A God Who Speaks to Us

We (Christians) worship and serve a God who has spoken to us. He isn’t a god who lords over the earth, distant from mankind, keeping us guessing as to who he is, what he values, or how he reigns. Instead, we serve a personal God who has spoken to us in several ways; especially through the Bible.

The Bible is important to me (and us) for so many reasons. God’s word encourages us in our faiths and trials, convicts us in our sins, directs us in our questions, inclines us further to Christ, and (maybe most importantly) tells us the gospel: how salvation is found for sinners in Christ alone. The Bible tells us God’s character and how, in light of that, we should live as believers. The Bible is critical because the gospel is critical; it’s our hope and ultimate truth.

Practically, learning about God’s revelation to us through the Bible is helpful in several ways. It reinforces my need to be in the Bible each day. Each day I need to be reminded of the gospel, each day I need to be saved from my sins. As I learn more about the Bible (how to read it, what questions to ask, the main points to see), I find myself more equipped and also more encouraged in the time I spend reading it. The more I learn regarding how to read the Bible, the more captivating and relevant it becomes.

God wrote the Bible as one big story, not a series of fragmented, unrelated ones. When we read the Old Testament in light of the gospel; not only does the Old Testament make more sense, it also is all the more encouraging to see the ways God clearly pointed to Jesus thousands of years before Jesus walked the earth. Jesus himself explained that the Old Testament is actually about himself (Luke 24:17).

So through the lens of Jesus and the good news of his salvation, we can see the biblical storyline as a single 11 part story running from Genesis to Revelation:

Our identity (Genesis 1-2): Creation

Our problem (Genesis 3): The Fall

His solution promised (Genesis 4-50): Abraham

His solution pictured (Exodus): The Exodus

His solution pointed to (Exodus-Deuteronomy): Sinai/Law

His solution prefigured (Joshua-2 Chronicles): Kings, the Temple

His solution predicted (Ezra-Malachi): Exile and Prophecy

His solution personified (the gospels): The Coming of Jesus

His solution purchased (told in the gospels, explained in Romans-Revelation):  The Cross

His hope proclaimed (told in the gospels and Acts): The Resurrection and Pentecost

His and our return (Revelation): Eternity in the New Heaven and Earth (*adapted from Porterbrook’s Bible in MIssional Perspective [2015])

Finally, the Bible is final; God is not adding to it still. I’ve noticed a growing movement, especially in the realm of Christian women’s ministry, in which women claim God has spoken/is speaking to them. While this phrase can mean a ton of different things, it is helpful to remember that God has primarily spoken to us by his word (the Bible) and he doesn’t “speak” things to anyone that contradict the Bible. Additionally, we should always compare someone’s “revelation” to the Word of God because his word carries authority. The finality of God’s word was especially important to me years ago when I was exploring Mormonism, a religion that has added several documents in the past 200 years that they claim equal the Bible in importance, authority, accuracy, and divine authorship. To see the Bible warn against adding to God’s word helps us distinguish false religions in a very clear way.

In conclusion, the Bible is critical in the life of a believer and in the Church. We need it to know the heart of God and to know the gospel. Like we read in 2 Timothy, the Bible is literally God’s words and it is good “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). Praise God that he loves us and would give us so great a gift.

ELLEN ZIMMERMANN/GUEST CONTRIBUTOR 

Resources for teaching kids about Jesus

Parenthood is an incredibly high calling. We cannot assume the faith of our children just because they're a part of a believing family. Yet for many parents, teaching our kids about Jesus and his gospel can be daunting. So we wanted to share resources we've found helpful and gospel-centered for helping to teach our kids about Jesus, the Bible, theology, and the gospel. 

In order to teach our kids about Jesus, we need to know and love him ourself! So we need to be in the Word, hearing our pastors' preaching, and in Christian community that points us to Jesus. For our family, having these resources scattered throughout the main rooms in our house makes it really easy to both spontaneously and intentionally talk about Jesus throughout the day. Don't be intimidated by the length of this list, I intentionally made it extensive because different resources will fit with different families, children, ages, etc. Just start with a few resources that will work for the life-stage of your family. A great first step is an age-appropriate Bible for your kids. With all that being said, here are some resources we love!

Storybook Bibles

• The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones*

• The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible by Jared Kennedy

• The Big Picture Story Bible by David R. Helm

• The Biggest Story by Kevin DeYoung

• The Action Bible by Doug Mauss

• The ICB Illustrated Bible

She Reads Truth currently has a kid’s Bible study on the book of Matthew called “Kids Read Matthew that you can download for FREE.

The Garden of Eden from The Biggest Story.

Kids Books

• The Ology by Marty Machowski - teaches theology (who God is and how we relate to him)

• Tales that Tell the Truth [book series] by The Book Company (all are great, our favorites are:)

  • The Garden, The Curtain, and the Cross by Alison Mitchell

  • Goodbye to Goodbyes by Lauren Chandler

  • The Storm that Stopped by Alison Mitchell

  • God’s Very Good Idea by Trillia Newbell

  • Jesus and the Lions’ Den by Alison Mitchell

• Good News for Little Hearts [book series] by New Growth Press

• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

• Love Made: A Story of God’s Overflowing, Creative Heart by Quina Aragon

• Bible Infographics for Kids: Giants, Ninja Skills, a Talking Donkey, and What’s the Deal with the Tabernacle? (there’s also a sequel)

• Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd Jones

Adult Books

• Give them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick

• Show them Jesus by Jack Klumpenhower

• Gospel-powered Parenting by William P Farley

• Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Tripp

Audio

• The Ology - songs that teach theology. It goes along with the book with the same title.

• Seeds Family Worship - for scripture memory

• The Jesus Storybook Bible Audio

• The Biggest Story Audio

• The Rizers - for scripture memory

DVD/Media

• Buck Denver asks…What’s In the Bible? - these are so fun! They are by Phil Vischer who also made Veggie Tales. They have the same silliness and memorable songs as Veggie Tales but they are really gospel-centered. The series goes through the whole Bible and shows how each part of the Bible fits into the overarching storyline of scripture and also how each part points to Jesus.

• Theo

• Owlegories

• The Biggest Story (animated)

Apps

• Bible App for Kids by Life.Church - It's free! It's a kids Bible app that reads the story to the kids with interactive, animated pictures. It's the kid version of the youversion adult Bible app.

Podcasts

• Risen Motherhood - They have a blog, a podcast, a website, and they post on social media. They have been really encouraging to me because they point to the good news of Jesus in the midst of mothering. Their website lists a even more resources on this topic and motherhood in general.

• Jesus is Better: Bible Stories with Gospel Joy - This podcast is working its way through the Old Testament by teaching through passages and explaining how Jesus is the better Moses, Joshua, Judge, King, etc.

• God’s Big Story: this podcast for kids (made by The Villiage Church God) is a new show where they teach the Bible, sing the Bible, and talk about it means.

Hopefully these resources give help and support to those who're looking for it, especially for parents of elementary age children and younger. On top of actual resources, your care and parenting are priceless. Demonstrate an importance of gathering regularly with the church in big and small ways. Be present, ask your children questions, and help them see the gospel demonstrated in real life (creation, relationship, family, etc.). Pray with your kids, repent in front of them when you're wrong, remind them of their identities in Christ and need for him, and share with them what you are learning. 

“There is nothing more important to consistent, faithful, patient, loving, and effective parenting than to understand what God has given you in the grace of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.” 
― Paul David Tripp, Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

*Sold at Hiawatha Church near the 42nd street entrance. 

AMY PETERSON/GUEST CONTRIBUTOR 

Two Reasons to Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus

Welcome to Easter week! The season where we Americans buy and eat a ton of candy, decorate and find Easter eggs (isn't it weird that a bunny makes all kinds of eggs?!?), take pictures with a person in a often times creepy human sized Easter bunny costume, and where over a billion people celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. 

All of that seems kinda strange, right? And I'm not only talking about our American Easter traditions. It is strange that a man was dead for a few days and then became alive again. And by strange, I mean unusual. That is kind of an understatement. I've never heard of another person being killed by professional executioners and then put in a tomb for days and then coming back to life. Have you? I've never seen a resurrection. So when I hear people who're skeptical, I can be quite empathic. 

Pastor and author Tim Keller lives in New York City. Because he lives in one of the most skeptical cities in the U.S., he hears from a fair share of people who have a hard time with the claims of Jesus coming back to life. He writes in his book, The Reason for God:

"Sometimes people approach me and say, 'I really struggle with this aspect of Christian teaching. I like this part of Christian belief, but I don’t think I can accept that part.' I usually respond: “If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” 

And it is not just Keller who argues the lynchpin of the Christian faith is the resurrection, even one of the main authors of the Bible says the same thing. 

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. - Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19

Strong words from one of the authors of the Bible right?!? IF Jesus has not been raised, then it all falls apart and Christians should be pitted like no other. 

So let's look at a few historical events that support and give evidence that Jesus actually DID rise from the grave. Despite how ridiculous it might seem, the empty tomb is the best explanation for 1) The disciples' changed lives and 2) The change in worship for thousands of first century Jews. (Not to mention the empty tomb itself. Maybe that'll be next Easter's blog post.)

First, let's look at the disciples (the twelve, mostly blue-collar, normal Joe's who followed Jesus for three years during his ministry before he was crucified). Before Jesus' resurrection we see them act like this: 

“Then all the disciples left him and fled.” (Matthew 26:56). Peter denies Jesus three times, once even to a slave girl. “Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know the man.’ And immediately the rooster crowed.” (Matthew 26:74). After Jesus’ death, they were cowering in a locked room, terrified that the Jewish religious rulers would come after them next. 

But something happened that changed this bunch of terrified cowards who feared for their lives into nearly unrecognizable people. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders’ (the same people that they were hiding from)...Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” - Acts 4:8, 13. 

Tradition also teaches that all the disciples  were martyred, minus Judas the betrayer. (The authorities tried to kill the disciple John by boiling him alive but he survived and so instead they exiled him to an island for the rest of his life.) They were killed in horrific ways because they wouldn't stop telling the world that Jesus was alive! The resurrection had changed them from terrified cowards into fearless martyrs! People tend to not die for something they know is a lie, especially when they get nothing good out of it (only poverty, persecution, imprisonment, and death).

Not only were the disciples' lives changed but worship completely changed for thousands of first century Jews. Now this might not sound like a big deal. "Hey, I've switched churches throughout my life or changed my views on religion and doctrine," you might say. But let's look at what would have to happen for thousands and thousands of first century Jews to change how they worshiped the LORD. 

First, worship was no longer on the Sabbath. The first Christians didn't observe the Sabbath. This is a BIG deal. According to the law, if you desecrate the Sabbath, you get stoned (and I don't mean the Cheech and Chong kind of stoned). If you work on the Sabbath, you get cut off from the Jewish nation. Capital Punishment AND being excommunicated from your family and people is a BIG deal! Yet the early Christians intentionally chose to stop observing the Sabbath and to worship Jesus on a new day (Sunday). 

Second, there was no longer a physical temple, priest, or sacrifice needed to worship God. For over a thousand years the Jewish people worshiped God in a certain way. But after Jesus' death and resurrection, something big changed. Jesus himself was the fulfillment of the temple, the priesthood, and was the ultimate and final sacrifice for forgiveness of sins. 

The third way that worship changed was Gentiles (any ethnicity, race, or nationality that wasn't Jewish) were now fully included. Again, for over a thousand years Gentiles were not fully included. Even if a Gentile converted to Judaism, they were still an outsider (think things like having their own outer court in the temple and not being able to fully participate in worship as the ethnic Jews were). 

Fourth, the church was founded around two sacraments (acts that were performed over and over again to demonstrate and remember something): baptism and the Lord's Supper/Communion. Both of these sacraments are symbolic of Jesus's death and resurrection. So the acts that the church gathered around on a consistent basis were based on their belief that Jesus DID rise from the grave. 

Fifth and finally, they worshiped a man. Almost no one argues that there wasn't a real human named Jesus who lived in the first century. Whether or not he was God is obviously debated but very few think that he wasn't a real man. Now whether or not you know much about Judaism, one main rule is you can only worship God. Not idols. Not statues. Not multiple gods. And especially NOT humans. But what happens just days after Jesus' death? Thousands of Jews start worshiping a MAN. Why would they risk their eternal punishment in Hell by breaking the number one rule in Judaism? Because they believed that Jesus wasn't just a man (although he was fully man) but that he was also fully God himself. They believed he was who he said he was, the Son of God who added humanity to his divinity so that he could die the death that we deserved and in our place. 

So the disciples risked execution, excommunication from their family, being traitors to their religion and nation, and eternity in hell. And like we said before, they all got nothing earthly out of it besides pain, suffering, and execution. Something must have happened. People don't just risk all of that and go through all of that unless something truly impossible happened. 

On Sunday morning, the Son of God rose from the grave. He defeated death, proving he was God incarnate, worthy of worship and allegiance. He changed the lives of a few thousand people in the Middle East, who in turn literally changed the world. What can account for all of this? The answer is the resurrection of the God man, Jesus Christ. 

The original hearers knew that if the resurrection "was true it meant we can’t live our lives any way we want. It also meant we don’t have to be afraid of anything, not Roman swords, not cancer, nothing. If Jesus rose from the dead, it changes everything.” -Tim Keller. 

Jesus invites us to believe this Easter: “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this?”  - John 11:25-26 

SPENCER PETERSON/COMMUNITY LIFE PASTOR