Tag Archives: jesus

Making Room for God [Sermon Notes]

Making Room for God
Teaching Series: Homework
Tim Boettger
Orchard Hill Church
Listen to this teaching online

This series is really about encouraging families.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed and unsure what to do about your family? Tim has, and appreciates the encouragement in the context of family.

Illustration: Children ages 6 and 4
Tim always wanted to be a Dad, but now that he was in it, it’s like “Whoa, it’s here. I’m doing it…” Well, at this time, Tim was preparing to go on a fishing trip with some church friends. He took his Bible on the trip and spent time preparing for his upcoming Sermon. One morning, Psalm 127 struck him in a new way:

Psalm 127:1
Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.

God needs to be MORE in the formula of family. Without God, it’s all in vain! This has been reminded to Tim over and over.

Continue reading →

Family Stages [Sermon Notes]

Family Stages
Teaching Series: Homework
Dave Bartlett
Orchard Hill Church
Listen to this teaching online

We’re beginning the year with a 4-week series on Family. This is a great thing! The goal of the series is to help families intentionally take steps that will make their families more God-centered, more fun, more peace-filled, and more connected.

Key verse of the series:

Ephesians 5:15
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise

“Making the most of every opportunity” was Dave’s phrase of the holidays. He made efforts to really live this out.

Continue reading →

The Life and Works of Jesus [Sermon Notes]

This teaching series really came about a couple of years ago when you, the congregation, revealed that you’d like to have a greater understanding of the Bible.  We went through the Old Testament.  And now we will dive into the New Testament.

The reason the Old Testament was written: Romans 15:4, “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.”

The New Testament is about the arrival of hope in our world.  It is the spiritual apex of our word.  Hope will arrive again when Christ returns.

Tim was told to teach something about Jesus’ life and his works.  He became overwhelmed with the task of naming just one part of Jesus’ life and works.  There’s so much!  So, he identified three observations of Jesus:

3 observations from the Bible about the radical nature of the life and works of Jesus

1 – His life did not have an ordinary beginning nor was He an ordinary man

Philippians 2:5-8
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
     he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

When we are talking about the life of Jesus, we are talking about a God-man

The best selling book of all time is one that is kinda difficult to understand.  An oxymoron… So John says:

John 1:1-4, 14
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

The Word is a person.  That’s why John capitalized it when he wrote.

Jesus was no ordinary man, with no ordinary beginning.

Story: Having a kid

Husband and wife decide to have a kid. Then wife conceives, gives birth. Tim’s first child was 11+ pounds! Second was 10+ pounds!  That’s abnormal, but not as abnormal as Mary experienced childbirth.

Luke 1

After reading about Jesus’ birth, that’s not normal!  You can’t “get” that.  Some people have described this as overseeing some ants who need help.  Knowing this, that they need help, you craft a plan to be born of one of the lady ants and…. wait, that sounds ridiculous!

The Virgin Birth is tough to understand.  It’s not ordinary.

2 – Most of the works that He did that are recorded for us in the Gospels make sense to the rational mind

In the Gospels, we don’t see the whole process of Jesus growing up. It goes from born, growing up, then to age 30.

Jesus’ first miracle: The wine

John 2:3-4
The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”

 “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

Jesus wasn’t quite ready yet. Not ready to let everyone know who he was.

Still, Jesus turned the water into wine.

John 2:11
This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Jesus began doing miracles:

Not long after turning water into wine, Jesus tells a Samaritan woman all about her life.

Still, after that Jesus healed a royal official of a terminal disease.

He healed a 38 year paralytic who walked instantly

Feeds over 5,000 people with five small loaves of bread and two fish

Walked on water – Ever tried to walk on water? It doesn’t work! But the Bible says that the disciples saw him walking on the water. You’ve gotta be crazy to believe this stuff!

Heals a man who was born blind

Brings his friend Lazarus back to life after being dead in the tomb for four days

You cannot read through the Gospels without being dumbfounded about the works of Jesus.

3 – The greatest work He performed among us may very well have been the act of dying.

Of all Jesus could do, his greatest act was dying.  His followers have celebrated that act from that day.  The tool used to kill him (cross) is the most significant spiritual representation we use today.

Why was Jesus’ death his greatest act?

Because it was in dying that Jesus dealt with humanities biggest problem.

We have many problems: Sickness, disease, economic, relational, family, corruption, food, but all of those are not the greatest problem.  Jesus came to take away the whole problem.

There are all kinds of hope in this world, but be very careful of placing your hope in something of the world.

Hope is a spiritual thing. If Christ is not the center of a “hope” message then it’s a lie.  There is no hope for humanity outside of the Gospel.

Sin entered the world through one man and death, through sin, and in this way death came to all man because one had sinned.

Romans 5:12
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
To repent for sin, there were many sacrifices of animals that were made.  God put an end to those sacrifices by offering The Lamb to deal with the world’s greatest problem.

John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

God freely invites us to accept his gift. Not everyone does.

John 19:30 
When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.

1 Peter 2:24
He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.

Some may say that the Resurrection was the greatest act. Maybe. But it seems that his miracles came easy.  How does He die, for us?  That is incredible.

John 20:30-31
The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

—

“The Life and Works of Jesus”
Series: Everything New
Tim Boettger
Orchard Hill Church
Listen to this teaching online

Jump!

The story is told of a young boy who liked to jump into the arms of his father. The son would stand at the top of the stairs and leap gleefully into his dad’s secure arms. But, the rule was, the boy was only to jump after he heard his father’s voice inviting him to take flight.

One night, the father changed the game. The boy, anticipating this nightly routine, stood perched at the top of the stairs waiting for the familiar voice of his father. But this time, the father turned off the hall lights and the boy could not see the face of his father or the strong arms that always caught him in mid-flight.

“Jump!” the father shouted.

“I can’t see you,” came the wary reply of the son.

Again, the father gave the usual command, “Jump!” “But I can’t see you,” said the boy with fear rising in his voice. The father’s response was calm and sure. “Jump!” And, with terror in his heart, the boy leaped into the air and landed safely and securely in his father’s arms.

This is a great story illustrating the concepts of faith and trust!

In the story of Peter walking on water, we often the focus on Peter’s lack of faith as he begins to sink. But what if this story really isn’t about lack of faith, but rather what a person can experience if he or she takes the invitation of Jesus seriously?  Check it out:

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “ Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
-Matthew 14:27-29

Peter’s response to Jesus is amazing and bold.  It’s as if he was playing a game of “Truth or Dare.”

Motive aside, we know that Jesus invited Peter to join Him on the water.  As Peter gets out of the boat he learns that Jesus can be trusted as he experiences the impossible.

Today, Jesus invites you to Him.  No matter how dark or hopeless your situation seems, get out of the boat and follow!

Question: What is in the way of stepping out of the boat?  Click here to comment.

The JV Squad

Selecting teams for “tackle football” each day on the playground was the highlight of my entire fifth grade year.  If I wasn’t one of the captains picking teams then I was certainly one of the first picks.  It felt good to know that I was a leader on the playground football field.

When choosing his team, Jesus didn’t go with the best available.  At least not in the world’s eyes.  He went with the weak and dependent.  There was nothing special about the twelve men Jesus gathered as disciples, they were passed over as rabbis and most of them left to be fishermen.

I’m guessing Jesus would have picked the boys playing jump rope to come on over and be on his playground football team during recess.

When choosing the disciples, Jesus could have gone to the temples and chosen those who had memorized the Torah. He could have recruited men of influence and good standing. He could have chosen those who were popular or wealthy. Instead, he took the least of these. He looked past the most obvious apprentices, approached some fishermen and simply said, “Follow me.” They did:

Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.” And they left their nets at once and followed him. -Matthew 4:19-20

Check out some of the descriptions the Appendix of the Bible uses to fill us in on the characteristics of the disciples: treacherous, greedy, doubtful, despised, judgmental, short-tempered, and impulsive. These were people who struggled with imperfections.  Think you can relate?

What made the disciples stand out is that they were willing to leave everything behind to follow Jesus.  There is no need to improve yourself before you try to follow Jesus.  Get up and go!

Jesus has picked you first.  He believes in you and knows what you can do through him.

Question: Jesus asked the fishermen to drop their nets and follow, what is he asking you to leave behind?  Click here to comment.