The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Some of us are the types who dread an unexpected visit to our homes, where someone drops in unexpectedly, and discovers the mess or the chaos you live in. For some, that’s an embarrassment we’d do everything to avoid. Others just don’t mind whether their home is cleaner or messier, and if anyone sees it. What do we do when Jesus pays an unexpected visit to our hearts? When He opens up all the closets and checks out the garage and our storage areas, and sees what we’ve been keeping in our hearts? What do we think or feel when Jesus lays our hearts bare, with everything to see in His plain sight? Vulnerable? Exposed? Ashamed? Or defensive? Defiant? Or we act as if we simply don’t care? Think of another context—in relationships. Whether it’s a very close friendship, or in your marriage, between you and your spouse. In the best of marriages, a husband and wife can have true transp...

Sermon Outline: 1.       Nativity of John—not celebrated for the sake of the saint, but for the sake of the Greater One whom he gave his life in service to: Jesus. Also because he draws people to Christ. Sandals. John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Living in the shadow of another. John welcomed it, accepted his diminishing role. It was all for the glory of Christ. 2.       Family, friends, and neighbors rejoiced together with Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zechariah’s song/prophecy, glorifying God. Song tells more about Christ and God than about John. So also our lives as saints of God should seek to give glory to God, and not ourselves. Arresting words: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people .” What does it mean that God has visited His people? 3.       Or what would it mean to say that we live on a “visited planet?” Modern fascination with extraterrestri...