Word of Life Church Podcast

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God Is Not A Monster Nov 08, 2015

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There are monsters in this world, but the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not one of them. Yes, there are monsters. We have an imagination for monsters because we know of their existence. Venomous and vicious beasts were a daily peril for our earliest ancestors. Volcanoes and tsunamis can swallow whole cities. Hurricanes and tornados roar from the heavens, leaving hell in their wake. Epidemics of disease are lethal predators taking their pitiless toll. Worst of all, there are monstrosities of men — conquerors and warlords, tyrants and despots — galloping across history like ringwraiths bringing conquest, war, famine, and death. We can imagine monsters because we have met them. But the living God is not one of them. Not the God who Jesus called Abba.

Forty Years Nov 06, 2015

Show notes

In forty years of following Jesus these are my four most significant discoveries:
1. Jesus Is the Light of the World
2. The Christian Life is a Journey
3. The Kingdom of God is Everything
4. God Is Like Jesus

Pilgrim's Progress: Part 3 Nov 01, 2015

Show notes

Paul writes to the deeply flawed church at Corinth and calls them saints—which is theologically correct, but also, if you know about those Corinthian Christians, a bit hilarious. We are called saints in Christ. Which is a lovely thing to call sinners trying to follow Jesus. We are saints—holy ones. But we’re also sinners…and we live in that tension. Those of us following Jesus are pilgrims trying to make progress toward sainthood. As Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Saints are sinners who kept going.” We are sinner-saints pressing on to live up to our high calling in Christ Jesus.

Blind Man at the Gate Oct 30, 2015

Show notes

In Mark chapter ten we find two stories back to back that exemplify how we should and should not pray. In the first story James and John approach Jesus saying, "We want you to do for us whatever we ask." This self-agenda based prayer is met with rebuff from Jesus. In the second story the blind beggar Bartimaues simply prayers, "Lord, have mercy on me." Jesus responds to this humble, open-ended plea for mercy with, "What do you want me to do for you?" It wasn't the two disciples who knew how to pray, but the blind beggar.

Pilgrim's Progress: Part 2 Oct 25, 2015

Show notes

If there’s a secret to making progress as a Christian pilgrim, it’s this: When following Jesus gets hard and discouraging and confusing—and it will!—just don’t quit, but keep on pressing on.

I'm Not Just Spiritual, I'm Religious Oct 23, 2015

Show notes

The modern adage goes, "I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual." But what does that mean and where does it come from? The modern contempt for religion doesn't come from Jesus and the Apostles, it comes from the likes of Voltaire and Nietzsche. Jesus was religious. Throughout his life Jesus engaged in religious practices. Religion is essential to spiritual formation. If we hope to be formed as Christian people we can't leave it up to vague notions of abstract spirituality, instead we need the practices and disciplines that belong to the received wisdom of the Christian religion.

Pilgrim's Progress: Part 1 Oct 18, 2015

Show notes

The Christian life is a journey, a pilgrimage. It's not a static state of being, but a call to follow Jesus. The point of the journey is not so much where we're going, but what we're becoming. Jesus didn't say, "Follow me and I will take you..." Jesus said, "Follow me and I will make you..."

Room At The Table Oct 16, 2015

Show notes

In the fifth century BC Ezra led Jerusalem in a revival of fidelity to the Torah by exhorting those who had married Samaritan women to divorce them and send them away along with their children. But what happens if we invite Jesus into the story? Things change. Jesus never used the word grace, but his whole life was an embodiment of grace. Jesus embodied the grace of God by always making room at the table for the excluded other.

Zechariah: Prophet of the Comeback Oct 11, 2015

Show notes

Zechariah is the prophet of the comeback. Israel had been on a long losing streak. A divided kingdom, a civil war, corrupt kings and priests, Israel conquered by Assyria, Judah conquered by Babylon, and worst of all, the Temple of God destroyed. It's under these bleak conditions that Zechariah dares to prophesy of a comeback for Israel. Not only will the Temple be rebuilt, but Israel's true king will come to Jerusalem. This king won't ride the warhorse; he'll enter Jerusalem on the peace donkey. But Zechariah also prophesies that the Peaceable King will be the Pierced King.

Isaiah of the Exile: Your God is Coming Oct 04, 2015

Show notes

God's people were living in exile in Babylon. The world around them had grown dark. No light. No temple. No Sabbath. No God. No hope. Into this dark cloud of despair comes a word from elsewhere from Isaiah of the Exile. He brings a word of comfort, a word of encouragement -- the God of Israel was coming to rescue and save.
Isaiah poetic word of prophecy was filled with seven themes:
1. God is creator. (Is. 40:28-31)
2. Israel is God’s servant. (Is. 43:10-11)
3. Idolatry is stupid. (Is. 44:9, 14-19)
4. Israel has sinned and thus suffered. (Is. 48:3-5)
5. God is compassionate. (Is. 49:13-18)
6. God’s messenger is coming. (Is. 52:7-8, 13-15; 53:1-9)
7. New creation awaits. (Is. 65:17-25)
In this we see the gospel in miniature.

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