The Treasure and the Pearl Matthew 13 John: Lebron James card. What would you sell everything you had for? Greg: Parable of the hidden treasure: Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of God: once we experience the treasure, we won’t hesitate to give everything away for it. Amy and ebay. John: Antique Roadshow. How many of you would buy these for $5,000? They’re worth over a $1M. John 12:1-8: Mary, Jesus, and the ointment. She had experienced Jesus. It was worth it! Greg: The pearl: Matthew 13:45-46 John: Worthless treasure: iron ore in the desert. Rich ruler: Matthew 19:16-24 What are you hesitant to give up? Wealth? Position? Respect? Have you met Jesus or have you just met the idea of Jesus: rules. Greg: Matthew 8:18-22. Even family?!?! What would prevent you from following Jesus? John: Frodo, the ring, Mount Doom. Greg: How do we know Christ is the treasure? We experience him! John: Experience Christ in the Bible. Start your day by experiencing Jesus. Greg: Experience Christ in community. The voice of God John: Experience Christ in prayer. The 40 Day Prayer Challenge. God wants to be with you! Take everything to God. For me: journaling. Time without devices. Greg: Experience Christ in disciplines. How much do you value eternal treasures. Jesus’ simple parable reveals what’s in our hearts. Can you leave behind the things of this world to find your heavenly rewards? www.newlifetucson.org

By Dr. Caroline Leaf on June 04, 2025 I’m excited to share something that’s been weighing on my mind lately, and I think it’s something we all need to talk about. As someone who’s spent decades studying how our brains work, I’ve been deeply concerned about what I’m seeing happening to our minds in this age of AI—and most of us don’t even realize it’s happening, which is why I wanted to talk about it in depth on my recent podcast and in this blog.  The Invisible Transformation Here’s the thing: AI isn’t just influencing your life—it’s literally rewiring your brain. From the moment you wake up and check your phone to the way you scroll through social media, make decisions, and even think through problems, algorithms are subtly reshaping your neural pathways in ways that run much deeper than most people realize. I’ve been diving deep into the research, including fascinating studies from Stanford on attention fragmentation and MIT’s findings on AI-driven dopamine feedback loops. What I’ve discovered is both concerning and empowering—because once you understand what’s happening, you can take back control. What’s Really Happening Inside Your Mind Let me break down what I’m seeing in my clinical work and the research: Attention Fragmentation: Your brain is becoming increasingly scattered. That feeling of being mentally all over the place? That’s not just you—it’s your brain adapting to an environment designed to fragment your focus. Cognitive Offloading: We’re outsourcing more and more of our thinking to machines. While this might seem helpful, it’s actually weakening our mental muscles. I call this “delegation without discernment,” and it’s making our thinking duller. The Google Effect: Your memory is changing. When you know you can instantly look something up, your brain stops bothering to remember it. This isn’t just about facts—it’s affecting how you process and integrate information. Algorithmic Fatigue: Your brain is getting exhausted trying to keep up with the constant stream of AI-curated content. This leads to what I call “digital overwhelm”—that feeling of being mentally fried even when you haven’t done anything particularly taxing. The Vulnerable Default Mode Here’s something that really concerns me: your brain’s default mode network—the part that’s active when you’re not focused on a specific task—is more vulnerable than ever. This network is crucial for creativity, self-reflection, and emotional processing. But constant AI stimulation is hijacking this natural state, leaving you feeling disconnected from your own thoughts and feelings. I always tell my clients: “The moment you stop checking, the machine starts shaping.” And that’s exactly what’s happening. The Dopamine Trap The AI systems we interact with daily are designed to trigger dopamine responses—those little hits of pleasure that keep you coming back. But here’s the problem: these artificial dopamine loops are training your brain to seek instant gratification and avoid the deeper, more sustained thinking that leads to real growth and satisfaction. But Here’s the Good News I don’t want you to panic or throw your devices out the window. The beautiful thing about neuroplasticity—your brain’s ability to change and adapt—is that it works both ways. Just as AI can reshape your brain in concerning ways, you can consciously rewire it back to health. My Science-Backed Framework for Taking Back Control Here’s what I recommend to protect and strengthen your cognitive resilience: Practice Digital Discernment: Before you engage with any AI tool, ask yourself: “Is this helping me think more clearly, or is it thinking for me?” Learn to distinguish between helpful technology and harmful manipulation. Strengthen Your Default Mode: Build in regular periods of unstimulated thinking time. This means putting down your phone, stepping away from screens, and letting your mind wander. Your brain needs this space to process, integrate, and create. Check Your Checking: Notice when you’re automatically reaching for your phone or AI assistant. Pause and ask: “Do I really need this right now, or am I just seeking stimulation?” Cultivate Deep Thinking: Engage in activities that require sustained concentration—reading a physical book, having a deep conversation, working on a complex problem without digital assistance. The Human Connection Factor One thing AI can never replace is genuine human connection and co-regulation. While AI can echo information back to you, it can’t disrupt you into growth the way a real relationship can. Make sure you’re not emotionally outsourcing your need for authentic human connection to chatbots and AI assistants. Your Mental Survival Strategy Remember, this isn’t just about technology—it’s about mental survival in a digitized world. You don’t lose your mind to AI—you lose it when you stop noticing what’s happening to it. The key is awareness. Once you start paying attention to how AI is affecting your thinking, memory, and emotional state, you can make conscious choices about how to engage with these tools in ways that serve you rather than diminish you. Moving Forward I’m not anti-technology—I’m pro-human agency. AI can be an incredible tool when used with wisdom and intention. But we need to be the ones driving the relationship, not the other way around. Your brain is remarkably adaptable, and with the right strategies, you can maintain your cognitive strength, creativity, and emotional intelligence in this digital age. It starts with recognizing that just because AI sounds fluent doesn’t mean it’s right, and just because it’s convenient doesn’t mean it’s beneficial for your mental health. Take back your mind. Your future self will thank you for it.

We aren’t okay. After decades of mental health stabilizing or improving, the mental health of teens started plunging in 2010 and fifteen years later continues its downward trajectory. Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation argues that the cause of our mental health crisis is that rectangle nestled in our pockets: our smart phones. Over the past month at New Life we have been asking the question: what does the Bible have to say about mental health? This past week we dove into Psalm 42, where one of the sons of Korah battles the lies he is believing by speaking God’s truth over himself. Twice he stops his anxious thoughts with a question and a promise, Why are you cast down, O my soul,     and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,     my salvation[ 6 and my God. (Ps. 42:5-6) Throughout the Psalms we see this pattern of those battling fears, anxiety, and depression by speaking God’s truth to themselves. David preaches to himself in Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul,     and all that is within me,     bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,     and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity,     who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit,     who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good     so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Ps. 103:1-5) We don’t have to be held captive by our thoughts; we can hold our thoughts captive (2 Cor. 10:5) and preach God’s truth to ourselves. My co-lead pastor, Greg Lavine created a list of personalized and paraphrased verses that might be a use to you as you fight to hold onto God’s unshakeable truths and defeat the lies in your heart.   Personalized truths to meditate on   Genesis 1:27 I created you in My own image; the imprint of My being is in you. You have the worth, value, and dignity of Me in you.  Exodus 33:14 Don’t worry. My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.  Deuteronomy 7:6–7 You are holy to Me. I am making a holy people to be a family, and you are part of it. I have chosen you to be My treasured possession. Listen to Me, out of all the people on earth, I chose you. And I didn’t choose you because you were impressive or strong or many in number. I chose you simply because I love you.  Deuteronomy 10:15 I set My heart on you. Out of all the people in the world, I chose you … and I still choose you.  Deuteronomy 14:2 You are holy to Me. You belong to Me. Out of all the nations, I picked you to be My treasured possession.  Deuteronomy 31:8 I am the LORD and I go before you. I will be with you. I will never fail you or forsake you. Don’t fear or be confused.  Deuteronomy 33:27 I am the eternal God and I am your refuge. You can rest in Me, in My everlasting arms.  Psalm 4:8 I will have you lie down and sleep in peace, for I am your God. Dwell in safety.  Psalm 5:3 In the morning I hear your voice; in the morning when you talk with Me know that I’m looking out for you.  Psalm 9:9–10 I am your refuge. In times of trouble, remember I am your stronghold.  Psalm 16:8 I am at your right hand, you will not be shaken.  Psalm 23:1–4 I am your Shepherd, you will never be in want. I make you lie down in green pastures, I lead you beside quiet waters, it is I that restores your soul. I guide you in paths of righteousness for My glory. Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, don’t fear anything. I am with you. My rod and My staff comfort you.  Psalm 23:6 Trust Me… goodness and mercy will always follow you. I have made it so that you will live with Me forever.  Psalm 27:1, 3 I am your light and your salvation; you have nothing to be afraid of. I am your stronghold; don’t worry about anything. If a whole army came against you, you have nothing to fear; the whole world could come against you – you’ll be fine. Listen to Me – I am with you.  Psalm 32:7–8 I am your hiding place; I will protect you from trouble. I sing songs of deliverance all around you.    Psalm 46:1–3 I am your refuge and strength, your ever-present help in trouble. You have nothing to fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.  Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am your God.  Psalm 62:1–2 I am your rock and your salvation; I am your fortress, nothing can come against you.  Psalm 73:26 You will fail, but I am your strength. I will be your joy forever.  Psalm 94:18–19 When you said, “My foot is slipping,” that was My love that carried you. When you were stressed out and worried, it was Me who carried you out of that pit.  Psalm 103:2–5 Look around, remember the things I do for you—I forgive all your sins and heal all your diseases, I redeem your life from the pit and crown you with love and compassion. I satisfy your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  Psalm 116:7–9 Listen, be at rest. I have been and always will be good to you. I have delivered your soul from death and your eyes from tears, your feet from stumbling, that you may walk with Me in the land of life.  Psalm 135:4 I chose you for Myself. You are Mine. My special treasure.  Psalm 138:7 Though life can be hard, I will get you through; I will stretch out My hand against whatever comes against you, I will save you with My right hand.  Psalm 139:7, 9–10, 14, 23–24 Where shall you go from My Spirit? Or where shall you flee from My presence? If you take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, there My hand will lead you, and My right hand will hold you. I made you perfect. Not a single mistake. I want you to know how carefully and beautifully I formed you. I will search you and know your heart and thoughts! I see if there is trouble inside you, and I will lead you in My ways which are everlasting!  Proverbs 3:24 When you lie down, you have nothing to be afraid of; when you lie down, I will make your sleep sweet.  Proverbs 18:10 I am your strong tower; I will always be your safe place.  Isaiah 12:2 I am your salvation; don’t be afraid. I am powerful and My strength is your strength. I’ll put a song in your soul – I am your salvation and you can draw waters of joy from Me anytime.  Isaiah 26:12 I have established peace for you and done marvelous things for you.  Isaiah 35:4–5 You can be strong, you have nothing to fear, I am your God.  Isaiah 40:28–31 Do you not know? Are you listening to Me? I am the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. I never grow tired or weary, and no one can fathom My understanding. I give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but you, you hope in Me, I will renew your strength. You will soar on wings like eagles; you will run and not grow weary, you will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, I am with you; do not be dismayed, I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.  Isaiah 43:1–3 Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. The rivers will not overtake you. You can walk through fire and you will not be burned. I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, and I am your Savior.  Isaiah 43:21 You are part of a family I formed for Myself. You have a purpose to declare My praise.  Isaiah 66:13 As a mother comforts her child, that’s how I look on you.  Jeremiah 16:19 I am your strength and fortress, your refuge when things are hard.  Jeremiah 29:11–14 I have plans for you. I have plans to prosper you and take care of you, plans full of hope and of future. You can call upon Me anytime. You can talk with Me, I’m listening. Trust Me, whenever you need Me I’m right here. Listen to Me, I will always be there for you no matter what.  Jeremiah 31:3 I love you with an everlasting love; I take care of you with loving-kindness.  Jeremiah 31:16 Don’t cry. Wipe away your tears.  Jeremiah 32:17 I am the God above all gods! I made the heavens and the earth. My great power and My outstretched arm are unmatched! Nothing is too hard for Me.  Jeremiah 33:3 Call to Me and I will answer you. I will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.  Lamentations 3:22–26 Because of My great love for you, you will not be consumed. My compassions never fail. They are new every morning. I am perfectly faithful.  Ezekiel 34:11–12, 15–16 I will search for My sheep personally, and look after them Myself. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I Myself will tend My sheep and have them lie down. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.  Daniel 10:19 You are deeply loved. Don’t be afraid. Be at peace. Be strong now; be strong.  Joel 2:13 Return to Me, for I am gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love, and I will not send calamity.  Micah 7:8 Those who oppose you will not win. When you fall, I will make you rise. When darkness approaches you, I am your light. (Micah 7:8)  Nahum 1:7 I am good. I am a stronghold in the day of trouble. I know those who take refuge in Me.  Zephaniah 3:17 I, the LORD your God, am with you. I am mighty to save. I take great delight in you; I quiet you with My love, and I rejoice over you with singing.  Matthew 6:8 and 31-32  I know what you need before you ask me. So don’t worry about anything. You never need to ask ‘What will I eat?’ or ‘What will I drink?’ or ‘What will I wear?’ Other people run after these things, trust Me, I’m looking after you.  Matthew 11:28–30 Come here, I know you’re tired and things are heavy. Come here, I will give you rest. Let Me take your load. Watch Me. I am gentle and humble in heart, I’m going to give you rest for your soul. With Me, everything that’s heavy is going to be light.  Luke 12:6-7  Do you know how much I love you? I know every detail of your life. You are so valuable to me. Don’t ever be afraid.  John 1:12 I gave you the right to be my child. Because you received me, because you believe in me, you belong to my family.  John 3:16  I love you so much, that I gave Jesus for you, so that in Him you could be with me forever.  John 10:14–15 I am your Shepherd, and I am Good. I know you, and you know Me. Just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. This is the depth of how much I know you and love you … I lay down My life for you.  John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or afraid.  John 15:9 Just as My Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love.  John 16:33 In Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.  Romans 5:8 I proved My love for you in this: while you were still in your sin, Jesus died for you.  Romans 6:2-11  That old life, ruled by sin, it doesn’t define you anymore. You died to that. You can’t still live in it? Remember this: when you were baptized into Christ Jesus, you died with Him, you were buried with Him, your old self is gone! So just as I raised Jesus from the dead by the glory of My power, so you too can walk in a brand-new life. You have been united with Him in his death, so you are certainly united with Him in His resurrection. Your old self was crucified with Him, so sin’s power over you is destroyed, you are no longer a slave to it! You are not the same, you have been set free from sin. I want to repeat myself so you get this, you died with Christ, so you also live with Him. Know this: Christ was raised from the dead, never to die again. Death no longer has any power over Him. He died once, to break the power of sin forever. And now He lives fully and forever for Me. So, consider this true for yourself: you are dead to sin, and alive to Me in Christ Jesus.  Romans 8:1–2 There’s no condemnation for you, not anymore! You belong to Jesus, and because of that, you are completely free. You’re not bound by sin and death, not any more, you live by the power of my Spirit.  Romans 8:14–16 You are led by My Spirit; you are My child. I did not give you a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but I gave you a Spirit of sonship so that your can cry out to Me ‘Daddy’.  Romans 8:28 I work all things together for your good, because you love Me and have been called according to My purpose.  Romans 8:31  What can I say about all this? I am for you! And because of that, who could ever stand against you?     Romans 8:37-39  I love you, and because of that, you’ve already won. You’re more than a conqueror. So much so, that you can rest on it as a fact, nothing will ever be able to separate you from My love, nothing! Not death, not life, not angels or demons, not the present or the future, not any power, not height or depth, nor anything else in all creation can separate you from My love.  1 Corinthians 1:8–9 I will keep you strong to the end. I’ll wash away your guilt until the day of victory in My son. I am faithful, I will keep you united with My Son, Jesus Christ your Lord.  1 Corinthians 6:19–20 Your body is My temple. I dwell in you. I have placed My Spirit inside of you. You are not your own. I bought you at a great price. So glorify me in all you do.  2 Corinthians 1:21–22 I secured you in Jesus. I anointed you, set My seal of ownership on you, and put My Spirit in your heart as a deposit. I’ve done all of this to guarantee you’ll always be with Me..  2 Corinthians 5:17-18 In Jesus, you are a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. This is something I did for you in Jesus. You couldn’t do it for yourself. But Jesus makes you new on the inside and draws you into Me. You can do this same thing, by drawing others close to Me, you play a part in them becoming new creations too.  2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in your weakness.  Galatians 2:20 You’ve been crucified with me. You don’t live for yourself anymore. I live in you. This life you live now, you live by faith in me, because I love you and gave Myself for you.  Galatians 4:6–7 Because you are My child, I sent the Spirit of My Son into your heart, and that Spirit calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are not a slave to anything anymore. Your My child and since you are My child, you are an heir of all that I have.  Ephesians 1:4–6 Long before I made the world, I chose you. I set you apart for My purposes. I saw you and decided to love you, I wanted you for Myself, so I adopted you into my family through Jesus. This brings me so much joy. That’s why I did it, to shine a light on my glory, which I have showered over you in Jesus.  Ephesians 2:1 and 4-6  You were dead because of sin, but I didn’t leave you there, because I constantly overflow in mercy. I saw you in your mess, in your deadness, and I loved you anyway. Because of my love for you is so great, I made you alive with Christ. Even when you were stuck in sin, I gave you life. It’s all grace, a pure gift. I raised you up with Jesus and seated you with Him in the heavenly places so you would be close to Me. You are with Me now, in spirit, and some day I am going to hold you up for all the universe to see just how marvelous My grace and kindness are in Jesus.  Ephesians 2:9-10 You didn’t earn your way to me. I gave you grace. I made you new. You are my workmanship, created in Christ to do good things that I planned for you long ago.  Ephesians 3:16–19 I strengthen you with power through My Spirit in your inner being. Christ dwells in your heart through faith. You are rooted and established in love. You have power with all the saints to know just how wide and long and high and deep is My love for you in Jesus. I want you to know this love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled to the measure of all My fullness.  Philippians 1:6 Oh how I hope you know this: I started My work in you, so I will complete it on that day that Jesus fulfills all things.  Philippians 3:20–21 Your citizenship is in heaven, all of you. And so you wait for Jesus, who will transform your earthly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. I tell you the power that He uses to control all things will accomplish this.  Philippians 4:6-8  Don’t worry about anything. Just leave your worries with Me. And My peace, which is more powerful than you can imagine, will guard your heart and your mind.  Philippians 4:13  No matter what circumstance you are in, you can do this. With me as your strength, you can do anything.  Colossians 1:13–14 I rescued you from the domain of darkness and brought you into the kingdom of My beloved Son, in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  Colossians 3:9-10  Take off that old identity, it’s not who you are! Put on the new self I gave you, and let me renew you to be more like me. That’s who I created you to be.  Colossians 3:12–14 You are My chosen one, holy and dearly loved. Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Forgive as I forgave you. And above all, put on love.  1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 I sanctify you through and through. I will keep your whole spirit, soul, and body blameless at the coming of your Lord Jesus Christ. I am faithful, and I will do it.  2 Timothy 1:7 I did not give you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.  Titus 3:4–7 When My kindness and love appeared, I saved you, not because of righteous things you had done, but because of My mercy. I saved you through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. I poured out My Spirit generously through Jesus Christ, so that, having been justified by My grace, you might become an heir with the hope of eternal life.  Hebrews 4:16 Approach My throne of grace with confidence. There, you will receive mercy and find grace to help you in your time of need.  Hebrews 13:5–6 I will never leave you; I will never forsake you. So, you can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?’  1 Peter 2:9–10 I chose you to be mine. You are a royal priest, part of a holy nation. You are my own possession, you belong to Me that you may declare My praises because I called you out of darkness into My wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are My people.  1 Peter 5:6–7 Humble yourself under My mighty hand, that I may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Me because I care for you.  1 John 1:9 When you confess your sins, I am faithful and just and will forgive you and purify you from all unrighteousness.  1 John 3:1 I love you so much, and I have lavished it on you, so that you are to be called My child. And that is what you are!  1 John 4:4  Look at Me. You are mine and you will get through anything, because I am in you and I am greater than anything you face.  Revelation 21:3–4 Look! My dwelling is now with you. I will live with you. You will be Mine, and I will be your God. I will wipe every tear from your eyes. There will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain.

Matthew 11:26 Have you ever known anyone who was offended by God? Many people carry an offense toward God because God doesn’t always behave the way we think he should. How dangerous is it to resent a Holy God? I think it is very dangerous not because God wants to zap us, but because anger toward God will blind us to all the good he is doing. Is it possible he is seeing things we miss or has a greater plan we can’t imagine? Recently, I was praying for what I thought was a simple yes or no answer. I even heard myself pray, “God do you want me to do this, yes or no?” I was trying very hard to not have a will of my own regarding this request. Henry Blackaby often said, “It is impossible to know the will of God if we have a will of our own.” I had been trying to live by this truth and I sincerely wanted to hear God speak and know his plans. But, while I was waiting for what I thought was a simple answer I felt a strong urging from God to call a friend. After visiting with her I realized my prayer request was much more complicated than I had originally thought it was. She helped me recognize the other people who were going to be affected by my decision. I am very thankful for God’s direction to call her because it helped me count the cost of my obedience to God. God wanted more than just to tell me what he desired, he wanted me to see the consequences of following him. This was a sobering moment for me. With this testimony in mind let’s turn to Matthew 11:2-6 because John the Baptist knew that following Jesus can sometimes be very costly.  2 Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples 3 and asked him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, 6 and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.” CSB In today’s passage we can learn a lot from John the Baptist’s question and Jesus’ reply. We can be confused by what God is allowing without taking the bait of offense. Matthew 11:2-3 Why might John the Baptist, who was stuck in prison, be puzzled by what Jesus is doing? Why might others in Israel be confused? Expectations of what Messiah’s arrival would bring had driven many people’s anticipation of Jesus first coming. We know that unmet expectations can easily destroy relationships. John was in prison for preaching repentance. He was trying to prepare the way for the Lord. He was doing the very thing God had called him to do, yet he was suffering even though he had been extremely obedient. These circumstances could have easily perplexed John the Baptist. How we interpret our suffering is critical to healthy deductions. What are some of the facts John had gotten right? God had called him to prepare the way of the Lord. He knew this without a doubt (Matthew 3:1-12). At Jesus’ baptism he had seen the dove descend on Jesus and he had heard the voice say, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,” (Matthew 3:13-17) so at the baptism he probably believed with all his heart that Jesus was the one who they had been looking for. But, maybe some of Jesus’ teachings, his lack of political action, or John’s own imprisonment had caused him to doubt. Whatever the reason, John sends some of his disciples to question Jesus. We can question God without taking the bait of offense. Matthew 11:4-5 God is not afraid of our questions, but we need to realize God’s answers might not satisfy our curiosity, they might surprise us, and they might not be as direct as we like. Why didn’t Jesus give John’s disciples a straight forward yes or no answer? Jesus’ answer was showing his good fruit. As Jesus described all that was happening from his ministry he was high-lighting the mounting evidence that he was the Messiah, the long-ago promised one. Compare this list of Jesus’ actions in Matthew 11:5 with those that his disciples were instructed to do from Matthew 10:7-8. Matthew 10:7-8 – As you go, proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Matthew 11:5 – The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, CSB What do we recognize? Like John the Baptist, the disciples were instructed to prepare the way of the Lord by ministering in the very villages Jesus would eventually travel to. These initial contacts with these small towns had started ushering in the kingdom of heaven on earth by doing the very work Jesus’ future visits would bring and complete. What was Jesus eliciting from John the Baptist and his disciples with this vague answer? Jesus was calling them to exercise their faith in God. We need to realize that God’s answer to our questions will always call us to a deeper faith in him (Hebrew 11:6). God is looking for faith. It is what pleases him. The one who would draw near to God must believe that he exist and that he rewards those who seek him. We can trust our unknown future to God without taking the bait of offense. Matthew 11:6 God is seeking to develop in our hearts a love that will endure and that calls for us to not be offended by his actions or by what he allows. Let’s be honest, God’s plans don’t always make sense to us. We have finite brains which makes it impossible for us to understand infinity. Remember God will sacrifice the immediate to establish the eternal in our lives. He is choosing to secure our spiritual prosperity not only for this life, but for the life to come. Deciding not be offended by Jesus will always be an ongoing act of faith and courage. We will never outgrow our need to trust God on earth. Someday in heaven we won’t need to exercise our faith because when we see Jesus’ face we will understand and he will be our reality. We learn from John the Baptist’s life that it is possible to be confused by God, it is possible to question God, and it is possible to trust our unknown future to God without ever taking the bait of offense.   Has God ever answered one of your prayers in an unexpected way? What are some God actions that have surprised you? What are some blessings that might come, if you determined not to be offended? There will always be things that mystify us about what God is doing and allowing, but remembering God’s goodness is foundational. It takes a lot of courage for us to believe that God is still for us when upsetting things are happening in our lives or it feels like we are spinning out of control. When I struggle with these arguments I hold onto this message from Isaiah 55:8-11. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11 so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.” CSB

How do we process the surreal events and challenges of our day. Lysa Terkeust comments: “The things we are experiencing now we’d only see in a Hollywood movie — not real life. COVID-19 has not only spread across the world at record levels, but it’s also spread across our daily realities and changed so much for so many. Because of the life-threatening potential of the virus, social distancing and canceled gatherings are necessary precautions. We want to do what’s right, so we’re listening to officials and paying extra attention to updates and news conferences. While all of this is necessary, it’s also jarring. It’s like life just slammed on the brakes, and we’re all still reeling from the whiplash. Certainly, in the grand scheme of things, saving lives is most important. But there are emotions we need to be able to process in the midst of all these sudden changes. One of those is the very real feeling of disappointment. And right behind it is the worry that expressing our disappointment could make us look petty in the midst of the seriousness of this virus. Please know processing our disappointments is not only OK … it’s emotionally and spiritually necessary. You’re not making light of someone else’s serious pain when you process your pain to gain a better perspective. So, first, whatever you’re going through today, it’s worth taking to the Lord and asking for His help. And second, let’s give each other grace since we are all trying to navigate unexpected fears, hardships and disappointments. Social distancing doesn’t mean we distance ourselves from offering each other grace. With that as the anthem playing in the background … let’s process what we are facing. Within the last few weeks, I had to help a friend navigate canceling her wedding. That same day, my husband had to close the dining room of his restaurant. Other friends are trying to figure out how to make enough money to live since they’ve been told their workplace had to close. Those of us who don’t get paid when we can’t go to work are looking at scary financial realities. Schools are closed. Graduations and family gatherings are canceled. Businesses large and small are experiencing financial realities that some fear they won’t be able to overcome. Everything we thought we would be doing in this season looks vastly different than we expected, and the feelings of loss are real. So, what do we do with those? As Christians, how do we set our minds and hearts on things above when we are staring at startling realities? Here are some things I wrote in my journal that are helping me: 1. Frame the disappointment by remembering what you do have, so you don’t get consumed by what’s been taken. Many of you are having to cancel or postpone important life events right now and that’s very hard. It’s incredibly emotional when you’ve dreamed and planned and invested in what you thought would be a very normal expectation. But remember, fun has not been canceled. Love has not been canceled. Being good to other people has not been canceled. Learning and growing and maturing has not been canceled. Use this time to reframe what matters most and choose to celebrate in creative ways. I remember telling my daughters before their weddings: Expect the unexpected and realize you can’t control the uncontrollable. But you don’t have to spin out of control with the unexpected. You bring to your wedding day what you want for your marriage. You bring the love. You bring the beauty. You bring the fun. You bring the atmosphere of joy and peace. You bring lovely to your day, and it will be amazing. But if you bring fear and dread and epic loads of disappointment because things look different than you thought they would, you’ll fill your day with that. Your heart is much too beautiful a place for the enemy’s tactics to taint it. So don’t let him. This may be a delay. This may be a distraction. This may even be a devastation for a season. But this is not your final destination. Remember though COVID-19 has canceled many events, it has not canceled God’s goodness. Rest in that, rejoice in that, and be so very reassured. 2. Remember who God is, and use that to bring some gratitude into your disappointment. God is a protector: He is protecting you from something you can’t see. God is a provider: He is providing something if only you’ll look for it. Just because His provision is different doesn’t mean it’s not good. God is present: Even when others are absent. God does incredible things in the unseen. God is faithful: No matter what is being taken from you right now, place it in the hands of God. Give it to Him as your sacrifice. For whatever we willingly place in the hands of God, He will redeem. Martin Luther once said, “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” 3. Disappointments often go hand in hand with fear of the future. It can be so easy to let today’s disappointments make you expect the absolute worst for tomorrow. I’m challenging myself not to mentally run too far into an unknown future. I just have to make the most responsible decisions I can for today and place the rest in God’s hands. My job is to obey God. God’s job is everything else. Therefore, I can feel afraid, but I don’t have to live afraid. Now is the time to feed your faith and fuel your healthy perspectives. Make the choice today what will rule in your hearts and proclaim out loud: “Disillusioning disappointments and blinding fear, you don’t get to be the boss of me … I am ruled by the peace of Christ, and I will use His Truth to frame all I see.” “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15-16). www.proverbs31ministries.com.

On August 22nd, 1851, the New York Yacht Club won the inaugural America’s Cup. It was a 53-mile regatta around the Isle of Wright. That New York Yacht club successfully defended their title 26 times. They held the title for 132 years. It was the longest winning streak in international sports history until 1983, when the Australia two finally broke that streak. How did they do it? Well, a wing keel designed by Dutch engineers did not hurt. But when you haven’t won a race in 132 years, the first thing you need to do is overwrite the negative narrative. And that’s exactly what the Australian coach did. Three years before that record-breaking race, he made a recording of the Australian team winning that race. I know next to nothing about sailing, but he narrated every jib, every tact. He included the sound of the sailboat, cutting through the wind and the waves, and a copy of that soundtrack was given to every member of the crew. And every member of the crew was required to listen to it every day, twice a day for three years. They won that race 2,190 times before they even set sale. That is mind over matter, that is the power of words. For better or for worse, our words function as self-fulfilling prophecies. Linguists call it the constructive conception of language. Our words do not represent the world objectively. Our words create the world subjectively. If you wanna change the world, you need to change your words. Words create worlds. Isn’t it interesting that 2,000 years ago, James likened our words to the rudder of a ship? Just as ships are steered by rudders, our destiny is dictated by our diction. Our words are the difference between winning and losing. Our words can create worlds of hurt, worlds of healing. Our words have the power to bless and the power to curse. James said it this way, with the tongue, we bless our Lord and Father. Now, here’s what I find fascinating about this verse, James 3:9 is the mere image of Genesis 1:28. What do you mean? Well, in Genesis 1:28, first recorded words of God to us and they’re words of blessing. Before original sin, there was original blessing in that sequence is significant. Blessing is God’s most ancient instinct. And blessing is our deepest longing. And I would argue because language is part of what sets us apart from the rest of creation, that God gave us the capacity to communicate for the express purpose of using our words to bless. That’s what’s happening here with our tongue. We bless our Lord and Father, that is our original intent. Baruch Atah Adonai. When we worship, we are blessing God. When we worship, we are mirroring what is happening in heaven. Or if you prefer, we are harmonizing with heaven. We are joining this choir of angels and elders and living creatures who never stopped singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come”. With our tongue, we bless our Lord and Father… If only the verse ended there. But it doesn’t. We speak with forked tongue. With the tongue, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been made in the image of God. In politics, two ways to rally the troops. Common enemy, common humanity. And I’ll delineate the difference. If the goal is getting people to the polls, common enemy is incredibly effective. It simply demonizes anyone who dares disagree with us. And it will win some votes, but it will be divisive because it is fueled by negative partisanship. Common enemy is a zero cut sum game. It’s win lose, and it turns into me versus you. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks calls it pathological dualism that prejudges people. It’s unimpeachably good or irredeemably bad. It demonizes anyone who doesn’t look like us, think like us, vote like us, and what you end up with is mud slinging. You end up with baiting and shaming and trolling. What you end up with is cancel culture. Now, there is another option, and it’s called common humanity. It appeals to ideals, it appeals to our better angels. Instead of demonizing those we disagree with, it humanizes them. How? By treating people with dignity. By finding common ground, by finding common grace. Common humanity turns me into we. In, in Zulu, there is a greeting, swabono. Translated, I see you. Turn to the person next to you and say it. I see you. The image of God in me greets the image of God in you. Now, I like sharing some of my rules of life here and there and everywhere. When in doubt, when all else fails, my rules of life are rules of thumb, and they are default settings in my life. Here are two of them. Everyone is my superior in some way and that I learn of them. And number two, everyone’s fighting a battle I know nothing about, in that, I empathize with them. Now, I better give a disclaimer. As soon as I’m completely sanctified, I’ll let you know, but I would not hold your breath. I am a work in progress. These rules of life are aspirational. I don’t always get ’em right. In fact, this week I got one really wrong. Newsflash, it’s much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one. Can I make a confession? And I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I lost my temper this week. Y’all, I’m pretty low key. I’m pretty easy going, but I gotta, I got just a little trigger happy this week and I’m not the only one, some other… Okay, all right. I’m in the right room. I love it. I love it. So, you know, coming off of Easter, I’m a little tired, and when I’m a little tired, I tend to… be a little bit more on edge. And so there, there’s this old acronym, HALT. If you are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, you better guard yourself. You better chickety check yourself before you rickety wreck yourself. Now, I did not do that. So Laura and I were on a flight and there was a flight attendant who was not nice, and gave me a little lecture. I’m telling you it was two, it wasn’t even two inches. She gave me a little lecture about my backpack sticking out from under the seat. Okay, I see how this is going to be. Now, I usually try to jujitsu, and I tried to out nice angry owls. That’s really what I try to do. I tried to tap my Minnesota nice, I couldn’t find the switch. And so Laura got up to go to the restroom and it was occupied, but you have no way of knowing if it’s occupied. And so my beautiful, wonderful, precious, sweet, amazing wife just waiting for the restroom, and this same flight attendant in a not nice voice, “Ma’am, sit down”. Oh no, you didn’t. You can mess with me, we’re okay. I can take it, I can deal it. You mess with my wife and kids, and it is on like Donkey Kong. It brings out the Michael Buffer in me. Let’s get ready to rumble. And so I’m… It’s not a great flight, I’m distracted. And finally they announce, you know, we’re getting ready to land, let’s prepare the cabin, and so the same flight attendant is collecting garbage and… I handed her the box that I brought on board, not a large box, I just handed her the box, and she said, “It won’t fit in the garbage”. I’ve never really had that happen. Like in the words of Jerry McGuire, “Help me help you, help me help you”. This is so embarrassing. You are not gonna believe what I did. I dropped the box. And she one upped me. “Sir, it can’t go there”. And I kick it. Like a two year old throwing a tantrum. That’s when my wife, Laura, leans over and says something about the image of God in everyone. Seriously, if it weren’t for the Holy Spirit in my wife, I would be in so much trouble. This is your first week at NCC, welcome. Follow me as I follow Christ. If you are a flight attendant, I am so sorry. I felt so convicted that actually, the next few days, I upped the ante. By the way, do you wanna know where we were going? This is even more embarrassing. Flying to the cove to speak at the Billy Graham Retreat Center. Oh Lord, help me. Help me, Lord. James 5:16 says, “Confess your false one to another”. We confess our sins to God for forgiveness. That’s vertical. We confess our sins to each other for healing, it is horizontal. I think part of what I’m trying to say is that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. It was almost 30 years ago that I read Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Stephen Covey tells a story about riding the New York subway one morning, and it’s so peaceful, unlike a weekday. And that’s when a man gets on with his two children and they start wreaking havoc. And the dad is just sitting there absolutely oblivious to everything that’s happening. And you can just feel the irritation in the train car. And finally, Stephen Covey, you know, says to the man, “Sir, your children are creating quite the commotion”. It was almost like the man kinda woke up, recognized what was happened, and apologized profusely. He said, “We just came from the hospital, where my wife and their mother died an hour ago. I don’t know what to think, and I guess they don’t either”. In a moment, in an instant, all irritation evaporated. And it was replaced by pure empathy. When I say everyone is fighting battle we know nothing about, this is what I’m talking about. If we could read the secret history of our enemies, said Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “We should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility”. Hurt people hurt people. We’ve heard it a hundred times. Let me kind of push that envelope. Forgiven people forgive people. Unforgiven people do not. Why not? Because you cannot do for others what you have not allowed God to do for you. The great commandment is three-dimensional. We totally get love God, love people. But there’s also this dimension of as you love yourself, in my experience, the less I like myself, the harder it is for me to love the people around me. And so what do we do? How do we love ourselves? We let God love us, we let God forgive us. We let God save and heal and deliver us. We let God do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In psychology, there are presenting problems and there are root causes. I’m more and more convinced that unforgiveness is the root cause of 101 problems. So much of what’s wrong with us is bitterness, is unforgiveness, is offense that we’ve taken, and when you take offense, you stop playing offense with your life and you start protecting your ego at all cost. And your world gets smaller and smaller and smaller. And what happens is you let people live in your head, in your heart, rent free, and you let them begin to narrate your story. And what I’m saying today is don’t do it. Give the author and perfector of your faith complete editorial control, and he will begin writing his story history with a hyphen in and through your life. But it happens when we surrender our lies to His lordship. Can I share a verse that’ll change your life? Romans 12:19, “Leave room for God’s wrath”. That is easier said than done ’cause I wanna even the score. Our natural instinct is to do unto others what they have done to us. Yes? But Jesus had a rule of life called the golden rule. Do unto others, wait, wait, what you would have them do unto you. And that’s where these six antitheses, I call ’em counter habits and the sermon on the mount come from. Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, bless those who curse you, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, give the shirt off of your back. There a moment in the gospels where Peter asked Jesus a question, “How often should I forgive my brother and sister who sins against me”? Now Judaism answer 3. 3 strikes and and you’re out. So I know for a fact Peter’s feeling really good. How do I know that? ‘Cause he even answers his own question like up to seven times, like… Peter got some swagger going on ’cause I’m gonna… He thinks he’s going the extra mile. He thinks he’s gonna get extra credit. And Jesus says, “I tell you, not 70 times, but 70 times seven,” that would look good on a hoodie. Now I wanna be careful right here. I’m not suggesting that by forgiving others, you expose yourself to abuse, you need healthy and holy boundaries. Turning the other cheek does not mean codependence, letting people use you or abuse you does not glorify God. And so Jesus said, forgive 70 times 7. He also said, don’t throw your pearls to pigs. I want you to jot this down. The most important decisions are pre decisions. And when Laura and I got married, we made a pre-decision that we would never not tithe, that the first 10% of our income would go right back to God. And then we want to grow in generosity, and the dream is someday to reverse tithe, live off of 10%, give 90%. And so we don’t make that decision every time we get a paycheck or a royalty or an honorarium. We made that decision 30 years ago, and that’s a gift that keeps on giving. And so I’m really convinced that if you want to get in shape, for example, or anything else, you’re going after a goal, you gotta make a pre-decision to kinda lock it and load it. And so it was about 10 years ago that I made a pre-decision. My verse of the year going into 2011 was Proverbs 19:11. “It is to the glory of a man to overlook an offense”. Word of the wise, be careful when you’re choosing a verse of the year because God will give you an opportunity to put it into practice. My goal is to be unoffendedable. Now as evidenced by a recent flight, I’m not batting a thousand, okay? There’s some swings and misses in there. But I am gonna do my level best to live my life unoffended. I cannot derive my opinion of me from your opinion of me. I just can’t, I can’t. Can’t do it. By the way, even if it’s a good opinion, ah, if you live off a compliments, you’ll die by criticism. My advice, just live for the applause of nail scarred hands. Why don’t we do that? I derive my identity from Jesus Christ. I am in Christ. Christ is in me. And that is the hope of glory. I love this pre-decision. A few years ago, I was speaking at a conference with Bob Goff. We were on a panel together on parenting, and I don’t know what question prompted the story, but he shared a story that predates the birth of his daughter, before his daughter was born. This is unbelievable to me. Bob Goff wrote a note saying that he forgave her. Past tense, for getting into an accident and crashing their car. He put that note in a jar, sealed the jar, buried it, noted the latitude and longitude. And the day came 17 years later that his daughter crashed their car, and so Bob just handed her a shovel, gave her the coordinates, she dug up the jar, read the note, and discovered that her father had forgiven her before she was even born. By the way, if that panel was a competition, Bob won. Can I share some good news? God forgave you before you were even born. 2,000 years ago he wrote a note, it’s called the Bible. The latitude in longitude is just outside Jerusalem. Your sin was paid in full at Calvary’s cross and it was signed, sealed, and delivered at an empty tomb. But this verse is important. First John 1:9 and 10. “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us”. In other words, all have sinned. And that word it has so much baggage, okay? In Greek it’s, it’s an archery term. It just means to miss the bullseye. I think what it’s saying is, and I’ve really never met anybody who would disagree with this. I don’t hit the moral bullseye every time. Am I in the right room? So it’s this idea that, you know what we do? We try to meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways and we get out of bounds and we get outside God’s good pleasing and perfect will. Why? ‘Cause we know better than God. And then we discover at the end of it, mm, might need to confess that and repent and get it right and get it taken care of. The word confession is a compound in the Greek. And it means to speak the same, it means to agree with God. It means to come to the same conclusion. And it’s doing so fully and freely and publicly. It’s saying guilty as charged. And that’s key. Many, many years ago, went to court with a family member who got a moving violation. I will not mention his initials, but his name is Joel Schmidgall. And he was in college. He was in college. But I just want to tell you he drives a lot worse now. There is not a defensive bone in his body. And so he asked me to go to court with him as a character witness. I don’t even know if this is a thing any lawyers, you know, just let me know afterwards. But let’s just say I don’t think the judge was impressed when he called me a character. And so I knew it was not gonna go well when we’re sitting there with dozens of people who are also innocent, and they call Joel Schmidgall and he gets up and there’s this loud ripping splitting sound and sure enough, like mm, the seam of his pants rips in two. He has to untuck his shirt, if I remember right, untuck his shirt before approaching the judge. And we both learned a valuable lesson that day. Or I learned a lesson at his expense, let’s be honest. The judge said, “Now if you’d pleaded guilty, it wouldn’t have to go on your record. But you pleaded not guilty, fool”. You pleaded not guilty, so I’m so sorry my hands are tied. It’s gotta go on your record. That is First John 1:9 and 10. If you claim to be without sin, listen, the only person you’re fooling is yourself and you’re not really fooling yourself at a subconscious level. There is so much, can I just say it? There’s just so much freedom in forgiveness. But there’s a precursor to it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. And that word is only as effective as it is authentic. And we don’t have to have time to talk about the specificity test ’cause you can pray, “Lord, forgive me for everything I’ve ever done wrong,” and God can do it, but we didn’t let our kids get by with that, because you’re gonna keep doing the same thing all over again. So it’s gotta pass that specificity test. When Jesus was on the cross, he said it is finished. What a moment. We’re talking about the power of words, right? It’s three words in English, but it’s one word in Greek. And I would suggest that that one word of forgiveness could create a world of freedom in your life that you would be a totally different person. So much joy, so much peace in experiencing that kind of forgiveness. It’s an accounting term that referred to the final installment on a debt. Archeologists have actually found this word written across ancient receipts. I owed a debt I could not pay. He paid a debt he did not owe. Colossians 2 says, “God forgave us all our sins having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us, he has taken away”. How? Nailing it to the cross. We need to quit living like Jesus is still nailed to the cross. The only thing nailed to the cross is our sin. Can I paint a little picture? When Jesus was arrested, I’m just gonna do this just for kind of a visual. I love that sound. It’s the sound of forgiveness. It’s the sound of my sin being nailed to a cross. On the night Jesus was arrested, you remember this, Peter didn’t just make one mistake, he made two. He denied Jesus three times, but he also committed a crime. He grabs a sword and he cuts off the ear of the high priest, right ear of the high priest, Malchus. Okay, this is the end of the road for Peter. You do not cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest and get by with it. You get charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon and you end up on a cross next to Jesus, but he doesn’t. How is that possible? Because Jesus healed the man who came to arrest him. Wow. Heals the amputated ear. And so I can see the case going to court. The judge is a little confused ’cause the charge brought is an amputated ear. Judge says, “Hey, would you approach the bench for a minute? Which ear”? Malchus says, “My right ear, my right ear”. Judge says, “It looks fine to me,” and the case gets thrown outta court for lack of evidence. Dick Fo summarizes that story this way. Jesus destroys the evidence that was against us. Hallelujah. It is finished. It is forgiven. We are right with God grace, God’s righteousness at Christ expense. God made him who had no sin to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of Christ. It’s almost like God says, “Here’s what we’re gonna do. You take all of your sin, everything you’ve done wrong, transfer it to my account, I’ll pay it in full. But wait, there’s more. Why don’t we take everything Jesus did right, His righteousness? We’ll transfer that over to your account and then we’ll just call it even”. What? Religion is spelled do. It’s all about what you can do for God. Christianity is spelled done. It’s all about what Christ has done for us. Grace is undeserved, Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Their hearts, where as callous as their hands. How could they not be? You can’t drive nine inch spikes through people’s hands and feet every single day and not lose your soul. This isn’t what they dreamed of doing, but it was a job assigned to them by the Roman Empire. It was their job to torture people to death and it was up close and personal. They could smell their breath as they drove those nails. The blood of their victims always ended up on their clothes and those victims would curse and spit. But not this one. Not this one. They mocked him, they flogged him with a cat of nine tails. They nailed him to an old rugged cross. And he said, “Father, forgive them for they know about what they do”. Who does that? How is that even possible? Of all the miracles in the gospel, this is the moment. How do you forgive someone who nails you to a cross? As I see it, I don’t have a leg to stand on. I don’t have a leg to stand on. A few years ago, my counselor gave me an assignment. Is there anyone or anything that you have not forgiven? I thought it would take a few minutes. What I discovered several hours later is that I’m a lot better at complaining than confessing. I’m a lot better at projecting than professing. Oh God, help us. This is the hope of the world. What I’m talking about is the only thing that’s gonna heal the divides, is the only thing that’s gonna bring us back together. It’s the common humanity that all of us sinners in need of a savior, but a savior whose forgiveness is big enough for all of us. His grace is sufficient. Close with two questions. One, what do you need to stop saying? Two, what do you need to start saying? We’ll start with stop. “With the tongue, we bless our Lord and Father and with it, we curse human beings who have been made in the image of God. My brothers, This should not be”. In Hebrew, there’s a concept called… A literal translation is evil tongue. Refers to derogatory or defamatory speech. In rabbinic tradition, words were arrows, and if you draw the bow and shoot the arrow, you can never get it back. You can delete the tweet, but someone will screenshot it. There’s a story in the Talmid about a woman who visits a rabbi confesses to spreading falsehoods, and the rabbi gives her two tasks. He says, “I want you to take the feathers of a pillow, and I want you to place one at every door in the village”. She completed the task, which took quite some time. Came back to the rabbi and said, what is the second task? Go back and gather up all the feathers from all of the houses. The woman said, “That’s impossible. The wind has spread them far and wide,” and the rabbi said, “So it is with your words”. To gather those feathers is as impossible as taking back harsh words you have spoken, you would do well to remember that before you speak in the future. Francis Schaeffer, the great apologist, said that if we were all forced to wear a voice recorder, like Flavor Flav, and it captured every conversation we’ve ever had, and the and the transcription was made available to everyone, which, and I did have a thought, Siri, Alexa, Google. It might already be captured, but Francis Schaeffer said, “All of us would go into hiding for the rest of our life”. You know my heart, the goal at NCC is never to send anybody on a guilt trip. We just go right back to the foot of the cross. We get our sin dealt with. We confess it. God forgives it, and we get on with the Father’s business. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Our words are nailed to that cross. Our deeds are nailed to that cross. In Jesus name. Amen.

I hate to admit it, but I’ve been around people whose prayers annoy me. Have you ever had that experience? Perhaps their prayers seem flippant, or they have verbal tics, or they don’t leave space for anyone else, or their language turns stilted when they start to pray. Have you ever wondered if your prayers annoy God?     Believe it or not, Jesus seems to indicate that is the case. Twice in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warns us how not to pray: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others” (Matt. 6:5). He continues, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matt. 6:7).   In the Old Testament, God has similar responses to those who pray hypocritical prayers (“When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood” (Is. 1:15)). God likewise dismisses those who pray while ignoring or oppressing the poor (Prov. 21:13 and Is. 58:2-4) or those who pray while engaging in idolatry (Ez. 8:17-18).   Anyone who has a relationship with God longs for a deep and a rich prayer life. No one wants to annoy God or have their prayers unheard.   Jesus’ prayers   In our last post we considered how Paul would coach us in our prayer life. Today we will consider Jesus’ prayers and how he might coach us. Approximately twenty-three times Jesus prays in the gospels (the number varies on how you group the passages). Here are his prayers: 1. Prayers of Thanksgiving (2) “At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will (Matt 11:25-26)  (see also Lk 10:21)  “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me” (John 11:41-42)  2. Prayers of Blessing Over Food (5) “He took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (Matthew 15:36) (see also Mk. 8:6-7). “Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing” (Matthew 14:19)  / (see also Mk. 6:41, Lk. 9:16, Jn. 6:11). “When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them” (Lk. 24:30). “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you’” (Matt. 26:26-27) (see also Mk. 14:22-23, Lk. 22:17-19). 3. Prayers for Others (4) “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again”” (Jn. 12:27-28). “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you,[d] that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Lk. 22:31-32). “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.[a] 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them[b] in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself,[c] that they also may be sanctified[d] in truth. 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (Jn. 17:1-26). “And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). 4. Personal Prayers (5) “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.[a] 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done,[b]     on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread,[c] 12 and forgive us our debts,     as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,     but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:9-13) (see also Lk. 11:1-4). “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (Mk. 1:35) (see also Lk. 5:16). “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles” (Lk 6:12-13). “Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”” (Lk. 9:18). “Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white” (Lk. 9:28-29) “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone” (Matt. 14:23) (see also Mk. 6:46) 5. Prayers of Anguish in Gethsemane (3) “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will’” (Matt. 26:39) (see also Mk. 14:36 and Lk. 22:42). “Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done’” (Matt. 26:42) “So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again” (Matt. 26:44) 6. Prayers on the Cross (4) “And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Matt. 27:46) (see also Mk. 15:34). “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last” (Lk. 23:46). “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (Jn. 19:30).   What we can learn from Jesus Jesus’ prayer life is both a model and a challenge to us. He prayed with deep intimacy, unwavering trust, persistent dependence, and kingdom focus—qualities that often contrast with how we tend to pray. Here are key lessons we can learn from how Jesus prayed and how His approach differs from ours: 1. Jesus prayed intimately Our prayers can be stilted and formal, or as though we are praying to the air. Jesus addressed God as Abba, Father (Mk. 14:36), showing a close and loving relationship. Our Triune God is both holy and also deeply personal. Prayer is not just about asking for things but resting in the Father’s presence. 2. Jesus prayed with surrender We often try to persuade God to do what we want rather than submitting to his will. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” (Lk. 22:42). Jesus teaches us to pray in a posture of surrender, trusting that God’s plan is always best—even when it leads through suffering. 3. Jesus prayed persistently It’s easy to give up on prayer requests. But Jesus prayed all night before choosing his disciples (Lk. 6:12), all night in Gethsemane (Mt. 26:39-44), and often withdrew to lonely places to pray (Lk. 5:16). Jesus tells us the parable of the persistent widow (Lk. 18:1-8) to urge us to “cry to him day and night” (Lk. 18:7). May we be those whose prayers do not come and go, but persevere. 4. Jesus prayed when life was going well Our spiritual life is often most in danger when things are going well for us. It is in moments when everything is going well that our spiritual life often wanes. When his ministry was at its height, Jesus frequently withdrew to pray alone (Mk. 1:35). Jesus carved out time to pray knowing his ministry was dependent on his relationship with his Father. 5. Jesus prayed for others Jesus was attuned to how those around him were doing. He interceded for Peter (Lk. 22:31-32), and his disciples (Jn. 17:6-19), and tended to the physical and spiritual needs of countless individuals. Jesus’ longest recorded prayer was after the Last Supper on the way to Gethsemane. In that extended prayer (Jn 17), Jesus prays deeply for unity and for love among his followers. 6. Jesus prayed with thanksgiving Do your prayers sometimes turn into personal shopping lists? Jesus’ prayers were marked by gratitude. He thanked the Father before performing miracles (Jn. 11:41), before meals (Matt. 14:19), and in his teachings (Lk. 10:21). 7. Jesus prayed with expectancy It can be easy to pray faithless prayers, prayers that lack hope or faith. We might pray because we know it’s the right thing, but not trust that God will respond to our prayers. Jesus prayed knowing the Father always heard him (Jn. 11:42). God is attentive to his children (Matt. 7:7-11). He hears and responds to every prayer. 8. Jesus prayed in his greatest pain When you are suffering, do your prayers ever dry up? Do you grow bitter toward God? Jesus prayed as he anticipated the spiritual and physical cost in Gethsemane (Lk. 22:42). On the cross, he prayed for his enemies (Lk. 23:34) and cried out in anguish (Mt27:46). In his deepest suffering, Jesus drew closest to his Father. God welcomes our raw, honest prayers and comforts us in our suffering (2 Cor. 1).

Authenticity is vital to having a healthy relationship with your teen. No teen is perfect, and neither is any parent! Until your child is able to know and share in your stories of imperfection, your relationship with your teen will not go deeper. Until you become authentic, your relationship with your teen will remain on the surface level. In this article, I’ll share how you can build a healthy habit of having authentic conversations with your teen. Let’s begin with describing what an “authentic” conversations with a teen looks and sounds like. Characteristics of Authentic Conversations With Your Teen: 1. Authentic conversations allow for both parties to be imperfect. Sharing struggles and mistakes actually becomes a point of connection in a relationship. Your connection goes deeper when you are able to open up about difficult times. When Mom and Dad are imperfect and admit to it, a teen feels the freedom to be real without being judged. Give permission for your teen to not be perfect all the time. While some parents fear that allowing their teen to see their flaws will diminish their authority, in the teen years it takes open, honest conversations to get at what matters the most. When you let your teen know your weaknesses, it opens the door to allow them to share their struggles with you. Your teen doesn’t need another perfect Instagram influencer in their life; they need parents who are willing to talk about the good times, as well as the bad. 2. Authentic conversations don’t force things. Moms, I’m talking to you: A “teachable moment” doesn’t have to happen in every conversation. That worked for the first 12 years, but now your teen needs a relationship with you. If all you’re doing is sharing talking points all day long, there’s no room for authentic conversation—it’s a lecture, and teenagers have a finely-tuned lecture detector that triggers immediate mental shutdown. Your talks don’t have to be long and involved. It’s okay to be quiet too. The proverbial wisdom says, “Even a fool appears wise when he keeps his mouth shut.” I find that often teens are comfortable with smaller bits and pieces of thoughtful conversations. Short, authentic exchanges will build up your relationship over time. Think of authentic conversations like snacking throughout the day rather than sitting down for a formal seven-course meal—both provide nourishment, but one feels significantly less intimidating. 3. Authentic conversations include the truth in love. Most teens today don’t have deep connections. So much of their communication happens online or on social media where people are presenting what they want people to see. These are shallow connections—filled with people pretending to live their best life while hiding behind carefully curated digital masks. There’s a good chance your teen is immersed in these kinds of negative communications and are lacking face to face interactions. But you can be a voice of truth and love! Express your genuine love for your teen. Let them know that there’s nothing they can do to make you love them more and nothing they can do to make you love them less. This unconditional acceptance creates the atmosphere of safety your teen needs to be honest with you. In a culture of conditional approval and performance-based acceptance, your unwavering love stands as a lighthouse in the storm of adolescence. 4. Authentic conversations start when someone asks a question. Even parents need to work on their conversation skills sometimes. Good conversations don’t just happen—they take time, intention, and a willingness to truly listen. You can spark a great conversation by asking a good question. Ask a question, then another, then another, and keep going. Don’t be afraid of silence. It gives your teen an opportunity to think and answer. Work on creating an atmosphere in your relationship that helps your teen feel safe to share what’s on their mind. Your teen may not open up right away. Your teen has spent years hearing your voice—now they need to know you’re equally interested in hearing theirs. So wear your ears out by listening. Show curiosity about who they are becoming. Your attention is one of the greatest gifts you can offer. Triage When the Lines of Communication Have Shut Down: Authentic conversations don’t start overnight. It takes time to build trust, knock down walls of resistance, and bridge gaps that have formed in your relationship with your teen. Start by being open with your teen—communicate that you want to start connecting again, even though you haven’t been talking to each other lately. If your conversations aren’t going deep, start by telling your teen that you desire to have a closer relationship and you’re ready to work towards it. If needed, fess up to any attitudes of judgment toward your teen and ask for forgiveness. Ask questions about what your teen is interested in. Allow them to teach you about what they are interested in, and be willing to learn from them. As you’re rebuilding your communication lines, you don’t need to make every conversation “important”––not every talk needs to become a “teachable moment.” Just be genuinely interested in what your teen has to say. Ask a random or interesting question and see how your teen replies. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a relationship with a teenager. Each small, genuine interaction is a brick in the foundation of trust you’re rebuilding. Patience isn’t just a virtue here—it’s an absolute necessity. Conclusion Mark my words: One day you’ll realize you’re having a very real and genuine discussion with your teen, and it will come at a time when you least expect it. I guarantee you’ll walk away from that talk with a smile on your face. It will happen as a result of you being your true and authentic self in front of them—someone who is willing to encourage, exhort, and inspire! Engaging in genuine conversations with your teens will encourage them to walk in a manner worthy of God. The journey to authentic conversations may be winding and occasionally frustrating, but the destination—a relationship with your teen built on mutual respect and genuine understanding—is worth every step of the way. As you model authenticity, your teen will learn how to have meaningful discussions because of your example of listening to understand, asking questions to take them deeper, and not correcting every expression. Your teen will remember how blameless and upright you’ve been in your example, and my prayer for you is that they follow your example as you follow that of our Lord Jesus Christ. www,parentingtodaysteens.org.

It’s true that far too many Bible believers are in effect anti-supernatural. Some Christians argue against the miraculous with the same scorn of atheists and agnostics. The irony is stunning, since the Christian faith is rooted in the miraculous and dependent upon it. I believe absolutely that God does miracles today. I am completely convinced, for instance, that for decades the Lord Jesus has been appearing to Muslims in dreams and visions, bringing many people to faith. The evidence is clear, repeated, and consistent. So the reason I believe that the teachings of certain dreams, visions, and personal experiences with God are not true is not that they are miraculous. It is that they contradict the inspired Word of God. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Some claims fail the test of Acts 17:11, which says the Bereans examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Now suppose I heard that a Muslim had a dream in which Jesus Christ said that Mohammed was a true prophet of God, and that Islam is the true faith. Here are my belief options: 1) The dream is true, and Jesus really said that. But this conflicts with Scripture—not because it is miraculous, but because Jesus and Mohammed made contradictory claims. 2) The dream really happened, but it was not Jesus speaking. Maybe it was just a dream influenced by someone’s pre-existing belief system, power of suggestion and/or by medications or even indigestion. 3) The dream really happened, and it was indeed supernatural, but it wasn’t Jesus speaking. “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).   When there is demonic deception, the human being—sincere or not—can become a false prophet: “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies…” (2 Peter 2:1). As Christians we should affirm God’s miracles. This does not mean 1) we should believe that everything claimed to be a miracle really is one, or 2) even when we do believe it was a miracle, we should assume everything remembered and said by the person is entirely accurate. I think it’s also fair to ask whether we believe that the supernatural God has supernaturally revealed Himself and important truths to us in the Bible. And whether, when there is a conflict, that supernatural revelation trumps supernatural experiences. We do not require further revelation (as if God’s Word were not enough), but when someone claims to be bringing it, we evaluate it by Scripture, which remains our authority. www.epm.org

The Resurrection of Christ Matthew 28:1-10,16-17 HAVE YOU EVER HAD DOUBTS ABOUT SOMETHING IN THE BIBLE OR IN YOUR FAITH? HAVE YOU EVER DOUBTED OR WONDERED ABOUT THE TRUTHFULNESS OF THE RESURRECTION? “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me…Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted” (Matthew 28:1-10,16-17).  If you’ve ever had any doubt about the resurrection of Christ then let me allay your fears. The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most reliably attested event in history. Jesus did not rise as a spirit, or as a metaphor. Jesus rose from the dead in the same body in which he lived and was crucified. His resurrection is a model and example of another resurrection to take place in the future—ours. First, let’s begin with a little background.  Background on resurrection In general, resurrection in the Bible refers to several things. The resurrection of people who have died in the past, the resurrection of Jesus never to die again, and the resurrection of Christians in the future to glory. The Bible also refers to the unrighteous in the future who will be raised and eternally condemned. Lastly, the resurrection is used to describe the new life we have in Christ.  Though the idea of a bodily resurrection appears in the Old Testament it was not widely taught. The mosaic covenant concentrated mostly on the nation of Israel rather than the individual. Therefore, it was only mentioned a few times. The nations around Israel held to a resurrection belief, but not in the same way as Israel. A fuller concept of resurrection as reward for the righteous didn’t become popular in Israel until the intermediate 400-year period represented between Malachi and Matthew. The Apocryphal literature had an influence on the doctrine of the resurrection, though the Jews did not regard the apocrypha as inspired works.  In Jesus’ time, the two main religious bodies were the Pharisees, who held to a doctrine of resurrection, and the Sadducees, who believed spiritual things were a myth and that there was no resurrection. Jesus very directly declared the Sadducees’ beliefs wrong in Mark 12:27.  The first chronological mention of the resurrection of Christ is found in I Corinthians 15:3-7 by Paul as it was written before the Gospels were written.  The resurrection of Christ is the central doctrine of Christianity, without it, our faith is meaningless. If there is no resurrection, then Paul says we are still in our sins, and we have no hope for eternity. The truthfulness and reliability of Christianity stands or falls on the bodily resurrection of Christ. Old Testament examples of resurrection Elijah raised a boy (I Kings 17:18-24). Elisha raised the shunamite’s son (II Kings 4:18-27). New Testament examples of resurrection Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:35-43). Jesus raised Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) Peter raised Dorcas (Acts 9:36-42).  Jesus also instructed his disciples to raise the dead in Matthew 10:8. Jesus’ resurrection was different; he rose never to die again (Romans 6:9). The previous resurrections were best termed resuscitations. A resuscitation is when a person who has died for any length of period is brought back to life by medical or miraculous means. But they would eventually die again. But not Jesus. Additionally, they are not raised like Jesus. Each of the Bible’s resuscitations happened through human agency. Prophets or apostles were used to raise them, or Jesus raised them. But Jesus was raised without human agency. Jesus said, “I lay down my life that I may take it up again.No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17-18). Jesus’ resurrection body was also different from all other resurrections. Jesus’ resurrection body was glorified He could appear suddenly without using a door. Notice that Jesus appeared in a room without using the door. “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). He could change his appearance as on the Emmaus road. “While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. (Luke 24:15-16). This may mean he could change his appearance. His appearances in Revelation include descriptions of fire and glowing metal (Revelation 1:14-15). Descriptions of the resurrected Jesus were similar to appearances of God and angels in the Old Testament. He was clearly set apart from being a mere man. His appearances struck fear into the hearts of witnesses, but he would quickly calm them. Jesus said his resurrection body would have the same glory as the Father. In his high priestly prayer, Jesus prayed the following, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5). He could fly. “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). And Acts 1:9, “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” Our resurrection bodies will be like his which implies that we may have at least some of the same abilities that Jesus has. Romans 6:5 says, “We shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Philippians 3:21 is the most clear statement of this, “[He] will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” The resurrection of Christ and believers was predicted By the prophets and psalms Isaiah 26:19, “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!” Also see Isaiah 53:10. Psalm 16:10, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” Also see Job 19:25-27 and Daniel 12:2. By Jesus Luke 9:22, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Also, in Mark 8:31, Luke 24:7 and 18:33. At the beginning of his ministry Jesus’ teaching on his resurrection might be considered vague. But as time went by he spoke of it more directly and clearly. How the Resurrection was presented The women’s testimony They saw the empty tomb and angels, but they were terrified (Mark 16:1-8, Matthew 28:1-7, Luke 24:1-12). Peter’s sermon After shaming a crowd for being part of Jesus’ murder (Acts 2:23), Peter spoke boldly of Jesus’ resurrection, so much so that they asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Paul’s testimony Paul wrote the earliest account of the resurrection in I Corinthians 15:3-8, “ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” Throughout his ministry he taught on the reality of the resurrection. He even used it as a defense when in legal custody (Acts 23:6). The written testimony in the Gospels The greatest accounts of Jesus’ resurrection appear in the four gospels, with John’s resurrection accounts being the longest at two chapters. In all of them there are witnesses to the empty tomb (the women, Peter and John), and then Jesus appears privately to the disciples in Jerusalem and Galilee. The facts of the resurrection The empty tomb (even Jesus’ enemies recognized the empty tomb in Matthew 28). One theory against the resurrection is that the Jewish leaders may have stolen the body of Jesus to frustrate the disciple’s plans. But, if the Jewish leaders had stolen the body, then they could have produced it to counter the preaching of the disciples. That did not happen. The eyewitness testimony. The disciples spent the rest of their lives telling people about the resurrection of Jesus at great peril to themselves. All of them faced imprisonment, physical abuse, and horrible, painful murders as a result of their preaching. All but one were brutally murdered by their opponents. The shroud Consider what Peter and John saw when they looked into the tomb. If Jesus rose and simply unwrapped himself, or if he was missing, wrappings and all, they might have believed that someone stole the body. However, it’s more likely that Jesus rose through the wrappings, leaving the shroud still in a wrapped state in the shape of his body. That could only be explained by a miraculous resurrection! The soldiers at the tomb witnessed something extraordinary.  Matthew 28 records, “An angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men” (Matthew 28:2-4). The Roman guards were witnesses to this miraculous event. But when bribed, they lied about the resurrection (Matthew 28:11-15). The witnesses of the resurrection The women The disciples The 500 (I Corinthians 15:6).  Jesus’ brother James (I Corinthians 15:7)—didn’t believe at first (John 7:5), but later. If Jesus wasn’t raised, why would James worship his brother? Paul Jesus’ appearance to Paul happened on the Damascus road (Acts 9:3-7) and at a later time (I Corinthians 15:8).  Paul said he received his gospel directly from Jesus (Galatians 1:12). “Ten different appearances of our risen Lord are recorded in the New Testament. They may be arranged as follows: To Mary Magdalene at the sepulcher alone. This is recorded at length only by John (20:11–18), and alluded to by Mark (16:9–11). To certain women, “the other Mary,” Salome, Joanna, and others, as they returned from the sepulcher. Matthew (28:1–10) alone gives an account of this. (Comp. Mark 16:1–8, and Luke 24:1–11.) To Simon Peter alone on the day of the resurrection. (See Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5.) To the two disciples on the way to Emmaus on the day of the resurrection, recorded fully only by Luke (24:13–35. Comp. Mark 16:12, 13). To the ten disciples (Thomas being absent) and others “with them,” at Jerusalem on the evening of the resurrection day. One of the evangelists gives an account of this appearance, John (20:19–24). To the disciples again (Thomas being present) at Jerusalem (Mark 16:14–18; Luke 24:33–40; John 20:26–28. See also 1 Corinthians 15:5). To the disciples when fishing at the Sea of Galilee. Of this appearance also John (21:1–23) alone gives an account. To the eleven, and above 500 brethren at once, at an appointed place in Galilee (1 Corinthians 15:6; comp. Matt. 28:16–20). To James, but under what circumstances we are not informed (1 Corinthians 15:7). To the apostles immediately before the ascension. They accompanied him from Jerusalem to Mount Olivet, and there they saw him ascend “till a cloud received him out of their sight” (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50–52; Acts 1:4–10).” (1) The responses to the resurrection Changed lives in the disciples. From fear to faith, from weakness to courage. At Jesus’ arrest, the disciples fled (Matthew 26:56). When questioned, Peter denied him three times (Matthew 26:69-75). Before the resurrection, Jesus’ disciples hid in a house, fearing the authorities (John 20:19). After seeing the resurrected Jesus, the disciples became bold witnesses. They did not fear death or what the authorities could do to them (Acts 4:1-22, 5:17-42). They all endured horrible deaths when suffering. They were run through with the sword, beheaded, beaten to death, stabbed with a spear, hanged, crucified, and sawed in two while still alive. Yet, none of them recanted to end their suffering or save their lives. Changed lives in the hearers of the gospel. Ministering to one another, giving up their possessions (Acts 4:32-47). The results of the resurrection On the disciples—kept their testimony until death. They were not liars. Consider Chuck Colson’s testimony regarding the truthfulness of the apostles. “I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.” On the world: transformed Rome and Europe. In Africa, 63% of people identify as Christian. In China, 10,000 people a day come to faith in Christ. Each year, all around the world, millions of people come to faith in Jesus Christ. And many suffer and die for their testimony. On the church. There is no better explanation for its existence than the resurrection. It was squarely based on the teaching of Christ’s resurrection. It is the central reason why early Christians began their worship on Sunday instead of Saturday. Without the resurrection, there is no need for the church to exist. On you You can’t be a Christian without believing in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. It is an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. You cannot be saved without believing in the resurrection. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). I John 2:23, “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” No matter what biblical issues you are dealing with, the resurrection is the most important. Many people have problems with some aspects of Christianity. They struggle with issues of, * Why is there suffering in the world if God is good? * Why is there an eternal hell? * Why does God seem so judgmental? * Why can’t I live my life the way I want to and still go to heaven? * If God exists, why doesn’t he make himself plainly known in modern times? However, the most important issue we should deal with is the resurrection of Christ. Did Jesus really rise from the dead, never to die again? If he did, then that means something. It means his death was unique, and that means something. It means his teachings are significant, and that means something. Once you come to terms with the resurrection, most other issues will begin to fall into place over time. The answer to suffering in the world is the suffering of Jesus (Hebrews 5:8, 4:15, 13:12). The resurrection is the defeat of suffering and the ushering in of new life, eternal life. VIII.The benefits of the resurrection We are justified (Romans 4:25). We will be resurrected like he was. Romans 6:5-11 teaches this, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old selfwas crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set freefrom sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Let these final words of scripture encourage you about your ultimate destiny. “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (I Thessalonians 4:16-18).  (1) Easton, M. G. 1893. In Illustrated Bible Dictionary and Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature, 581. New York: Harper & Brothers.