The Joshua Victor Theory

Sermon Outline:  1.       Jesus’ visit to His hometown wasn’t what you might expect. Family visit, warm welcome, reunion of friends and neighbors. Left a young man, a carpenter; returned grown, now a teacher (!) filled with astonishing wisdom, and performing mighty works! Same guy? Little kid from down the street? Now with a band of disciples, teaching in the synagogue about the kingdom of God, and repentance. Sizing Him up against the little kid they remembered, wondering who does He think He is? The Son of God? Well, yes, He is! They took offense at Him. Scandalized . Stumbled over. 2.       As one author put it: “The people were also scandalized by Jesus’ lowly origin. They found it difficult to believe he was any better than they or his family were. In their opinion he was nothing more than an ordinary craftsman. Their physical knowledge of Jesus prevented them from having a spiritual knowledge of him” (J.A. Brooks). So it...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. The reading from Ephesians today is rich and full in counting up the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ Jesus. Among those, it speaks repeatedly of our being “predestined.” Today we’ll take a beginning look at that difficult and often avoided mystery of “predestination.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. God has given us the knowledge of predestination to give comfort and assurance to believers. Yet oftentimes this Biblical teaching is ignored as too “abstract” or “impractical,” or it is sometimes viewed with some fear because we don’t understand it. At worst, it’s denied altogether, though there are many places in Scripture where it’s clearly taught. But first, what does “predestine” mean? It refers to that fact that God chose His children ahead of time for salvation. As verse 4-5 explains: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the ...