Bow & Confess

A tough question we all faced last night in worship: How do you view Jesus? And when was the last time you bowed before Him in humility?

I think the problem many of us have is that we don't view Jesus for who He actually is. We often have a very comfortable view of Christ. Our homeboy. Our best friend. The man upstairs. Or maybe a Sunday School image of a well-manicured looking Jesus holding sheep. Whatever your image of Jesus is, does your depiction of Christ live up to who Jesus actually is?

Philippians 2:6 clearly tells us Jesus IS God. Not a smaller version of the big God. Not a less mighty or less powerful version. But equally God. Jesus is God in all of His majesty. So let us not cheapen who Jesus was & who Jesus still is today. And let us not dishonor Jesus with a cheap image of Him when we worship, meditate, pray & come before Him in His presence. 

John 12 speaks to the unbelief of the people in that time. Despite Jesus working right in the midst of their lives, they still did not believe who Jesus claimed to be. So John quotes Isaiah in verse 41, because Isaiah SAW Jesus in all His glory. Isaiah saw Jesus on His throne. 

So in Isaiah 6, we see Jesus high & lifted up on the throne. We see angels worshipping Him. And we see Jesus in all of His glory, power, might & holiness. And check this out: Jesus leaves that throne & trades it for a cross. He steps down from the throne that requires all men to bow before Him, and instead comes down & bows before us on the cross. That make sense??

But Philippians 2:9-11 tells us that Christ has been placed BACK on that throne. That Jesus was raised from the dead, overcame death, conquered sin, and has returned to His rightful place. And that one day EVERY knee will bow & EVERY tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 

Best part? Isaiah 45:23 reiterates this promise. And God goes on to even swear by His own name. Ever swear to God?? Well God swears to Himself here. He swears & promises that every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. Every single person will recognize Jesus as King. 

So the question comes back around: How do you view Jesus?

Do you view Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? And more importantly, do you view Him as the King & Lord of your life?

We all need to realize one day we're going to bow. We're going to hit our knees & honor Jesus for all He is. Whether it's here on Earth. In Heaven. Or even in Hell. But it's going to happen. 

And we should want to be found ready. Want to be found in humility. Want to be found honoring Jesus for who He is & what's He has done for us.

Recognize Christ as King. Make Jesus LORD of your life. And hit your knees in humility. 

JV

Religion or Relationship?

Born to Serve

In Matthew 2:1-12 we find the story of the wise men coming to find the Christ. Traveling, searching & seeking to find the One promised to be the King. They traveled a great distance, sought directions in Jerusalem, and then followed the star God had set before them. All to come worship the King. And when they arrived at the place Jesus was staying, they did just that. The bowed down before Him. They brought Him gifts. They honored Him. They worshiped Him. They came & did all this for the King. All for the promised Messiah found in the baby Jesus.

But if we flip a couple chapters over in the life of Jesus, we see a very different Jesus. In John 13 we find Jesus on his hands & knees washing the feet of His disciples. Doing the work of the lowliest servant, we see Jesus washing, cleaning & honoring His disciples dirty feet.

So what happened? What transcended in Jesus' life to go from being worshiped & honored as a King, to now doing the work of a lowly servant? Why do we see such a different Jesus?

TRUTH: Jesus didn't come to be a great earthly king. He came to serve. Mark 10:45 tells us Jesus "didn't come to be served, but to serve." Jesus was born to serve. He even made "Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant" in Philippians 2.

So if Jesus came as nothing, only to be a servant, why do we try to be everything? Why are we always wanting to be somebody? Why do we desire recognition & want others to think we're great? Why are we striving for popularity, money, friends & all kinds of "stuff"?

You see, the King of the universe came to this world as a lowly servant. He came not be served. But to serve. And John 6:38 tells us that was God's will for Jesus' life.

So why do we so often think that's not God's will for our life? How do we think we somehow escape that & are called for great recognition?

Jesus came as servant. He was born to serve. Born to put others above Himself.

And we are called to imitate Him. Jesus tells His disciples after washing their feet to go imitate Him & do to others as He has done to them.

That's our calling. That's our purpose. That's God's will for our lives.

Be a servant.

JV

*Please read this through the understanding I'm not knocking down striving for greatness. We are called to be the best & give our best to God. What I'm pinning down here is questioning our motive for greatness. Do we strive to be great to honor us? To be recognized? Or to honor God? To glorify Him? That's greatness. 

Love Never Fails

This past month we've been digging into love. God's love for us. Our love for God. And our calling to go & share God's love with this world.


1 Corinthians 13:8 tells us "love never fails." Seems like such a great statement & truth, but somehow we see love failing every day. Friendships come to an end. Our Facebook status changes from "in a relationship" to "single." Marriages turn to divorce. People walk out on us. Homes are broken. If love never fails, then why do we see love failing every single day? How is it love can often be so conditional?


Here's the problem: we live in a world of broken love. We live in a world that doesn't know what love is. That teaches love wrong. Misrepresents love. Replaces love. And as a result, love fails. We fail at love. Others fail loving us. Love in this world simply fails.


BUT here's the good news: we have a God who loves us with an unfailing love. A never ending love. Psalm 36:7 counts God's unfailing love as "priceless." God's unfailing love that always protects us. Is always trustworthy. Gives us hope. And an unfailing love worth fighting for. God's love never fails.


And God demonstrated His unfailing love for us through His Word. In the OT, God promised His people over & over redemption. Freedom. Life. All through a Messiah that would come & fulfill all He had promised from the beginning. And then that Word, God's promises, became flesh. Became a reality.


We see God's true unfailing love for us come ALIVE in the birth of Christ. God has given us a love that never ends through Jesus' birth.


So as we celebrate Christmas, remember the significance of Jesus coming to Earth. His birth was so significant because God fulfilled all His promises to us through it. The promise God had given from the very beginning, became real that night. The promise of His unfailing love. All through the birth of a child.


So as you go through this Holiday season spreading Christmas cheer, be sure to pass along God's unfailing love to others as well. This world needs it. This world wants it. And it's our job to give them a love & hope that will never end.


JV

Spring Break 2012

I'm excited to announce our Spring Break 2012 plans to you guys today! 

So far, we've been to Dallas for a mission trip in 2010. Then to Keystone to hit the slopes in 2011. And now this year, we're headed to Knoxville, TN for an unforgettable mission trip in 2012. We'll partner with World Changers & go serve that community through work projects & construction. Here's the scoop:

WHEN: March 18 - March 21

WHERE: Knoxville, TN

WHY: Work. Serve. Do Missions with World Changers

WHO: All MS & HS Students

WHAT: Work Projects & Construction

COST: $135 (includes lodging & food on site)

DEADLINE: Sign up by December 21 --> $50 Deposit

Feel free to contact me for any further details or questions. And be sure to sign up by the deadline! Don't miss an opportunity to experience God in this unique way!

JV

Guy on a Buffalo: Ep 2

The highly anticipated 2nd episode. Enjoy.


 

Guy on a Buffalo: Ep 1

Chuck Norris' favorite mini-series. In case you missed our opener last week...here you go!

Chris Tomlin Concert

Chris Tomlin is coming to Little Rock next week...AND WE'RE GOING! It's going to be an awesome night of worship. Chris Tomlin & Christy Nockels will be leading us in a time of worship, and Louie Giglio will bring us God's Word. This is going to be a powerful night & you don't want to miss it! Here are the details:

WHEN: Friday, October 21@ 7:00 PM
WHERE: Verizon Arena
COST: $30 (guaranteed floor seats)
MEET: Up @ NLBC @ 5:15 PM

Eat before you come & be sure to buy your tickets from John ASAP!

JV

BASIC. Follow Jesus

Over the next few weeks, we're going to go through a series getting back to the BASICS. Sometimes, it's easy for us to lose sight of the basic principles in following Christ. The call to follow & imitate Christ is very simple - but executing & living it is totally different. So we're going to break things down & get our minds & heart back to the basics of following Jesus.


Week TWO: Follow Jesus. In all honesty, how would you describe yourself? As a FOLLOWER of Jesus? Or more as a FAN of Jesus?

There's a HUGE difference in those two words & the meaning they have. A fan is simply someone who buys a ticket, shows up, cheers & spectates. A fan likes the concepts, likes the teachings, likes the benefits that come with Jesus; but doesn't like to live them out. Unfortunately, I think most Christians end up being fans of Jesus. They love Jesus & all He has to offer, but really don't care to live His teachings & commandments out in their everyday life.

Yet why do so many Christians believe they can be followers & not live like Jesus? How can we honestly believe we can be Christians & look nothing like Him?

For example, say a parent tells his child to go clean his room. Now the child doesn't go clean his room, but he instead memorized every thing his parent told him. He even recited it back to him. And then he gathered with his friends every week to talk about doing what their parents told them to do. Wouldn't fly, would it??

So how come we try to do the same exact thing to Jesus? He has called us to follow Him, but we've resorted to memorization, meditation & even weekly gatherings with NO action. Jesus tells us it doesn't work that way. In Luke 6:46, Jesus asks us why we even bother to call Him our Lord when our lives look nothing like Him? Live nothing like Him? Just living life as a fan?

So what separates a fan from a follower? IMITATION. A follower is one who plays follow the leader & imitates every single thing the leader does. And to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, we must imitate Him. Very simple. Ephesians 5:1 calls us to be imitators of God. It's very hard to get around that word. Very hard to escape that command. To follow Jesus, we must IMITATE Him.

Are you a follower of Jesus? Or just a fan?

Imitate Jesus.




JV

BASIC. Fear God

Over the next few weeks, we're going to go through a series getting back to the BASICS. Sometimes, it's easy for us to lose sight of the basic principles in following Christ. The call to follow & imitate Christ is very simple - but executing & living it is totally different. So we're going to break things down & get our minds & heart back to the basics of following Jesus.

Week ONE: Fear God. This concept is so often downplayed in church. We're taught so much about God's love & how loving our God is, we often don't get taught the FULL character of God. If all we know is a loving God - then we don't know the God of the Bible. God doesn't only have one characteristic. Our God is so extravagant, so great & so mighty. Yes, God IS love. But, our God is also to be feared.

Psalm 111:10 tells us that fearing God gives us knowledge, wisdom & understanding. So to know God & understand who God is begins with a FEAR of Him.

When we look at Scripture, every time man enters into the presence of the Living God, they are overwhelmed with fear. We see Isaiah in Isaiah 6 just cry out his impurity. He thought he was utterly ruined for being in the presence of God. Then John in Revelation 1 tells us he fell to the ground as if he were dead. He literally fell to the ground at the feet of the King as if he were a dead man.

So why is our response any different? Why, when we enter the presence of God, do we respond any differently?

So often we see church as a social event instead of entering into His presence. So often we just jump into God's Word without any prayer & just read it without reverence. So often we just show up to church & simply park our bodies there with our mind on something else. So often we can sit in church & take nothing away from the experience of being in the house of the Lord.

How? How can we think we're any better? Any different? That the God they feared is different today?

We've lost a fear of God. And we need to fear the Living God just like Isaiah & John did in the Bible.

In Revelation 1, John is told to "fear not." But notice in the text this is ONLY AFTER John has submitted. Only after John has humbled himself. Shown fear. Reverence. Surrender.

We serve a God who is to be feared. A God who demands we humble ourselves & submit our lives to Him. A God who demands we surrender ourselves to Him as we enter His presence.





JV