The Season of Lent: Following Jesus

 Lent is far more than a season of legalistic performance based religious self-examination, it is rather a time of fully embracing the grace of God and the reality of the risen Christ and the Season of Easter.

“So Abram went as the Lord had told him” Gen: 12:4a

The Season of Lent speaks to, and teaches each and all of us, so many lessons regarding the Christian life. This ancient observance, which dates back to the very early years of the Christian movement. Season of Lent emerged out of the forty-day period of the time which was given to those who were going to be baptized into the body of the Church on Easter Sunday and encouraged new converts to consider their lives as they embraced their identities in Christ and the transformations which the Holy Spirit would lead them to embrace.

The Calling to Follow

During these forty days new converts were encouraged to consider the transformation which was coming to their lives and the calling which was now upon them in light of who Jesus is and what he has done for each and all of us.

These new converts were encouraged to prayerfully consider the life which they were now called to live in following their Lord Jesus Christ.

These early converts to the Christian movement and Christians through the history of the Church are in many respects are very much like the Patriarch Abraham.

Abraham, named Abram at the time of his calling by the Lord God, left everything that he had known for seventy-five years to follow the calling of God upon his life.

When the Lord called the Patriarch , he went forth not knowing fully where his new found life would lead him.

“By Faith Abraham, when he was called went forth by faith to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” Heb:11:8

In spite of not knowing where the Lord God was leading him to and in spite, of the unknown which lay before him, Abraham, the Patriarch went forth leaving all behind him. Abraham did so and could do so because he trusted in the Lord who was and always would be with him.

Abraham did not did not focus on the journey upon which he embarked, nor the potential hardships or adversities but rather Abraham kept his heart and mind upon the Lord knowing that his God would bring him safely to his destination and fulfill all the promises which the Lord had made to him and to us all.

 Following into the Unknown

We Christians today and throughout the ages, are the spiritual the heirs of Abraham, and are very much like the Patriarch when we are called. When we hear the Gospel message of Jesus, we hear in the Gospel a calling to receive great and glorious promises as an inheritance eternal.

“He called you through our Gospel that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”  2Thess:2:14

When we hear that glorious message about Jesus and we chose to accept it and follow him we are then setting forth often into the unknown, and on a journey that we cannot always know what lies immediately ahead. 

Yet, we can be confident that as we pilgrimage through this life toward the Promised Land of the Kingdom of God, we can trust, in faith, that our Lord Jesus is there with us every step of the way through whatever we might face.

Am With You Always

The season of Lent is a yearly reminder of the faithfulness of God that he is with us in spite of us. Jesus is there every step of the way on our Earthly pilgrimage. Whatever we face on the road to and through the Kingdom of God Jesus is there with us.

Just as our Lord Jesus was about to ascend into the heavens after commissioning his followers to go forth proclaiming the message of his Gospel, Jesus affirmed that he would walk with us, be with us and give us each and all, his gracious divine assistance as we go forth into the unknowns of life whatever they may be, the good, the glorious and the tragedies, setbacks and sorrows.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you: and lo I am with you always even to the end of the world” Matt: 28:19-20

Lent reminds us that Jesus makes the pilgrimages with us, leading us ever forward. Again, as our Lord has promised “I am with you”.  

Jesus is, in truth, the reason for the journey. This means that Jesus gives us this life here upon the Earth so that through all that we face we come to know him. It is the adversities of, and uncertainties of life, that we grow to known Jesus ever deeper.

It is, in truth, even in the worst of times that we might face that we come to know Jesus’ faithfulness and love mercy and grace. When all hopes seem lost and life appears to be at its end and we feel abandoned by all else, it is in these moments of grief and uncertainty that Jesus' unconditional and undying love is realized and experienced in its most profound way.

Jesus speaks to us through the word of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit “I am with you always”. This truth should give us strength and reliance upon him to journey forward knowing that we are not alone even among the unknowns of life.

Experiencing the Incarnation

Jesus is there to give us strength and comfort as no other can. He is there with us. St. Paul, and other early Christians knew the comfort of the abiding presence of God when he wrote to the Church in the Greek city of Corinth. St. Paul wrote of the challenges that he, and all of us face in life, and how he coped with these challenges.

“in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in dangers, in hunger,” 2Cor:6:4-5

 St. Paul experienced these trails and tests, yet he continued to follow Jesus. It was in these test and hardships that the Apostle came to know his Lord all the more. In truth, what St. Paul was experiencing, was, the Incarnate Christ in his life. The Apostle knew and understood that Jesus had shares this life with us and knows and understand the journey of life that St. Paul and all of us are in.

Speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus told his disciples “I will not leave you Fatherless, I will come to you” Jhn: 14:18

We are called to follow Jesus in this life because he walks with us and indwells us through the very Spirit of God, in this way, Jesus’ incarnation becomes our incarnation, meaning we have the Lord within us in our flesh making us his children.

As St. John wrote “he has come in the flesh”, meaning that, the Eternal Son of God, the Second person of the Holy Trinity, has joined with us through his own personal incarnation, but also that, through the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus has come in our own flesh.

When the great Patriarch Abraham set out from his home country and his father’s household upon receiving the call of the Lord God, not even he could have the experienced what we Christians are blessed to have, for in the time of Abraham the incarnation had not yet become a reality but was still a future hope.

This life is intended so that we experience the Incarnation of Jesus first hand and in so doing we come to know him.

The Season of Lent teach us that as we go forth into the Christian life and our own personal and collective pilgrimage toward the Kingdom of God. Our Lord is with us. Jesus is there to reveal his love, mercy and grace and to be our help and strength and comfort every step of the way to glory.

As Jesus said to those ancient disciples’ centuries ago and down through the ages, as he departed unto the Heavens, “I am with you even unto the end of the world”.  

We are called to follow Jesus as did Abraham at his calling and to experience his Holy Presence as he leads us toward the Kingdom of God. This is a Lesson of the Season of Lent.

Benediction: May we each and all ever look to our Lord Jesus, who is there with us on our pilgrimage of life, through every step of our lives, walking with us and leading us forward through all that we face and who will reveal his love for us all, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.

Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor

Topinabee Community Church

Topinabee Michigan

If You Would Like to Know More About or to Support the Ministry of Topinabee Community Church You Can go to Our Web Site.

https://topinabeechurch.org/index.html

You Can Follow Topinabee Community Church on Face Book 

https://www.facebook.com/Topinabeecommunitychurch

                       “If Its Not About Jesus, Its Not About Anything!”  

The Lenten Season: God's Faithfulness

 "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed,"  meaning one person, who is Christ." Gal: 3:16

The Lenten season, which many of our more liturgical Christians observer , emerged in the early years of the Christian Church as a time of reflection prior to receiving the sacrament of baptism and the transformation to the life of a person who comes to believe in Jesus Christ.

Lent is far more than a season of legalistic performance based religious self-examination, it is rather a time of fully embracing the grace of God and the reality of the risen Christ and the Season of Easter.

Lent, however is in many ways a sweeping overview of the plan of salvation which God himself has inaugurated for each and all of humanity, if they will but freely receive it.

Lent speaks to us as well of the faithfulness of God to bring to pass all that he has promised in his Holy Word, the Bible.

Lent takes us from the promises and covenant made to Abraham down through the ages to the very coming of the one who is the crux of all that God has decreed, his Son Jesus Christ.

"Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” Gen: 17:1-2

 What God was blessing Abraham with was transformational, making him in many ways and all new person, Abraham 's life would and could never be the same when he heard the call of God and his acceptance of that calling.

Representing this transformation in changing his name from Abram (father) to Abraham (father of many). This tells us that what God would do in Abraham's life would impact generations yet to come, that is, each and all of us.

 "Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

“I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”     God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations" .(3-9)

Faith in God's Faithfulness

Abraham had received the promises that the Great God, the very Creator of all things, extended to him. These promises which spanned the centuries yet Abraham received and embraced them without ever fully realizing them within his own life time all because Abraham knew that God who had made these promises was faithful to fulfill them.

 Abraham recognized that he of his own self could not bring all this to pass, but knew he would need to trust in his God to be faithful. Knowing that God was faithful to him enabled Abraham to have faith in God, therefore they were given and received all through faith.

"For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") --in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist." Rm: 4:13-17

What this meant for Abraham, and means for each and all who will but freely receive it, is that, it is truly dependent upon who God is and his perfect faithfulness to us. Our God is faithful even when we are faithless.

"if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself."2Tim:2:13

We of our own selves could not bear the great weight of accomplishing salvation, our faith is vacillating and imperfect, but God himself is true to himself. Therefore, God has brought to pass what he has promised to the Patriarch Abraham and has sent his Son to do and be what he nor we could never be or accomplish.

Promised Seed

 God, in his promise to Abraham, gives Abraham the hope that his "seed" will be great, and that it is this "seed" to whom all the promises truly belong and by whom they are conveyed.

The Apostle St. Paul address and identifies this seed as God's own Holy Son Jesus Christ, and that through Jesus, all the promises of God are shared with us, if we freely receive them.

"The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ." Gal: 3:16

Jesus is that one seed that demonstrates the faithfulness of the Creator God to fulfill his covenants and promises. God sent his own Son so that we through Jesus might be the recipients of these exceedingly great blessing. Jesus also is the evidence that God was, and is, faithful to his word given to Abraham and fully justifies the Patriarch's trust in God.

 Father of the Many 

St. Paul expounds to us that the promise received by us does not come through our performance but by trusting in God's faithfulness to bless us and to share in all that God has for us in and by his Son Jesus. 

"It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless," Rm:4:13-14a

Abraham did not "earn" what God offered, he simply put his trust in the trustworthiness of God to give it, and Jesus is the certainty and confirmation that God has done what he said he will do even giving us eternal life.

"Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not." (16-17)

The promise of God is for peoples from all nations to receive eternal life in and through his Son Jesus. The Lenten season speaks to us and focuses our hearts and  minds upon the truth that God is faithful to us all and desires that each and all people will but freely receive what is already theirs in Jesus.

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God."2Cor:1:20

God is faithful to fulfill all his promises, not just to Abraham, but each and all us as well.

Benediction: May we each and all during the Lenten Season, trust in the faithfulness of God, who has given us great promises, as he did for Abraham through the promised seed, our Lord Jesus, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen!

 

Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor

Topinabee Community Church

Topinabee Michigan

If You Would Like to Know More About or to Support the Ministry of Topinabee Community Church You Can go to Our Web Site.

https://topinabeechurch.org/index.html

You Can Follow Topinabee Community Church on Face Book 

https://www.facebook.com/Topinabeecommunitychurch

                       “If Its Not About Jesus, Its Not About Anything!”  

Identity in Christ

 "Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory" Rm:8:17

Identity Theft is one of the biggest crimes being committed in recent times. Many unsuspecting people have had their personal information appropriated by varies ones and is being used for their own advantage and gain at the expense of the victims, that is, they are obtaining for themselves what should belong to another and keeping someone from what is rightfully theirs. 

 Often this identity theft is not even realized until it is too late, the victim dose not even know it has occurred until the bills arrive.

 Spiritual Identity Theft

 Satan wants to commit the same crime against Christians today, he wants to rob Christians of their Identity in Christ, he attempts steal what rightfully belongs to us through Jesus Christ.

 Many Christians have had their identity in Christ taken from them, or maybe better said, their identity has been it is hidden or confused, and they do not know it. 

 Satan does not want you know who you are in Christ, he wants to cast a pall of illegitimacy over you and your life, and or ministry.  He wants to keep you from your true identity in Jesus. In short, he wants to commit spiritual identity theft.

Satan will use any means to accomplish this, even sadly to say, other Christians.  He does not want you to be who you were called to be in Christ.

As Satan lusted after position and power and the place of God and attempted to take it  in the eternity past , so, he now attempts to take your identity and place  as well or keep you from it.

 Embrace Your Rightful Identity in Christ

 No matter who you were born as in Adam, through your birth; in Christ, you have a  new identity all through and in Jesus, who is the second  or the last Adam.

"So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit."1Cor:15:45

 Jesus came that we might have an all-new identity in him. Rooted in Christ not the world. The time has come for Christians to embrace their true Identity in Jesus.

 What is Your Identity in Christ

 Our Lord Jesus shares all things which are his, with us, except his deity. From Jesus, issues forth our true identity, everything that he has Jesus shares with us .

Jhn: 16:15-tells us that all the spiritual resources that belong to him—"All that belongs to the Father is mine...the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you"

Our God had blessed us even now in Jesus, not just someday, but even now.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ," Eph:1:3-5b

When we heard the message of the Gospel, and accept the truth of that message and came to see what our Lord has accomplished for each and all humanity, if they will but freely receive it, we then , experience the blessings which our God has determined that we all should share in.

"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." Eph: 1:13-14

We all are included in these great blessings all in and through Jesus.

This is, and has been, even from Eternity past, the will and purpose and pleasure of our God to bless us all through his son Jesus. Our God is pleased to grant us every good thing in his son Jesus. Our God is for us, and always graciously incline to all humanity, even if humanity is in ignorance, indifference or even in defiance, our God still loves us.

"it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom."Lk:12:32b

It is literally the will of God that we all be identified as the very Children of the Creator God"

Jhn: 1:12-13- Tells us that it is by own God’s will we are “children of God”- not man’s will ,but God’s will.

This is the very reason for which our Lord Jesus has come, so that we may be who we were, from eternity past, always meant to be.

"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." Jhn: 1:12-13

A New Life

We have, in Jesus, been given an all-new life. This is the life which St. Paul lived, this life was not just theoretical, but practical for everyday living. It was a life lived out in "participation” with Jesus, thru Jesus' perfect faith, which never fails.

Now in Heaven

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" Gal: 2:20

 Even now, in the view of our Father in Heaven, each and all of us are seated in the very highth of Heaven with and in Jesus, that is, our God, the Holy Trinity, has elevated us, that each and all, to such lofty highth in and by his Holy Son Jesus Christ and we can experience this when we come to believe in Jesus and receive it by grace alone.

"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus," Eph: 2:6

 If we could but catch but a glimpse of what this truly speaks to us, we all would fall down and worship our God in the person of his Son Jesus. There would never be one empty seat in any Church, anywhere, upon the Earth, so glorious is this truth, it defies our understanding.

The language in which St. Paul writes is all present tense, that indicates that this is the current realty for us, not just some day. This is true for us even here and now.

That when our God looks upon his holy Son Jesus, in his glorified resurrected humanity, the Father see all of us as well, and when the Father looks upon us he sees Jesus. That is, Jesus is not just Emanuel, "God with us", Jesus is "us with God". Jesus is there in the Heavens being each and all of us as we were all meant to be, for us.

Jesus Shares With Us, Everything but His Deity.

 Whatever Jesus is there is corresponding imputation to us, and to our identity. He is the Heir of God, we then, are heirs of God

 Rm: 8:17- Heirs with Christ

Jesus is in the body, that is, Jesus is humanity through the incarnation, therefore we are part of Jesus’ body.

 1Cor: 12:27- Part of the body of Christ.

Jesus is the one who reconciles, we are the reconciled.

 2Cor: 5:18-19- We are reconciled back to God.

Jesus is the King and Kingdom of God embodied; we are now citizens of the Kingdom.

Phlp: 3:20- Citizens of the Kingdom.

Jesus is our High Priest; we are now made priest of God.

1Ptr: 2:9- A Priest hood.

  Jesus is the Redeemer; we are the Redeemed.

 Jesus is the Savior; we are the saved.

 Whatever Jesus is, there is corresponding imputation to us and our Identities.

  Christians Need to Know

 We need to know who we are in Christ, and not allow Satan to rob us, to steal our identities, that who we are in our Lord Jesus. Some Christians lack legitimacy, they do not know who they are in Christ.

In the world, legitimacy is derived by the acceptance and approbation of men; for Christian’s legitimacy comes only through Christ. Jesus' worth, who Jesus is, is imputed to us, and when we come to believe the Gospel message, which invites us to share in, and be who we were always meant to be, we then experience our true identities in Jesus. 

 Too many Christians have had their Spiritual Identities taken from them and they live in that uncertainty and sure hope. Some believers feeling doubt as to God's good and gracious intent and desire toward and for them, these Christians lack what   God has intended them to have, they lack worth or legitimacy. But this is only in their own minds not God’s. The Father loves them more than they, or any of us, can ever know or understand.

Our Father accepts them fully as Children of his house hold. In God's heart and mind, they, and we all, have complete legitimacy in Jesus.

 Believer, we do not need the approval of man, it comes from God only. Our Identity, our worth, our legitimacy, everything that we are to be, we are in Jesus.

Some Christians live in fear that they might fail and loses out on salvation through their own lack, but this is the very reason why our Lord Jesus came; we cannot save ourselves. Jesus came to provide all these blessing and to be for us all what we could never be of our own selves.

Do not allow Satan commit identity theft. Do not let him appropriate for himself what God has given us in his Son Jesus Christ, or keep you from accepting your true identity as a Child of God in Jesus.

Everything Jesus has, and is, he shares with us, that is our identity, who we were all meant to be.

Our Identification

 We need to keep our minds fixed on Jesus; by having a singular focus on the person of Jesus Christ, by coming into regular Worship, Study, Prayer, Fellowship, our understanding of our Identity in Jesus, is strengthen and made a surer reality. 

Jesus prayed to his Father that we all would come to know him, and by so doing, experience the realities of the eternal life which he has secured for each and all of us, if we will be freely receive it.

"this is eternal life that they may know you , the only true God and Jesus Christ :whom you have sent" Jhn:17:3

When we know who Jesus is then we know who we are, and our identity as Children of our God all thru and in Jesus.

Benediction: May we each and all, know our true identity  in our Lord Jesus Christ, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.

 

Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor

Topinabee Community Church

Topinabee Michigan

If You Would Like to Know More About or to Support the Ministry of Topinabee Community Church You Can go to Our Web Site.

https://topinabeechurch.org/index.html

You Can Follow Topinabee Community Church on Face Book 

https://www.facebook.com/Topinabeecommunitychurch

                       “If Its Not About Jesus, Its Not About Anything!”