Often in reading the Scripture, we skim past great oceans of truth and thus fail to appreciate the height, depth, width, and breadth of what we just read. I believe John 20:17 is one of those untapped “oceans.”

In the words of our Lord, something powerful happened because of the cross. The alienated become brethren, the orphaned become adopted and the wayward become worshippers. Jesus uses an Old Testament formula to speak of the relationship His people have to their God, “My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (Ex. 6:7; Lev. 26:12 ['I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people']; Jer. 7:23; 30:22; Ezek. 36:28). “His words are reminiscent of Ruth’s words to Naomi: ‘your people shall be my people and your God my God’ (Ruth 1:16)” (F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, p.391). The language is that of the covenant made with Israel and promised to Israel. Let us not miss the slight alteration in our Lord’s expansion of this idea. Jesus identifies Himself with His people. Jesus includes us in His family. Let us for a moment recall the statement of our Lord in John 15:14-15.

13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:13-15).

He identifies His disciples not only as friends but also as brothers, family. “We may compare his words to the women in Matthew 28:10, ‘go and tell my brothers . . . ‘, where the reference (according to verse 16) is to ‘the eleven disciples’. Such coincidences between Matthew and John are sufficiently rare to be particularly noteworthy when they occur” (F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, p.390).

He calls us “children.” Such a word is one of “familiarity and affectionate kindness.” He calls us “brothers and friends.” We share a common Father. New Testament scholar Lightfoot correctly notes the distinction between His Sonship and ours when he wrote, “His Sonship to the Father is by nature and right, theirs is only by adoption and grace, in and through Him.” (Lightfoot as quoted in Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, Rev., NICNT, p.743). This is what the cross does. This is its power. It restores fellowship, reconciles the distant, satisfies anger, declares righteous the guilty, and adopts the orphaned. There is nothing like the cross anywhere at any time. John continues with this idea in 1 John 4:17 when he wrote, “because as He is, so also are we in this world.” Even Paul recognizes the unique nature of this union in two notable passages: Romans 6:2, 3 and Galatians 2:20.

3 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3, 4).

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20).

This is the often overlooked but potent power of the cross. We are a part of His eternal family. He calls us brothers. He signifies a common Father and a common God. We hold this in union with Him.

Consider also, it is to a woman the responsibility of the message to His disciples has been entrusted. “We should not miss the significance of the fact that these important messages were entrusted to women. Among the Jews, women were not permitted to bear witness (Mishnah, Rosh Ha-Shanah 1:8) (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, Rev., NICNT, p.743). The scope of the family is inclusive. It is broad and sweeping as to who is included. This is Paul’s point in Galatians 3:27-29.

27 “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:27-29).

Truly, this thought is staggering. Are you beginning to see just how marvelous the cross is? I trust as you stand on the shores of God’s ocean you are seeing just how magnificent He truly is. Let us not hold lightly the cross, let us not cheapen it with glib speech, let us muster up all the energy we can in speaking of the cross and seeing its shadow cast across the canvass of our lives.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

Why should I assemble with the saints of God on a weekly basis? What place or importance is Sunday morning worship to have in my life? Why should I attend weekly gatherings outside of Sunday morning? What contributions do such activities make in my Christian walk?

Often weekly church attendance can have a place of importance until something else comes up. Most of the time we are regular in our attendance, but sometimes other “things” crowd out our weekly attendance. Things like camping trips, fishing trips, family gatherings, or simple laziness can excuse us from attending. What place are “religious” activities to have in the Christian life and why should we attend to these things?

Like other Christian fellowships, we have annual prayer and fasting weeks and set aside specific days for the week of Easter and Advent. Yet such weeks are often viewed as an intrusion or an interruption in one’s regular activities. Somehow the event becomes an inconvenience. It pulls us out of bed or our regular routines and thus is deemed a nuisance.

Yet this is exactly what it is suppose to do. It is our routines and the weight of our daily grind that tempts us away from God. The world, the flesh, and the devil use these things to pull us away from what is most important. These things are his strategy; to pull us away is his desire.

An annual week of prayer and fasting, holy week, Advent and each Sunday is to awaken us out of our lethargy and remind us that we are here for God and by God. Everything we do is from Him, through Him, and for Him.

We are to worship God by celebrating all we enjoy from parenting, to marriage, to national freedoms, to present employment and from hardships, heartaches, and hernias. All that is good and bad and everything in between is cause for acknowledging God in our midst. It is because of Him that we live and move and have our being.

Each event that opens us up to God is a “special” event. All of the planned and intentional days assigned by the church are designed to call us back to what is primary. As we set aside this time to reflect and talk of God, let us filter everything we are and have and do through this wonderful grid of God’s grace through the bookends of His incarnation and resurrection truth. God is not only with us, but He is for us.

So…as you set aside this time, let it be done with a heart of gratitude and not regret. Let it be a celebration and meditation. Let the Holy Spirit use this time to call us back to Him. May you find this time a rich time of fellowship with one another, with God, and with His Word.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

(1 Cor. 15).  The despair would be oppressive and mankind would become more cannibalistic in their greed and self-indulgence.

Without a resurrection from the dead this life would be a “period” instead of a “line.”

It is all too easy to allow this truth to slip away from our psyche.  In so doing, we are robbed of a compass in the midst of life’s storms.  It is the resurrection from the dead that feeds the hungry and quenches the thirst of the parched.  Hope . . . the word has lost much of its punch.  What is hope?  Hope is hearing the news of a child’s safety, of a positive doctor’s report, of a financial need being met.  Jesus Christ is hope.

This hope was declared with an exclamation point in His resurrection from the dead.   As we consider the resurrection there are several truths we need to be reminded of.

First, it is the resurrection from the dead where reward for God’s faithfulness to complete that which He has begun shall be given

(Luke 14:14).  When the New Testament Church gathers at the Judgment Seat of Christ (called the Bema Seat Judgment) there will be an unprecedented declaration of God’s faithfulness in finishing that which He alone began, who alone sustained and now completes.

The resurrection of our Lord affirms this.

Second, our final resurrection shall be the complete and utter demise of death’s sting (Luke 20:36; 1 Cor. 15:54).  His resurrection from the dead removes the victory and sting of death for me (1 Cor. 15:55).

Death no longer stands as victor over a conquered foe.

Third, it is the resurrection from the dead that comforts us in our time of earthly loss (John 11:24).

As believers our departure from one another is only a temporal transition from one world into the next.

Our good-byes are never final.  Our losses are never terminal.

Fourth, Jesus Christ is the embodiment of resurrection life and those who believe in Him will live even though they die (John 11:25).  To preach Jesus is to preach a resurrection from the dead (Acts 4:2; 17:18).  The two truths are in tandem.  They are inseparable.  We must never lose sight of the resurrection truth as it is woven into the very fabric of our Lord’s message.  It is the dye that colors the fabric of life with brilliant, breath-taking hope.  It is His resurrection from the dead that causes us to be born again to a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3).

Fifth, it was His resurrection from the dead that declared Him to be the Son of God with power (Rom. 1:4).  God the Father declared Jesus Christ to be His Son through the resurrection from the dead.  It was the divine stamp of approval that resonated through time’s corridor.

Jesus Christ approved of God.

This day is to be a day of great rejoicing as we reflect on our Lord’s resurrection from the dead.  We have been recipients of grace, may we now become conduits of grace to those around us.  May grace continue to reign at Waukesha Bible Church.

Paul’s language is familiar to us because we have read and heard these words so many times. In fact, we have probably become too familiar with them, because what Paul says here, as the Corinthians would have heard it, is a revolutionary message, a counterintuitive message, a counter-cultural message, and in all probability, the Corinthians were not quite prepared to hear this. For what Paul says is that the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.[1]

Although we wear it as a fashion accessory, the cross is an instrument of death and destruction.  It is to be abhorred and shunned.  Yet in the death of Jesus Christ at the cross, the implement of devastation became a symbol of, not death, but life.  The significance of Lent lies in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Lent is positioned for calling us back to what is real.  Consider the emphasis the Gospels place on the last week of our Lord Jesus and in particular the last day.

In most biographies, the death of the person concerned is a mere incident at the close of the book. In Hay’s life of Abraham Lincoln there are 5,000 pages, but only 25 are devoted to the dramatic account of his assassination and death. There is certainly much of dramatic interest in the passion and death of Jesus, but when we look at the space given to these events in the Gospel writings, what do we find?

All the Gospels declare that Jesus was crucified during the Jewish feast of Passover. John adds the information that Jesus had experienced at least two previous Passovers (John 2:13; 6:4). This, together with other clues, indicates that his public ministry lasted something like two to three years. Matthew’s Gospel has 28 chapters. In Matthew 21 Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the Sunday before he is crucified. That means that a quarter of Matthew’s Gospel deals with the final six days of his life. An additional chapter deals with his resurrection. Mark has 16 chapters. In Mark 11 Jesus rides into Jerusalem. That means that about one-third of Mark’s Gospel deals with that same period.

Luke’s Gospel is a little different. Luke has 24 chapters. He gives two chapters to Jesus’ conception, birth and childhood, followed by one on the ministry of John the Baptist. Then he gives six chapters to Jesus’ public ministry, chiefly in Galilee. At the end of chapter 9 Jesus begins his last journey up to Jerusalem. This means that of the 24 chapters, 15 deal with the final few months of his time on earth, six of these dealing with the final few days and the resurrection.
John’s Gospel is the most significant of all in this regard. John has 21 chapters. Half-way through the Gospel, in chapter 12, Jesus arrives in Bethany for that final week. By chapter 13 we have already got to his final meal with his disciples, the night before his crucifixion. Chapters 13 to 18 tell us about the events of that fateful night. Chapter 19 deals with the conclusion of his trial and crucifixion, and chapters 20 and 21 tell of his resurrection. This means that almost half of the Gospel is about the last 24 hours of his life, together with his resurrection.[2]

The Gospels tell of the Hero’s Arrival and of His Work.  The Letters of Paul will explain and explore both the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Thus the centerpiece and emphasis of the New Testament is Jesus Christ, and we would do well to stay with that focus.

The Church Calendar provokes the Christian to see their lives as a part of God’s Story.  In Advent, the Christian once more celebrates the Hero’s arrival in fulfillment of promise and picture.  In Pentecost, the Christian recognizes and affirms the Hero’s Legacy in and through His Church.  And in Lent, the Christian embraces once more the Hero’s Person and Work as culminating in His death, burial, and resurrection.  How does Lent do this?  What is its meaning?

Lent is the forty-day-long season of fasting and prayer before Easter. The forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert; where according to the Bible he endured temptation by Satan. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.[3]

Though not biblical, Lent has long been a tradition in the Christian Church.[4]

Thus, Lent calls us back.  It beckons us to remember what the shadow means.  It invites us to look past the shadow and see the person and work of Jesus Christ.  How does Lent do this?  One author in their reflections of Lent’s purpose provides the following thought.  It is insightful and penetrating.  Though it is lengthy, we do well to read it with reflection.

The desert experience is about deprivation. Most of the world experiences it involuntarily. For many people, however, deprivation is a great evil, and to be avoided at all costs. In deprivation, we discover that we are not all-powerful. We are slaves to our bellies, to the opinions of others, to pleasure. We cannot bear pain, so we take a pill. We cannot bear growing old, so we dye our hair. Like Darth Vader in Star Wars, we replace our humanity with technology until there is little of our self-left. Doing without can strip away some of the illusions and give us a glimpse of truth.

During Lent, we have the opportunity to hear voices that are usually lost in the din of pleasure and meaningless talk.   During Lent, we use abstinence . . . as metaphors. In a very small way, they model the rejection of illusions about what we need, who we are, and who God is. In this life, we try to make some progress in discarding our “disordered attachments.” At death, we will no longer have a choice. We cannot enter Heaven burdened with a thousand foolish attachments. As our bodies lie rotting, there will be no more illusions about the worth of attractiveness. As others claim our possessions, they will finally have their proper value to us. When we stand in judgment before God, we will have no illusions about our sanctity or goodness. All will be laid bare, and there will be no more hypocrisy, lies, or illusions. It is far better to begin discarding our foolish attachments in this life, and Lent is a good time to begin this work.[5]

As followers of Christ, let us not forget the cross.  Let us use this time to reflect deeply on who God is and what He has done in this powerful display of divine grace.  Our journey to the cross will follow six fundamental ideas.  First, let us reflect on the wisdom of the cross.  Why is the cross considered foolish by those who reject it?  Why did God use the cross as the means of delivering His people from their sin?  Second, let us reflect on the work of the cross.  What did Jesus accomplish when He offered Himself up as a sacrificial lamb in behalf of His people?  Third, let us reflect on the way of the cross.  The way of the cross looks a certain way.  Those who follow Jesus travel a worn path.  There is only one way to God, and it is by way of the cross.  Fourth, let us reflect on the word of the cross.  Living the way of the cross is what marks all who follow Him.  It is the content of what they speak and the compass as to how they live.  It both drives and directs all who follow to Him.  Fifth, let us reflect on the weight of the cross.  Those who take up His cross are marked by His cross.  The cross is an instrument of death and as such there is a stigmata present in those who bear it.  Yet the very thing once loathed becomes the object of love.  Finally, let us reflect on the wonder of the cross.  The cross is a symbol of the Father’s pleasure and the Son’s joy.  The wonderment is found in life coming from death.  The cross is fundamentally a symbol of something or someone greater.  The cross is about God and His only begotten Son who gave Himself voluntarily in incarnation and vicariously in salvation.  It is the cross that most shadows the power of God.  Thus as we start Lent, may the Holy Spirit drive us to remove the rubble that impedes us from aggressively and singularly living for Him.  And may our focus be on who He is and what He has done and not in what we do.

[2] http://www.christianity.co.nz/cross-4.htm#emphasis

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent

[4] http://archive.elca.org/communication/whatislent.html

[5] http://www.whitestonejournal.com/lent1.html

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

Yet part of the initial question is, “What is Lent?” I would like to begin by noting what Lent is not. First, Lent is not a means of meriting divine favor. Whatever Lent is, it is not this. Those who have distorted Lent and mutated it into a means of meriting favor from God have grossly erred. Second, Lent is not a time for fleshly introspection. No one need look far if their desire is to find hidden sins. We cannot afford to forget that within the “flesh” there dwells no good thing. Third, Lent is not to determine whether one is or is not worthy of the Lord. Those whose identity is in Adam will never be worthy in and of themselves. And those whose identity is in Christ will never be anything less than worthy in and of Christ. There is no action on the introspective that can cause them to be more or less worthy than they already are in Christ.

Still, “What is Lent?” First, Lent is a time to focus more intentionally on the person and work of Jesus Christ. The season of Lent anticipate the Hero’s Work. Lent enables the church to remind Herself of who He is, what He has done, and who She is because of it. Historically the church marks it as a forty day period. Forty is the biblical number for assessing. It is a time to assess where one is in relationship to the Lord and the story of which He is the Hero. For believers, it is a time to celebrate the work and power of the cross and its eternal consequences. All assessing must be in light of the previous three “warnings.” Life has a strong tendency to pull us out of the Bible’s storyline. We become so consumed and distracted by life that we forget and fail to live in God’s story. An intentional approach to Lent can help the believer to remember the story. Second, many use Lent as a period of “putting off.” By using it as a time for “laying aside weights” (Heb. 12:1, 2) the Spirit of God can seize this season to break the strongholds of financial greed, food gluttony, and personal glory. We are not here for ourselves but for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Christians should always live in light of their Lord and Savior; but the world, the flesh, and the devil have the power through stealth to distract and deceive the people of God. We are distracted by mere shadows and trinkets and deceived into believing this life is all there is. Lent can be a powerful wake up call to remember the voice from behind the veil, to remember the substance which casts the shadow, and to remember that Jesus Christ is enough in this life and in the life to come.

More than ever, the people of God must remember. The day and age in which we live stifles the believing and casts the dark shadow of unbelief over our souls. It is the prayer of His people to their heavenly Father, to the resurrected and living Christ, and to the guiding and guarding Holy Spirit to awaken them from their spiritual apathy and to will them into a delighting joy in all that He is for them. May God hear His people.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

Why Does Waukesha Bible Church

Mark Certain “Religious” Holidays?

Or

How We Participate in the Global Community and Conversation

Without Losing Our Theological Distinctiveness

As lead pastor and co-elder, I am sensitive to the unique personality we have as a local church. I am also aware of our part inside the global body of Christ. Neither one can be denied without doing great harm. I was raised religiously as a Roman Catholic. I left the Roman Catholic Church and became an Independent Baptist. Apart from the “New Birth,” my movement from Roman Catholicism into becoming an Independent Baptist was not intentional. It simply existed, and it was where I ended up. Although the move was providential and not necessarily intended by me, looking back I believe it was necessary and important that I break with the Roman Catholic Church. After I left Catholicism, I began attending a Bible College. My religious training took me further into a subset of Christianity called, “Fundamentalism.” The brand of Fundamentalism I engaged in practiced an idea called “secondary separation.” Inside of this context, I opposed all forms of doctrine that did not line up with my (“our”) system of thought. This ideology produced a separation and isolation from the larger expressions of professing Christianity.

Although there is a form of ecumenicalism that is harmful to the gospel’s purity, there is also a biblical ecumenicalism that recognizes the body of Christ globally. This global body does not carry any one label or system, but is genuinely Christian. The labels worn within the global church are so many as to be overwhelming. There is no question as to the need to define and explain what is primary within the Christian faith, as there is a need to know what is of little or no consequence.

I personally believe one of the most harmful elements within the Christian church is the constant infighting that has taken place and the combative spirit shown to the unbelieving world at large. It is simply wrong for any Christian to attack another Christian over issues of non-importance. If anyone does not believe the gospel as set forth in the New Testament record, then they are not Christian. However, if they do believe the gospel as set forth in the New Testament record, then they are Christian no matter what label they are identified by. Every denomination or association label currently employed to identify the Christian Church is of secondary importance to the larger issue of Christ.

In light of all this, how do we retain our own personality and individualism within the larger body of Christ and still engage in the global community and communication? A real means to this end is by using the Church Calendar where possible. Christians universally all speak of Christmas and Easter. The periods surrounding the “celebration” of these two events are called Advent and Lent. A third date that can be introduced is that of Pentecost, which occurs fifty days after Easter. Pentecost celebrates the expansion of God’s kingdom message through the early church into the world at large.

Why would we, as a church, want to begin noting these events? First, with very few exceptions, the global expression of Christianity already recognizes these periods. Second, it is possible for us to note the event and the period without any harm to the integrity of our individual identity as a local church. Third, by marking these events (i.e., Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost) we are intentionally entering into the storyline of the Bible. The season of Advent celebrates the arrival of the story’s Hero; the season of Lent celebrates the Hero’s work and the season of Pentecost celebrates the Hero’s legacy as it is worked in and through His body, the Church. Fourth, in a culture that is moving toward deconstruction through isolation and desensitization through technology, it is imperative the Church once more become a relational community of faith. Fifth, the Church must continue to function as a voice calling the individual and community back into the storyline of the Bible. Our current condition deceives us into believing this life is most important. The noting of these periods help call us back to the story and what is truly primary.

We are a Christ-exalting, Word-centered, Global-impacting, Grace-based fellowship that is determined to shout the supremacy of God in all things by finding, celebrating, and declaring that He is enough in this life and in the life to come through the systematic study of Scripture and to share Him with every tongue, tribe, people, and nation. Observing these seasonal periods allows us to enter into the global community and conversation without losing our personality and individualism as a local church. Each of these periods enable us to “proclaim and picture” to the believing congregant and unbelieving community the storyline of God as it has been entrusted to us.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths. For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.