A weekly look back and look forward from Pastor Wayne
Looking Back: This past Sunday I concluded the message with a question – “who is the builder in your life?” And then I asked, “is the building in your life the body of Christ?” Finally, I asked, “who are you boasting in? Jesus or you?” The passage we read from Hebrews 3:1-6 makes the unusual observation that the builder of a house “has greater honor than the building itself.” I don’t know about you, but that’s not normally how I think. I see a magnificent building – for example the Empire State building in NY and I don’t give a thought to who built it – I’m taken up with the building itself. Here’s the point of God’s Word – we can do the same in terms of spiritual life – preoccupied with all the externals rather than the builder – Jesus! My prayer is that all of us, myself included will be focused on the builder of our lives – Jesus!
Looking Ahead:
We move in our Hebrew’s series “being satisfied with the Savior” to chapter 3:7-11. I chose the title from the Song of Solomon “Watch out for the little foxes.” We know that little foxes would come along and just as the vineyards were in bloom jump up on the vines and potentially ruin the harvest. The same concept is true in our lives. Little foxes the Hebrew writer will tell us, lead to hardened hearts. We get used to the message, we grow comfortable with the gospel, we even start to get along with our sins, and what happens – we end up with hardened hearts. We’re no longer malleable to the conviction of the Spirit, the good news of Jesus. We end up with spiritual gunk in our pipes and plaque on our arteries. Join us this Sunday as we are reminded from God’s Word how easy it is to drift. Come ready for God’s solution!
Looking Beyond: Before long, it will be Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday. I plan on sharing an “Easter” series around the significance and importance of Jerusalem. As you watch the news, look at the internet, remember what’s going on in the Middle East calls us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. This is ultimately the goal, the center, the location of all the conflict we’ve lived through in the Middle East! Before we get to Holy Week, Sunday March 22 we continue in the “Satisfied with the Savior, or Satisfaction with the Savior” series. Our emphasis will be on “encouragement, perseverance, and a warning.”