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Provision

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 We beseech you, almighty God, to look mercifully upon your people: that by your great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Responsive Prayer—Isaiah 9 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; On those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. Jesus Christ is our life and light. In his name and in his power, let us worship God! Summary and Connection In the great American movie, “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”, Macaulay Culkin plays Kevin McCallister, who is again separated from his family during a Christmas vacation gone awry. In the tradition of the first “Home Alone” movie, “Home Alone 2” is a meditation on the meaning of “home.” The Plaza Hotel, Central Park, and a gutted townhouse are all exciting sets for comedic hijinks, but none of them are a home for Kevin. Home is being in the right place with the right people, and home’s opposite, homelessness, means not merely separation from home, but from the ones we love. We see this in the character of the Pigeon Lady, a woman who is both homeless and friendless, and who is therefore hopeless. But restoration to home, to the right people and the right place, brings joy. That is what Isaiah 35 is about. While a 1992 feel-good Christmas movie can never match the power and profundity of Isaiah 35, “Home Alone’s” nostalgic charm draws from the same source, which is the hope of a home where you are not alone, but in the right place with the right people, rejoicing. We are in a sermon series during Lent called Jesus Through Isaiah’s Eyes. This week, we jump back to an earlier chapter in Isaiah’s book to see what true end-time restoration will look like. Following chapter 34, which is filled with judgment and fury, death and smoke, and a curse on the nations that reduces them to wilderness and rubble, we read chapter 35. This is the opposite. The wilderness will be filled with flowers and flowing streams, the weak and vulnerable will be strengthened, and the people in bondage will be ransomed and redeemed and brought home. The result will be singing, gladness, glory, and joy. We know that Jesus meditated on this particular chapter because in the gospels, Isaiah 35 is his answer to John the Baptist’s doubts when he sends his disciples to ask Jesus, “‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them’” (Matthew 11:3-5). Not only did Jesus look back to Isaiah to see his mission in its particulars, in the healing and restoring of individuals, but he must have seen his mission in its sweeping grandness, in ransoming and redeeming a helpless people and bringing them home to a renewed creation. At the same time, we often see in our lives the wilderness, the feebleness, and the anxiety of feeling far from home. Our external circumstances or our individual concerns can make us blind and deaf to what God is really doing, and mute about what he’s already done for us. That is why we have to look at Isaiah looking at Jesus. We have to see the one who will truly, finally bring us home. We have to see the one who left his own home to fulfill the prophecy: “Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you” (Isaiah 35:4). When we see him, we’ll start to sing.   Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible Observation: Read the passage privately. What does the text say? What according to you is the theme of this passage? Do you notice keywords, parallels, or surprises? Look at the passage and find the three places where joy and singing are mentioned together. What or who is singing? What is significant about each one? 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. In spite of this hope that brings joy and singing, we often doubt. Read Matthew 11:3-5 and ask this: What was John doubting, and how did Jesus answer? And, what leads us to doubt, and how does Jesus answer us with Isaiah 35? 3. Looking at Our Hearts Read verses 8-10. If Jesus is our way, what does that mean about our purity? About our ability to stay on the path? About our safety on the journey? And about our destination? 4. Looking at Our World Where do you currently volunteer, or where would you like to volunteer? You can also pick a ministry for which you’re praying or that you support in some other way. How does the restoration of the land, the weak, and the exiled, here in Isaiah 35, change the way you look at that ministry? 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.

March 17, 2024 | Read

Is Christianity Sexist?

In order to address what the Bible has to say about men and women, it’s important to consider the broad sweep of the Bible’s message. When we do that, we discover that the Bible affirms the equality, the complementarity, and the unity of the sexes.

March 13, 2024 | More...

Celebration!

The Old Testament principle of Jubilee was familiar to the Jews of Jesus’ day — a celebratory year of release during which all debts were forgiven and all servants set free. But when Jesus’ inaugurated his ministry, he came to proclaim a Jubilee that was far greater. In Isaiah 61, we see Jesus taking this concept of Jubilee and alluding to an ultimate release that he, as the anointed one, offers to all people — one where those who are both materially and spiritually poor, brokenhearted, captive, and bound will gain freedom and be clothed with forgiveness and righteousness. This is the release we receive as followers of Jesus. Watch this sermon as we discover our cause for celebration!

March 10, 2024 | Watch

Celebration!

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 Almighty God, grant that we, who justly deserve to be punished for our sinful deeds, may mercifully be relieved by the comfort of your grace; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Responsive Prayer—Psalm 90 Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Let your work be shown to your servants, And your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands! Summary and Connection Kintsugi, which means “join with gold,” is a traditional Japanese art wherein broken objects like pottery and glass are repaired by using gold lacquer to piece shards together again. Kintsugi is about restoring beauty from ashes — once broken pieces held together by gold as a testament to the work of repair and not ruin! For this week’s discussion we turn to Isaiah 61 where we are introduced to God’s grand scheme of redemption and restoration of his people. He gives Zion, the city in ruins, beauty instead of ashes — The Year of the Lord’s Favor! But, how does God accomplish this? What is the scope of God’s redemptive work? How should we respond to the news of God’s grand scheme of redemption? In verses 1-2, we are re-introduced to the servant of the Lord, who speaks with tremendous authority, demanding utmost attention of his listeners. The servant speaks in his own person. He speaks about himself, and his all-encompassing mission as the messiah. We learn that the servant-messiah is endowed with the Spirit of the Lord God, and he proclaims the year of the favor, and the day of vengeance of the Lord. In other words, the servant-messiah proclaims both the mercy and justice of the Lord! How does the servant-messiah proclaim mercy, or the year of the Lord’s favor? He does so by bringing the good news of salvation to the ones afflicted with sickness of sin, and the ones who are downtrodden and disadvantaged. The servant-messiah binds up the wounds of the ones who are broken-hearted due to the emotional turmoil of captivity, and the conviction of sin. To bind up a wound is to pay personal attention in caring and soothing one’s physical and emotional pain. This servant-messiah sets the captives free by opening the prison gates. His redemptive work — the year of the Lord’s favor — points back to the year of jubilee recorded in Leviticus 25:8-55. His restorative work also points forward to the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the appointed day where God establishes justice once and for all, wiping away the tears of all who mourn. In verses 10-11 we see Isaiah himself break into an exultant song of thanksgiving.  Isaiah’s word captures the joyful celebration of a redeemed man who was once undone by the vision of the Lord. The same Isaiah who cried in anguish, “Woe is me! For I am lost,” now sings in joy about being clothed with the garments of salvation, and robe of righteousness. Such is the confidence of Isaiah in the certainty of the Lord’s salvation that he uses an agricultural metaphor to describe the redemption and restoration of the people of all nations! How could Isaiah be so confident in his assertion about the redemption and restoration of not just Israel, but all the nations of the world? The answer is simple, Isaiah has already tasted the blessing of the age to come. Isaiah, by faith, had seen Jesus, the servant-messiah, proclaim and accomplish what God had planned and purposed — salvation! We see Jesus in Isaiah’s joyful confidence. Jesus quotes the words from Isaiah 61 in his inaugural speech of his ministry (Luke 4:16-22). It is Jesus, the anointed one who brings the good news to the afflicted. He does so by suffering affliction on our behalf. It is Jesus, the gentle and lowly savior, who binds the wounds of the broken hearted. He does so by being wounded for sinners — by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5-6). Jesus, by his life, death, and resurrection, has clothed us with the garments of salvation. Remember, Jesus was stripped of his garments to cover us  with the robe of his righteousness. The Lord’s righteousness has indeed sprouted from the seed of the woman who died to give us life (John 12:24-26). The Lord’s redemption is all about restoring beauty from ashes — once broken image bearers of God, reconciled to God, united with Jesus as a testament of redemption, and not ruin. You, dear Christian, are God’s Kintsugi. And this calls for celebration! Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible Observation: Read the passage privately. What does the text say? What according to you is the theme of this passage? Do you notice keywords, parallels, or surprises? Read verse 1: Why does the Lord anoint the servant-messiah with his Spirit? Read verse 2. How should we interpret the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance? How does the day of the Lord’s vengeance bring comfort to all who mourn? 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. We are in a series titled Jesus Through Isaiah’s Eyes. What aspect of the work of Jesus as the servant-messiah has captured your imagination, and why? 3. Looking at Our Hearts Isaiah spoke these words during the political and spiritual decline of Israel. This passage shows us God’s heart — steadfast love and compassion towards us even when we refuse to listen to God. Reflect: Do you feel God is with you, or at a distance from you in this season of life? How might this passage help you? In this passage we read about Jesus ministering to the afflicted, broken-hearted, and comforting those who mourn. How have you experienced the personal attention of Jesus — tender love and compassion in your life? 4. Looking at Our World Jesus, the servant messiah was endowed with the Spirit to accomplish our salvation. How might we as Christians indwelt by the Holy Spirit reflect the gospel in our words and deeds, wherever God has placed us? Hint: think about love and truth, mercy and justice.  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.

March 10, 2024 | Read

Will Science Dispel Christian Faith?

Contrary to what people think, modern science and Christian faith are not in conflict with one another because science can only answer certain questions, science addresses different questions, and there are some questions science can never answer.

February 7, 2024 | More...

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

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