99 results for tag: Christianity without the religion

Q & R: Did God the Father Forsake Jesus on Good Friday? Brad Jersak

Question: In the movie, The Shack, Papa says that God never forsook Jesus. But that appears to be exactly what Jesus says in the Bible. When Jesus says this, is he (the man) talking to himself (the God part)? We are told that Christ is fully God and fully man even though apparently there were things that he did not know, but the Father did (e.g. the time of his return). ​Response: That's a common belief for sure, but where does it come from? We developed a whole doctrine of God-forsakenness from one verse! "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" and we took off from there. What we fail to remember is that ...

Is God Crazy, or What?

We don’t give him anything he needs. Yet God is madly in love with us… is he crazy, or what? https://ptmorg.dreamsites.io/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR460.mp3

The Suffering Judge

by Greg Albrecht … If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.—Romans 8:31-34 You probably have heard of honor killings. An "honor killing" is the term used to describe a practice in which one or more males murders a female relative who, according to their perspective, dishonored ...

Love – No Fear

by Greg Albrecht Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.—1 Corinthians 13:4-8 1 Corinthians 13 is a chapter many have come to know as the "love chapter" of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 13 is arranged in three separate sections, two of which we will briefly examine: The first section, in verses 1-3, is about love as being indispensable. If you've ever been to ...

Lighten Up – Trust Him – Be Free!

by Greg Albrecht Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will ...

It’s Either Old or New – It Can’t Be Both – Greg Albrecht

By way of introduction to It's Either Old or New—It Can't Be Both! I would like to introduce two special guests. Before going any further, I should explain that our special guests will appear as caricatures—in the form of a communication that they might have had with each other—so that there is, as far as I know, no actual resemblance to anything they've ever said to each other, if indeed they ever had a one-on-one conversation. I hope that clears me—that's my disclaimer. Our first guest is Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart has come, over the past few decades, to symbolize the paragon of a dutiful, skilled, energetic and creative homemaker. ...

How God Chooses His Team – Greg Albrecht

Remember those times when you gathered with a group of your friends and schoolmates to participate in a game that involved two teams? My memories are of two captains who were popularly chosen, or who, by virtue of their size, age and ability (or all three) appointed themselves. Then the captains started choosing people for their teams. They always chose those who they felt would help them win—that's logical. Games are all about winning. So when sides were chosen the fastest, strongest, most popular and most athletic were chosen first. As each person was chosen they walked over and stood next to their captain, until finally there was one last ...

Warning: Thinking May Be Hazardous to Your Religion

By Greg Albrecht Aristotle is credited with saying that it is a mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it. That same attribute is one of the hallmarks of a life in Christ. There are two central facets involved in a Christ-follower entertaining a thought without accepting it: 1) the spiritual dynamic of the Spirit of God living in us who "will teach you all things" (John 14:26), and 2) the human dynamic of critical thinking. I'm sure that every generation laments that it seems its youth have lost the ability to think, and let me join the parade. But let's not just make this a rant about young people. Lack of ...

From the Pasture to the Palace

Our career and avocation, as Christians, involves being humble, even as our Chief Shepherd exemplified humility in all aspects of his birth, life, death and resurrection. This week's sermon leads us to consider the humble beginnings of the earthly life of our Lord and the relevance it has for our lives. https://ptmorg.dreamsites.io/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR044.mp3

Peace Arrives!

Our Savior, who rescues us from danger, disaster and destruction has arrived! The peace of God is a new kind of peace, not a relative calm between storms, but an abiding, eternal, internal peace give to those who can never deserve it nor ever do anything to merit it. https://ptmorg.dreamsites.io/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR043.mp3

The Long Wait

The sermon speaks to our long wait, waiting for “the blessed hope.” Greg encourages us to "live and experience December" - to fix our eyes and our spiritual compass on Jesus, and recommit to receiving God's grace. https://ptmorg.dreamsites.io/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR042.mp3

The Comfort of Christ

As we begin a season of anticipating the coming of Jesus, Greg's sermon is based on Isaiah's prophecy of Christ as comforter. https://ptmorg.dreamsites.io/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR041.mp3

God in the Manger

Many of us are more willing to accept Jesus Christ as the helpless, dependent baby in the manger than as Lord of our lives. We don’t want to hear how he challenges our beliefs and our way of life, but the central truth of Christmas is that the baby in the manger is God!

Coming to Jesus

Travel is very much a part of Christmas. We join bumper to bumper traffic as we shop, we fly many hundreds of miles and travel our freeways to be with family and friends. Travel was a part of Christmas from the beginning, but at the first Christmas travel was for a different reason.

The Cradle and the Cross

Christmas upsets many people because at least once a year they can’t run away from Jesus. When Jesus shows up, things change, the status quo is threatened. It is a time of challenge and confrontation to religion and politics.