Calvary: the Hill Sermons

How are we saved? What does it mean to be saved. Paul blows past our often overly simple understanding and explains that salvation is accomplished by God's kindness and is nothing less than experiencing the full depth of God's kindness forever.

The Bible's depiction of what's wrong with humanity has much in common with a lot of the assessments from other quarters. However in every case, the Christian view is worse and more desperate. None the less, because of Christ we have true hope for even death is defeated in Christ.

To live the Christian life we need to know the power available to us in Christ. This power not only raised Christ from the dead, but appointed him as the ultimate authority and will make the whole world right. Because we are in Jesus, we can experience that same power in our daily life as we live as God's temple and make his fullness manifest.

With God's help, we can find our identity through knowing God better and knowing the hope, blessings and power He has given to us. We are more than rescued, we are transformed.

Our salvation also comes with a great inheritance, not only are we God's chosen inheritance, but he, the Living God of Love, is our inheritance. We can be sure of our future because we have received the Holy Spirit.

The climactic moment in history and our own personal story is the cross of Christ. In that we find reversal, revelation and resolve and that changes our present and our future. We are no longer what we were.

To understand the story we are in we need to understand its origin and its author. Since we are in Christ our story begins before time in the heart of God. Knowing this changes how we view events both good and bad in our life, as we can trust that they are a part of the glorious story of God's grace.

Paul writes the letter of Ephesians to the Saints. What does it mean that we are saints in Christ? It means that we have entered into a new story and have a new identity. Living this out is our new purpose.

The book of Micah closes with worship. As it turns out, the center of Micah's message is not Israel's unfaithfulness but God's faithfulness, and not God's judgment but his forgiveness. Understanding this leads us to ask, as Micah did, "Who is like you Lord?"

Lament is an essential part of being a community of justice in a world of injustice. Although it is not natural to us, the discipline of lament helps us to take the reality of evil seriously, own our responsibility in its existence, and place our hope in the God who can fix things.

Here Micah makes clear that injustice isn't just wrong, its wrong headed. Using the traditional language and perspective of wisdom, Micah warns Israel that their behavior doesn't bring life but death. We also need to recognize that injustice isn't cheating to win, but a foolish loss.

Why isn't God satisfied with all of the worship of Israel that takes place at the temple? What is it that he requires? The same thing he has always required; that we would respond to all he is and all he has done for us by doing the same things. This alone is true worship.

What are the people of God supposed to be about during the interim? The mission is both one of blessing and judgment. It is simultaneously a fragrance of life and a fragrance of death. Both of these are accomplished as God publicly transforms us, changing us into witnesses of God.

What does Christmas have to do with Civil Rights? At the very Center of Micah's book and message is the announcement of the one who is to be born in Bethlehem. How does the coming of Jesus and the gospel relate to issues of Social Justice? Here we see how to think of their connection.

God makes clear that although in "that day" he will set all things right "now" will be a time of suffering, exile and difficulty. However, this is not a detour to the plan. It is the plan. If we are to embrace God's way of justice, we also will have to embrace suffering, but that suffering will be productive and lead to life.

Christianity provides us with a unique hope that fuels pursuing justice in our world. Unlike other utopian visions it leads neither to passivity nor to a pressure to make the world perfect. Instead we live out our lives as models of the world to come, walking in the ways of the Lord our God.

Power is a big component in injustice, but it's also a vital component in Justice. Micah shows us how to stand against those who abuse their power and rely on the power of God for change in the image of Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

Injustice always stems from an underlying ideology about life. The good life often fuels bad behavior. If we are to uproot injustice in our lives and world then we must reject the culture of more and better for a life of contentment in the Good Shepherd.

In the introduction to the book of Micah we see impending judgment on Israel for their Idolatry. Why is the focus on idolatry when the primary sin in the rest of the book is injustice? It's because idolatry always underlies injustice. The theological underpinning of injustice is an essential component of a Christian response.

Jesus has sent us out as sheep among wolves. This vulnerability is not coincidental but central to the mission and message of Jesus. We need to follow Jesus, the lamb that was slain, in doing good to our enemies and proclaiming the Kingdom of Peace and Reconciliation in Jesus Christ.

Jesus doesn't limit the great commission to mere evangelism, nor does he rely on cults of personality. The great commission is about Jesus alone, and everything He teaches.

All prior limitations in the lesser commissions have been removed upon Jessus' resurrection, and He sends His followers out to the ends of the earth.

Jesus Christ has been given, and deserves, all authority in heaven and on earth. Here’s the question as we emerge from this pandemic: Does Jesus have authority over our daily lives? If we give him that authority afresh, we won’t regret it. As we seek to make disciples of him, we’ll have renewed purpose, methods, and Jesus himself with us.

Maybe no gift is more misunderstood or debated than the gift of prophecy. Nonetheless Paul makes it clear that this is a great and necessary gift for the body of Christ, one that we should pray for and use for the edification of all.

The gift of tongues can be both confusing and controversial. However Paul gives the church guidance on what the gift is, what it's for, and how its best used. As always, we should desire all God has for us but also use it responsibly for its intended purpose: to build up the church in love.