiet moments of communion with God will reap the essential resources that you need to live for Christ in the 21st century.

--Pastor Mike Fabarez

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The Enemy has been defeated! Death couldn't hold You down!

We're gonna lift our voice in victory, we're gonna make Your praises loud!

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The law cannot be separated from God without destroying it.

R. John Rushdoony; The Institutes of Biblical Law

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Thinking Christians

One of the great things about real Christianity is that it calls us to sincerely engage our minds and always check out the facts. Unlike those who say that “faith is something that is to be embraced in spite of the truthfulness of the particulars,” the Bible tells us we’d be better off without it if its message is nothing more than inspiring stories or fables to live by. In referring to the historic basis for New Testament theology 1 Corinthians 15 emphatically asserts that if the accounts of Jesus are not factual then “preaching is useless,” “faith is futile,” the apostles are “liars” and we are a pathetic bunch of deceived people that the rest of the world should “pity” (vv.14-19). If we are going to base our lives and daily decisions on the ministry and teaching of Jesus Christ, then we’d better accept the challenge to be “thinking Christians” who understand that “faith” feels much more like a well-reasoned confidence than an emotional wishful thinking.   - Pastor Mike Fabarez

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God's Sovereignty and Our Weakness

To maintain a proper view of God we have to work to regularly affirm God's sovereign and authoritative role as the King and Shepherd of our lives. We cannot think accurately of God without consciously adjusting our view of ourselves. If God is the exalted Director and Guide, then we must purpose to see ourselves as his followers and learners. The ancient worshippers of Israel regularly reinforced this essential perspective by singing lyrics like these from their inspired repertoire of worship songs: "Know that Yahweh is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture" (Ps.100:3). Those may seem like obvious biblical affirmations, but how easily we are enticed to live as though this were not the case. So when you are tempted to see yourself as self-sufficient or self-directed, realize that your theology has instantly become heretical. For God to be God in our lives, we must rightly view ourselves as his obedient and responsive sheep, who are ready and willing to faithfully follow our Great Shepherd.

-Pastor Mike Fabarez

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Worship

Real worship is not easy. The difficulty is usually commensurate with the amount of pride in our hearts. Worship is hard because it requires that we attribute to another what our flesh desires to receive – the credit!   At the core of worship is the reverential attribution that God is the reason and cause of the good that we experience (James 1:16-17). Our flesh struggles to relinquish such praise. We would like to think we are the cause of the advantages we receive, but God says it’s not so. He clarifies, “You may say to yourself ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced wealth for me.’ But remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).   Whether it’s a comfortable income, a capable mind, good health, loyal relationships or the forgiveness of our sins, the Bible is clear that God is the generous Benefactor who specifically chooses to grant such things. We are left with the humbling task of “remembering” and respectfully saying, “Thanks!” May our worship today be appropriate, sincerely and well pleasing to him!   - Pastor Mike Fabarez

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For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Luke 9:26 (ESV)

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Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

1 Corinthians 15:1-10 (ESV)