The Joshua Victor Theory

    Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed, Alleluia! Easter called us to trust Jesus’ reliable Word, and witness how our Risen Good Shepherd comes to His beloved sheep. These next six weeks of the Easter season we’ll study 1 st John to explore Jesus’ resurrection gifts and blessings to His church. In 1 John 1, I want to zero in on verses 3-7. They tell the effect of the resurrection message: “ that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses...

  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Last week we talked about the two ways of testing or temptation. Are we strengthened by God in our faith or led by the devil into doubt and failure? We talked about how attractive sin is on the surface but hides a hook; and how unattractive discipleship can be though it hides a crown of life. Mark 8 is a turning point in Jesus’ ministry, where He buckles down for one of the most serious talks with His disciples. The first of three open predictions of His cross and resurrection. He told them, but nothing could really prepare them for what was ahead. He’s teaching them the true sacrifice and cost of discipleship. We see Peter’s immediate, even outright resistance to the cross. But first, Peter correctly answers Jesus’ all important identity question: “ Who do you say that I am?” “You are the Christ !”. God’s Anointed, or Chosen Deliverer was here. Jesus was that man. But no sooner in Peter on the right track...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Meals are inescapably at the center of human life. Eating is a defining feature of our existence—stop eating, and you won’t be sticking around for too much longer. Meals and meal etiquette are at the center of much human culture. A feast or a banquet is an especially important meal—usually greater time and care is taken in preparation; and usually a feast or banquet is a celebration of something significant. Meals, whether a feast or an ordinary meal, are a place where hospitality, friendship, trust, brotherhood, and even forgiveness and reconciliation can be communicated. Meals truly are a key part of our human existence. Today’s Gospel reading is part of a series of mealtime conversations with Jesus. It’s one of many in Gospel of Luke. Zoom out one step further to the whole Bible, and you’ll find dozens more examples of prominent meals with God, feasts or banquets. They are so important because they are of...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Today in our Gospel reading, we find the longest and most descriptive passage of Jesus casting out a demon. It’s a startling glimpse into the spiritual world, and the powers that afflict humans under the devil’s influence—but also an amazing proof of how powerless they are against Jesus, the Son of God. The man who is suffering this demon affliction is the most tormented of any demon-possessed person described in the Bible. He is possessed by a multitude of demons, and he has been driven raving mad. Well known to the villagers of that region, he lives in complete isolation, away from human community, choosing instead to live among the graves of the dead. In their attempts to restrain him, they had chained him many times, but he possessed superhuman strength, and shackles could not hold him. It’s truly a despairing and frightening situation both for the man and the people who live...

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! The apostle John speaks a message to you, over nearly 2,000 years of history. A message that is intended to bring you fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son. A message that brings you fellowship with the apostles and the early Christians, down through 20 centuries of history to us today. And long before that, Abraham and all the saints who believe in the One True God. This message that brings us fellowship with God and with one another is also a message that is aimed at bringing us joy that is complete. What’s John’s authority to speak this message? He and the other apostles speak to us as eyewitnesses; who were there in the flesh, seeing, hearing, even touching the very Word of Life, Jesus Christ, God’s own Son. In concrete, tangible ways, they lived, walked, ate and drank with our Lord Jesus Christ, before and after His resurrection. So he writes not from hearsay, but what he and the others saw with their very eye...