Preach : "Who do you say I am" : 13-Jan

A cracking sermon last Sunday about what role does God have in our life, and how do we view him. The core point was that if we aren't fully absorbed by the glory, splendour, provision, faithfulness of him, we will be distracted by things of this world, be discouraged by circumstances around us, and be unclear of our future, our purpose in this world... but if we see things through Jesus eyes, eyes which do not grow old (as he is outside of time) then we will always have a fresh and hopeful perspective, we will understand who he is, and who we are... what our role, purpose and destiny is within this world.

Who do you say Jesus is?

Detailed Notes... Norm Willis, Christ Church Kirkland
- Mark 8:27-30. How have we positioned Christ in our life? It benefits us first eternally before practically. "Who do you say I am?" ~ Jesus.
- We are on our way somewhere, where he encounters us. He cause us to ask questions of him, removing focus on ourselves. Answers do not always position us for breakthrough - when answers are withheld we look harder.
- Man first reduces Jesus before he rejects him. John 1:29-33 - John did not recognise him because he had reduced Jesus. - We need to watch for anything which takes Him out the place where He is the all consuming. "to live is Christ", "Christ in me, the hope of glory" ~ Apostle Paul. When our pursuit of Jesus is random, he has been reduced to an add on.
- If Jesus is not defined correctly, everything suffers... If Jesus is off, life is off. John 1:1
- Jesus is before everything, so he is ready with provision before circumstance. The more we see through his eyes, the younger our mind and perspectives remain, because he is outside of time and always sees things in a fresh way. Revelation 4:1. He is the God of new beginnings
- Jesus is the right to become - John 1:2. He has authority to begin and capacity to complete. Phillipians 1:6. Jesus is the focus of all pursuits - John 1:43
- Do we seek to worship Jesus but do not intend to fully follow him? Do we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him? - Life works when we are on the cross and he is on the throne. John 12:20-28 - the Greeks possibly wanted to offer a way to live. Do we live in a reality that our lives are not our own? Living in the abundance in seeking the kingdom.

Choices

I have been seeking out a job due to the fact that my wife and I relocated to Seattle and arrived in the last month. Right now I am looking at 2 great possibilities of working within 2 completely different companies - both are super-exciting, and present different opportunities and possibilities... I am incredibly blown away by 2 great opportunities, both of which I never expected God to provide - he is faithful, and then some!

Which one do I choose? I feel like God is asking me which one I choose - none of them being specifically wrong, he is giving me opportunity to chose and partner with what he wants to do there, in that environment. Sometimes, for fleeting moments, I wish God was a dictator and we were puppets - life would so much simpler... then the moment passes and I am thankful that we get to CHOOSE!

But then as I sit here in Starbucks, blogging, listening to Tree63 (great South African band) and thinking, I realise maybe it is simpler - maybe these are meant to be 2 different seasons and contexts (not to occur at the same time - not to be instead of one or the other). This may be it, we will have to wait and see...