The Joshua Victor Theory

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. He came to Jesus at night; undoubtedly to hide his meeting with the famous teacher. It’s not hard to figure out why. He was a Pharisee, prominent Jewish religious leaders and constant rivals of Jesus, who frequently challenged His authority and teachings. Not only this, but he was one of the Sanhedrin, a ruling council of 70 influential men in Jerusalem. His secrecy was easy to understand at a human level, but his curiosity and his questions drove him to this nighttime meeting with Jesus. If there was something to what Jesus had to say after all, Nicodemus had to find out. If there wasn’t, no one would need to know about this late night interview. Nicodemus opens the conversation with an honorable and respectful greeting, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” While this was still far short of recognizing that Jesus was God’s own Son, t...

Sermon Outline: 1.       Two outcomes set before us: death and life. James charts the path to both. First the role of temptation/testing. Different in origin and purpose. Testing: from God—to strengthen faith, create reliance on Him. Temptation: from the devil (or our own desire)—to make us fall, weaken faith, death. God will work through tests and trials in life to accomplish His purpose in us, and to teach us that His grace is sufficient—His power made perfect in weakness. 2.       Devil ultimately wants us on the path to death, but James reminds us that we’re quite determined/capable on our own of choosing that path. Starts with our own sinful desire. Desire is tempted—put your hope for satisfaction in sinful pleasures. But when we seek to satisfy in sinful ways—greed, lust, anger, selfishness—the satisfaction is short-lived and empty. Driven to pursue it more, with less satisfaction. Law of diminishing returns. Racing down a sl...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. In the sermon series for Advent, we will look at how the birth and coming of Jesus Christ was foreshadowed and pictured through various examples, peoples, and events, that we call types or shadows. What is a type or shadow? It’s related to prophecy. Prophecies are the God-given messages spoken by His messengers. They explained events both past, present, and future, usually emphasizing the need for repentance and God’s promised actions. Of course Christ, as the coming Savior, is the most frequent subject of prophecy, and Jesus is like the golden thread that runs through all the tapestry of Scripture. A prophecy is spoken or in writing. A type or shadow would be more like an object lesson or even a prototype. It could be a person or event that prophetically alludes to or foreshadows some greater person or event. But this type or prototype is always something inferior to or less than the final reality it points to. T...