Resources

Latest Resources

Don't Play It Safe!

Purpose To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships To participate in God’s mission to the world  Opening Prayer Recently we began a new series focused on the Sermon on the Mount titled The Greatest Sermon Ever Told. In our previous discussions we looked at the Beatitudes where we see Jesus making apparently paradoxical statements to describe the character of a Christian. The Beatitudes answers the question—what kind of person is a Christian? The Beatitudes describe the character of Christians as the blessed ones or the flourishing ones who stand out in their humility, display of mercy, and their radical response to suffering and persecution.  Today’s discussion is based on Matthew 5:13-16. The central theme of this section is closely related to the Beatitudes. In fact, the motif implicit in the Beatitudes becomes an explicit theme in this section—A Christian’s influence as a witness. How does a Christian, as the flourishing one, live on earth? Jesus employs two metaphors to describe a Christian’s influence on earth—salt and light. Jesus specifically employs the metaphors of salt and light as he wanted his disciples—and the crowd—to clearly see the essential nature of what it means to be a follower of Christ. A Christian is essentially the salt of the earth and light of the world. To be a Christian is to be salt and light. It is not optional. Its scope is not limited for specific Christians like pastors, evangelists, or missionaries. The essential nature and purpose of salt is saltness and the essential nature and function of light is illumination. A true Christian, like the salt, serves as a preservative in a decaying and deteriorating culture. It is essential for Christians, and for the church, to be the salt of the earth, to hinder the process of spiritual decay and deterioration. Our role is not to detach from the world, to play safe, or to be an exclusive club for like minded people. We are called to preserve, prevent, and add the gospel flavor, rubbing into the secular culture, as salt is rubbed into meat from going bad, or into a wound to prevent infection. Jesus emphatically issues a clear warning against formal Christianity: to lose our ‘saltness’ as Christians is to ‘play safe’— doing nothing, or worse, to despair and live in fear in the face of sin, evil, and cultural deterioration. To be a formal Christian, in other words, is to be worthless, like the salt that has lost its saltness. One commentator calls formal Christians as “the most pathetic and useless people who know enough about Christianity to spoil the world for them, but they do not know enough about it to be of any positive value…they have enough Christianity to spoil everything else, but not enough to give them real happiness, peace, and abundance of life.”   Jesus emphasizes the dangers of forgetting the essential functions of salt and light Christian living. It is contradictory, and even ridiculous when a Christian does not act as the salt and light. It is like lighting the lamp and hiding it under the bushel. It defeats the essential purpose of being a light.  In other words, a true Christian cannot be hid, and in fact, a true Christian does not even desire to be hid. A Christian, as the blessed one, will stand out like a city on a hill. A Christian flourishes as the salt—preserving the truth, beauty, and goodness of the gospel, preventing the deterioration caused by sin, and adding the gospel flavor wherever God has placed them. What is true of the Christians as individuals is true for the church as well. The church has a dual role to play—as the salt to arrest and hinder the social decay and spiritual death caused by sin. As the light to dispel the darkness by shining the light of the gospel, both through words, and actions. Responsive Prayer—Psalm 27 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,  to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. Summary and Connection Last week we began a new series focused on the Sermon. Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible What does the text say? Who are the main characters in this story? What according to you is the theme of this passage? What is the central theme of Matthew 5:13-16? How is this theme related to the Beatitudes? Why does Jesus liken his followers to salt? What does it mean in practice to be salt? Why does Jesus liken his followers to light? What does Jesus mean by “good works”(5:16b)? 2. Looking at Jesus At Central we believe that all of Scripture points to Jesus. In other words, Jesus is the theological center of the Bible. Every passage not only points to Jesus, but the grand narrative of the Bible also finds its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus. How is Jesus the true salt of the earth and light of the world? How does our acknowledgment of Jesus as the true salt and light help us to be the salt and light?   3. Looking at Our Hearts The following are personal application questions based on the stages of growth in Christian faith. How might you be tempted to play safe, or to become a formal Christian? What poses a greater danger to you personally: losing your saltness by accommodating to the world, or hiding your light by withdrawing from the world?  What resources does Jesus provide to help you in your struggle to be salt and light?  4. Looking at Our World How would you summarize Jesus’ teaching concerning how the Church is supposed to relate to the world as salt and light? Why does the world need Christians to be salt and light?  Sending God’s word is a lamp to our feet. Christ’s teachings are a light to our path. May God’s word take root in our lives. May Christ’s love nourish and sustain us. Amen.

September 24, 2023 | Read

Study Guide

The Blessed Life

Purpose To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships To participate in God’s mission to the world  Opening Prayer God of radiant light, shine into our lives, and disperse the darkness that dims our vision; shine into our world, and cast out the fears that long have chained us; shine into our worship, that we may be a people of your hope and promise. Amen. Responsive Prayer—Isaiah 61 The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound To proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, To comfort all who mourn; To grant to those who mourn in Zion— To give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; That they may be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. Summary and Connection Last week we began a new series focused on the Sermon on the Mount titled The Greatest Sermon Ever Told. In our previous discussion based on Matthew 5:1-4, we looked into the first four Beatitudes in order to answer the thematic question of the series: How does the Sermon on the Mount capture Jesus’ vision for the good life? How does a sermon preached over 2,000 years ago carve out the path to true human flourishing? How does the Sermon on the Mount offer a whole new way of being human, and thereby answering our deepest existential question: What does it mean to be human? This study is based on Matthew 5:5-12. We have already learned that the Beatitudes are objective descriptions and commendations of the good life a Christian already possesses. In other words, Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount by offering and inviting his audience, and by extension us, into “the way of being in the world that will result in their true and full flourishing now and in the age to come.” The first four Beatitudes describe who the Christians are in relationship with God and the rest of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:5-12) enumerates how we ought to live in response to God’s relationship with us. To put it simply, the first four Beatitudes capture the vertical aspect of our relationship with God, and the rest capture the horizontal aspect of our relationship with others.  In the Beatitudes we see three characteristics of the blessed or flourishing life of a Christian. 1) We see that a truly blessed or flourishing life is a paradoxical life. In the Beatitudes Jesus deliberately presents the good or flourishing life as ironic, paradoxical, and future oriented hope. 2) True blessed life is progressive. The good life according to Jesus is not a future goal one attains based on their performance. It is not a conditional blessing that is attained by living in poverty, hunger, or by virtue of suffering and persecution. The good life or a blessed life is a way of being—truly flourishing in the present, in the midst of and even in a mysterious way because of injustice, suffering, and persecution, because of one’s union with Christ. Furthermore, the good life is also about how we live in light of who are—the blessed ones. Jesus appeals to find fullness by reorienting our lives towards a certain way of being in the world. 3) This passage emphasizes the power of the blessed life. We learn a vital truth about Christian life on earth: The power to live the blessed or flourishing life does not come from us, rather it is located in Christ, and we receive it from Jesus—the true and perfect blessed one—who enables us to lead the blessed life. Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible What does the text say? Who are the main characters in this story? What according to you is the theme of this passage? Who are the ‘meek’ and how do they ‘inherit the earth?’ What does it mean ‘hunger and thirst’? What kind of righteousness does Jesus have in mind here? And how will we be satisfied when we hunger and thirst in such a way? What is ‘mercy’ and who are the ‘merciful’? Can we merit mercy? How do the ‘merciful’ receive mercy? 2. Looking at Jesus At Central we believe that all of Scripture points to Jesus. In other words, Jesus is the theological center of the Bible. Every passage not only points to Jesus, but the grand narrative of the Bible also finds its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus. The weightiness of the Beatitudes compels us to confess our insufficiency in flourishing as the blessed ones, and our powerlessness in living out the blessed life. How do the Beatitudes point to the sufficiency of Jesus as both the blessed one and the source of power to lead the blessed life?   3. Looking at Our Hearts The following are personal application questions based on the stages of growth in Christian faith. One of the characteristic qualities of being ‘meek’ is contentment—to be filled up and not puffed up. In what ways have you been finding contentment in your walk with Christ? In what ways do you tend to be discontent?  Talking about the Beatitude of mercy, Anglican theologian John Stott writes: “Nothing moves us to forgive like the wonderful knowledge that we ourselves have been forgiven. Nothing proves more clearly that we have been forgiven than our readiness to forgive.” How have you experienced God’s mercy this week? Have you received forgiveness from someone you sinned against? Or have you forgiven someone who has grieved you by sinning against you?  As Christians we are called the children of God, and as the children of God we are called to be ‘peacemakers.’ Does peace characterize your life at present? If yes, how? How does this passage help you to receive peace, and to be a peacemaker?  4. Looking at Our World How do the Beatitudes offer you hope and confidence to flourish as a Community Group, as a church, and most importantly as Christians in New York?  Sending God’s word is a lamp to our feet. Christ’s teachings are a light to our path. May God’s word take root in our lives. May Christ’s love nourish and sustain us. Amen.

September 17, 2023 | Read

Post

Grace, Then Gratitude

For many of us, the thing that we fear the most is being insignificant. This is why we are so driven and ambitious—we think that we have to do everything we can to prove that we are significant and that our life counts for something. We scramble to find whatever meaning, value, and purpose this world alone can offer.  Although it is true that there is no good or fulfilling life without significance, through Jesus we are offered not only significance but grace. While we may be tempted to try and prove our worth to God or others, God relates to us not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of grace. Our life is simply a response to his love. Accepted First God showers his love upon us simply because he loves us—not because of what we have done, will do, or what potential he may or may not see within us. This is what gives us absolute and utter security. If we do not do anything to win God's love, there is nothing that we could ever do to lose it either. Furthermore, grace means there is nothing we could ever do to make God love us more, and there is nothing we could ever do to make God love us less. His love for us is immovable. This is the difference between Christianity and every other religion. Religion requires you to obey before you are accepted. But the message of Christianity is that you are accepted in and through Jesus Christ first, despite all your faults and failures, and therefore, you obey—not in order to try to win God's love or out of obligation, but out of gratitude for the love you have first been shown. Consider the Exodus story. God could have given his people the Ten Commandments while they were living in bondage in Egypt and required them to follow the law before he rescued them. But instead, he rescues his people first. It is only after he delivers them from their bondage that he then gives them the law in order to show them how to live their lives in response to his love.  It is not law, then grace. It is grace, then gratitude. Contra-Conditional Love Grace is the most powerful force in the world. And yet, at the very same time, it is the most difficult thing for us to accept because it is an affront to our pride and self-sufficiency. When we accept God’s grace, we acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves.  Years ago I had a conversation with a college student who told me, “I hate the very concept of grace because I want God to love me for me. I want God to love me for the things I do for him because then I know what I'm worth. Then I know that I'm valuable.” I tried to help her see that grace is far better. Consider the words of Victor Hugo who said, “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved—loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” God's love is not conditional or even unconditional. His love is contra-conditional. In Jesus Christ, he does not merely love us as we are. He loves us despite who we are and despite what we have done. That is why Pastor Jack Miller used to say, “Cheer up! You're worse than you think! But in Jesus Christ, you are more loved than you could ever imagine.” The House of David In 2 Samuel 7 we read that several decades after God raised David up to be the prince over Israel, David decides to build a house for the Lord. David is living in a luxurious house with paneled walls made out of fine cedar, and he realizes that by contrast, the Ark of the Covenant—the place where God said that he would dwell in the midst of his people—is being kept in a tent. It suddenly dawns on him that his housing is better than God’s! David, understandably, wants to do something for God by building him a permanent house.  But rather than allowing David to follow through with his plans, God responds by saying God is going to make a house for David, and David's son, in gratitude, will be the one who builds a house for the Lord. In 2 Samuel 7:16 God says, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” God makes this unconditional promise to David—not because of any merit on David's part but out of sheer grace. This is how God works with all of us. Like David, we might want to go out there and do something great for God as a way to prove our worth or win other’s respect and admiration. But God’s grace always precedes our work. He makes the first move and takes the initiative. His grace comes first.  If you continue reading through the Bible, you discover the house of David eventually comes crashing down. The kingdom is plagued by civil war, and eventually, the Babylonians conquer David's kingdom, setting fire to the temple that Solomon builds and carrying away the last kings in the line of David into exile. And yet centuries before, the prophet Isaiah promises that one day a child will be born who will establish and uphold the throne of David with justice and righteousness forever.  The promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7 points us forward to Christ, the true son of God, who knows God as Father. That is why Jesus is repeatedly referred to as the Son of David. When Jesus begins his public ministry, he proclaims: “the kingdom of God is at hand.” And when Jesus establishes the kingdom of God, he says that he will build a house for the Lord in the midst of his people, not in a temple made out of human hands. This means that the moment we put our faith in Jesus, we become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Building for the Kingdom After becoming a Christian, we might start talking about bringing the kingdom, building the kingdom, advancing the kingdom, expanding the kingdom. But “bringing the kingdom” is precisely the one thing that we cannot do. Only Jesus can do that.  Matthew 6:33 tells us we are called to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” We are called to proclaim the good news of the kingdom, to testify to the kingdom, to inherit the kingdom. The kingdom is not something that we achieve through our own effort but rather something we receive as a gift of grace. But that does not mean that we are supposed to sit back and passively await the coming of the kingdom in its fullness. We may not be able to build the kingdom of God, but we can and must build for the kingdom of God. New Testament scholar N.T. Wright writes, “The final coming together of heaven and earth is, of course, God’s supreme act of new creation, for which the only real prototype—other than the first creation itself—was the resurrection of Jesus. God alone will sum up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. He alone will make the ‘new heavens and new earth.’ It would be the height of folly to think that we could assist in that great work. But what we can and must do in the present, if we are obedient to the gospel, if we are following Jesus, and if we are indwelt, energized, and directed by the Spirit, is to build for the kingdom…You are—strange though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself—accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God’s new world.  Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world—all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make. That is the logic of the mission of God.” The kingdom of God is a present reality because the kingdom is present in Jesus. It is a kingdom of grace, which means that it can only be received. That is why Jesus said in Luke 12:32, “‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’” He went on to say that only those who receive the kingdom like a child will ever enter it. How does a child receive the kingdom? With empty hands. Our faith does not add or contribute anything to our rescue. Faith is simply empty hands which receive what Jesus gives. And what Jesus gives us is himself. Wherever Jesus is, there is the kingdom. There is grace. ___ Adapted from David and The Good Life: Grace, a sermon delivered by Jason Harris on October 23, 2022. Listen to the sermon or read the full transcript. Christ and Contemporary Culture is a journal written by Jason Harris which reflects on the intersection between Jesus Christ and our contemporary culture. If you are skeptical or resistant to Christianity, the hope is that you might pause to reflect on your pre-existing ideas about the way things are and perhaps think again. For those who have embraced Christianity, these posts will serve to encourage you in your ability to communicate the gospel in a way that takes our current cultural context seriously. Produced by Mary-Catherine McKee

August 9, 2023 | Read

Post

Beyond Morality: Living a Life of Worship

When most of us think of the “good life,” we are not merely imagining an ethical or moral life but a life that is truly worth living, even in the face of the existential problems with which we must contend. Luc Ferry, a French philosopher and self-proclaimed atheist, offers this interesting thought experiment: Imagine we could wave a magic wand and cause everyone living today to begin treating one another perfectly, with equal dignity and respect. There would be no more war, genocide, racism, or xenophobia. There would be no need for a police force or a standing army. Our judicial system and prisons would eventually disappear. And yet, Ferry suggests that even if we were to wave that magic wand, the most profound existential challenges we face would still not be resolved. This is how he puts it,  “Still—and here I have to weigh each one of my words—none (I really mean none) of our most profound existential problems would be resolved if this came to pass. Nothing, even in a perfect realization of the most sublime morality, would prevent us from aging; from witnessing, powerless, the appearance of wrinkles and white hair; from falling sick, dying, and seeing our loved ones die; from worrying about the outcome of our children’s education or from struggling to achieve what we want for them. Even if we were saints, nothing would guarantee us a fulfilled emotional life.” The point is that morality is indispensable to human life. And yet, it is not enough.  We read in the story of David in 1 and 2 Samuel about the importance of living a life of worship before God. David is far from perfect, but that is not what matters. What matters is that whether winning a great victory or committing an egregious sin, David lives a life of repentance and faith. Whether in triumph or defeat, hope or despair, David does not run away from God. He runs towards God. And that is what fills his life with enduring meaning, value, and purpose. What Is Worship? The problem with religion is that it leads us to think of God like a genie in a bottle—rub the lamp and out will pop God to grant you your wishes. Religious people tend to think God is there to serve us, to fulfill all our dreams, and to make us feel good about ourselves. We assume that if we are good enough, pious enough, zealous enough, devout enough, if we say all the right prayers, observe all the right rituals, and keep all of the right rules, then God is obligated to bless us and to make our life go well. We are not really interested in God for who he is—we are merely using God to get whatever we want. And if God does not deliver, then we become angry, bitter, and resentful because he did not fulfill our expectations.  It is critical to realize that the real God will challenge our dreams, not merely fulfill them. The poet W.H. Auden once wrote that a Christian is someone who says, “I believe because He fulfills none of my dreams, because He is in every respect the opposite of what He would be if I could have made Him in my own image.” God is not here to serve us. We are here to serve him. In fact, in Hebrew the word “worship” and “serve” are the very same word. God is not here to worship us. We are here to worship him. God is not supposed to follow us according to our terms. Rather we are supposed to follow God on his terms. And if we do, then he promises that he will bless us—not out of necessity, but as a pure gift.  Christianity offers this unique view of salvation: God relates to us on the basis of sheer grace, which means that a relationship with God is not something that we achieve through our own efforts, but something we can only receive with empty hands. Religion leads us to say, “I obey, and therefore, God accepts me.” But the gospel tells us, “God accepts me, despite my sin, through the substitutionary sacrifice of another, and therefore I obey.” We strive to love, serve, and honor God, not motivated by mere duty or obligation, but motivated by gratitude and joy for what he has first done for us—not as a way to try to win God's love, but in order to demonstrate that we already have it. If we know that God has done absolutely everything that is necessary in order to cover our sin and put us in right relationship with himself, then that will infuse our life with insuppressible joy, regardless of our life circumstances or personal challenges. There is, of course, a rightful place for lament as we mourn those aspects of our lives or within the wider world that are not yet in line with his purposes. Nevertheless, the foundation of a Christian’s’ life must be one of joy. The English author G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul.” Why Worship Matters When Isaiah has a vision of the Lord seated enthroned above the ark of the cherubim in Isaiah 6:5, he immediately says, “‘Woe is me! For I am lost!’” Isaiah acknowledges that he is a sinner and “a man of unclean lips.” But despite Isaiah’s sin, God does not strike him down. Instead, one of the seraphim flies to the altar, the place of the sacrifice, and removes one of the burning coals and places it on the lips of Isaiah saying: “‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’” God has now made Isaiah clean.  This, of course, was just a vision. We get something far better. There are only two places in the New Testament where the Greek word for “mercy seat” or “place of atonement” is used—once in Romans 3 and once in Hebrews 9. In both cases, “mercy seat” or “place of atonement” is used not to describe a place but a person. Hebrews 10 tells us that the blood of bulls and goats could never do anything to actually take away people's sin. This is just a symbol meant to prepare us for the ultimate high priest who does not enter the most holy place within a humanly constructed temple, but rather he enters into the presence of the divine being himself. And there he offers not the sacrifice of an animal, but rather the sacrifice of his very own self. He gives himself for us so that our sin might be covered by his blood, and so that God in his mercy might forgive us and cleanse us so that we can enter into his holy presence and live. Jesus is the mercy seat and the place of atonement. He is the true prince of peace and the one who makes it possible for us to approach the throne of grace and live. And the mercy seat is open, still.  The gospel tells us that God is so holy and you and I really are so flawed that Jesus had to die. There was no other way for us to be able to enter into God's holy presence and live. And yet, at the same time, God is so loving and you and I are so valuable, that Jesus was willing to die for us. When you take these two truths deep into your heart and into your life, then that is what unlocks the joy. Morality and ethics are essential and important, but they are not sufficient to actually live the “good life.”  The Westminster Shorter Catechism, a historic document of faith from the 1600s, begins with this question: What is the chief end of man? In other words, what is the meaning of life? The answer is short: To glorify God and to enjoy him forever. As C.S. Lewis astutely observed, those two commands are actually one and the same. In commanding us to worship him, God is inviting us to enjoy him. The only way in which we truly learn to live the “good life” is through worship, by living our lives before the God of grace. And when we do, it will fill our lives with insuppressible joy.  ___ Adapted from David and The Good Life: Worship, a sermon delivered by Jason Harris on October 16, 2022. Listen to the sermon or read the full transcript. "Christ and Contemporary Culture" is a journal written by Jason Harris which reflects on the intersection between Jesus Christ and our contemporary culture. If you are skeptical or resistant to Christianity, the hope is that you might pause to reflect on your pre-existing ideas about the way things are and perhaps think again. For those who have embraced Christianity, these posts will serve to encourage you in your ability to communicate the gospel in a way that takes our current cultural context seriously. Produced by Mary-Catherine McKee

May 18, 2023 | Read

Resources

In the Spotlight

Don't Play It Safe!

Latest Resources

Is This Humanly Possible?

Don't Play It Safe!

The Blessed Life

The Blessed Life

Grace, Then Gratitude

Beyond Morality: Living a Life of Worship

Why does the resurrection matter?

Why did Jesus have to die?

View All Resources