Video Invitation to Third Annual Easter Worship Celebration!

Paul Mills has created this fine little video invitation to our Third Annual Easter Worship Celebration in the Open Air in Foothill Ranch (aka: Easter on the Street!)   Enjoy!



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Teaching on Suffering, House Church Style

The following is the outline from house church this morning on the topic of The Sufferings of Christ and our suffering.  It is an example of how we spend time in God's word as a house church.  I (Bill Faris) created this outline and led the discussion, but there were a lot of pauses along the way where people asked questions and shared experiences.  

I like that, rather than hearing a one-way "sermon" on this powerful topic, we could process it in community.   Good stuff!

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I. Introduction

A. Lent

1. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and continues to Easter

2. Its purpose is to identify with the forty day long period in which Christ was tempted in the wilderness, according to the Gospels 

B. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus set aside of period of fasting and preparation prior to the start of His public ministry

1. During that period, He was tempted in three specific ways by the devil

a. The first temptation was to turn stones into bread with which He could break His fast.  This was a temptation to provide for Himself apart from the Father. 

b. The second temptation was for Him to throw Himself down from the Temple in order to test God’s promise to rescue Him. This was a temptation to force the Father’s hand.

c. The third temptation was for Him to worship the devil in order to receive authority from the devil over earth’s kingdoms and all that go with them.  This was a temptation to abandon His Father’s plan to suffer.

C. The Bible teaches us that Christ suffered and that His suffering is important for us to understand

II. The Place of Suffering

A. I wrote in my book How Healed Do You Want to Be? that in order to have a good theology of healing, you must also have a good theology of suffering

B. To suffer is defined as:

1. To undergo or feel pain and distress

2. To sustain injury, disadvantage, and loss

3. To undergo a penalty

4. To endure pain, disability, death, etc., patiently or willingly

C. The Suffering of Christ

1. In order to understand the role suffering plays in our own lives, we must first understand the sufferings of Christ

2. In the wilderness, Christ suffered the onslaught of temptation

a. The temptations were rooted in the notion of avoiding suffering and achieving power without obedience or the suffering necessary for Him to fulfill God’s plan.

b. Later, in the Gethsemane, Jesus would wrestle with His call to undergo the Ultimate Suffering of the Cross.

1) He referred to this as “the cup” He did not wish to drink, if it were possible

c. Nevertheless, He agreed to undergo the suffering that was to follow in order to do God’s will

3. In reflecting on Christ’s sufferings, biblical writers note the following:

a. He suffered when He was tempted but refused to yield in order to end His suffering (Hebrews 2: 18)

b. He suffered insults and injustice but chose to entrust Himself to God’s justice rather than retaliate (I Peter 2: 23)

c. He suffered in His body, but “armed Himself” with the will to do so in order to fulfill God’s plan (I Peter 4: 1)

d. He suffered death itself, tasting it on our behalf and removing its “sting” (Hebrews 2:9, I Cor. 15:55)

e. His will to undergo suffering taught Him to prefer obedience over relief (Heb 5: 8).

D. The Place of Suffering in Our Lives

1. As followers or “imitators” of Christ, suffering has a legitimate place in our lives.

2. Or, to put it another way; pain and distress, injury, disadvantage and loss, and even death itself may have a legitimate place in our lives

a. What gives these things legitimacy as Christ-followers?

1) If they result from our attempts to obey God, resist temptation and trust divine justice (Phil. 1: 29; I Peter 2: 20)

2) If they are a part of the natural order of things (such as the tendency of our bodies to “waste away”) 2 Cor. 4:16

3. Is all suffering ordained by God? 

a. No.  Some suffering is just part of the natural order of things (John 16:33) and some is the work of the devil (Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38).

b. It is perfectly legitimate for us to seek relief from such sufferings

III. What Suffering Produces

A. A focus on that which is eternal and truly lasting (2 Corinthians 4:17, 18)

B. The ability to persevere, endure and become stronger (James 1:3, 4; I Pet. 5:10)

C. A purified witness to Christ (Phil.1:29; I Peter 2: 20)

D. Cause for great rejoicing after the suffering is over (I Peter 1: 6)

IV. Ultimate Vindication

A. Ultimately, all earthly suffering and loss will be vindicated in the Age to Come (Rev. 2:10)

1. An “eternal glory that far outweighs” our suffering (2 Cor. 4:17)

V. What We Learn About God Through Suffering

A. Ultimately, we learn that Christ – who Himself suffered – will be totally present with us in our suffering (Romans 8:35 - 39)

B. In the language of the ancient church, our suffering produces “desolation” but the comfort of the Spirit in our suffering produces “consolation” (see also 2 Cor. 1:4,5)

 VI. Make Room in Your Life For Suffering as a Christ-Follower

Thomas a Kempis in The Imitation of Christ:

"Jesus hath many lovers of His heavenly kingdom,but few bearers of His Cross. He hath many seekers of comfort, but few of tribulation. He findeth many companions of His table, but few of His fasting. All desire to rejoice with Him, few are willing to undergo anything for His sake. Many follow Jesus that they may eat of His loaves, but few that they may drink of the cup of His passion. Many are astonished at His miracles, few follow after the shame of His Cross. Many love Jesus so long as no adversities happen to them. Many praise Him and bless Him, so long as they receive any comforts from Him. But if Jesus hide Himself and withdraw a little while, they fall either into complaining or into too great dejection of mind..".

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If Banksy Were a Church Planter: Street Ministry and Street Art

      Having just watched the film documentary film “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, I got my first real look at the worldwide, mostly urban, subculture of “street art”.  If, like me, you have been unfamiliar with the provocative, enormously creative and somewhat subversive world of contemporary street art, I can heartily recommend “Exit” as a good starting place. 

            The instinct behind street art is to post, paint or otherwise display arresting images on everyday spaces such as walls, billboards, sidewalks and the like.  The “art” may be words or images painted from aerosol spray paint cans of course.  But, as the film shows us, the true masters of the art utilize media and techniques as diverse as stickers, tiles, stencil art, mural painting and more. “Banksy”, the featured street artist of the “Exit Through the Gift Shop” documentary has done much to push the envelope of what is possible in these regards and much of his work is fascinating and eye-popping. 

            All this has gotten me to thinking: what if Banksy and his kind were church planters rather than so-called “post-graffiti artists”?  What kinds of spirit would they bring to the notion of taking the ministry out of church buildings and other formalized environments to the streets of our cities?  After all: isn’t this what they have done to the art world?

            Yes, it most assuredly is.  The street artists have confronted the notion that art belongs in climate-controlled, well-lit and sterilized galleries and museums and broken the rules by exposing their work to the raw elements and human environments of the abandoned buildings, bridge abutments and billboard spaces of our cities.  In doing so, they have confronted our monotony by surprising us with delightfully light-hearted or powerfully thought-provoking images and messages.  By doing so, they demand us to take notice of things we would otherwise dismiss, neglect or assign to the fringes of our lives.  Isn’t this, in a sense, what Jesus and the Apostles did when they healed the sick in the streets and preached sermons from hilltops and parked fishing boats? 

            The street artist’s message is, in a sense: “Art is breaking in to your everyday environment” and challenging you to see the world differently”.  And, in a similar way, the message of Jesus is: “The kingdom of God is breaking in to the present age and challenging you to see the world and the meaning of your own life differently”. 

Could it be that Banksy and his contemporaries “get it” about the way the unexpected is capable of breaking in to the everyday that has somehow eluded many of our most notable church thinkers and leaders?  

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