On the Lordship of Jesus Christ

About 2 months after President Obama had been elected to office, I had the opportunity to give the Sunday Sermon at Holy Trinity Church in downtown Chicago. I had been encouraged by one of the pastors to preach from the Messianic Psalms if I ever had a "one-off" opportunity. Well, here is the link.

Living for Another Time

Jonathan Leeman who is the communications guy at 9Marks Ministries in D.C., recently posted on the 9Marks blog about preaching that leaves people longing for eternity. In the study I have been teaching through Hebrews 11, I have been struck with how 'other-worldly' great men and women of the faith lived. Leeman says:

"Christianity is not all about learning to live the Christian life as an American (or South African or Brazilian) in the 21st century. Rather, it's about being an alien wherever he places us, and we're going to find being an alien sort of looks similar no matter where he places us in time and space. Not only that, Christianity is about God's plan of bringing glory to himself through all of his people. "

Anthrodudes

I had the opportunity the last 5 weeks to teach a men's class at my church called "Anthropos" (Greek for man). We kind of kidded around about the modern equivalent to 'anthropos' being "dude." So, we struck a happy medium of "anthrodudes."
Anyway, we looked at men of faith in the New Testament book of Hebrews; particularly the 11th chapter. Here are some questions I posed at the beginning:

• Where does God call us as men to grab hold of ‘nothing’?
• What does it mean to “grow in faith”?
• How does faith affect our leadership?
• Do you lead your family in faith? Or is your wife always the one driving the direction of your family?
• Are you living in a state of extended adolescence?
• What are the areas of your life that are “unturned stones” that need redemption?

Here is the class outline:

a) Intro to Faith & Faith from the First Dudes (Hebrews 11:1-7)
b) Abraham: Man of ‘Other-Worldly’ Faith (Hebrews 11:8-22)
c) Moses: Man of ‘Non-Conformist’ Faith (Heb 11:23-31)
d) Women Warriors, Wussies & Cavemen: From Judges through Intertestamental History (Heb 11:32-40)
e) God’s Gym: Faith & Discipline (Hebrews 12:1-17)

The last one we didn't even get to. We barely touched on the 'wussies' section (yes, too pithy, I know even for my taste). I will tease out briefly some of the major points we covered in that class.

I'm grateful for Wesley, Jon, Andrew, Eric, Brandon, Joshua, Scott, and Kevin-- all who 'persevered' the class at some point perhaps 'not realizing the promise' the class was supposed to deliver.=+)