Celebration Guide

John 8:5; John 9:2



notes...

<style type="text/css">p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 22.7px Times; color: #454545; -webkit-text-stroke: #454545}
p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 22.7px Times; color: #454545; -webkit-text-stroke: #454545; min-height: 28.0px}
p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 17.0px Times; color: #454545; -webkit-text-stroke: #454545; min-height: 20.0px}
p.p4 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; min-height: 17.0px}
p.p5 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}
li.li1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 22.7px Times; color: #454545; -webkit-text-stroke: #454545}
span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
ol.ol1 {list-style-type: decimal}
</style>

Happy Thanksgiving

"...the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin". Oswald Chambers

John 8:12

"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 

On this side of eternity, it's very hard to keep important what God says is important in our hearts

St. Augustine, disordered love is our greatest problem as believers

All loves began to claim our hearts and in doing so determine the attitudes and actions of our lives

(Insanely important)

What is important to you?

What gives you life?

1. Jesus


2. The Gospel


3. Eternal life

                                          Life is a glory war!

 John 8-9

Two questions one answer: 

Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" John 8:5

And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" John 9:2

Answer: "I Am The Light of the World"                                                                                      

Four major movements 

1. The tragedy of the fall (each healing was a witness to the fall).  This life isn't supposed to be like it is... illness, accidents, brokenness...

The world is groaning for the return 

Rom. 8:19-23 "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

1. Miserable theology is on display 

(Their questions are shocking)

Where is the compassion, mercy and grace of both, the Pharisees and the disciples

(Being blind isn't like closing your eyes)

Their theology was a mechanical cause and effect theology 

It lacked two things

1. It lacked any kind of recognition of a sovereign God

(This world is under personal control of a personal God)

Acts 17, Psalms 139

for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'  Acts 17:28

1. It is devoid of grace!

All of history is God's Sovereign acts lining everything up so that He could send His Son:

A. He came and lived the life we should have lived but can't 

B. He Die the death that we deserved

C. He Resurrected His life and gave us hope

D. He Ascend to where we can't go on our own

E. He has promised to Returns to restore what we've broken

***He did this so that we don't get what we deserve!

1. The glory agenda of the redeemer on display 

John 9:3

Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 

Could it be that God's agenda is greater than ours

Could it be that He would use the brokenness of this fallen world to reveal the glory of Himself 

Could it be that He desires greater things for us than we do!

Glory theology: we were hard wired for glory!

1. Sign glory


2. Ultimate glory

(Animals aren't like us, they aren't hard wired for glory)

Every sign glory is designed to draw us to the ultimate glory,

But we began to desire the sign glories 

Then we began to ask the sign glories to give us something  they can't, we ask them to give us life.

Earth will never be your savior

***Sin blinds me to the ultimate glory and addicts me to the sign glory

What are you asking for from life? 

(Would it fall under the category of sign, or ultimate glory)

Health, healed relationships, successfully children....

Those aren't "ultimate glories"

Maybe we should stop blaming God when He is using broken sign glories to show us ultimate glories 

All we need is the testimony of the cross to see that God is a master at taking what we deem tragic and using it for ultimate glory

(What is more tragic then the son of God dying)

What type of theology our we practicing?

(Mechanical or Grace)

1. Christ self declaration "I Am The Light Of The World"

You can have physical blindness and live well, but you can't have spiritual blindness and live well

If sin blinds than I have blind spots in my life

I need Jesus, Light in order to see

I don't know what you are going through right now, but I know that God wants to use all of life's circumstances to reveal Himself as the ultimate glory

Tomorrow, created glories will temp you to desire them more than the ultimate glory 

We find hope in the fact that God is on an unstoppable mission to reveal Himself as the ultimate satisfying glory

So that ours eyes can see and our hearts can be free to live for and be satisfied with the ultimate glory