Hey Orchard Covenant,
We are starting our new series this Sunday, called, JESUS SAID WHAT???
We are going to spend most of the summer exploring Jesus. The Jesus that said some really beautiful things, as well as some hard things. The real Jesus is that one that C.S. Lewis explained as “not safe, but good.”
So to kick off that series, I want to give you 4 things that our culture says that sound like Jesus (but aren’t),
1. Follow your heart.
2. Be true to yourself
3. Believe in yourself
4. Live your truth
These are all things that sound like Jesus because the Jesus of American Culture is a chill ‘bro’ that helps us be self-actualized. He is a hippie guru that helps us live our best lives now. That is not the Jesus as he proclaimed himself, instead he said things like,
1. Follow Me
2. Deny yourself and take up your cross
3. Believe in the heavenly Father, and in Me who He sent.
4. Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life.
Those are not safe choices to make in our American culture. But they are good. Jesus says follow him, but he also said his yoke (how to follow him) is light. He said to deny yourself and take up your cross but also that if you lose your life for his sake, you will find life, life abundantly. He says believe in Him, but so that our hearts don’t have to be troubled because He is preparing a place for us. If Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, then we can know how to find our way, find truth and gain life.
Jesus’s teachings were not safe, but they were good. You are invited to journey with us this summer as we explore some more about what Jesus actually said and how it can change the way we live.
Blessings,
Pastor Nick
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