The Joshua Victor Theory

  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The Bible verse for our focus today will be Acts 2:21, “ And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved .” When you are in trouble or need help, who helps you? Who can you trust? Who are your phone contacts? Your parents or older sibling for advice. Your trusted mechanic for when the car breaks down. Your plumber for leaks, your pastor for spiritual guidance, your doctor for your health. Or in a life-or-death emergency, or when a crime is underway, you call 9-1-1 because they respond 24/7 to emergencies. Anything beyond our own wisdom, expertise, ability to care for ourselves, or above our emotional threshold—we reach out to others for help. We call upon our “helpers.” We take cell phones for granted and calling anyone in the world. It’s astonishing, when you remember that just 200 years ago, there was no such thing as a telephone, and...

  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...

Sermon Outline: 1.       Today’s Gospel, Peter learns what it means for Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of Man, God’s chosen Savior. Jesus sets out the way of the cross; suffering, sacrificial living. Peter has a thing or two to say about this, rebuking Jesus. We think very much like Peter most of the time. Peter wants to shape Jesus’ mission to align with his thinking—manmade thoughts, and gets a sharp rebuke. We also have our preconceived ideas of how our life should turn out. 2.       Jesus challenges all of His disciples (us included) to accept the way of the cross both for Himself and His followers. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life?” ...

1. Matt. 18—several teachings all about pitfalls to our salvation. Embedded parable of the one lost sheep; Jesus seeks after it because “it is not the will of [His] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” In this chapter, Jesus is doing the work of a Good Shepherd to guard His sheep against the pitfalls that would cause them to perish, or keep them from the kingdom of heaven. Sheep wander, and in our blindness or error, we can get separated from the flock, and fall into personal harm or injury. Spiritually, the stakes couldn’t be higher, as Jesus illustrates through several examples in the reading. 2. Disciples walk into the first pitfall, of pride and exalting oneself. Who is the greatest? Jesus teaches humility—not to think highly of yourself, but to count others more significant than yourselves (Phil. 2:3). Humble like a child is the only way into the kingdom. Jesus turns the disciples’ (and our) paradigm upside down—adults are not the model of faith, b...