On the eve of going to the cross, Jesus makes the longest prayer we see recorded anywhere in the Bible. What does he pray for? Among other things, he begins his prayer by praying for his glory and that the Father would be glorified by what Jesus was about to do. This passage points us to the glory in prayer, the glory of the gospel, and the glory of God.
Category: Commentary
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Sermon: Paradigm Shift – John 16:23-33
Jesus has given glimpses of what life will be like for the disciples – and ultimately for the church – after his death and resurrection. But in this passage, Jesus will give further clarification on the dramatically new paradigm that awaits. Jesus will point to a new way to pray, a new revelation, and a new type of peace.
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The danger of bad biblical teaching
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
-James 3:1Words matter.
We can use words to bless, words to harm, words to boast, words to give instruction, and words to deceive. Through words we can tell a person that we love them, or that we hate them. Through words we can compliment or tear a person down.
When the Prophet Isaiah had a heavenly vision of the throne room of God, and beheld the holiness of God, he said in Isaiah 6:5: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Words were part of the original sin. In the garden, the serpent, twisting God’s words: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
God had never said that. He said they could eat of any tree except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die” (Genesis 3:2-3).
Eve also gets it wrong. God had never said they couldn’t touch the tree. Twisting God’s words. Further provoked into sin by the devil In Genesis 3:4-5, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When Adam and Eve are confronted with their sin, they use words to blame in Genesis 3:12, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
Words matter.
In the first part of James 3, James zeroes in on teachers. He gives a warning to teachers that they will be judged with greater strictness. The reason why carries into verse 2 that we all sin in many ways, but one of the ways common to us all is that we stumble and sin in what we say.
There is danger in bad Biblical teaching. It can lead people astray. It can teach people falsities, because the God who is revealed in scripture is the eternal, immortal, wise God. He’s the King of the universe, the creator of all things, he spoke the universe into being.
There’s not a canvas where we are painting and where we can make something look however we want it to look.
God is God. He has revealed himself in his scripture, his nature, his holiness. And so sound teaching about God matters. Teaching truth about God matters. Understanding God -in terms of how he has revealed himself in the Bible – matters.
And not all churches do that. And not all teachers do that.
Not many should be teachers because teaching necessarily involves words. Teaching about God’s word, teaching about God’s gospel necessarily involves words and language, and in talking, it makes it easy to say things that are untrue.
We can’t be fast and loose with God’s gospel. We can’t make God who we want God to be if that’s not true about how God reveals himself in scripture.
Unbiblical teachings that resort more to our feelings than to truth.
Doesn’t God just want me to be happy? Not at the expense of sin!
Words matter. How we approach the word of God matters. Like the serpent in the garden, twisting the very words of God.
So it is true that there is a warning given to those who teach. And anyone who does teach from the word of God should question his motives, should be humble before God, and prayerful about the text. It should be taken seriously.
We should be careful in our approach to God’s word.
But regardless of if someone is a teacher or not, all of us should still use discernment in listening to what our teachers say. In listening to that which is in accordance with scripture. Of being fed by sound Biblical preaching. And that’s true here, and thats’ true if you ever move to a new community. And that’s true of any teacher who you might watch on tv or who you might podcast. We should be discerning with the Bible teachers we listen to.
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No, NFL does not need to model its OT after college football
College football overtime is not real football. You don’t have kickoffs or punts. It takes significant aspects to the game out of play. You’re also starting in field goal range. This season, college football added the truly horrible rule of resorting to a series of 2 point conversion attempts in the third overtime. I hear people talk about this model and say its what the NFL could do because it’s “fair.”
That’s the sports commentary today after the epic playoff game last night between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs. The last 2 minutes of regulation saw three touchdowns and a field goal. It was the most exciting back and forth to end a football game I’ve ever seen. As the fourth quarter clock ticked to zero, the Chiefs hit a game tying field goal to send it to overtime.
Once they got to overtime, the Chiefs won the coin toss. After the dramatic end to the fourth quarter it seemed underwhelming. Neither defense was getting stops at that point. And the Chiefs relatively easily drove down the field and scored a touchdown.
Game over.
Without the Bills ever having the ball in overtime.
They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes. I’d add a third. People not liking football overtime. Football overtime is hard. Baseball is easy. You just keep playing one more inning until someone wins. Basketball is easy. A five minute overtime will ensure both teams get multiple possessions.
But football? How do you decide a winner? In both college and the NFL, a clear goal of overtime is to have it be short. Football is a brutally violent and physically demanding sport. You want to limit how many extra plays and hits these guys are taking after having just played a full football game.
So then how do you decide a winner? College overtime isn’t it. I think that suggestion overlooks just how good NFL players are. If the Bills-Chiefs game were decided by college overtime, they’d still be playing this morning!
I hear the argument that Buffalo didn’t get a chance. They have three chances. They had the lead with less than 2 minutes to go. Lost it. They got the lead again with :13 seconds left. Allowed a tie. In overtime, they also had another opportunity to get a stop. They failed all three times. So I don’t agree that “they didn’t have a chance.” They had three chances.
“Well they couldn’t stop Kansas City!” Ok. But to win the game, at some point, they were going to have to. If Kansas City scores (as they did) and Buffalo gets the ball and scores, then what happens? Does the next score win? Then that goes back to KC getting the advantage. Do you play 15 minutes? The NFL teams themselves have no interest in changing the rule to play a full 15 minute quarter by default in OT.
This brings me back to the beginning. I get that the conclusion to last night’s game was an underwhelming way to finish an amazing game. But I also understand that football does not lend itself to a perfect overtime format.
No matter the current format or a format where both teams get the same number of possessions, ultimately SOMEONE’S defense needs to make some plays. Personally, I have no problem with this format being the deciding factor after teams have already played 60 minutes of football.
Life isn’t fair. Make something happen.
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Sermon: Sorrow and Joy – John 16:16-22
It would seem that nothing could come from Jesus going to the cross, but in this passage, Jesus encourages the disciples and promises that from a time of great sorrow, there will be an even greater joy. Christians have the opportunity to experience joy today, the hope of a time of perfected joy, and the promise of a joy that will never be taken away.
