GCI Equipper

Jesus’ New Ministry

The Ascension signaled the end of one ministry, and the beginning of another.

The disciples had been through a lot; they had seen the good, the bad and the ugly of Jesus’ time on earth. They had seen many miracles – water into wine, healings, thousands fed from a boy’s lunch, demons exorcised, storms halted with just a word, and dead people resuscitated. (Note: resurrection refers to putting on a new, glorified body; resuscitation means raising the person in the same mortal body.) Through it all, they were still hoping that Jesus would raise an army to overthrow the Roman government. And I can’t help but wonder what they thought of Jesus’ words to Nathanael (Barthalamew) when Jesus said to him, “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of God.”

But they also saw Jesus be arrested, tortured, and killed. We can’t imagine the hopelessness and despair they went through. Fortunately, it was just for the weekend, and then they saw him alive. For 40 days Jesus spoke to them and others about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), and then they watched his words to Nathanael come true.

As they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight (Acts 1:9 NRSVUE).

Ten days later, as they gathered for Pentecost, they witnessed the Holy Spirit coming to them as tongues of fire. The Ascension and Pentecost signaled the beginning of a prophecy Jesus gave to his disciples in the Upper Room.

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12 NRSVUE).

Jesus’ earthly ministry was intentionally limited to his disciples and followers. He often spoke in parables that only a few could understand. At times he limited his teaching even further by only including Peter, James, and John. When Jesus began his new ministry – living in us through the Holy Spirit – the expanse of the kingdom has fulfilled this prophecy. The opportunities for kingdom growth grew exponentially as more and more were invited to participate with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

There are several roles that Jesus now fills – advocate (1 John 2:1-2), mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), redeemer (Titus 2:14), intercessor (Romans 8:26-27, 34) – but let’s look at the one that includes all of these titles and that the book of Hebrews emphasizes. When Jesus ascended, he became the great high priest.

The role of the high priest was clearly understood by the Israelites. The role of the high priest was to serve as a mediator between God and his people. Considered the highest-ranking spiritual leader, one of the high priest’s responsibilities was to enter the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement and sprinkle blood on the ark of the covenant. Throughout Israel’s history, there were several high priests, some who served well, others who did not. Jesus was prophesied to be “a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5:6).

  • As our “forerunner,” Jesus enters the inner sanctuary (Holy of Holies) on our behalf (Hebrews 6:19-20).
  • Jesus is the only high priest who is “holy, blameless, pure, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26).
  • As our high priest, Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant (Hebrews 7:27).
  • Jesus does not need to offer up daily sacrifices for personal and national sins, he sacrificed for all when he offered himself (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12).
  • “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties, again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:11-12).
  • He established a new covenant and made the old covenant obsolete. (Hebrews 8:13)
  • “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12)
  • “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance — now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15)

Jesus’ ascension was the beginning of his new ministry — the role of the Great high priest who established a new covenant. Under this new covenant, our sins have been removed — as far as the east from the west. Under this new covenant, we are invited to enter the most holy place and spend time with Father, Son, and Spirit in relationship. Under this new covenant, we are invited to participate in Jesus’ work of bringing many sons and daughters to glory. Under this new covenant, we are adopted and given an inheritance that is far more than we could ever ask for or imagine.

Let’s not gloss past the Ascension, let’s read through the book of Hebrews and reflect on what it means that Jesus is our great high priest. And in our reflection, let’s receive the magnificent reality of what is ours through Jesus.

Praising the Priest,
Rick Shallenberger
Editor

Discernment and Strategy

Jesus teaches us that both are necessary for healthy church.

By Heber Ticas, Regional Director

Some see discernment and strategy as two separate means to determining a course of action and almost treat discernment and strategy as enemies. Sometimes we move forward on discernment; sometimes we follow a specific strategy. But what if the Holy Spirit leads us in both? Certainly, when we look at Jesus’ ministry, we see discernment and strategy in many of the decisions he made in his earthly ministry.

In my view, strategy is vital to Christian leadership. But without discerning the Spirit’s lead, strategies could be just human thoughts and efforts. Strategic efforts that are absent from the influence of the Holy Spirit will be void of the discernment that can only come from God’s presence through his Spirit.

Leadership with Jesus is such that it demands that leaders embrace Jesus’ leadership model. In his model, strategy and discernment complement one another. We see this companionship of discernment and strategy in the way Jesus chose the twelve apostles. In choosing the twelve, Jesus demonstrated a calculated and strategic process that would serve his divine purposes within the confines of our human nature. The twelve apostles were quite different from each other, they came from different backgrounds that would later challenge their relational cohesiveness. Was Jesus aware of this fact? Yes, and he strategically brought them together.

I always marvel at how Jesus recruited ordinary people with deep convictions that were contrary to kingdom life, and then empowered them to carry out extraordinary feats that advanced the kingdom vision. The selection process highlighted Jesus’ ability to discern qualities in the disciples that were not yet evident. He was not blinded by their appearance or a lack of expression of the qualities needed to accomplish his divine purposes. He saw rock-like qualities in Peter, for example, that strategically opened lanes for leadership. Simon Peter would become the leader of a movement that would birth the church and profoundly influence this world.

This kind of discernment accompanied by strategy as displayed by Jesus was bathed in prayer. Luke’s Gospel recounts that the night before Jesus chose the twelve, he spent the whole night in prayer before the Father. Prayer is where discernment and strategy meet. This is where Christian leaders can and should build a solid foundation for our leadership postures. The apostle Paul tells us that, “we have been given the mind of Christ,” and it’s “Christ in us” that enables us as leaders to implement strategies with Christlike discernment.

I naturally think strategically. But, when my strategies lack spiritual insight, they tend to fall short. In my 24 years of pastoral ministry, I have experienced multiple occasions where my strategies were either rejected by others or they just simply did not work. Most of those times, I failed to gauge the pulse of those who were responsible for implementing the strategy, or perhaps the timing was wrong for such strategy in that community. Those were times I had to recognize that my strategies were divorced from discernment. My discernment and my strategies did not intersect in sufficient prayer.

There is no greater discernment in leadership than discerning the lead of the Spirit. It is only by discerning where the Spirit is leading that we can envision a preferred future – one led and guided by the Spirit. Once a preferred future has been discerned, then we can move to elaborate strategies that would facilitate a roadmap towards that future. Pastoral leadership is key at this juncture. Both in the discerning aspect of leading, and in the strategic component. Discerning and attaining a clear vision from the Lord needs to be the initial part. Only then can the implementation of strategies produce a healthy outcome.

The Gospel accounts of the ministry of Jesus, provide us with a model where discernment and strategy work together. As we seek to honor God by participating with Jesus in his everyday mission in our churches and neighborhoods, let us follow the lead of the Spirit as we discern where he is leading us and strategically participate with Jesus in his kingdom work. Discernment and strategies are both needed as we seek to be the heathiest expressions of church we can be.

Take Off Your Grave Clothes

Easter Season is an invitation to reflect about how Jesus resurrects us to new life, lifts us to stand with him, and fills us with the Holy Spirit.

By Afrika Afeni Mills, Faith Avenue Champion, GC Steele Creek, Charlotte, NC

In this season, we focus on the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and the manifestation of the promised Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.[1] We are reminded of our desperate need for God to awaken and breathe new life into us. When the world feels especially hard and heavy it can be easy to forget to behold the miracle of what this season means for us.

 

I am reminded of the story of Lazarus; his resuscitation was an allusion to resurrection. John 11:43-44 tells us that after Jesus called Lazarus forth from the tomb with a loud voice, he came out with hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and he had a cloth around his face. We all have our tombs, don’t we? Places where fracture, brokenness, limitations, and pain can overtake us. It doesn’t feel good to be there, but there’s a certain comfort we can receive from the familiar. Like Lazarus, our hands and feet are bound, and our faces are masked. This tomb-state can shape how we understand God and Scripture, and it can darken the way we see ourselves and other people.

But just as with Lazarus, Jesus doesn’t leave us in our tombs. He shouts our names, awakens us, and tells us to come forth. He tells those around us to take off our grave clothes and to let us go. An important question, though, is do we want to be made alive, or have we become too comfortable in our grave clothes?

Preparing ourselves for spiritual formation

One of the spiritual formation practices I’ve been engaging with for the past few months is the Examination of Consciousness, or Examen. It offers an invitation to reflect honestly on our spiritual formation journey and who we are becoming in God, paying particular attention to our consolations and desolations. Desolations turn us in on ourselves, drive us down a spiral into negative feelings, cut us off from community, cover up the signs of our journey with God, and drain us of energy. Conversely, consolations direct our focus beyond ourselves, lift our hearts, bond us more closely to our human community, and show us where God is active in our lives and where God is leading us.[2]

I never thought of myself as being resistant to resurrection, but I noticed something while engaging with this practice. Initially, while my consolations felt easy to name, I found that I wasn’t being honest about my desolations. In reflecting on Psalm 23, for example — one of my favorite Bible passages — I experience consolation when I think of lacking nothing, green pastures, quiet waters, and a refreshed soul. If I’m honest, however, sometimes I also experience desolation when I wonder if God is really with me, and if there actually is comfort for me. Sometimes this valley feels a bit too dark, and I do feel afraid. I long for the overflowing cup, but it feels jostled, tumbled over, and spilled in the torrent of the world’s adversities. Sometimes I feel like I can’t find this table God has prepared for me, or his goodness and love, so I don’t want God’s comfort. I want to pursue my own.[3]

One of the books that has helped me to prepare to honestly engage with the Examen practice and to be honest with God about my desolations is Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero.[4] The tagline for the book is, It’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. This book has helped me to become my authentic self and break the power of the past over my thoughts and feelings. I now have a better understanding of the reasons why I tend to seek distraction from looking at my fractures, why I avoid the root of my defensiveness, and why I have an aversion to forgiveness. I am learning to truly understand the nature of and need for confession, repentance, and repair. There is no shame or hiding. There is truth and hope. I am learning to see the healing available to me beyond the tomb.

During this Easter season, I encourage you to prepare yourself for and engage in the practice of the examen. Let these words of David be yours, too: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”[5]

I use an Examen Journal,[6] and it includes these daily prompts on each page:

  • “I felt alive in your presence today, God, when . . .”
  • “I struggled to feel your presence today, God, when . . .”
  • “God, I want to share more deeply with you about one moment that stands out from today. Through this experience, I think you might be telling me . . .”
  • “As I think about tomorrow, God, I pray that . . .”

In this season, we are reminded that though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Jesus is with us. Though we carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus and we are tempted to keep our grave clothes on, let us remember that the life of Jesus is revealed is us, and we have been resurrected with him.[7] Let us remember that Jesus has ascended, and the Holy Spirit breathes new life into us, so our grave clothes are gone. We are awakened, unbound, unmasked, alive, and free in him!

[1] John 14:16-17
[2] Ignatian Spirituality.com/consolation-and-desolation
[3] Psalm 23:1-6
[4] Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Health Spirituality.
[5] Psalm 139:23-24
[6] Williams, Mary. The Examen Journal: Finding God Everyday.
[7] 2 Corinthians 4:10

Easter Guest Follow-Up

All three Avenues can and should be involved in following up with Easter guests.

By Jep Parcasio, Pastor, Philippines

Easter Sunday is one of the most observed celebrations in the worship calendar aside from Christmas. Thus, it is important for local churches to be intentional in how we follow up with guests, especially in coordination with the Avenues of Faith, Hope and Love.

Since this is a special worship celebration, it is good to have special steps and activities for our members to be more immersed into the message of the gospel through Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. On the worship calendar, Easter does not end on Easter Sunday but continues through a 50-day period of “Eastertide” (or also called as “Pascal tide). This period commemorates the time from Jesus’ resurrection through his ascension and up to and including Pentecost.

 

With this in mind, we can reflect on four questions.

  • In what way can we help our members and guests during the Easter season live out and experience the power and relevance of the risen Lord Jesus?
  • How will it affect our Hope Avenue and the way we plan worship services through the season?
  • How will it help us plan for connect groups in the Faith Avenue?
  • What follow up activities do we have planned in the Love Avenue?

The Christian Worship Calendar is a beautiful guide throughout the year for every local church to follow. It is cycle of going through the birth, life, ministry death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. This allows every member of the church to journey together into the life of the triune God. During the season of Easter, the church will be able to celebrate and live in the victorious life that Jesus gives us through his resurrection.

In the Gospels, we read that after Jesus’ resurrection, he took time to share meals, fellowship, give assuring words, and spend time with his disciples — perhaps an ordinary life, turned into a fresh perspective of Jesus in his glorified body.

Here are some scriptures on Jesus’ post resurrection:

  • Jesus meeting with disciples and telling them to not be afraid (John 20:19-25).
  • Jesus walking with two of His disciples and breaking bread with them (Luke 24:13-35).
  • Jesus preparing breakfast with his disciples (Luke 24:36-49).
  • Jesus commissioning his disciples (Matthew 28:16-30).
  • Jesus appearing to more than 500 in Galilee (1 Corinthians 15:6).

With these verses in mind, consider these suggested activities:

  1. First, be intentional about greeting guests, paying attention to them, making them feel welcome. (Hope Avenue)
  2. If appropriate, invite a guest to an Easter meal in your home. Get to know them. (Love and Faith Avenues)
  3. Encourage guests to complete a connect card where they can provide their contact information and prayer requests. Using the cards, follow up with guests, perhaps a phone call or a visit, if appropriate. (Love Avenue)
  4. Organize a follow-up “breakfast with Jesus” gathering where the guests can attend and be able to recount the post-resurrection story. (Love and Faith Avenue)
  5. Offer to meet with a guest at a café or coffee shop — be friendly, but not overbearing. (Faith Avenue)
  6. Encourage the guests and members to join or be part of a connect group. Bible study groups can also do a series/curriculum on selected passages of the scriptures on Jesus’ resurrection. (Faith Avenue)

These are just a few suggestions. What is your group doing? Share your ideas and stories with us. Easter reminds us that in Jesus’ resurrection, we are victorious. In Christ, we have all been invited to experience the resurrected life with others. Be intentional about guest follow-up as we continue to share Jesus’ love and life with others by living and sharing the gospel.

Church Hack: Love Avenue Practices

The ministry of the Love Avenue is to WITNESS—to witness is a relational, incarnational, active, missional proclamation and demonstration of the good news of Jesus. Getting to know our neighbors—mapping our neighborhood—is a critical function of the Love Avenue. Afterall, how can we love those we do not know or be neighbors to those we do not spend time with?

This month’s Church Hack focuses on building a present love avenue. To read and download, click here or the image below. 

Art of Mentoring

“The Art of Mentoring” series dives into the deep impact of mentoring as a powerful connection that can bring about significant changes. In this special bond, people gain valuable things like time, wisdom, experiences, and insights in a way that’s right for them.

Just like other relationships we build, mentoring comes in many forms, each serving different goals and lasting for various periods. Throughout our journey, the Holy Spirit guides us into mentoring connections, wherein we may find ourselves alternately assuming the roles of both mentor and mentee.

Click here to view the videos in the series.

Welcoming Young People

Are we willing to become children in order to reach children for Jesus?

By Dishon Mills, Pastor, Charlotte, NC

In the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul made one of the most beautiful and challenging statements about mission in Scripture. He wrote:

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 NIV

Paul encouraged his readers to participate in the mission of Jesus Christ by meeting people in their situation. To the extent possible, and without deviating from the way of Christ, Christians are to learn the ways of our neighbors without judgment and relate to those we encounter in a manner they can understand.

What would happen if we applied this passage to our youngest neighbors? What would it mean for us to become like children in order to win children? There are a lot of answers to these questions. Articles have been written in this column that spoke about the importance of engaging young people in our communities (mission). However, another thing we should consider is the extent to which our congregations are welcoming environments for children and youth. When a young person visits your fellowship, what signals that they have arrived in a place that is for them?

 

At our congregation, GC Steele Creek, we have been wrestling with this question. We are blessed with several young people, yet we are still building our children’s and youth ministries. We need gifted and called leaders to coordinate our youth discipleship efforts, however, we did not want to be idle while we prayerfully discerned the Lord’s will. Our leadership team talked it over, and one of the things we decided to do was have a youth-oriented service every fifth Sunday (give or take a week depending on the worship calendar). We change our order of service and song selections to cater to our youngest members. A “sermon” is given by an experienced youth ministry leader that features games, prizes, and interaction. The entire congregation is involved, with older members helping younger members with the activities. At various points in the service, we hear the voices of young people in their own words, speaking about things that God has put on their hearts.

We have done one youth-oriented service so far, and it was a big success. The young people had a great time! However, what struck me was the extent to which the older people had a good time too. Older members transformed into children right before my eyes. I think there is something powerful in this. I believe the youth-oriented services will not only signal to our young people how important we believe they are to us and to God, they will train our adult members on being child-like. It is my hope that we grow to become like children in order to win children.

This is one of the things we are doing to create a welcoming environment for children and youth. What are some things that your group is doing? What works in your situation? If you have an idea for how to create a welcoming environment for young people, please leave a comment below. Let’s try to share some good ideas with each other.

As we try to become like children, we are actually following Christ. He became like us to rescue and redeem us. This is his way. Let us do all we can to become like Jesus to our younger neighbors.

Creative Expressions of Worship w/ Lucy Santibanez-Enerio

Video unavailable (video not checked).

For the upcoming episodes of the GCPodcast, we’re shifting our focus from interviews to immersive spiritual practices. In this session, Lucy Santibanez Enerio leads us through creative worship practices. Join us as we foster personal and communal spiritual disciplines. May our journey in Christ’s ministry be deepened as we yield to his guiding presence.

“We can take our creative expressions and offer them as an act of worship. I invite you to consider the act of creating, or the expression of creativity, as a form of worship. Whether it’s through music, art, poetry, or other forms of expression, our creativity can be a meaningful way to connect with our Lord. It’s about offering our time, thoughts, skills, and our whole being as an act of worship.”
— Lucy Santibanez Enerio

 

 

Main Points:

  • Get to know Lucy and her passion for ministry through music. 00:56
  • How can worship manifest beyond the context of congregational gatherings? 06:24

 

Resources:

  • GCI Buzz, Spiritual Formation: This resource defines Spiritual Formation and show how it is comprised of various practices by which believers grow to become more and more like Christ.
  • Trinitarian Approach to Spiritual Formation: On this episode of You’re Included, Dr. Geordie Ziegler, pastor and author of Trinitarian Grace and Participation, discusses an approach to spiritual formation that does not start with us but places, at the center, God the Father’s relationship with the Eternal Son.

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Program Transcript


Creative Expressions of Worship w/ Lucy Santibanez-Enerio

Cara: Welcome to GC Podcast, a podcast to help you develop into the healthiest ministry leader you can be by sharing practical ministry experience. In this episode, we welcome Lucy Santibanez-Enerio, who will lead us through creative expressions of worship.

We invite you to co-create your own experiences of spiritual formation through personal and communal practices. We believe that through such personal and communal practices, we open ourselves and surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us.

May the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst grow us up into the healthiest participants in the ministry of Christ that we can be to the glory of the Father. Amen.


Lucy: Hello friends, my name is Lucy. I grew up in the Philippines, and I started being involved in the music ministry when I was 10 years old. One of my core memories in being transformed through worship is when at a young age, during Sunday service, we were singing the song, “Knowing You, Jesus.” And I looked around the fellowship hall of our local congregation, and I see all ages and all generations who were connecting to God, declaring that there is no other greater thing in life than getting to know their personal Savior.

Since then, I’ve always felt that I, and all people, are called to pursue God’s presence because there is peace in his presence, there is hope, joy, and rest in his presence. I found that God has a way of speaking to me personally through music. A few years down the road, I found myself being drawn to psychology for my undergraduate studies, and eventually I completed graduate degrees in music therapy.

But primarily, all I really wanted to do was worship God and see people join near to God in worship. So, through it all, I continue to be part of worship teams, and I currently serve as a volunteer worship leader and music team coordinator at GC Steele Creek in Charlotte, North Carolina, all by the grace of God, according to his plans.

Today, we will be exploring creative expressions of worship that extend beyond the familiar congregational worship gatherings to a more personal spiritual expression. So, whether you’re a seasoned worshipper or someone looking to deepen your connection with the Lord, we hope you are able to find meaning and resource from this experience.

Our theme for today’s practice is “Making Room to Encounter God in the Mundane.”

Like many of us, I am always in awe of sunrise and sunsets. One, because of the beauty and the mystery of the rising and the setting ball of energy millions of miles away from us interacting with our skies and setting off awe inspiring colors.

And two, in a way, this phenomenon that we often tend to overlook feels like God’s way of taking care of us, motivating us to wake up and also signaling us to take the rest that we need. Creation is reflecting the beauty of our Creator, and I can’t help but break into song about God’s goodness when I witness the beauty of his creation. Psalm 19, verse 1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

Human beings are made for worship. In the posture of worship, we fall into the arms of God and saying, “Have your way in me, Lord.” Disciplines of worship put us in a place to be receptive and responsive to the Holy Spirit’s movements and invitation. The discipline of worship focuses our attention on the beauty of the Trinity, the source of all that is good, true, and beautiful.

There are so many ways and forms of worship, more than we recognize in the ordinary moments of life. We worship when we come together in celebration of God’s goodness. We worship when we come to the foot of the cross to lament an expression of our grief.

We worship in our giving, in holy communion, in making meals for others, in making spaces livable and beautiful, and in so many forms – crafts, woodwork, poetry, visual arts, movement, music. After all, God is the ultimate artist, the creator of the heavens and the earth. he communicates through his creation and relates with his creation.

We come to him to worship individually and as a congregation. We worship in silence and solitude or in holy roars of praise.

The Bible tells us of how David actively pursued God’s presence in worship. In the book of Psalm and 1 and 2 Samuel, we learn about David’s raw expressions of praise to God amidst life’s highs and lows.

Whether it’s in periods of grief and anger or moments of shame, David cries out for forgiveness. In times of joy and excitement, David praises God by dancing and exuberant singing. In moments of need, David surrenders his human desire for control, and instead seeks and aligns himself with God’s heart. he teaches us to do the same.

David’s example shows us that worship isn’t about putting on a facade of perfection, but by being vulnerable and humbly turning our hearts towards God, regardless of our circumstances. Worship includes but does not have to be solely about emotion. It’s about recognizing God’s worthiness of praise, even when life feels chaotic or unfair.

Being able to worship and find hope is one of the many gifts that God has blessed us with. Regardless of our circumstance, God has given us the ability to come to him and rest in him. Worship is more than an event. It is the posture of our hearts.

So, we now recognize that worship isn’t confined to a specific style or practice. It’s a personal journey that is expressed both inward and outward.

In the next few minutes, we’ll explore how we can take our creative expressions and offer them as an act of worship. So today I invite you to consider the act of creating, or the expression of creativity, as a form of worship. Whether it’s through music, art, poetry, or other forms of expression, our creativity can be a meaningful way to connect with our Lord. It’s about offering our time, thoughts, skills, and our whole being as an act of worship.

I personally love to spend my time with the Lord through soft instrumental music, as I feel like it serves as a container of my experiences and sacred interactions with our Lord. It is a way for me to make room for God in our busy day-to-day lives, by finding pockets of time to be in tune with God and be transformed by his presence. This will be different for everyone, and that’s okay. It doesn’t have to be complicated or long-winded, but it is personal and intentional.

So now, if you are inclined, I invite you to grab a notebook, or maybe some coloring tools, or any other crafts or tools that you are drawn to. If you are musically inclined, you may grab an instrument. You can also take this time to simply listen and receive what the Lord has for you.

We will spend the next few minutes exploring creative expressions of worship. This is your time to connect with our Lord in a way that feels personal and authentic to you. I will be playing instrumental music to guide our time together, but for now, take a couple of grounding breaths.

Feel free to receive. And open your senses to the Lord. Take a moment to ground yourself in God’s love. he continues to provide for you and has invited you to wake up today and rest in him. Close your eyes, if you can, and invite his presence into your safe space.

Three simple ways to prepare our hearts to worship are to recognize, receive, and respond.

Recognize by making room in your heart and thoughts. Invite and anticipate God’s presence. He is the ultimate shepherd who invites us to lay down in green pastures. He leads us beside still waters and restores our souls.

Allow the following verses to wash over you as you receive his word.

Psalm 8:3-4 — When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 19:1 — The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hands.

Psalm 24:1-2 — The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.

[Repeat]

The next couple of minutes is your time to respond through your personal creative expression. Feel free to write, draw, or journal, pray, or even sing. You are free to reflect on the earlier verses or lean into how the Lord interacts with you as you respond to him.

As we conclude our time together, feel free to reflect on the creative expressions you explored with our Creator today. Consider how these expressions can become a regular part of your worship beyond the Sunday service. The Lord speaks to us in many ways, and he has given us gifts for us to use to connect with him and serve his people.

May your God-inspired creativity be a source of meaningful connection with our Lord, and may you find pockets of time to make room daily beyond our Sunday gatherings.


Cara: Thank you for listening to this episode of GC Podcast. We hope you found this time valuable. We would love to hear from you. Email us at info@gci.org with your suggestions or feedback. And remember, healthy churches start with healthy leaders, so invest in yourself and in your leaders.

Gospel Reverb – Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee

Video unavailable (video not checked).

This month, our host, Anthony Mullins, welcomes Terry Ishee. Together they unpack the May 2024 sermon pericopes. Terry is the Executive Director of Forge America, a community of practitioners cultivating practitioners who join the everyday mission of God. He’s also the co-founder and an executive coach at Sequoias Coaching & Consulting.


May 5—Sixth Sunday of Easter
John 15:9-17, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction”

May 12—Ascension Sunday
Luke 24:44-53, “Can I Get a Witness?”

May 19—Pentecost
John 15:26-27; 16:4-15, “Truth-Teller”

May 26—Trinity Sunday
John 3:1-17, “Born Anew”


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Program Transcript


Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee

Welcome to the Gospel Reverb podcast. Gospel Reverb is an audio gathering for preachers, teachers, and Bible thrill seekers. Each month, our host, Anthony Mullins, will interview a new guest to gain insights and preaching nuggets mined from select passages of Scripture in that month’s Revised Common Lectionary.

The podcast’s passion is to proclaim and boast in Jesus Christ, the one who reveals the heart of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And now onto the episode.


Anthony: Hello friends and welcome to the latest episode of Gospel Reverb. Gospel Reverb is a podcast devoted to bringing you insights from Scripture found in the Revised Common Lectionary and sharing commentary from a Christ-centered and Trinitarian view.

I’m your host, Anthony Mullins, and it’s my joy to welcome our guest, Terry Ishee. Terry is the executive director of Forge America, a community of practitioners, cultivating practitioners who joined the everyday mission of God. He’s also the co-founder and executive coach of Sequoia’s Coaching and Consulting.

And I spent a year learning and gaining new insights from Terry as he coached me in church planting. And it just seemed every conversation we had an “aha” or sometimes the “oh,” which could be really valuable to my participation in the Lord’s ministry. Terry is married to Amy, and they have [a daughter] and he lives in Texas. Big football fan.

Terry, thanks for being with us and welcome to the podcast. And since this is your first time on Gospel Reverb, we’d love to know a bit about your story. And how you are participating with the Lord these days.

[00:01:44] Terry: Thank you, Anthony, for having me on. I love you; I love your tribe and I love your people.

And it’s been fun to get to meet several of your pastors and leaders from around the country. And man, it’s just a joy to be here with you today.

[00:01:58] Anthony: Awesome. Our some of our listeners will be familiar with Forge America and some won’t. You’re the executive director. So, we’re going to go straight to the source.

What is Forge America? And what is the organization’s relationship with the church?

[00:02:13] Terry: Yeah, that’s a great question. So, Forge America is actually a part of a larger global movement. Forge Global is an organization where we hold the missional incarnational impulse of Jesus and kingdom movements. We hold that up. We champion that.

And so, we exist in eight countries around the world. Forge America is about 14 years old, and I’ve served on the team for about 13 of those years. And where Forge intersects with the church, we really believe in a practitioner way of community.

And what we’ve discovered, especially in the West where we’re seeing church decline — and I’m sure that we don’t need to go into all of that and all the issues that where we see ourselves in the current landscape of a church in America — but what we’re trying to do is recapture a practitionership, an apprentice style of discipleship, where we are seeing ourselves one in the image of God.

But also, we’re the sent ones of Jesus. And just as the Father sent the Son, the Son and Spirit have sent us to be his ambassadors, to his advocates, to be the hands and feet to be love manifest in the world. So, we actually come alongside church leaders and organizational leaders and help them actually cultivate this type of practitionership, this type of disciple making.

And Forge is an organization where no one does Forge full time, which I find to be just a fascinating thing in my own life. And so, I you mentioned Sequoias. I do a lot of coaching and work outside of Forge. Forge kind of is the big paradigm shaping organization. I work with a lot of people who are wrestling with the big picture piece. Sequoias really serves as an organization that comes along in the implementation piece. And so, Forge is very much a visionary type organization; Sequoias is very much an integration implementing type organization.

And then I’m also a pastor. I’ve been a pastor for 27 years. I’ve planted five churches, and as a church planting catalyst, I’ve worked alongside 150 plus church plants and church planters. And that’s just been a joy.

And I am a pastor; I’m a missionary in my everyday life, and that is my primary thing that I give my energy and time to. And everything I do with Forge, everything I do with Neighborhood Church Collective, and everything I do with Sequoias is an overflow of that practice. And so we are, I’m very much a practitioner first type of guy.

[00:05:09] Anthony: Yeah, that’s encouraging to hear because we’re going to talk Scripture and theology, but if it’s disconnected from the actual work of the church and the life of the body, something’s missing, right?

The fact that you’re focused on practitioners is a beautiful thing. So let me put you on the spot. If somebody wanted to find out more about Forge or Sequoias or the neighborhood organization you mentioned, how would they find you?

[00:05:34] Terry: Yeah. So forgeamerica.com is the website. If you’re looking for some tangible practical tools, forge.teachable.com has our membership portal. It’s where people who are part of our tribe that are like, hey, this is how I’m actually cultivating. This is where our resourcing is found. It’s where our training is found, but forgeamerica.com, forge.teachable.com — lots of great information.

And there’s some great freebies. And so, you don’t — we try to be a very generous organization. That’s the beautiful thing about not having full-time staff is you have low overhead, so we’re able to give away quite a bit and be generous with the church. And that’s a great place to find that.

And then Sequoia’s coaching and consulting. One of the things we found out when we named our organization, Sequoia’s, we actually got it from Wendell Berry’s poem, where he’s speaking in Mad Farmers Manifesto [sic] [Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front], where he says, “Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.”

And so, we love this idea of lasting impact, that what you do today can have an impact a hundred years from now. Sequoias, those redwoods take forever to come to full maturity. And so, the picture of lasting impact was really a big part of why we named it Sequoias.

The problem with that is Sequoias is a hard word to spell. I think every vowel that exists is in that word. And so, on a day-to-day basis, I can’t remember the order of those vowels. And you can find us online at bigtrees.cc. Yeah, if you know how to spell sequoias, you can find us at sequoias.cc for coaching and consulting, but you can also find us at bigtrees.cc. And there’s lots of information; it shows the 50 plus organizations that we’ve had the privilege of working with in coaching. And yeah, that’s how you can find us.

[00:07:32] Anthony: I’m glad Sequoia is not a wordle word five letters, because I would never get there. I’d never spell it. That’s right. And thank God for Wendell Berry. Any guy that’s from Kentucky he’s a good guy.

All right, let’s get to it! Here are the lectionary passages we’ll be discussing:

John 15:9-17, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction”

Luke 24:44-53, “Can I Get a Witness?”

John 15:26-27; 16:4-15, “Truth-Teller”

John 3:1-17, “Born Anew”

Our first passage of the month is John 15:9-17. I’ll be reading from the Common English Bible. It’s the Revised Common Lectionary passage for the sixth Sunday in Easter, which is May 5.

“As the Father loved me, I too have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete. 12 This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I don’t call you servants any longer, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last. As a result, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 17 I give you these commandments so that you can love each other.

Terry, if you’re exegeting and preaching this sermon or a sermon from this text, what’s going to be your big idea or your central theme?

[00:09:37] Terry: Yeah. Man, this is such a wonderful passage. And I love that it’s love. I think you can’t look at this passage and not really let your theme be this idea of love and to embrace and receive the love of the Father. I think is often missing in the church today, especially in the West.

I think we carry so much shame, and we carry so much baggage from our own lives that sometimes receiving the love of the Father is really difficult. And then that’s the idea of remaining in love. How do we actually remain in love? It’s a big deal.

And then out of that — like I said, I’m a big action guy and so super pragmatic. And so out of receiving the Father’s love, finding those postures of remaining, and keeping place with love because God is love, right? He is love, loving to us. And then out of that, what does it look like to love each other just as we have received the love from the Father?

And so that’s, I think that’s where I’m camping. I want people to understand that at the end of the day, your formation, your discipleship, your worship, it should all be moving towards developing this sort of love that when we are in circumstances, when we’re in life, how do we respond to the world around us?

I find myself struggling with this at times where it’s easy that someone will say something, or someone will do something and it’s inconvenient to myself. And so, do I have a sharp response to that? Or am I able to actually absorb that and respond in love? I’ll give you just a quick example of this.

Recently, me and my wife, we went and did a little date night last week. And we went and saw the new Bob Marley movie, which is, it’s pretty good. I really enjoyed it. And it’s “One Love.” And so, there’s lots of concepts in talking about love and the bigger picture and a that whole thing.

And there was a couple that was behind us and they — Anthony, I’m not kidding, man — they talked the entire time. And it was one of those things where there’s some people, they have — they’re just so clueless to the volume of their own voice. They thinking they’re whispering and making little comments, but they’re talking full volume.

And I can sense my wife next to me, who’s just — she’s boiling. I can feel it. She’s like, oh my gosh, she’s so [inaudible]. My wife has such compassion and is such a rule follower that anytime anyone inconveniences — like her whole life is to not inconvenience people. She just wants to honor and love people so well, but sometimes in the pursuit of, in the idea of inconvenience, she cannot be loving at times because just like you’re inconveniencing people; you’re wrong.

And so, we’re sitting there, and I found myself getting frustrated because movies are like, that’s my spot. Like, this is where I connect with God. And I just remember sitting there and that idea is you know what? I’m, just going to absorb this. I’m going to, yeah. Is it frustrating? Is there something inside of me that wants to stand up and look behind them? Hey, I’m six foot, 280, man; I’m a big guy. I need you to be quiet right now.

Like everything inside of me wanted to do that, but no, that’s not love. That’s not what Jesus would want for me. And so, are we able to, in circumstances, absorb the things that frustrate us? Absorb the things that make us want to operate and respond out of our own worldly flesh and to say, you know what I’m going to respond in love?

I’m going to love; I’m going to love others because Jesus has loved me. And if I were in a movie theater with Jesus, I would probably talk and annoy him too. And he would show me love. And so, in that moment I got to actually exercise my faith and show love and be generous.

And when the movie was over, we made eye contact with the couple. And I just put a big smile on my face, and I hoped my presence and my smile would just be a sense of blessing to them. Hey, you’re good. You’re wonderful. You are loved.

And it was great, and it didn’t take anything away from the movie. It actually enhanced the movie for me because it was a reminder that we’re to be a people of love. And so that’s where I would take that.

[00:14:09] Anthony: I would have stood up and said, get behind me, Satan! Because Jesus has done that. So right. You’re a better man than me. That’s for sure.

It states in verse 16, the Lord chose us. And He loves us, verse 9. And so, we are empowered by the Spirit to produce lasting and sustainable fruit. And that matters to God. So, Terry, talk to us about the long haul of discipleship in a world that frankly values the next shiny object, what’s going viral, quick fixes.

Talk to us about lasting fruit.

[00:14:44] Terry: Yeah. I think lasting fruit is something that’s not talked about enough. And we live in a world where the fruit we actually discuss are — we talk about the fruit of Mother Teresa, and we talk about the fruit of Hudson Taylor, and we talk about the fruit of these giants in the last 50, a hundred years of the church.

And we look back and we talk about the heroes of the faith, and we speak of their fruit. But man, I think there’s something that we miss about this idea of fruit that is happening slowly over a long period of faithfulness. I think it’s Eugene Peterson who uses that phrase “a long obedience in the same direction,” right?

And so that’s one of our themes for this conversation. And I think that’s what we have to get back to. I think when we think about lasting fruit, I’m not looking for guys and gals who just get up and do these grand slam, home run type things. But what does it look like in my every day walking around, my sleeping, eating and breathing life to be faithful, to be formed into the likeness of Christ? Will I actually submit and surrender my life to practicing the way of Jesus to be shaped and becoming like him? And will my life exhibit fruit from that journey?

I’m a firm believer. I think Jesus keeps it pretty simple that if we would simply be with Jesus over time, the more we spend with Jesus, the more we spend with Father, Spirit, and Son we will become like God. We’re pre-wired, right? We were created in the image of God.

And so that’s actually a more natural progression and direction for our lives. The problem is we don’t often prioritize that space of being with God, like that taking time to just to sit and be silent and maybe even at times find a little bit of solitude and just be with God.

One of my favorite passages is just simply, “Be still and know that I am God.” And so, I will find myself — and I tried to do this every day, where I just sit quietly. And I redirect my focus, my senses on the fact that God is with me right now. And even as we have this conversation, as you’re in Raleigh [NC], I’m here in Austin [TX], God is with both of us right now.

He’s in this moment. And as you’re listening to this and you’re on the podcast, whether you’re sitting at your desk or you’re driving in your car or wherever you might be, God’s presence is with you. And all we have to do is take our crazy focused attention and direct it towards his presence.

[00:17:57] Anthony: Yeah. And we’re there with him.

[00:17:59] Terry: Yeah.

[00:17:59] Anthony: Yeah. Amen. I have been rereading a book from Julie Canlis and she makes the statement, “All of life is spiritual. Work. Bearing children. Hobbies. Friendship. Repairing gutters. Commuting. This is our worship – the offering of our everyday stuff to God.” [A Theology of the Ordinary]

And the powerful formation of that is when we recognize that. That even as I’m podcasting, I’m sharing this with the Lord who is present, as you mentioned. And that is forming.

And I love that book that you referenced from Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. And frankly, lasting fruit, that slow fruit doesn’t look very impressive always, right? But it’s the accumulation, over time, of it. We look back and we go, oh, there’s wisdom. I see God at work there.

Let’s pivot to our next pericope of the month. It’s Luke 24:44-53. It is a Revised Common Lectionary passage for Ascension Sunday, which is May the 12th. Terry, would you read it for us, please?

[00:19:02] Terry: I’d be honored to.

Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 He said to them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 Look, I’m sending to you what my Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power.” 50 He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. 51 As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. 52 They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. 53 And they were continuously in the temple praising God.

[00:20:03] Anthony: I can hear Kirk Franklin in my head chanting, “Can I get a witness?” Yeah, and Jesus said you are witnesses of these things. But I’m curious; maybe we don’t have a full comprehension of what it means to be a witness. Is it just seeing the goodness of God?

Privatizing that or is there more to it?

[00:20:22] Terry: Yeah, I think that’s a fantastic question. Again, I think we have to keep it simple. I think if you are born anew, if you are a follower of Jesus, if Jesus is king and Lord of your life, there has been something transformative in you, right?

God is doing a work in us. And that is something that we witness. And by faith, we witness who Jesus is, that he is the incarnated God, that he came and lived a life amongst us and lived it as perfect as you can. No one could live a better life. And even in spite of that perfect life of doing no wrong was found by man to be wrong and died on our behalf and in his death, not being defeated, rose again and ascended. Here in this passage, we see him returning to heaven, being taken up.

We are a witness of this. There is a tradition that we are a collective witness to who Jesus is and the work of the Father. I do believe that one, being a witness is a bit self-serving and I don’t say that negatively. It is good. I am grateful that I have eyes to see who Jesus is. That is a blessing and a gift from God. And I have people in my life who do not have that gift. That they, for some reason, they just cannot wrap their mind around the idea of Jesus as Lord, as Jesus as king. And my heart grieves for them. But I don’t think that witness stays there alone.

Being a witness isn’t for my own purpose, my own satisfaction, my own worth, but I am to be a witness for the world; I am to give a report of what I have seen, right? And here’s the thing. I think again, this is so natural in what it means to be human. I think the human experience is to be a witness because we give testimony to all sorts of things, right?

There’s not a person on this earth that doesn’t give witness to something. The question is what are you giving testimony to? And I’m not advocating that we just walk around and talk about Jesus ad nauseam. I don’t think that’s what Jesus would want.

But I think in our everyday life, are we able to attribute who we are and what we exist for? Do we give attribution? Do we give credit to who Jesus is in our life? Can we actually speak of the king and kingdom?

And yeah, so that’s my quick answer. I think we have to be active that it’s not just simply, oh yeah, I saw this, I received this and then it ends with me receiving. But I think there is a sense of receiving and now giving back to others.

[00:23:41] Anthony: Yeah, you mentioned it in one of the previous passages about, or the previous one about love. It moves. There’s a movement. Love cannot be static. It’s got to move toward the other. That’s what it always does. And witnessing, birthed out of love, has to move toward others, right? You can’t keep the story to yourself, man. What good is that? Share it with your lives.

Speaking of the Ascension, it’s often considered one of the big six of Jesus’ earthly activities: birth, baptism, transfiguration, death, resurrection, and Ascension. But it seems to me the Ascension is the one that’s a little bit overlooked and under discussed.

So, from your perspective, Terry, if you agree, why pay attention to Jesus ascending back to the Father?

[00:24:33] Terry: Fantastic question. I agree wholeheartedly and a little soapbox is going to pop out. So, if you want to get your preacher Kirk Franklin on, here we go. No, I won’t go there.

I think one of the reasons why we don’t discuss the Ascension as much is because you can’t talk about the Ascension without a commission, the ascension and the commissioning that Jesus has for us as the witnesses — John 20:21, as the Father has sent me, I now send you. Throughout all of Jesus’ life, he was hinting towards this idea that we are the sent ones that will go and bear witness into the world. That we will go from Jerusalem into Judea and to the ends of the earth.

That’s who we are. It’s part of our identity. We are both created in the image of God, but we are also created as the sent ones of God. And we don’t talk about the ascension because we don’t want to talk about the commission, at times, because the commission costs, right?

I heard someone recently was preaching, and I was fascinated. And at first thought I was like, oh, I got to wrestle with the theology of this. Is this correct? And I haven’t yet pulled away from it. I think it’s spot on. And what they were saying was Jesus’ work towards salvation is free. It costs you nothing except to receive it. It is grace and grace alone that we are found and made right with Jesus. But discipleship, obedience, apprenticeship to Jesus as king and Lord, that cost.

That’s the cost of taking up your cross, to deny yourself. And so, when we talk about the Ascension, it’s just impossible to talk about the Ascension and not talk about that. We will be witnesses.

And the beautiful thing about that is part of the Ascension is that he gives us this power. He gives us the Holy Spirit. We have not been sent to do this of our own accord or our own will, our own power, but that we have been supercharged through the Holy Spirit. That the Spirit is in us, dwells inside of us, and flows from us. And all we have to do is find where God is moving and working and join him.

And there’s something that just comes alive inside of us. And it doesn’t matter how charismatic you are on that scale, and that’s fine. But the Spirit is the Spirit. And so, if it moves you at one mile per hour, it moves you at a hundred miles per hour, it’s the same Spirit. And so can we give way to the Spirit and say, Lord, move through me as I just live an obedient life.

I think that’s how I see it, that I think the Ascension and commissioning are just so intertwined because it was his last thing said for us is that the Spirit is coming, it’s going to indwell in you, and from there you will go and be my witnesses.

[00:27:40] Anthony: Yeah. And that’s that word in the Greek and Acts 1, that you’ll be my witnesses. The word for witnesses, martyr, it’s martyrdom. You talk about costly! Like you were referring to, this will cost you your life and it will give you your life. Paradoxical. Absolutely.

And that makes for a great segue into our next Bible passage, which is for Pentecost. Jesus said, I’ll send the Spirit and the Spirit is sent. John 15:26-27 and 16:4-15. It is a Revised Common Lectionary passage for Pentecost, May 19.

“When the Companion comes, whom I will send from the Father—the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 You will testify too, because you have been with me from the beginning.

But I have said these things to you so that when their time comes, you will remember that I told you about them. “I didn’t say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to the one who sent me. None of you ask me, ‘Where are you going?’ Yet because I have said these things to you, you are filled with sorrow. I assure you that it is better for you that I go away. If I don’t go away, the Companion won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will show the world it was wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. He will show the world it was wrong about sin because they don’t believe in me. 10 He will show the world it was wrong about righteousness because I’m going to the Father and you won’t see me anymore. 11 He will show the world it was wrong about judgment because this world’s ruler stands condemned. 12 “I have much more to say to you, but you can’t handle it now. 13 However, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you in all truth. He won’t speak on his own, but will say whatever he hears and will proclaim to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and proclaim it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine. That’s why I said that the Spirit takes what is mine and will proclaim it to you.

So, on this Pentecost, Terry, we celebrate the companion, the Holy Spirit coming to us to guide us into all truth. I’m going to ask you to get a bit personal here to testify. So how have you personally experienced the presence and the truth guiding power of the Spirit?

[00:30:12] Terry: Yeah. I’ve been a pastor for 27 years and I …

[00:30:21] Anthony: You’re getting old.

[00:30:22] Terry: I’m getting old, brother. I’m getting old. I started crazy young. I started crazy young, but I didn’t grow up in the church. But when I found the church, it was a Baptist church. And it’s a tribe that I love, and I try to love. Man, sometimes they make it really hard to love them.

And the Trinity for — and this is the old Baptist joke — the Trinity for the Baptist is Father, Son, and Bible. And that’s really what it feels like, right? It’s just study the Bible.

And so early on in ministry, the Holy Spirit was this real stranger. Of course, we acknowledged it as part of the Trinity, but it was the mysterious part of God. And we just left it at that. And then I’m casting a large shadow on a large group of people, but typically that’s the experience of that denominational life.

And as I grew in maturity and grew in my own leadership, I became more and more fascinated with the Holy Spirit. And by no means am I charismatic or I know I’m — it depends who you talk to, right? We’re all shades of different kinds of charismatic. But man, the Holy Spirit has been something in my life that has truly transformed and has made a significant impact on my spirituality. Of every discipline that I have in my repertoire — my daily, weekly, creating a rule of life and a rhythm of seeking to be with God — a silence and reflection on the Holy Spirit has been probably number two.

Man, someone, when I was a young kid — I started ministry when I was 19 years old. I joined a church planting team, and someone said, as a young pastor, I never wanted to come across as a moron or an idiot, which was just hard to do when you’re that young. Of course, you’re going to come across that way.

But someone said, Terry, God makes a promise. He says if you pray for wisdom, he will be faithful and give you wisdom. And so that is my number one spiritual practice is I plead for wisdom from God Father, Son, and Spirit. And I believe wisdom is a beautiful gift that God gives us.

And then right behind that pleading that almost, incessant pleading for wisdom — and it’s even a joke in my family. My daughter, like she’s contemplating dating some bonehead. And I just tell her, “You’re 18. I love you. You love Jesus. I know your life call, your core values, and who you are in the kingdom. Make wise decisions.” And they always make fun of me because that’s my go to: make wise decisions; make wise decisions. God will give you the wisdom to make a wise decision.

But second to that, making wise decisions, seeking wisdom, is I want to hear. I want to hear from God. I want to hear from the Holy Spirit. And so, I actually try to carve out significant time and just sitting still. I’m not the best meditator.

I’m not the best kind of silence person. My mind wanders and I’m all over the place. But one of the things that I’ve discovered is absolute silence isn’t the point. God wants that the journey that our minds go on when we sit and try to be still, Jesus just wants to jump in on that. The Holy Spirit wants to guide that and be in that. And so, I will carve out significant amounts of time to simply, Lord, what’s your next step?

And even Anthony, I don’t think I’ve even told this to you. So, I’ll tell you right here. My daughter is 18. She’s about to graduate high school and go off to college. And we’re going to be empty nesters. And so, we’ve been praying Lord, what’s next for us? So much of our ministry over the last 15 years has been neighborhood based and school based because we are highly missional incarnational people. And all of a sudden it feels like our neighborhood, we’ve lost more neighbors in the last three years than we had in the last 17.

We’ve been in this house for 20 years. We’ve just valued incarnating into one place and sticking, staying put. And we’ve lost more neighbors in the last three than the first 17. Amen. And so, the neighborhood is turned over. It feels different. Almost feels like there’s a release here. The school, obviously we don’t want to be the creepy people that keep coming to school after your kid graduates, which those people exist. And so, we don’t want to be like that.

So, we’ve just been discerning and praying to the Holy Spirit. Lord, what’s next? What’s next for us? Where might you be leading us? And I carve lots of time out just to sit and listen.

And the Spirit has been so faithful that I can look back in my life. Every church plant that I’ve been a part of, the decision to start two separate coaching and consulting firms, joining Forge America 14 years ago, taking on the executive director role two years ago — every one of those moments, there was a season of just sitting in silence and just hearing like, Lord speak.

And if you were to ask: Terry, have you heard the audible voice of God in 27 years, 32 years of following Jesus? I haven’t, but have I felt the nudging and the prompting of the Holy Spirit? I hear it all the time. I feel it all the time. And it’s one of those things where I think it just comes to: can you sit still enough?

And again, it’s a presence issue. We have to enable — if you’re to be a great missionary, when we do missionary training, we want you to have presence with your neighbor. You can’t truly share good news if you don’t know what good news would be to them. So, you have to build a sense of presence. And in order to build a sense of presence, you have to build a sense of proximity, right?

I can’t know what would be good news to my neighbor, if I don’t know my neighbor. The only way to know my neighbor is to be in proximity to my neighbor. The same thing is true of the Spirit. We can’t expect to have presence with the Holy Spirit if we aren’t in proximity with the Holy Spirit. Now, I know that the Holy Spirit is with us at all times. And so, we are technically in proximity of the Holy Spirit all the time. But are we intentionally putting our minds on that proximity?

And so that has been a game changer for me. And for me, I really truly feel like every decision that I’ve made has truly been, and every blessing that God has bestowed on our family has been in cooperation with God and in seeking him and seeking wisdom from the Spirit.

[00:37:53] Anthony: Yeah, that’s good. I like that — proximity, the intentionality of that proximity. And with that proximity, in my mind, I’m seeing the picture in scripture of Jesus with Peter at Caesarea Philippi, where Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God, Messiah to the world, and Jesus affirms him.

And then in the same scene, Peter’s opposed to the mission of God, therefore, the cross. And he says, get behind me, Satan. You’re like, Peter’s got to have whiplash. I just was affirmed and now I’ve been corrected.

And earlier I’d mentioned it comes with coaching the aha’s and the oh moments. And the Spirit is leading us into truth, meaning also revealing what is wrong in the world and what doesn’t look conformed in our lives to the Son of God.

Anything you want to talk about regarding that? How the Spirit is leading us into that kind of wisdom, the aha’s and the oh’s?

[00:38:56] Terry: Yeah, so repentance has been something that has been a bit of a theme in my life. A great friend of mine and actually the founder, one of our founders, a co-founder of Forge America, Alan Hirsch has written just a wonderful, beautiful book on this idea of repentance, reorientation. And it’s called Metanoia. And so, the metanoia moment is that pivot moment, that pivotal moment of turning.

And in my own life, I had a dear friend, Paul Gokey. He’s now in the Houston area. We used to early in our church planting journeys, we’d commiserate with one another because planting a church — which Anthony, I know you’re a church planter and you’ve worked with lots of them — it sometimes can be a very daunting and hard task.

[00:39:50] Anthony: Sure enough.

[00:39:51] Terry: And we would commiserate, and we’d sit, have lunch, and talk. And I remember one afternoon, we were sitting there just chatting and Paul had said, hey part of my life, I seek to live with an ongoing posture of repentance.

And man, that was a seminary class, that was a seminary degree in a conversation. It changed so much for me, how I viewed God, and how I view my response to God. And as we got into it and dug into it, it wasn’t an ongoing posture of repentance that he was beating himself up or constantly in confession of every little thing he did, but it was a posture of repentance or a posture of reorienting himself around Jesus as king.

And Lord, and when I began the task, the challenging task of, can I live my everyday walking, breathing, sleeping life, attempting to orient my life, to make everything the focus of my life, put on everything I see, put on the lenses, the glasses, the sunglasses, the lenses to see Jesus as king? Could I begin to live that sort of life?

And as I began that, what I found was this idea where you walk with the Spirit, and this ability to acknowledge the areas of my life where the world has won over the Spirit, and how do I begin to surrender that piece of me, that God might invade that part of my being and fully make me whole as he intends me to be.

And that’s been a life-changing process. Do I do it perfectly? No. Do I struggle with it? Absolutely. But there is this sense of I’m going to give it the old college try. I just want when my feet hit the ground in the morning, I want to orient my mind: Jesus is King today, just as he was yesterday, and he will be tomorrow.

And so, what are the implications of Jesus is King and Lord of my life? What’s my implications for the next hour and trying to live life that way. And some might be listening to this and say, Oh my gosh, that sounds horrible. That sounds like a, such a burdensome way to live. And like you had mentioned earlier, it sounds like I’m giving up my life, but I have found so much joy and happiness and contentment in that very life that there is something freeing in knowing that in a moment’s notice, I can turn my attention to Jesus as king and say, “You are king and I am not. I give you my life, do with it as you see fit. Change me, form me, make me into the person you want me to be, Lord.”

And man, there is something so freeing in that because it’s not about me. It’s not about, Lord, what do you want me to do to change me? But it’s, Lord, you change me, you do it. I’m certain all he wants for me is to surrender. And so, when I can live a life of surrender of reorientation around him as king it’s been life changing. It has been the greatest sense of connectedness and intimacy with God that I’ve ever experienced.

It’s wonderful.

[00:43:21] Anthony: Yeah, that’s so good. I had a similar experience where my friend and brother said that exact same thing, that repentance is ongoing in life. It’s not a one and done scenario at all. And you mentioned Alan’s book, Metanoia, this whole changing of my mind, which changes my action.

And I find for me, Terry, that’s where the rubber meets the road when it comes to repentance. Does what I say have congruence with what I do? And generally, when there’s a disconnect there, that’s where repentance has to be once again offered up like, “Lord!”

It’s like somebody might ask me, are you faithful? And this is where Karl Barth helped me; it’s a spectrum. To the extent that I’m faithful, I’m faithful. Help me in my unbelief Lord, right? That is ongoing repentance.

Our final passage of the month is John 3:1-17. It is a Revised Common Lectionary passage for Trinity Sunday on May 26.

Terry, we’d be grateful if you read it for us, please.

[00:44:23] Terry: Yeah, absolutely.

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Jewish leader. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could do these miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom.” Nicodemus asked, “How is it possible for an adult to be born? It’s impossible to enter the mother’s womb for a second time and be born, isn’t it?” Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It’s the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said, “How are these things possible?” 10 “Jesus answered, “You are a teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things? 11 I assure you that we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you don’t receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Human One. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 16 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. 17 God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

[00:46:18] Anthony: There’s a lot there and I’m not asking for a dissertation here, Terry, but the Trinity, in my mind, so often gets reduced to some abstract mathematical conundrum instead of a relationship. And so, on this Trinity Sunday, what would you say to the listening audience about the triune God?

[00:46:37] Terry: Yeah, this again goes into this crazy mystery of God in three persons. The way that I’ve been able to wrap my head — what little I can wrap my head around this wonderful, beautiful, mysterious thing — is that I really see it as a divine dance.

There’s this Greek term parakinesis [sic] [perichoresis] that speaks to the idea of a kinetic movement, right? And I’ve heard people refer to it as a divine dance where Father, Son, and Spirit dance in step with one another, that there’s a constant moving connection between the two.

And really the best way that I can wrap my head around this is that God in three persons speaks to us that we are to live life in community, that all of life is to be communal. This individualism which is tough in our current culture because we live in a highly individualistic society. But we weren’t created for individualism. We were created for a communal expression.

And just as Father and Son and Spirit surrender to each other, and they’re lockstep with one another as the best way to dance, to explain this kinesis, this kinetic movement is a dance that it is a free flowing, free formed version of movement. And it is the example that is on display for us beautifully for us to mimic. That as humans, as the ones created in the image of God, we are to mimic the way of God. And how are we, who are we in lockstep with in our life?

And so, the Trinity for me is a great, beautiful reminder of who am I choosing to dance with. Who’s on my dance card in my everyday life? Am I dancing with the right people? In the relationship with my wife, in the relationship with my daughter, what is that? What is the kinesis?

What is the kinetic? What does the movement, the relationship look like in that? Does it more represent the world, or would it more represent king and kingdom? The same with my neighbors and my coworkers and the people that I just spend time with, whether they are found in Jesus or not yet followers of Jesus. We choose to dance with the people around us that there’s this cosmic dance that is at hand.

And so, what does our dance card look like? Are we finding this beautiful rhythm that God has laid before us that we can be in sync with Father, Son, and Spirit? Or are we doing our own thing? Are we out of step? Are we choosing?

Are we going so freeform that it’s — I know, I love some jazz, but there are some like freeform jazz that’s just way out there. And is this pleasant to my ears? It doesn’t feel pleasant to my ears. It feels very weird. It’s all over the place. And sometimes we choose to live life where it feels so disruptive.

And that’s been something that’s been meaningful to me is looking at how Father, Son, and Spirit are interconnected with one another, one whole but relational.

[00:50:16] Anthony: Yes. This next question I’m going to ask you, the answers can spark fighting words. And the question is this, what does it mean to be born anew or born again or born from above for you, Terry? What does this mean?

[00:50:34] Terry: Yeah, for me in the most simplest terms, it means I have surrendered control of my life from myself or from the world, and I’ve given it to Jesus as king.

And I was, [in] 1993, sitting on a stoop at a boys’ home. I grew up in a boys’ home from the age of 12 to 18. And I had a house parent who was a giant of a human being. [He] was like six foot six, six foot seven, just a huge human being. And because he was a huge human being, I respected him because I was a big kid.

And he would do these weird things that would just like, I don’t understand this guy. This guy cries when he talks about God. That’s weird. No one that big should cry because they talk about God. It didn’t compute for me, Anthony. I didn’t get it. And he would speak so softly about Jesus, but at the same time he was a man’s man, like he was like, I like this guy.

I’m going, if I could be like him, I’d be cool with that. But man, I had so much anger, I had so much frustration, I had so much just from my childhood that was so like inside of me, it was just insanely toxic. And I remember one night we were sitting there, and Howard came up to me and said, “Are you done? Are you done being angry? Are you tired of it yet?”

And just in a weeping voice, exasperation, “Yes, I’m done. I am tired. I’m exhausted from being angry at everything and everyone.”

And he said, “You can give all of that to Jesus, but you have to surrender your life to him.”

And that’s when I was born anew. That was my moment of being born again when, in that moment, said, “I can’t do this on my own. I’m trying to figure out life and I’m just doing it miserably, but I can surrender and say, ‘Jesus, you can make me new. You can make me you can make me a new creation.’”

And in that moment, and I truly believe I became a new creation, that the old in me had passed on, that passed away and that a new, a Spirit had indwelt [sic] in me and that a new creation, a new being had taken place.

And those next two years were just a weird journey towards discipleship and really towards — when I say Jesus became my Savior when I was 15 but he became my king and Lord when I was 17. And this journey towards discipleship was lots of questions, but that’s what born again to me means this idea that I was made new in Jesus because I surrendered to him.

I allowed him to make me new and his Spirit indwells in me and has indwelt in me since then.

[00:53:36] Anthony: As you tell the story about this giant of a human being, it reminds me of what we said earlier about testifying, telling the story, bearing witness to the goodness of God.

And I have found it’s really hard to do what you’ve never seen done, and the fact that he was willing to express to you, this is what it looks like. It’s a reminder: we all need mentors and guides in our life, right? Coaches, people that come alongside of us and say, ‘You know what? The Christ life, it looks like this. And you don’t have to carry this around anymore. You were never meant to carry that around.”

So, brother, I’m thankful for whoever that guy is. Howard, go, man And keep doing what you’re doing, Terry. We so appreciate your active participation ministry. You’ve been a blessing to me and I’m sure to many others. So, keep doing what you’re doing.

Thank you for being a part of this podcast. I want to thank Reuel Enerio, our producer, who does such a bang up job. There’s no way we could get this out without him, and my wife, Elizabeth, who does the transcription. So, you can see every word that Terry said. It’s going to live on in infamy. And you talked about how the things we do can have an impact a hundred years from now, so there you go, Terry.

But it’s been awesome, man. Thank you. And as is tradition with this podcast, we love to close in prayer. So, if you’d pray for our audience, we’d appreciate it.

[00:55:01] Terry: Yeah, absolutely.

King Jesus, we pause to just orient our presence on you and your Spirit as you work in and through us. Lord, wherever people may be as they listen to this, Lord, I pray a sense of an indwelling, that they would be so in key and in tune to who you are, who they are in you, Lord. And so, Lord, fill them up.

Lord, I thank you for those mentors, those guides who really exist in my life that have allowed me, as I apprenticed to Jesus, as I surrender to his way and practice his way, that they have served as guides and mentors and coaches to help me do that better. That as I spend time with you, Jesus, you have transformed me to become more like you. And Lord, that’s my prayer for everyone who is listening to this, that as they spend time with you.

Lord, that they would sense over a long period of obedience, they would be transformed. That Spiritual formation would occur, and they would walk in the likeness of who you are, and they would manifest love in every place and space that they take.

Lord, we love you. We thank you. Spirit, we ask that you would move in our church, that you would move in our world, you would move in and through every leader, that we might proclaim your goodness. We love you. We offer our lives as worship, and we give this to you. Jesus’ holy and precious name. Amen. Amen.


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Sermon for May 5, 2024 – Sixth Sunday in Easter

Welcome to this week’s episode, a special rerun from our Speaking of Life archive. We hope you find its timeless message as meaningful today as it was when it was first shared.

Program Transcript


Speaking Of Life 3024 | The Divine Irony
Greg Williams

No other writer in the New Testament uses metaphors of combat and conquering more than the gentle Apostle John. Notice this passage:

For whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 
I John 5:4-5 (NRSV)

After reading about the conquests you can almost hear a chorus from the rock band Queen singing – “We are the champions, no time for losers, because we are the champions of the world.” 

These kinds of words—conquer, overcome—hit our modern ears in a strange way when applied to Jesus. Normally, the words love, forgiveness, and gentleness come to mind when we think of him. We think of Jesus as the great comforter and healer, and redeemer, before we think of him as a conquering King.  

Add to that, in the modern dialogue, the trend is toward celebrating all worldviews and faiths as if they are all equally valid and equally coherent. But the Christian calling is different—Jesus isn’t one savior among many, he isn’t just another dish at the smorgasbord of philosophy and religion. He is king! He is conqueror! And he is the supreme revelation of God.  

And while he is the supreme example of love, he is also the source and end of logic, wisdom, and philosophy. The universe without him doesn’t exist, Paul said when he reminded us that Jesus is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17) 

As Christians, we hold that there is one answer for the human condition and one response to the ultimate question: Jesus. The same Jesus who conquered the world by love.  

In a world where strength and ruthlessness seemed to be what got you ahead, Jesus came to change the equation. The great irony of Christ was that he conquered by surrendering; he was declared king through forgiveness.  

And he has conquered all–and that’s why we are committed to the exclusive truth of the gospel and we accept the challenge of how to convey this truth with grace and love to those outside of conscious faith.  

The fact is that all roads don’t lead to Rome and all world views are not different ways up the same mountain. The center of reality is not a round table, it’s a heavenly throne room where Father, Son and Spirit eternally dwell, and one day all crowns will be laid at the feet of Jesus. 

Queen almost had it right – “We are the champions, but only because Jesus is the Real Champion!” 

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life. 

 

 

Psalm 98:1-9 • Acts 10:44-48 • 1 John 5:1-6 • John 15:9-17

This week’s theme is new in Christ. In our call to worship psalm, God’s steadfast love and faithfulness have won the victory in the sight of all the ends of the earth. In our reading from Acts 10, it is the receiving of the Holy Spirit that brings Gentiles into the new messianic community. Our reading from 1 John features faith in the One who came in the flesh, Jesus Christ, as central to the victory that conquers the world. The Gospel reading from John is a continuation from last week’s reading on the vine and the branches, with a pronounced call to love one another as Jesus has loved us.

As the Father Has Loved

John 15:9-17 – ESV

Today is the sixth Sunday in Easter, after which the liturgical calendar sets aside this coming Thursday as the day to celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. However, many churches may choose to use next Sunday, the last Sunday of Easter, as Ascension Sunday to celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. After that we will arrive at Pentecost and then transition into the Season of Ordinary Time. However you slice it, today will serve for most as the climatic conclusion of the Easter celebration before taking on the themes of the Lord ascending back to the Father and sending down the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

 

As we anticipate both Ascension and Pentecost, we can also observe in our text today an anticipation on Jesus’ part of these two movements that still lay on the horizon. Our text in John, will be a continuation from our text last week where Jesus uses the image of the vine and branches to help his disciples prepare for Jesus’ imminent departure. Both of these passages are part of John’s section, spanning from chapter 14 to 17, that records Jesus’ final words to his disciples before he goes to the cross. In this extended discourse Jesus is trying to comfort and encourage his disciples to face what was coming. He knew they would be stricken and scattered as a result of his death and crucifixion. However, he also knew that would not be the end of the story. There would be a resurrection and subsequent ascension. Jesus would be returning to his Father. For the disciples, this would appear to be another departure just as his death was. But Jesus tells them he is going to send them the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Both the Ascension of Jesus, and the sending of the Spirit, will amount to a permanent presence of the Lord with his disciples which will culminate at his return. Jesus is not going away, he is just going to be present in a different way, a deeper and more abiding way. But that leaves the disciples, including us today, a new way to live in the present while we wait for our Lord to return.

Last week, we discovered that this new way of living in the present was summed up in the word “abide.” This is our call from Jesus in our everyday lives as we wait for his return. We are called to abide in him. That theme of abiding will kick off our passage today and lead us to discover the ultimate fruit that comes from such abiding: love. We will encounter a few more themes as well such as joy, commandment, and friendship. These themes will be interwoven in our text today, comprising some of Jesus last words to his disciples before his departure. So, we will deal with the text today by addressing these themes as they appear.

Just like last week, we can divide today’s reading into two parts. Let’s start with the first part that continues last week’s theme on abiding:

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:9-11)

Abide

The first theme we can address is the same theme set out in last week’s text. But this time that theme is attached to the word “love.” Abiding in the vine has now been given the equivalent of abiding in Jesus’ love. Jesus is filling out the metaphor for us to clarify more directly what he is saying. As we discussed last week, bringing in the word “receive” can also help us understand a little more of what it means to abide. To abide in Jesus’ love is to receive the love he has for us. In this way, we also must acknowledge that abiding involves a relationship characterized by trust. We do not receive well from those we do not trust. If we are going to abide in Jesus’ love, meaning, if we are going to receive his love in such a way that it flows out of us as a way of life, then we will have to first come to trust this one who is giving us his love. And that will serve as a good segway into our next theme. And it’s a big one.

Love

Oddly enough, in our passage last week on Jesus as the true vine, the word “love” is never mentioned. It’s almost like Jesus is holding it in his pocket to be unleashed later. This is where he wants to go with the metaphor. It becomes clear that the fruit that comes from abiding in the vine is love. However, what we are abiding in is in some way the very fruit we are to bear. In our passage today we have the word love repeated 11 times in these 9 verses. Now we must look back at last week’s text with an interpretive lens of love to sort out the whole passage involving vine and branches.

Before we walk away thinking, “ah yes, it’s all about love. Very well,” it would be good to remember Jesus’ other image of him being the Good Shepherd which we covered on the fourth Sunday of Easter. There we find that we must first know what love is before we move out to be “loving.” And more to the point, we must know who Jesus is and who his Father is.

Jesus does not let the word “love” just float out there for any interpretation we would like to apply to it. It is conditioned with the reference “as the Father has loved me.” So, the love we are to abide in and the fruit of love that we are to bear, is not left up to us to determine. It’s a very particular love that has its source in the Father, the very love he has for his Son. And that is the same love Jesus says he extends to us. The word love in the passage is agape, which is the word chosen by John to distinguish God’s love from all the other popular “loves” so often expressed in the Greco-Roman world. It’s really no different in our times today, except we do not have different words for love to choose from. “Love” is more often used as an expression of intense emotion or some general sentimentality. We do not often celebrate or encourage a love “as the Father” loves, but rather a “love” as Hallmark and Hollywood loves. Agape love on the other hand is not primarily about feelings or some equivalent for “like.” The love being pointed to in agape is a love that is for another in acts that may even be costly to the lover. The feelings of love are immaterial to the actions and purpose of love. This is the love with which Jesus has loved us. And the disciples will soon see that love in full display on the cross. Jesus going to the cross was not some ecstatic “feeling” or sentimental gesture to us. He was doing the one thing that was most needed for our good, even though we rejected and resisted him for doing it. His love for us was not determined by our love for him. This love comes from a source of love that could not be conditioned by any outside factors. The source of love is the Father, the truth of which John later pens with the proclamation of “God is love.” (Note: this passage of Scripture contains the highest concentration of the word agape than in any of the Gospels.)

So, we must not miss Jesus’ emphasis when he introduces this theme of Love. Love is to be understood first and foremost as the love of the Father displayed forth in the love of the Son. John has our thoughts directed back to the statement, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). The love given to us in Jesus, is the same love which has its origin in the very relationship of the Father and the Son. That is the love Jesus gives us to receive, or abide in.

Joy

It will be good here to follow up on what we have said about agape love being a determined love for another that is not deterred even at great cost to oneself. When citing the cross as the display of God’s love for us, we may shrink back from wanting to abide in such love. Love sounds painful. However, to be called into the love of the Father and the Son, even though it may not be accompanied by the sentimental or passionate feelings displayed by Hallmark and Hollywood, that does not mean it is a call into drudgery. The love that moves one to lay down their life for another is powered by a deeper joy that belongs to this vine of love in which we abide. Jesus has come to bring us into the very life and relationship he has with his Father. This is a life and love that has existed for all eternity. Father, Son, and Spirit have never lived in a state of drudgery, boredom, or some flat and static existence, but live as the overflowing and dynamic relationship shared mutually between them that sparked the creation of the cosmos. And that is the abiding power given to us that renews and transforms us and the entire creation. Yes, some pain may be involved as we participate in this love in a fallen world, but it will be accompanied by a joy that we know will grow into the fullness of joy shared in the Triune God.

You will also notice in this first part a reference to commandments. That will introduce our next theme. But we will now look at the second part of this passage to help us fill that theme out more fully:

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (John 15:12-17 ESV)

Commandment

We often associate commandments as something that is against us. We typically resist being commanded because we associate that with some dictatorial or tyrannical relationship. However, this section starts and ends with Jesus giving us a commandment. And maybe that’s the first thing we should note about a commandment. It is something given. To obey a commandment is a form of receiving. This goes back to what was said about abiding being another way of receiving. To abide in God’s love is to receive the love he has for us. And that requires trust. Let’s be honest, we don’t actually resist all commandments, now do we. If a wife tells a husband to kiss her for example, he typically will not have any problem obeying that command. Or if you set out ice cream for your kids and tell them to eat, I suspect you will not see many folded arms in protest. Let’s face it, the commands we resist are the ones that we feel are not in our best interest. But, if we know a command is for our good, we usually don’t even see that as a command. So, it may help to take all that baggage from the word command by being reminded of who is commanding us.

The “commander” is the one who has laid his life down for the sheep. He is the one who loves us with a love that is for us, even when we are against ourselves. The more we come to know who Jesus and his Father are as the God who is for us completely, never seeking our harm, but always calling us further into the fullness of his joy, the more we will be able to receive Jesus’ commands and obey them without hesitation. It’s a matter of trust. Jesus is trustworthy to a degree that we can do anything he commands, because we know it is for our good.

And to revisit the theme of love, what we have Jesus commanding us is to “love one another as I have loved you.” Notice, he doesn’t just say to love one another. He again is clear that the love we are to have towards others is the same love exemplified in Jesus laying his life down for his friends. That can be a tough commandment to follow when our expressions of love may mean laying down our reputation as the “nice guy” on the block or that “loving” person in the community who never ruffles a feather. But that is not the love we see Jesus displaying in the Gospels. He didn’t always say what people wanted to hear and he didn’t always make friends with his actions and words. But he did always seek the good of those he was relating to. That’s the kind of love he commands of us. We are not commanded to always give ice cream to the children when they also need their vegetables. So, we may have to rethink what it means to love our neighbors and our family. What is it they really need and what good is it Jesus is trying to give them? First and foremost, we can see in Jesus’ command to us to abide in him, that the most significant act of love is to extend to others the gospel of grace. This may not be what our neighbor wants. But we know that it is the ultimate good gift they need to receive. So, we too, like Jesus, can help others see that God the Father is good, trustworthy, and loves us best. And we can do that even when it comes at great cost to ourselves.

Friends

The final theme from the text to explore is “friends.” Jesus reorients our relationship to him from the concept of being a servant to that of being a friend. He doesn’t mean that we do not serve him or others. But he does not relate to us as “hired hands” who do not know the master personally. Serving God and keeping his commandments are put on a whole new basis. We are serving and obeying one whom we trust with our very lives. It’s not a drudgery or a drag to serve the one who has served us by giving us his very life. It is not an obligation to perform to obey the Lord’s commands when we know they all add up to what is best for us and the entire creation. In short, Jesus can be trusted. He is our friend, and he has called us to be his. Notice how Jesus references how he called the disciples. He chose them, not the other way round. Typically, someone who wanted to be discipled would go searching for a rabbi that they hoped would accept them. But Jesus doesn’t it leave it up to us to find the one we should follow. He comes to us, calls us to himself, and then grows our trust in following him.

Today, as we wrap up our Easter celebration, may we hear him calling to us once again. He calls us to abide in his love in such a way that we keep his commandment of loving others in the same way he loves us. This is the True Vine, who serves as the source of the branches’ love and joy, who enables us to abide more and more in him as he grows our trust to receive from him daily. That amounts to a resurrected life to live out who the Father called and chose us to be.

Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee W1

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May 5—Sixth Sunday of Easter
John 15:9-17, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction”

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Program Transcript


Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee W1

Anthony: Our first passage of the month is John 15:9-17. I’ll be reading from the Common English Bible. It’s the Revised Common Lectionary passage for the sixth Sunday in Easter, which is May 5.

“As the Father loved me, I too have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete. 12 This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I don’t call you servants any longer, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last. As a result, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 17 I give you these commandments so that you can love each other.

Terry, if you’re exegeting and preaching this sermon or a sermon from this text, what’s going to be your big idea or your central theme?

Terry: Yeah. Man, this is such a wonderful passage. And I love that it’s love. I think you can’t look at this passage and not really let your theme be this idea of love and to embrace and receive the love of the Father. I think is often missing in the church today, especially in the West.

I think we carry so much shame, and we carry so much baggage from our own lives that sometimes receiving the love of the Father is really difficult. And then that’s the idea of remaining in love. How do we actually remain in love? It’s a big deal.

And then out of that — like I said, I’m a big action guy and so super pragmatic. And so out of receiving the Father’s love, finding those postures of remaining, and keeping place with love because God is love, right? He is love, loving to us. And then out of that, what does it look like to love each other just as we have received the love from the Father?

And so that’s, I think that’s where I’m camping. I want people to understand that at the end of the day, your formation, your discipleship, your worship, it should all be moving towards developing this sort of love that when we are in circumstances, when we’re in life, how do we respond to the world around us?

I find myself struggling with this at times where it’s easy that someone will say something, or someone will do something and it’s inconvenient to myself. And so, do I have a sharp response to that? Or am I able to actually absorb that and respond in love? I’ll give you just a quick example of this.

Recently, me and my wife, we went and did a little date night last week. And we went and saw the new Bob Marley movie, which is, it’s pretty good. I really enjoyed it. And it’s “One Love.” And so, there’s lots of concepts in talking about love and the bigger picture and a that whole thing.

And there was a couple that was behind us and they — Anthony, I’m not kidding, man — they talked the entire time. And it was one of those things where there’s some people, they have — they’re just so clueless to the volume of their own voice. They thinking they’re whispering and making little comments, but they’re talking full volume.

And I can sense my wife next to me, who’s just — she’s boiling. I can feel it. She’s like, oh my gosh, she’s so [inaudible]. My wife has such compassion and is such a rule follower that anytime anyone inconveniences — like her whole life is to not inconvenience people. She just wants to honor and love people so well, but sometimes in the pursuit of, in the idea of inconvenience, she cannot be loving at times because just like you’re inconveniencing people; you’re wrong.

And so, we’re sitting there, and I found myself getting frustrated because movies are like, that’s my spot. Like, this is where I connect with God. And I just remember sitting there and that idea is you know what? I’m, just going to absorb this. I’m going to, yeah. Is it frustrating? Is there something inside of me that wants to stand up and look behind them? Hey, I’m six foot, 280, man; I’m a big guy. I need you to be quiet right now.

Like everything inside of me wanted to do that, but no, that’s not love. That’s not what Jesus would want for me. And so, are we able to, in circumstances, absorb the things that frustrate us? Absorb the things that make us want to operate and respond out of our own worldly flesh and to say, you know what I’m going to respond in love?

I’m going to love; I’m going to love others because Jesus has loved me. And if I were in a movie theater with Jesus, I would probably talk and annoy him too. And he would show me love. And so, in that moment I got to actually exercise my faith and show love and be generous.

And when the movie was over, we made eye contact with the couple. And I just put a big smile on my face, and I hoped my presence and my smile would just be a sense of blessing to them. Hey, you’re good. You’re wonderful. You are loved.

And it was great, and it didn’t take anything away from the movie. It actually enhanced the movie for me because it was a reminder that we’re to be a people of love. And so that’s where I would take that.

Anthony: I would have stood up and said, get behind me, Satan! Because Jesus has done that. So right. You’re a better man than me. That’s for sure.

It states in verse 16, the Lord chose us. And He loves us, verse 9. And so, we are empowered by the Spirit to produce lasting and sustainable fruit. And that matters to God. So, Terry, talk to us about the long haul of discipleship in a world that frankly values the next shiny object, what’s going viral, quick fixes.

Talk to us about lasting fruit.

[Terry: Yeah. I think lasting fruit is something that’s not talked about enough. And we live in a world where the fruit we actually discuss are — we talk about the fruit of Mother Teresa, and we talk about the fruit of Hudson Taylor, and we talk about the fruit of these giants in the last 50, a hundred years of the church.

And we look back and we talk about the heroes of the faith, and we speak of their fruit. But man, I think there’s something that we miss about this idea of fruit that is happening slowly over a long period of faithfulness. I think it’s Eugene Peterson who uses that phrase “a long obedience in the same direction,” right?

And so that’s one of our themes for this conversation. And I think that’s what we have to get back to. I think when we think about lasting fruit, I’m not looking for guys and gals who just get up and do these grand slam, home run type things. But what does it look like in my every day walking around, my sleeping, eating and breathing life to be faithful, to be formed into the likeness of Christ? Will I actually submit and surrender my life to practicing the way of Jesus to be shaped and becoming like him? And will my life exhibit fruit from that journey?

I’m a firm believer. I think Jesus keeps it pretty simple that if we would simply be with Jesus over time, the more we spend with Jesus, the more we spend with Father, Spirit, and Son we will become like God. We’re pre-wired, right? We were created in the image of God.

And so that’s actually a more natural progression and direction for our lives. The problem is we don’t often prioritize that space of being with God, like that taking time to just to sit and be silent and maybe even at times find a little bit of solitude and just be with God.

One of my favorite passages is just simply, “Be still and know that I am God.” And so, I will find myself — and I tried to do this every day, where I just sit quietly. And I redirect my focus, my senses on the fact that God is with me right now. And even as we have this conversation, as you’re in Raleigh [NC], I’m here in Austin [TX], God is with both of us right now.

He’s in this moment. And as you’re listening to this and you’re on the podcast, whether you’re sitting at your desk or you’re driving in your car or wherever you might be, God’s presence is with you. And all we have to do is take our crazy focused attention and direct it towards his presence.

Anthony: Yeah. And we’re there with him.

Terry: Yeah.

Anthony: Yeah. Amen. I have been rereading a book from Julie Canlis and she makes the statement, “All of life is spiritual. Work. Bearing children. Hobbies. Friendship. Repairing gutters. Commuting. This is our worship – the offering of our everyday stuff to God.” [A Theology of the Ordinary]

And the powerful formation of that is when we recognize that. That even as I’m podcasting, I’m sharing this with the Lord who is present, as you mentioned. And that is forming.

And I love that book that you referenced from Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. And frankly, lasting fruit, that slow fruit doesn’t look very impressive always, right? But it’s the accumulation, over time, of it. We look back and we go, oh, there’s wisdom. I see God at work there.


Small Group Discussion Questions

  • What is the significance of Jesus telling us to abide in his love in relation to his metaphor of branches abiding in the vine?
  • What are some popular notions of “love” in our culture?
  • How does Jesus’ statement “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” help us fill out what love really is?
  • What are some ways we love others that are an example of laying our life down for others?
  • How does knowing who the Father is and who Jesus is as trustworthy shape our understanding of keeping Jesus’ commands?
  • Why does Jesus refer to joy as a result of abiding in his love?
  • What is the difference between being a servant and being a friend? How does this inform our relationship to Jesus?

Sermon for May 12, 2024 — Ascension Sunday

Program Transcript


Ascension Sunday

There is a moment that echoes through eternity, a moment when the servant became the sovereign, the humble rose to the throne. Welcome to this sacred celebration of Ascension Sunday. Here, we gather to celebrate the journey of Christ.

The journey of Christ—a path from earthly servitude to heavenly rulership. In the mundane moments of our lives, he walked beside us, a healer, a teacher, unveiling the boundless depths of the Father’s love.

But, as the heavens opened their gates, a transformation occurred. Like a silhouette against the clouds, Jesus ascended, leaving behind the earthly realm. From servant to ruler, his journey symbolizes the cosmic shift, the glorious ascension that crowns him Lord of all.

Today, as we lift our eyes to the heavens, we stand in reverence. Recognizing that in Christ’s ascension, the humanity of Christ persists in everlasting existence. Jesus’s earthly form, forever established in union with his divine nature, serves as an eternal bridge across the gulf between humanity and God. Through Christ, the identification between God and us remains unbroken, a testament to his boundless love for all of humanity.

In every heart filled with love for him, there lies a promise of glorification. He, who ascended as humanity’s representative, now intercedes on our behalf, ensuring our eternal destiny in the splendor of his presence.

As we celebrate this Ascension Sunday, let the words of Psalm 47 resonate in our spirits:

Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
For the Lord Most High is awesome,
the great King over all the earth.

He subdued nations under us,
peoples under our feet.
He chose our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

 God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is the King of all the earth;
sing to him a psalm of praise.
God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne. 

The nobles of the nations assemble
as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted.

And as we bask in the glory of his reign, let our hearts be filled with the hope that, just as Jesus ascended in the clouds, he will return the same way. Our eyes fixed on the horizon, awaiting the triumphant return of the King who ascended, and the Lord who will come again.

Psalm 47:1-9 • Acts 1:1-11 • Ephesians 1:15-23 • Luke 24:44-53

This week, we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, when Jesus, in his glorified human body, returned to the Father’s side. We also conclude the Easter season with the image of the resurrected Christ raised above the heavens. The theme for this week is the blessing of Christ’s ascension. Our call to worship psalm encourages us to praise God for who he is and what he has done. In Acts, we read about Christ’s ascension into heaven, which was witnessed by the disciples. In Ephesians, Paul describes the supremacy of Jesus, who was raised to heaven and seated at the right hand of God. Our sermon is another account of the ascension by Luke, which captures important details about how Jesus spent his last moments with his followers.

To the Very End

Luke 24:44-53 NIV

Books are treasures. They can open our mind to new realities, help us experience life in another place and time, teach us things, and fill us with wonder. There are some people who like to skip to the end of a book. Many would consider such behavior a breach of some kind of cosmic rule. However, there is no single way to enjoy a book. Just like the people who eat dessert first, ending-readers find delayed gratification overrated. Some of those who skip to the end may do so to see if the book is worth reading. Others, caught up in the suspense or drama of a good tale, may read the ending to see if things end well for the main characters. For whatever reason, ending-readers have a hard time enjoying a book unless they know how it ends.

If we were to skip to the end of the account of Jesus’ earthly ministry, what would the ending reveal about his story? Would we find something in the ending of the story that makes Jesus’ story one worth telling? At the conclusion of Jesus’ embodied time on earth, would we find evidence that things end well for him? Or, for humanity? Let us take a look at Luke 24:44-53 for answers to these questions:

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. (Luke 24:44-53 NIV)

This week, we celebrate the ascension of our Lord, which comes at the end of the Easter season. In the Easter season, we celebrated the victory of Christ over sin and death for our behalf and the new life his followers have in him. In the ascension, we are assured that Christ’s victory and our redemption are permanent because Jesus, in a human body, rose to heaven with all power. Jesus is still one of us and he is God. There are none who can undo what he did or disconnect us from the destiny we share with Christ. Furthermore, Jesus took steps to ensure that his earthly ministry — the work to reveal the present reality of the kingdom and invite people to follow Christ —continued through his disciples. There are three things Jesus did for his disciples before he left earth to sit at the Father’s side: he equipped, sent, and blessed them. In this activity of Jesus, ending-readers will find some of the most important themes of Christ’s story.

Equipping

The equipping of the disciples took two forms: the opening of scripture and the sending of the Holy Spirit to clothe them with power. Jesus revealed that he is the interpretive key of scripture. In other words, we can only truly understand scripture by looking through the lens of Christ’s birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension. This is because the Bible is intended to reveal Christ to those who read it. By opening the scriptures to his disciples, Jesus was equipping them for the life they had been ushered into. He gave them the means by which they could continue to grow in their knowledge of him. He made it so that a part of himself stayed with them, continuing to help them navigate their relationship with God and their neighbor. The opening of the scriptures was not just about acquiring the means to follow the laws and rules of God. Yes, the Bible does contain valuable moral and ethical instruction. However, more than that, scripture helps open us up to a relationship with God and familiarizes us with his voice.  It is impossible to follow Christ unless we know him and can hear his voice. So, the disciples would not have been able to continue Christ’s ministry without understanding that the scriptures reveal Christ.

Jesus also equipped his followers by sending the Holy Spirit to clothe them in power. The phrase “clothe them in power” is Luke’s way of previewing the manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. On that day, the Holy Spirit, through wind and fire, empowered the disciples to preach Christ in languages they did not know. Pentecost, the next special day on the worship calendar, was not only the symbolic beginning of the church, it was evidence that God now lived in the hearts of those who love him. The Holy Spirit alighted on the disciples signifying that God’s presence would no longer be confined to the Temple. Christ followers were now the temple of the Living God and Jesus is the cornerstone. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit was God, another like himself. He also taught that the Holy Spirit was the one who empowered him, telling him what the Father said and did. So, in sending the Holy Spirit to his disciples, Jesus connected them to God in a deep, intimate way. He offered them, and us, the connection with God that he enjoyed during his time on earth. Of course, his connection to the Spirit was and is perfect, and our connection is not. However, the empowerment of the Spirit enabled a ragtag crew of disciples to turn the world upside down.

In the equipping of his followers, we can see Christ’s desire to be known. The equipping of the disciples consisted of sharing things unique to himself. One could say that he equipped his disciples by sharing himself with them. Jesus shared the best he had to give with his followers, withholding nothing. His desire to give of his own resources for our benefit tells us a lot about who he is.

Sending

In addition to equipping his disciples, Jesus spent his last moments on earth sending his followers. He charged them with preaching the gospel, starting in Jerusalem then throughout the world. In other words, he invited them to continue the work he started. Jesus divinely equipped and commissioned them to participate in work only God could do. He did not send them because they were so smart. He did not send them because they deserved it. He did not send them because they were so spiritual. He did not send them because he needed them. Christ’s inclusion of his followers betrays the Lord’s desire never to do anything apart from us. Just like a father inviting his daughter to help with a chore he could do faster by himself, God gets great joy when we participate in his life. So, he invites Christ’s disciples to continue his ministry of transforming lives by the power of the gospel.

In sending his disciples, Jesus shows his care not only for his followers, but also for those who do not yet know him. Jesus is the one who leaves the 99 to pursue the 1. He is the woman with ten silver coins who sweeps the entire house to find the one she lost. Jesus is the father who welcomes with open arms the son who rejected him. Jesus wants his followers to love their neighbor as he loves us and join him in revealing the presence of the kingdom. He cares for all humanity, not just the ones who call him Lord.

Blessing

Lastly, Jesus blessed his disciples as his time on earth (in that way) concluded. To be more specific, Jesus continued to bless them as he was ascending into heaven. To the very last moment, he was speaking words of life over his followers. No one would fault Jesus if, distracted by the miracle of flight, he stopped his blessing. No one would fault Jesus if his excitement over being reunited with the Father caused him to stop his blessing. No one would fault Jesus if the relief of the end of his suffering caused him to stop his blessing. Yet, Jesus blessed his disciples to the very end. This shows the deep love Jesus had for his followers. Despite the amazing things happening to him, his unselfish love continued to shower down on the disciples.

If you skip to the end of the tale of Jesus of Nazareth, you get common themes from the rest of his story. In his last moments on earth, we see Jesus desiring to be known and unselfishly giving from his own resources for the betterment of his followers. We see a God who invites Christians to participate in his saving work because of his boundless love for all humanity. And we find a God who unselfishly expresses his love for his followers to the very end. Jesus’ story is a love story. It is the story of a love for the world that was so strong that God gave all he had to give. I hope it is a story we want to read over and over again. I hope it is a story we want to live and share.

Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee W2

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May 12—Ascension Sunday
Luke 24:44-53, “Can I Get a Witness?”

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Program Transcript


Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee W2

Anthony: Let’s pivot to our next pericope of the month. It’s Luke 24:44-53. It is a Revised Common Lectionary passage for Ascension Sunday, which is May the 12th. Terry, would you read it for us, please?

Terry: I’d be honored to.

Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 He said to them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 Look, I’m sending to you what my Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power.” 50 He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. 51 As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. 52 They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. 53 And they were continuously in the temple praising God.

Anthony: I can hear Kirk Franklin in my head chanting, “Can I get a witness?” Yeah, and Jesus said you are witnesses of these things. But I’m curious; maybe we don’t have a full comprehension of what it means to be a witness. Is it just seeing the goodness of God?

Privatizing that or is there more to it?

Terry: Yeah, I think that’s a fantastic question. Again, I think we have to keep it simple. I think if you are born anew, if you are a follower of Jesus, if Jesus is king and Lord of your life, there has been something transformative in you, right?

God is doing a work in us. And that is something that we witness. And by faith, we witness who Jesus is, that he is the incarnated God, that he came and lived a life amongst us and lived it as perfect as you can. No one could live a better life. And even in spite of that perfect life of doing no wrong was found by man to be wrong and died on our behalf and in his death, not being defeated, rose again and ascended. Here in this passage, we see him returning to heaven, being taken up.

We are a witness of this. There is a tradition that we are a collective witness to who Jesus is and the work of the Father. I do believe that one, being a witness is a bit self-serving and I don’t say that negatively. It is good. I am grateful that I have eyes to see who Jesus is. That is a blessing and a gift from God. And I have people in my life who do not have that gift. That they, for some reason, they just cannot wrap their mind around the idea of Jesus as Lord, as Jesus as king. And my heart grieves for them. But I don’t think that witness stays there alone.

Being a witness isn’t for my own purpose, my own satisfaction, my own worth, but I am to be a witness for the world; I am to give a report of what I have seen, right? And here’s the thing. I think again, this is so natural in what it means to be human. I think the human experience is to be a witness because we give testimony to all sorts of things, right?

There’s not a person on this earth that doesn’t give witness to something. The question is what are you giving testimony to? And I’m not advocating that we just walk around and talk about Jesus ad nauseam. I don’t think that’s what Jesus would want.

But I think in our everyday life, are we able to attribute who we are and what we exist for? Do we give attribution? Do we give credit to who Jesus is in our life? Can we actually speak of the king and kingdom?

And yeah, so that’s my quick answer. I think we have to be active that it’s not just simply, oh yeah, I saw this, I received this and then it ends with me receiving. But I think there is a sense of receiving and now giving back to others.

Anthony: Yeah, you mentioned it in one of the previous passages about, or the previous one about love. It moves. There’s a movement. Love cannot be static. It’s got to move toward the other. That’s what it always does. And witnessing, birthed out of love, has to move toward others, right? You can’t keep the story to yourself, man. What good is that? Share it with your lives.

Speaking of the Ascension, it’s often considered one of the big six of Jesus’ earthly activities: birth, baptism, transfiguration, death, resurrection, and Ascension. But it seems to me the Ascension is the one that’s a little bit overlooked and under discussed.

So, from your perspective, Terry, if you agree, why pay attention to Jesus ascending back to the Father?

Terry: Fantastic question. I agree wholeheartedly and a little soapbox is going to pop out. So, if you want to get your preacher Kirk Franklin on, here we go. No, I won’t go there.

I think one of the reasons why we don’t discuss the Ascension as much is because you can’t talk about the Ascension without a commission, the ascension and the commissioning that Jesus has for us as the witnesses — John 20:21, as the Father has sent me, I now send you. Throughout all of Jesus’ life, he was hinting towards this idea that we are the sent ones that will go and bear witness into the world. That we will go from Jerusalem into Judea and to the ends of the earth.

That’s who we are. It’s part of our identity. We are both created in the image of God, but we are also created as the sent ones of God. And we don’t talk about the ascension because we don’t want to talk about the commission, at times, because the commission costs, right?

I heard someone recently was preaching, and I was fascinated. And at first thought I was like, oh, I got to wrestle with the theology of this. Is this correct? And I haven’t yet pulled away from it. I think it’s spot on. And what they were saying was Jesus’ work towards salvation is free. It costs you nothing except to receive it. It is grace and grace alone that we are found and made right with Jesus. But discipleship, obedience, apprenticeship to Jesus as king and Lord, that cost.

That’s the cost of taking up your cross, to deny yourself. And so, when we talk about the Ascension, it’s just impossible to talk about the Ascension and not talk about that. We will be witnesses.

And the beautiful thing about that is part of the Ascension is that he gives us this power. He gives us the Holy Spirit. We have not been sent to do this of our own accord or our own will, our own power, but that we have been supercharged through the Holy Spirit. That the Spirit is in us, dwells inside of us, and flows from us. And all we have to do is find where God is moving and working and join him.

And there’s something that just comes alive inside of us. And it doesn’t matter how charismatic you are on that scale, and that’s fine. But the Spirit is the Spirit. And so, if it moves you at one mile per hour, it moves you at a hundred miles per hour, it’s the same Spirit. And so can we give way to the Spirit and say, Lord, move through me as I just live an obedient life.

I think that’s how I see it, that I think the Ascension and commissioning are just so intertwined because it was his last thing said for us is that the Spirit is coming, it’s going to indwell in you, and from there you will go and be my witnesses.

Anthony: Yeah. And that’s that word in the Greek and Acts 1, that you’ll be my witnesses. The word for witnesses, martyr, it’s martyrdom. You talk about costly! Like you were referring to, this will cost you your life and it will give you your life. Paradoxical. Absolutely.


Small Group Discussion Questions

  • Do you like skipping to the end of a story? Why or why not?
  • After witnessing Jesus’ ascension, why do you think the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy?
  • How should the circumstances before and during Christ’s ascension affect how we treat our neighbor?

Sermon for May 19, 2024 — Pentecost

Program Transcript


Pentecost

Today we gather with hearts ablaze, commemorating a momentous occasion that resonates through the ages— we gather to honor Pentecost, a day that marked a new beginning. It is a day when the Holy Spirit, the divine breath of God, renewed all creation and ignited the flame within the hearts of believers.

As we embark on this journey of worship, let us revisit the birth of the Church, a moment that echoes through eternity. Pentecost, the day when the disciples were audibly and visibly empowered by the promised Holy Spirit, marking the beginning of the Church’s collective work in Christ.

The same Spirit descended upon them in tongues of fire and filled them with the courage to continue the work that Jesus started. Today, that same Spirit empowers each one of us, renewing our hearts, and inspiring us to be the Church in the world.

We are the Church, not merely a building but a living, breathing body connected by the Spirit’s life-giving breath. This Pentecost, let us remember that the Holy Spirit is our Advocate, our Comforter, and our Guide.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus promised the Advocate, saying, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

The Holy Spirit advocates for us, intercedes on our behalf, and empowers us to boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Signs and wonders follow as we step out in faith, and the love of Christ radiates through our actions.

As we go forth into our communities, let us carry the flame of Pentecost with us. The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, accompanies us, guiding our steps, comforting our hearts, and empowering us to love our neighbors.

In Psalm 104:24-34, we find words that resonate with the work of the Spirit through the Church. Let this scripture be our guide as we embrace the renewal offered by the Holy Spirit.

How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.

There the ships go to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.

When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.

When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.

When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord.

We are the Church, and we are empowered by the Spirit. As we go forth, may the winds of Pentecost carry us to new heights, and may the love of Christ overflow from our hearts. Let us go boldly into our neighborhoods, knowing that the Holy Spirit, our Guide, goes with us.

And so, dear friends, as we celebrate Pentecost, may the Holy Spirit continue to renew all creation through the Church, through us. Amen.

 

 

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b • Acts 2:1-21 • Romans 8:22-27 • John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

This week, we celebrate Pentecost, remembering the day when the Church began its collective work in Christ. On that day, the Church was audibly and visibly empowered by the promised Holy Spirit to continue the work that Jesus started. The theme for this week is the advocacy of the Spirit. In the call to worship psalm, we read that the Holy Spirit renews all creation. In the Acts passage, we read about the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost. Peter, empowered by the Spirit, preaches a sermon and his first words were a defense of his fellow apostles who were speaking in tongues. In Romans, we learn about the intercessory ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the John passage, Jesus teaches his disciples about the Holy Spirit and refers to him as the Advocate.

The Advocate

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 NIV

Have you ever pretended not to be home when someone came to your door? Whether it be a solar energy salesperson, Jehovah’s Witness, candidate for office, or someone trying to get you to switch your internet service, we often have to deal with people who want to talk to us about things we do not necessarily want to talk about. Within seconds, you know that you want the interaction to end, yet it keeps going on and on. The awkwardness of these one-sided conversations is often palpable. So, what do we do? Despite the internal screaming, we put a polite but neutral expression on our faces and calmly wait for a moment to say, “No, thank you.” This process will usually have to be repeated two to three more times. It may not be the most honest thing to do, but it is no wonder that many of us have, at least, been tempted to leave the doorbell unanswered.

For many Christians, this is what comes to mind when we think about evangelism or witnessing. Perhaps we imagine ourselves like door-to-door salespeople trying to deliver a message that no one wants to hear. We can sometimes be reluctant to share our faith because we do not want to come across as pushy or annoying. To some extent, this reluctance is understandable. There are some Christians who approach evangelism in a way that is off-putting to say the least. At this moment, in every major city in America, there is a self-proclaimed Christian standing on a street corner shouting at passersby that they are sinners going to hell. Many Christ-followers do not readily tell people about Jesus because they do not want to be lumped in with those who peddle fear, guilt, and hate in God’s name. Yet, we are commanded by Christ to go and make disciples. We are compelled by love to share the good news about Jesus with our neighbors. How do we navigate these waters?

It is a blessing to realize that we are not the ones who should answer this question. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit from the Father to empower the church to share the story of our salvation in Christ. If we yield to the Spirit, he will give us the perfect words to say. This is what we are celebrating on this Pentecost — the coming of the Holy Spirit in a more manifest way, which led to the inauguration of the Church. If we want to see the Lord move in our time, if we want to see the gospel go to the ends of the earth like never before, we have to be empowered by the Spirit. Let’s look at how Jesus describes the Holy Spirit in the book of John:

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father — the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father — he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning…

I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 NIV)

Jesus described the Holy Spirit as the Advocate — the one who stands with us and for us. He intercedes on our behalf and counsels us in the way we should go. He testifies about Jesus to us and through us, and he leads us into truth. Without the Holy Spirit, spiritual formation would be impossible. We would be ignorant of the truth about our sinful state and not have the means to become more like Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, there would be no mission because our witness would depend on our own efforts and ability to persuade. Without the Spirit there would be no worship because the Spirit makes Christ known to us. How do we worship someone we do not know? But glory to God, we have the Spirit! The Spirit is always with us and will never leave.

That is good news, because we need the advocacy of the Spirit. We live in a society where many see Christianity as obsolete and unnecessary. Many do not believe in God, or they believe that God is unconcerned with what happens on earth. Some have had bad experiences in church and are angry or hurt. Some professed believers combine Christianity with the politics of power, leaving people with a negative view of the faith. To be honest, I do not know what to say to the people in any of these categories. But thankfully, the Holy Spirit knows what to say and he speaks with perfect love. When the Spirit speaks through us, even challenging things can be attractive to the listener.

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter gave a sermon where he told the audience that they were complicit in the death of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Lord. That is a hard thing to hear. Rather than being repulsed, the audience was contrite and drew near. It was not because Peter was a great orator. It was because the Advocate stood with Peter and empowered him to speak. Sometimes people will react poorly to the words and actions inspired by the Spirit. Jesus was perfectly yielded to the Spirit, and he was crucified. We are not responsible to achieve certain results. Our responsibility is to submit to the leading of the Spirit and have faith in a God who is good and does all things well.

Most of us will not be led by the Spirit to stand up in our town hall and give a sermon or yell at passersby on the street corner. However, we are commanded to go into our communities — the places where we live, work, and play — and love our neighbors. We are to love them extravagantly and unconditionally. We are to do this by yielding ourselves to the leading of the Spirit through spiritual practices like prayer, silence and solitude, fasting, meditation, etc. As we open ourselves to the ministry of the Spirit, he brings everything that Jesus is into us, and we become more like Christ. Then, compelled by love, we become salt and light, a peculiar people who live in such a way that our neighbors ask us about the hope that is in us. And, when they ask, we have faith that the Advocate will stand with us and speak in and through us. We believe that the answer we give will not be from us but from God himself. He is the Spirit of truth. He will guide us into all truth. He will tell us what is yet to come. He is our Advocate!

On this Day of Pentecost, let us be grateful for the Advocacy of the Holy Spirit. We are not salespeople selling a product no one wants. We are the Church! And, we are empowered by the Spirit. We share the good news about Jesus Christ and signs and wonders follow us. Let us go boldly into our communities to love our neighbors, knowing that the Holy Spirit, our Advocate goes with us.

Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee W3

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May 19—Pentecost
John 15:26-2716:4-15, “Truth-Teller”

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Program Transcript


Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee W3

Anthony: And that makes for a great segue into our next Bible passage, which is for Pentecost. Jesus said, I’ll send the Spirit and the Spirit is sent. John 15:26-27 and 16:4-15. It is a Revised Common Lectionary passage for Pentecost, May 19.

“When the Companion comes, whom I will send from the Father—the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 You will testify too, because you have been with me from the beginning.

But I have said these things to you so that when their time comes, you will remember that I told you about them. “I didn’t say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to the one who sent me. None of you ask me, ‘Where are you going?’ Yet because I have said these things to you, you are filled with sorrow. I assure you that it is better for you that I go away. If I don’t go away, the Companion won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will show the world it was wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. He will show the world it was wrong about sin because they don’t believe in me. 10 He will show the world it was wrong about righteousness because I’m going to the Father and you won’t see me anymore. 11 He will show the world it was wrong about judgment because this world’s ruler stands condemned. 12 “I have much more to say to you, but you can’t handle it now. 13 However, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you in all truth. He won’t speak on his own, but will say whatever he hears and will proclaim to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and proclaim it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine. That’s why I said that the Spirit takes what is mine and will proclaim it to you.

So, on this Pentecost, Terry, we celebrate the companion, the Holy Spirit coming to us to guide us into all truth. I’m going to ask you to get a bit personal here to testify. So how have you personally experienced the presence and the truth guiding power of the Spirit?

Terry: Yeah. I’ve been a pastor for 27 years and I …

Anthony: You’re getting old.

Terry: I’m getting old, brother. I’m getting old. I started crazy young. I started crazy young, but I didn’t grow up in the church. But when I found the church, it was a Baptist church. And it’s a tribe that I love, and I try to love. Man, sometimes they make it really hard to love them.

And the Trinity for — and this is the old Baptist joke — the Trinity for the Baptist is Father, Son, and Bible. And that’s really what it feels like, right? It’s just study the Bible.

And so early on in ministry, the Holy Spirit was this real stranger. Of course, we acknowledged it as part of the Trinity, but it was the mysterious part of God. And we just left it at that. And then I’m casting a large shadow on a large group of people, but typically that’s the experience of that denominational life.

And as I grew in maturity and grew in my own leadership, I became more and more fascinated with the Holy Spirit. And by no means am I charismatic or I know I’m — it depends who you talk to, right? We’re all shades of different kinds of charismatic. But man, the Holy Spirit has been something in my life that has truly transformed and has made a significant impact on my spirituality. Of every discipline that I have in my repertoire — my daily, weekly, creating a rule of life and a rhythm of seeking to be with God — a silence and reflection on the Holy Spirit has been probably number two.

Man, someone, when I was a young kid — I started ministry when I was 19 years old. I joined a church planting team, and someone said, as a young pastor, I never wanted to come across as a moron or an idiot, which was just hard to do when you’re that young. Of course, you’re going to come across that way.

But someone said, Terry, God makes a promise. He says if you pray for wisdom, he will be faithful and give you wisdom. And so that is my number one spiritual practice is I plead for wisdom from God Father, Son, and Spirit. And I believe wisdom is a beautiful gift that God gives us.

And then right behind that pleading that almost, incessant pleading for wisdom — and it’s even a joke in my family. My daughter, like she’s contemplating dating some bonehead. And I just tell her, “You’re 18. I love you. You love Jesus. I know your life call, your core values, and who you are in the kingdom. Make wise decisions.” And they always make fun of me because that’s my go to: make wise decisions; make wise decisions. God will give you the wisdom to make a wise decision.

But second to that, making wise decisions, seeking wisdom, is I want to hear. I want to hear from God. I want to hear from the Holy Spirit. And so, I actually try to carve out significant time and just sitting still. I’m not the best meditator.

I’m not the best kind of silence person. My mind wanders and I’m all over the place. But one of the things that I’ve discovered is absolute silence isn’t the point. God wants that the journey that our minds go on when we sit and try to be still, Jesus just wants to jump in on that. The Holy Spirit wants to guide that and be in that. And so, I will carve out significant amounts of time to simply, Lord, what’s your next step?

And even Anthony, I don’t think I’ve even told this to you. So, I’ll tell you right here. My daughter is 18. She’s about to graduate high school and go off to college. And we’re going to be empty nesters. And so, we’ve been praying Lord, what’s next for us? So much of our ministry over the last 15 years has been neighborhood based and school based because we are highly missional incarnational people. And all of a sudden it feels like our neighborhood, we’ve lost more neighbors in the last three years than we had in the last 17.

We’ve been in this house for 20 years. We’ve just valued incarnating into one place and sticking, staying put. And we’ve lost more neighbors in the last three than the first 17. Amen. And so, the neighborhood is turned over. It feels different. Almost feels like there’s a release here. The school, obviously we don’t want to be the creepy people that keep coming to school after your kid graduates, which those people exist. And so, we don’t want to be like that.

So, we’ve just been discerning and praying to the Holy Spirit. Lord, what’s next? What’s next for us? Where might you be leading us? And I carve lots of time out just to sit and listen.

And the Spirit has been so faithful that I can look back in my life. Every church plant that I’ve been a part of, the decision to start two separate coaching and consulting firms, joining Forge America 14 years ago, taking on the executive director role two years ago — every one of those moments, there was a season of just sitting in silence and just hearing like, Lord speak.

And if you were to ask: Terry, have you heard the audible voice of God in 27 years, 32 years of following Jesus? I haven’t, but have I felt the nudging and the prompting of the Holy Spirit? I hear it all the time. I feel it all the time. And it’s one of those things where I think it just comes to: can you sit still enough?

And again, it’s a presence issue. We have to enable — if you’re to be a great missionary, when we do missionary training, we want you to have presence with your neighbor. You can’t truly share good news if you don’t know what good news would be to them. So, you have to build a sense of presence. And in order to build a sense of presence, you have to build a sense of proximity, right?

I can’t know what would be good news to my neighbor, if I don’t know my neighbor. The only way to know my neighbor is to be in proximity to my neighbor. The same thing is true of the Spirit. We can’t expect to have presence with the Holy Spirit if we aren’t in proximity with the Holy Spirit. Now, I know that the Holy Spirit is with us at all times. And so, we are technically in proximity of the Holy Spirit all the time. But are we intentionally putting our minds on that proximity?

And so that has been a game changer for me. And for me, I really truly feel like every decision that I’ve made has truly been, and every blessing that God has bestowed on our family has been in cooperation with God and in seeking him and seeking wisdom from the Spirit.

Anthony: Yeah, that’s good. I like that — proximity, the intentionality of that proximity. And with that proximity, in my mind, I’m seeing the picture in scripture of Jesus with Peter at Caesarea Philippi, where Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God, Messiah to the world, and Jesus affirms him.

And then in the same scene, Peter’s opposed to the mission of God, therefore, the cross. And he says, get behind me, Satan. You’re like, Peter’s got to have whiplash. I just was affirmed and now I’ve been corrected.

And earlier I’d mentioned it comes with coaching the aha’s and the oh moments. And the Spirit is leading us into truth, meaning also revealing what is wrong in the world and what doesn’t look conformed in our lives to the Son of God.

Anything you want to talk about regarding that? How the Spirit is leading us into that kind of wisdom, the aha’s and the oh’s?

Terry: Yeah, so repentance has been something that has been a bit of a theme in my life. A great friend of mine and actually the founder, one of our founders, a co-founder of Forge America, Alan Hirsch has written just a wonderful, beautiful book on this idea of repentance, reorientation. And it’s called Metanoia. And so, the metanoia moment is that pivot moment, that pivotal moment of turning.

And in my own life, I had a dear friend, Paul Gokey. He’s now in the Houston area. We used to early in our church planting journeys, we’d commiserate with one another because planting a church — which Anthony, I know you’re a church planter and you’ve worked with lots of them — it sometimes can be a very daunting and hard task.

Anthony: Sure enough.

Terry: And we would commiserate, and we’d sit, have lunch, and talk. And I remember one afternoon, we were sitting there just chatting and Paul had said, hey part of my life, I seek to live with an ongoing posture of repentance.

And man, that was a seminary class, that was a seminary degree in a conversation. It changed so much for me, how I viewed God, and how I view my response to God. And as we got into it and dug into it, it wasn’t an ongoing posture of repentance that he was beating himself up or constantly in confession of every little thing he did, but it was a posture of repentance or a posture of reorienting himself around Jesus as king.

And Lord, and when I began the task, the challenging task of, can I live my everyday walking, breathing, sleeping life, attempting to orient my life, to make everything the focus of my life, put on everything I see, put on the lenses, the glasses, the sunglasses, the lenses to see Jesus as king? Could I begin to live that sort of life?

And as I began that, what I found was this idea where you walk with the Spirit, and this ability to acknowledge the areas of my life where the world has won over the Spirit, and how do I begin to surrender that piece of me, that God might invade that part of my being and fully make me whole as he intends me to be.

And that’s been a life-changing process. Do I do it perfectly? No. Do I struggle with it? Absolutely. But there is this sense of I’m going to give it the old college try. I just want when my feet hit the ground in the morning, I want to orient my mind: Jesus is King today, just as he was yesterday, and he will be tomorrow.

And so, what are the implications of Jesus is King and Lord of my life? What’s my implications for the next hour and trying to live life that way. And some might be listening to this and say, Oh my gosh, that sounds horrible. That sounds like a, such a burdensome way to live. And like you had mentioned earlier, it sounds like I’m giving up my life, but I have found so much joy and happiness and contentment in that very life that there is something freeing in knowing that in a moment’s notice, I can turn my attention to Jesus as king and say, “You are king and I am not. I give you my life, do with it as you see fit. Change me, form me, make me into the person you want me to be, Lord.”

And man, there is something so freeing in that because it’s not about me. It’s not about, Lord, what do you want me to do to change me? But it’s, Lord, you change me, you do it. I’m certain all he wants for me is to surrender. And so, when I can live a life of surrender of reorientation around him as king it’s been life changing. It has been the greatest sense of connectedness and intimacy with God that I’ve ever experienced.

It’s wonderful.

Anthony: Yeah, that’s so good. I had a similar experience where my friend and brother said that exact same thing, that repentance is ongoing in life. It’s not a one and done scenario at all. And you mentioned Alan’s book, Metanoia, this whole changing of my mind, which changes my action.

And I find for me, Terry, that’s where the rubber meets the road when it comes to repentance. Does what I say have congruence with what I do? And generally, when there’s a disconnect there, that’s where repentance has to be once again offered up like, “Lord!”

It’s like somebody might ask me, are you faithful? And this is where Karl Barth helped me; it’s a spectrum. To the extent that I’m faithful, I’m faithful. Help me in my unbelief Lord, right? That is ongoing repentance.


Small Group Discussion Questions

  • Do you ever feel reluctant to share your faith with others? Why or why not?
  • Do you find comfort in the fact that the Holy Spirit is described as our Advocate? Why or why not?
  • Can you think of a time when you believe the Holy Spirit spoke through you? What was it like? What was the result?

Sermon for May 26, 2024 — Trinity Sunday

Program Transcript


Trinity Sunday

In the beginning, in the quiet echoes of eternity, there existed a divine dance—
a dance of love, unity, and perfection. Today, on Trinity Sunday, we embark on a journey to marvel at the wonders of our God, a God who is both Three and One.

Behold the mystery of the Father, the source of all creation. His majesty displayed in the canvas of the heavens, where every star and every galaxy declare his glory. As we ponder the beauty of the Father, let our hearts be filled with awe and reverence.

The Son—the Word made flesh. Amid humanity, he walked, healed, and loved. The cross, a symbol of sacrifice, reveals the depth of his love for us.

And there, in the gentle whisper of the wind and the flame that dances with grace, we encounter the Holy Spirit—the breath of God. It is the Spirit who breathes life into our souls, guiding us, comforting us, and empowering us to live in the fullness of God’s love.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—a divine union that transcends our understanding. Three distinct persons, yet one God in perfect harmony. Such is the mystery we celebrate on this Trinity Sunday.

And as we meditate on the verses of Psalm 29, let our voices rise in a hymn of praise to the greatness of our God.

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Trinity Sunday is a celebration of the eternal dance of love—a dance that invites us to join in the chorus of praise. As we lift our voices, may our worship be a sweet fragrance, rising to the throne of the Triune God.

Today, let our hearts be stirred with gratitude and wonder as we bow before the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the one God, united in perfect love. Amen.

Psalm 29:1-11Isaiah 6:1-8Romans 8:12-17John 3:1-17

This week, we observe Trinity Sunday, a day where we celebrate the awesome nature of our God. The three Persons of the Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — are the one God, united in perfect love. The theme for this week is God is beyond amazing. The call to worship psalm is a hymn of praise to the greatness of God. In the Isaiah passage, the prophet is overwhelmed by a vision of God, where even the angels seem overcome with praise as they witness God’s glory. In Romans, we read how the Father, Son, and Spirit work together to make us children of God. The John passage contains a famous discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus, where the Lord had to help the Pharisee set aside his earthly understanding in order to grasp heavenly things.

The Mystery of God

John 3:1-17 NIV

When you have a moment to wonder, what do you wonder about? Perhaps you wonder about black holes and what we would find in their centers. Maybe you wonder about the ocean and the creatures that live at the bottom. Some of us may wonder how the pyramids were built or how the Vikings crossed the Atlantic. What you wonder about is less important than the fact that you do indeed wonder. We all do to some extent. Our minds are instinctively drawn to mysteries, and we want to understand. We are fascinated by the unknown and unanswered questions. Do aliens exist? Who shot JFK? Who pulled off the Gardner Museum heist? Is Bigfoot real? We are curious beings who love mysteries. Neil Armstrong said, “Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.”

Perhaps the greatest mystery is God himself. Christians believe that God has been revealed by Jesus Christ. By turning our attention to Immanuel — God with us — we can understand that God is love and that there is no evil in him. We can see that he is for us and is good beyond measure. However, even with the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, there is much about him that we do not know or cannot fully understand. Today is Trinity Sunday on the Christian worship calendar, a day where we marvel at the nature of our great God. Over the course of thousands of years of faithful people seeking to understand God, Christ-followers have learned that God is three distinct persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — united in one being. They are equal, were never separate, and have always existed. God is three Persons and one Being. These are the basic tenets of the doctrine of the Trinity. I can say (write) the words, but I cannot fully understand the meaning of the words. My mind is limited, and I cannot truly understand concepts like “Being,” “eternity,” and “never created.” In the created universe there is nothing or no one like God, so there is no point of reference to comprehend God’s nature. How our God has been revealed in Jesus yet remains a mystery.

This is important because we can be tempted to put God in a box. We can be tempted to act as if we have him all figured out. We can be tempted to become too familiar with God. And, when we give in to this temptation, we begin to make God in our image. We speak for him as if he does not speak for himself. We lose our awe of him. We lose our belief in his ability to do great things. We reduce following God to an intellectual exploration rather than a life-changing relationship with a being greater than we can imagine. We get mad at him when he does not behave in a way that we would like, and we dictate the terms of our obedience to him. When we disregard the mystery of God, we rob ourselves from better understanding his majesty and greatness.

Respecting the mystery of God means that there will be things about him that do not make sense to us right now. There may be things we read in scripture that do not line up with what we think we understand about God. We know that God is good, loving, compassionate, and slow to anger, but there are moments in scripture where Jesus says or does things that seem mean, cold, or simply confusing. I believe we are supposed to mentally and emotionally wrestle with these things. We are to meditate on them and talk to God about them. We are to ask him to help us understand. When we do, God will not leave us wanting. To see evidence of this, let’s look at John 3:1-17:

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:1-17 NIV)

John 3:16 is one of the most frequently quoted passages in the Bible, and rightly so. Jesus provided a beautifully simple and elegant summary of the gospel. We quote the passage so often that it may be easy to forget the conversation that came before. John 3:1-15 captured a brilliant man struggling to understand Jesus. The young rabbi, Jesus, was a mystery (perhaps a novelty) that Nicodemus went to investigate. In the conversation that transpired, Christ challenged the things Nicodemus thought he knew. Jesus shifted his paradigms, and I imagine that Nicodemus was left shaken by the interaction. Yet, the compassionate Christ did not leave Nicodemus completely confused. In verses 16-17, Jesus stopped using metaphors. He did not offer up any more descriptions of the Holy Spirit that left one with more questions than answers. He gave Nicodemus a profound explanation of his mission in plain speech.

The truth is that in this life there are many aspects of God that will remain a mystery. How can the finite grasp the infinite? But one of the great miracles of God is that he wants to be known and rewards those who earnestly seek to understand him. We will not have all of our questions answered in this life. We will not have full understanding of God. However, God gives us enough to continue to become like Christ and love our neighbors. He gives us enough to prove that he is light and in him there is no shadow. He gives us enough to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. He gives us enough.

On this Trinity Sunday, let us celebrate the God who is greater than we can imagine. Let us celebrate the God who will captivate our imagination for the rest of our lives as well as the age to come. Let us embrace the mystery of God. Let us not be afraid to wrestle with the things we do not understand. If we do, we will discover a loving God who wants to be known. Perhaps God will reveal himself to you in a way that people will be talking about for thousands of years.

Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee W4

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May 26—Trinity Sunday
John 3:1-17, “Born Anew”

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Program Transcript


Can I Get a Witness? w/ Terry Ishee W4

Anthony: Our final passage of the month is John 3:1-17. It is a Revised Common Lectionary passage for Trinity Sunday on May 26.

Terry, we’d be grateful if you read it for us, please.

Terry: Yeah, absolutely.

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Jewish leader. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could do these miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom.” Nicodemus asked, “How is it possible for an adult to be born? It’s impossible to enter the mother’s womb for a second time and be born, isn’t it?” Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It’s the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said, “How are these things possible?” 10 “Jesus answered, “You are a teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things? 11 I assure you that we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you don’t receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Human One. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 16 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. 17 God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Anthony: There’s a lot there and I’m not asking for a dissertation here, Terry, but the Trinity, in my mind, so often gets reduced to some abstract mathematical conundrum instead of a relationship. And so, on this Trinity Sunday, what would you say to the listening audience about the triune God?

Terry: Yeah, this again goes into this crazy mystery of God in three persons. The way that I’ve been able to wrap my head — what little I can wrap my head around this wonderful, beautiful, mysterious thing — is that I really see it as a divine dance.

There’s this Greek term parakinesis [sic] [perichoresis] that speaks to the idea of a kinetic movement, right? And I’ve heard people refer to it as a divine dance where Father, Son, and Spirit dance in step with one another, that there’s a constant moving connection between the two.

And really the best way that I can wrap my head around this is that God in three persons speaks to us that we are to live life in community, that all of life is to be communal. This individualism which is tough in our current culture because we live in a highly individualistic society. But we weren’t created for individualism. We were created for a communal expression.

And just as Father and Son and Spirit surrender to each other, and they’re lockstep with one another as the best way to dance, to explain this kinesis, this kinetic movement is a dance that it is a free flowing, free formed version of movement. And it is the example that is on display for us beautifully for us to mimic. That as humans, as the ones created in the image of God, we are to mimic the way of God. And how are we, who are we in lockstep with in our life?

And so, the Trinity for me is a great, beautiful reminder of who am I choosing to dance with. Who’s on my dance card in my everyday life? Am I dancing with the right people? In the relationship with my wife, in the relationship with my daughter, what is that? What is the kinesis?

What is the kinetic? What does the movement, the relationship look like in that? Does it more represent the world, or would it more represent king and kingdom? The same with my neighbors and my coworkers and the people that I just spend time with, whether they are found in Jesus or not yet followers of Jesus. We choose to dance with the people around us that there’s this cosmic dance that is at hand.

And so, what does our dance card look like? Are we finding this beautiful rhythm that God has laid before us that we can be in sync with Father, Son, and Spirit? Or are we doing our own thing? Are we out of step? Are we choosing?

Are we going so freeform that it’s — I know, I love some jazz, but there are some like freeform jazz that’s just way out there. And is this pleasant to my ears? It doesn’t feel pleasant to my ears. It feels very weird. It’s all over the place. And sometimes we choose to live life where it feels so disruptive.

And that’s been something that’s been meaningful to me is looking at how Father, Son, and Spirit are interconnected with one another, one whole but relational.

Anthony: Yes. This next question I’m going to ask you, the answers can spark fighting words. And the question is this, what does it mean to be born anew or born again or born from above for you, Terry? What does this mean?

Terry: Yeah, for me in the most simplest terms, it means I have surrendered control of my life from myself or from the world, and I’ve given it to Jesus as king.

And I was, [in] 1993, sitting on a stoop at a boys’ home. I grew up in a boys’ home from the age of 12 to 18. And I had a house parent who was a giant of a human being. [He] was like six foot six, six foot seven, just a huge human being. And because he was a huge human being, I respected him because I was a big kid.

And he would do these weird things that would just like, I don’t understand this guy. This guy cries when he talks about God. That’s weird. No one that big should cry because they talk about God. It didn’t compute for me, Anthony. I didn’t get it. And he would speak so softly about Jesus, but at the same time he was a man’s man, like he was like, I like this guy.

I’m going, if I could be like him, I’d be cool with that. But man, I had so much anger, I had so much frustration, I had so much just from my childhood that was so like inside of me, it was just insanely toxic. And I remember one night we were sitting there, and Howard came up to me and said, “Are you done? Are you done being angry? Are you tired of it yet?”

And just in a weeping voice, exasperation, “Yes, I’m done. I am tired. I’m exhausted from being angry at everything and everyone.”

And he said, “You can give all of that to Jesus, but you have to surrender your life to him.”

And that’s when I was born anew. That was my moment of being born again when, in that moment, said, “I can’t do this on my own. I’m trying to figure out life and I’m just doing it miserably, but I can surrender and say, ‘Jesus, you can make me new. You can make me you can make me a new creation.’”

And in that moment, and I truly believe I became a new creation, that the old in me had passed on, that passed away and that a new, a Spirit had indwelt [sic] in me and that a new creation, a new being had taken place.

And those next two years were just a weird journey towards discipleship and really towards — when I say Jesus became my Savior when I was 15 but he became my king and Lord when I was 17. And this journey towards discipleship was lots of questions, but that’s what born again to me means this idea that I was made new in Jesus because I surrendered to him.

I allowed him to make me new and his Spirit indwells in me and has indwelt in me since then.

Anthony: As you tell the story about this giant of a human being, it reminds me of what we said earlier about testifying, telling the story, bearing witness to the goodness of God.

And I have found it’s really hard to do what you’ve never seen done, and the fact that he was willing to express to you, this is what it looks like. It’s a reminder: we all need mentors and guides in our life, right? Coaches, people that come alongside of us and say, ‘You know what? The Christ life, it looks like this. And you don’t have to carry this around anymore. You were never meant to carry that around.”

So, brother, I’m thankful for whoever that guy is. Howard, go, man And keep doing what you’re doing, Terry. We so appreciate your active participation ministry. You’ve been a blessing to me and I’m sure to many others. So, keep doing what you’re doing.

Thank you for being a part of this podcast. I want to thank Reuel Enerio, our producer, who does such a bang-up job. There’s no way we could get this out without him, and my wife, Elizabeth, who does the transcription. So, you can see every word that Terry said. It’s going to live on in infamy. And you talked about how the things we do can have an impact a hundred years from now, so there you go, Terry.

But it’s been awesome, man. Thank you. And as is tradition with this podcast, we love to close in prayer. So, if you’d pray for our audience, we’d appreciate it.

Terry: Yeah, absolutely.

King Jesus, we pause to just orient our presence on you and your Spirit as you work in and through us. Lord, wherever people may be as they listen to this, Lord, I pray a sense of an indwelling, that they would be so in key and in tune to who you are, who they are in you, Lord. And so, Lord, fill them up.

Lord, I thank you for those mentors, those guides who really exist in my life that have allowed me, as I apprenticed to Jesus, as I surrender to his way and practice his way, that they have served as guides and mentors and coaches to help me do that better. That as I spend time with you, Jesus, you have transformed me to become more like you. And Lord, that’s my prayer for everyone who is listening to this, that as they spend time with you.

Lord, that they would sense over a long period of obedience, they would be transformed. That Spiritual formation would occur, and they would walk in the likeness of who you are, and they would manifest love in every place and space that they take.

Lord, we love you. We thank you. Spirit, we ask that you would move in our church, that you would move in our world, you would move in and through every leader, that we might proclaim your goodness. We love you. We offer our lives as worship, and we give this to you. Jesus’ holy and precious name. Amen. Amen.