When one of the disciples said to Jesus, “Teach us to pray,” He gave his disciples both a pattern to pray and a prayer to pray. Modern-day disciples are making similar requests, because most of us feel guilty that we do not pray enough, or we don’t know what to say in prayer, or we simply do not know how to pray. In this message, Pastor Derek discuses prayer using his translation of the Lord’s prayer derived from the KJV and NIV translations of Matthew 6 and Luke 11.

The Prayer of Jesus
Our Father who is in heaven,
Holy is your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who have sinned against us
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.

 

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In this final message in the “What Child is This?” series, Pastor Derek discusses Jesus as the prince of peace: (1) in the kingdom of God, (2) only on his terms, (3) between God and man, (4) in human relationships, & (5) in times of fear & doubt.

“The world will never know peace until it finds it in the cross of Jesus Christ. You will never know the peace with God, peace of conscience, peace of mind, and peace of soul until you stand at the foot of the cross and identify yourself with Christ by faith. There is the secret of peace. This is peace with God.”
–Billy Graham
Peace with God (1953)

 

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Of all of the names prophesied about in Isaiah 9:6, “everlasting father” may be the most difficult to understand when applied to Jesus. We can quickly see him as the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, and the prince of peace. But in what way is Jesus an everlasting father? In this message, Pastor Derek explains how Jesus is the everlasting father of the new humanity by example and substitute.

 

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The mystery of Christmas is the mystery of the incarnation that in the person of Jesus, mighty God became a finite human being. The maker of earth was made on the earth. Jesus was not a god or a man who grew into godhood. The Jesus we worship at Christmas is the mighty God. He is not the self-help Jesus, or the good moral teacher Jesus, or the “help me when I am in trouble” Jesus. He is not the prosperity Jesus, the soft weak effeminate Jesus, or the “God just wants me happy” Jesus. He is the mighty God Jesus.

 

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This first part in a four-part series entitled, “What Child is This?” explores the wonders of Jesus as the wonderful counselor.

 

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87% of young outsiders say Christians are judgmental and 53% of young Christian insiders agree. A judgmental attitude is often conveyed by how we communicate and when we point out faults without offering help. To be a reChristian means that we become loving, like Jesus.

 

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Unchurched people often think Christians are too political. In response, we must avoid the mistakes of privatizing our faith or politicizing our faith. Instead we need to become Prophetic Christians, transcending partisan politics and speaking on God’s behalf to people on both sides of the political spectrum.

For further study, read the Evangelical Manifesto at www.anevangelicalmanifesto.com.

This message opens with “Go Tell it On the Mountain” performed by Jimmie Bratcher, who will be live in concert at Cornerstone Church, Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 7:00 pm. www.jimmiebratcher.com

 

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75% of outsiders say Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, out of touch with reality, and sheltered. They see us living in a Christian bubble, but Jesus has called us salt and light. As followers of Christ, we are to engage culture and become subversives–working to undermine the world obsessed with money, sex, and self.

 

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The question of homosexuality has become “the big” cultural issue for evangelical Christians. 91% of outsiders say that “anti-homosexual” describes present day Christianity. If we are to rethink what it means to be a Christian in the world we have to change and repent of our anti-gay rhetoric and attitude. To be like Jesus in the world, we have to become the friend of sinners, including those in a homosexual lifestyle.

 

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Outsiders see those of us inside the church as being conversion-happy. They see our attempts at evangelism to be insincere, because from their vantage point we are only interested in “getting people saved.” Pastor Derek explains explains that there are a least three mistakes we have to correct in this area in order to be people-happy instead of conversion-happy.

 

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