Jacob: "When you feel defeated..."

Life is like a marathon...or is it more like a wrestling match?  When we read in Heb. 12:1 that we are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses”…we may picture a stadium in which men and women of faith who have gone before us, are cheering us on as we run; but instead of being at the end of the race, let’s picture ourselves, as John Maxwell does, entering the stadium somewhere in mid-race, drawing inspiration and energy from the crowd.  Making our way around the track, one by one, great heroes of the faith  come down from the stands to encourage us on our journey. It's now our second lap as a man comes jogging toward us with a limp. We rack our brains trying to remember his name from Sunday School...and how he got that limp.  “I’m Jacob,” the man says, seeing our mental strain.  Jacob... the grandson of Abraham and the father of the 12 tribes of Israel?  He nods and then speaks six surprising words: “There is blessing in every defeat!”  Click this link to download.

Abraham & Sarah: "When you're not sure about God's plan..."

When we read in Heb. 12:1 that we are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses”…we may picture a stadium in which men and women of faith who have gone before us, and are cheering us on as we run.  Yet, instead of entering the stadium at the end of the race, let’s picture ourselves, as John Maxwell does, entering the stadium somewhere in mid-race, to the inspiring cheers and thunderous roar of the crowd. Imagine next that some of these great heroes of the faith begin coming down one by one from the stands to jog a lap with us; and to encourage us on our journey.  As we begin our first lap, we see a very old man and woman coming down to greet us...their faces are weathered, yet their eyes radiate with life:  “I am Abraham….and I am Sarah.” We only run a few steps when they turn and say with confidence, “You can trust God’s plan."  Click this link to download.

A Life-Giving Life

Katniss volunteers her life in "The Hunger Games"

Bestselling novels like "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, remind us that our world is literally saved from insanity by acts of self-sacrifice and self-giving love.  Two thousand years ago, Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."  He gave his life that we might have life and, as we learn in 1 John 5: 13-21,  he also came that we might give life, his life…to others. This kind of "life-giving life" is what this world truly needs; and we need to understand why.  Click this link to download.

A Life of Victorious Faith

Everyone has heard of Nike running shoes, and no doubt there will be many pairs crossing the finish line at today's LA Marathon.  But did you know that Nike is the Greek word for victory? In 1 John 5:4, we read, "This is the victory - or nike -  that conquers the world, our faith."  What does victory look like to you?  Is it winning a foot race? Is it acing a final exam?  Is it landing a good job?  Is it the gift of family or friends?  On the other hand, what does defeat look like to you? The gospels never promise unending victories in this life. John himself spent many years exiled on the Island of Patmos as punishment by the Romans for his subversive missionary work.  Even so, he assures us that we can have victory in this world. Yet the power we have over this world -- rather than being a force we control -- is a life of faith in Christ who has won the victory, the 10th sign of genuine Christianity from 1 John 5: 1-12.  Click this link to download.

A Life Beyond Fear

Few of us can honestly claim we have never been afraid! Fear is part of the fallen human condition. But a life that is paralyzed by fear is not what God desires for us, which is one reason why the command, “Do not be afraid!” is found 104 times in the Bible.  As we continue our study of life signs from First John,the 9^th sign of genuine Christian faith is “a life beyond fear.”  I believe that even if we cannot eliminate fear, we can move through it and beyond it.  In 1 John 4: 13-21, John describes three ways that fear is “cast out” …. by love.  Click this link to download.

A Balanced Life

In John’s letter we have seen two main themes…the call to believe in Christ as Lord and Savior of life, and the call to act like believers, chiefly by our love.  In 1 John 4: 1-12 John calls us again to a passion for the truth that is tempered by a love for people.  Jonathan Edwards, one of the most respected leaders of The Great Awakening (peaking in 1740), observed that if false spirituality is marked by imbalance, genuine spirituality is marked by “a beautiful symmetry and proportion” – a life of balance.  Inspired by Edwards, this message explores eight areas of balance that should characterize our lives as Jesus' followers. Click this link to download.

A Cross-Shaped Life

The greatest movies are usually about love.  No, I'm not talking about passionate desire and romance - though that stuff definitely has its place. I'm talking about the power of redemptive, self-giving love. Take this year's academy award nominees for example.  In The Descendents, George Clooney plays a father who must stop being the “back up parent” and start being a real father to his two daughters in the wake of a family tragedy. In The Artist, a washed up silent movie star is saved from ruin by the very woman who he helped to make famous. In The Help, a white woman is willing to lose her standing in the community as well as her boyfriend in order to write about the racist way that black housekeepers are treated in her home town.  Of course the sacrifice that these women make in order to tell their stories is even greater. Redemptive love and self-sacrifice is not just a popular movie theme…it’s the most powerful theme in human history.  We’ve been looking at John’s signs of genuine Christian faith in his first letter; and the seventh of these life signs from 1 John 3: 11-24 is a cross-shaped life…because our love for others should reflect the humility and sacrificial love of Christ.  Click this link to download.

A Life of Boundless Hope

The foundation of our hope in Christ is not not limited by our family history, the size of our bank account, our intellectual ability, the list of our accomplishments, or any other cause for human boasting, but upon God's infinite wisdom and unshakeable love for us in Christ.  That's why we're calling the sixth "Life Sign" of genuine Christian faith from 1 John 3: 1-3, a life of boundless hope.  Click this link to download.

A Life of Confidence (to the End)

John’s letter was written to help us recognize some clear signs of true Christian faith. The fifth of these signs is from 1 John 2: 18-28, what we might call, “A Life of Confidence (to the End)."  I read a “Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook” that explains how to survive various life or death situations.  How to escape from quicksand. How to survive a gunshot wound. How to escape a submerged car.  How to survive a shark or bear attack etc.  Not surprisingly, there’s no chapter on, “How to survive death” or “How to prepare for the End of the World.”  John reveals why we can have confidence to the end of our lives; the day Christ returns, or calls us home.  Click this link to download.

A Growing Life - Rev. Dr. William Craig

How can we recognize true Christianity or be sure that we are genuine followers of Christ?  John's letter was written to help us recognize some clear signs of true Christian faith.  The fourth of these, from 1 John 2: 12-17, is "a growing life."  Listen to this message from my father, the Rev. Dr. William Craig who brings a lifetime of experience to the question of how to keep growing in Christ!  Click this link to download.

A Life of Authenticity

Jefferson Bethke, Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus

John’s letter was written to help us recognize some clear signs of true Christian faith.  The third of these from 1 John 2: 3-11, is a life of authenticity.  There never seems to be any difficulty identifying fake religion…but how to identify authentic religion – that’s the challenge.  John points us to the fruit of authentic faith (obedience to God's commands), the route of authentic faith (walking with Christ), and the heart of authentic faith (love for one another).  Click this link to download.

An Illuminated Life

How can we recognize true Christianity or be sure that we are authentic followers of Christ in the spiritual and religious maze that we live in? John’s letter was written to help us recognize some clear signs of genuine Christian faith.  The second of these “life signs” from 1 John 1:5-2:2 is an illuminated life. On my college ring are the words, “Let there be light,” the motto of the University of California.  These words are intended to point to the light of reason and human knowledge; but in actuality they are a citation from the Book of Genesis ch. 1, where it is revealed that God is the source of all light.  This is true enlightenment…to be illuminated by the light of God…the purifying light which speaks the truth about sin, leads us to the blessing of repentance, and restores our fellowship with him and others.  Click this link to download.

A Life Lived in Fellowship

We live in a time of declining trust in spiritual leaders, an era of disappointment with organized religion, when alternative creeds and philosophies abound, where many feel that “truth is in the eye of the beholder.”  In such a day, how can Christians be sure that their own spiritual experiences are genuine? In his letter, John gives us some clear signs of an authentically Christian faith that will also be compelling to others. 


The first of these “life signs” from 1 John 1:1-4 is a life lived in fellowship.  Now most professing Christians are pretty enthusiastic about “fellowship"  but what is the real basis for our fellowship?  What makes it any different from other social gatherings?  That is the subject of John’s opening verses, where he testifies that…(1) this fellowship broke into history… when the Word of Life appeared in the flesh; (2) this fellowship existed from eternity…with the Father and the Son and (3) this fellowship is a growing family… marked by joy.  Click this link to download.

The Song That Can't Be Silenced

There is no other time of year that the message of God’s love is more omnipresent than right now, when songs of biblical hope, peace, and joy are so in evidence.  We hear them wafting through shopping malls; streaming from car radios, or playing on ipods. For 2000 years, we’ve been singing and chanting and humming with the angels who announced the Messiah's’ birth.  What is the power of these songs, even for skeptics, and why do we sing them?  Click this link to download.

The Testimony of the Tree

Although no one can make a “biblical case” for the display and decoration of Christmas trees, they have had a prominent place in the celebration of Jesus’ birth for centuries.  Is this simply a “heathen tradition” that Christians should avoid, or is there a deeper and more profound reason that we should “light the tree” each year?  Click this link to download.

An Invitation to the Table

For centuries, Christmas has been a time marked by celebration, by office parties, by neighborhood and family gatherings.  Is all this partying really appropriate for Jesus' followers? While the Bible does not encourage "partying," God has created in us a longing to celebrate, to experience the promise of God's Kingdom jubilee...and in the advent of the Messiah that celebration has already begun.  Click this link to download.

The Message of a Billion Lights

This Christmas, a billion people across the face of the earth -- many without understanding -- with candle flames and multi-colored lights, will announce one glorious fact: The Light has come!  Christ is the Light of lights before all worlds; the Redeeming Light of our darkened world; and the Eternal Light of that glorious New World.  Click this link to download.

Sent to Samaria (Living Out the Ancient Call)

When Jesus said he was going to send his disciples into Samaria as his witnesses (Acts 1:8), he meant he was going to send them into enemy territory.  Jews and Samaritans had agreed to hate one another for nearly a thousand years. To a Jew, the Samaritans were despised half-breeds who intermarried with their Assyrian conquerors back in 723BC, and adopted some of their pagan religious practices.  The Mishnah (a rabbinic commentary) says: “He that eats the bread of the Samaritans is like to one that eats the flesh of swine.”  Yet there is no escaping that, after two millennia, Jesus continues to send us with his message to the very ones with whom we’d rather not talk, or associate; and yes, even to those we may think...are swine.  Click this link to download.

Sent to Judea (Living Out the Ancient Call)

According to Acts 1:8, the Risen  Christ sent his disciples first into Jerusalem, and then into “all Judea."  We may think of “Judea” today as the immediate surrounding area, the community in which we live and work.  In Acts 16:11-15 we learn how Paul was able to extend God’s kingdom in the Roman city of Philippi through a business woman named Lydia. The story reminds us that how we live and work in our own community is a witness to the King and his mission.  Click this link to download.

Sent to Jerusalem (Living Out the Ancient Call)

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1: 8).  The first place that Jesus wanted his disciples to bear witness to him was in Jerusalem.  That is, he wanted them to start at home, with those they knew best. Sometimes the hardest place to be a witness to Jesus is among those who know us the best...our family members and closest friends.  Click the link to download.