9.22.24 - Dr Jeff Raines

Living Well in Exile - Jeremiah 29:4-14

What does exile look like?

This was Israel’s plight in Jeremiah’s day. They were exiled thousand of miles away from Israel to Babylon. While they were there, their prophets were telling them things they wanted to hear. They told them the exile wouldn’t last long.

In many ways, we are all exiles today. There is something in our hearts that makes us yearn for “home”. We can yearn for our past and romanticize it. Scripture explains to us that the reason we have that ache in our hearts is because we were designed for Eden. We long for our heavenly home - the promised new creation, the new earth.

1 Peter tells us that we are foreigners and exiles on this earth. We are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is spiritually dangerous to lose our sense of exile. We are called not to get too comfortable in this world. We are NOT in our homeland.

How should we as exiles live?

Jeremiah tells the Israelites and US to settle down in our place of residence. He called us to live life well and live our best RIGHT in our own city.

He tells us to seek the welfare of the city where we live. How can we build it up? How can we make it better? How do we do this?

Jesus calls us to love our neighbors. We need to invest in the institutions of our city - our churches, our schools, our public spaces. Complaining about our city is the work of short term exiles. That is not who we are. We are called to be a people that builds our city up. We make it better. We pray. We hope. We work to serve our neighbors and work to make our city the best that it can be.

Standing just 30 inches by 21 inches, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci has captivated millions of people over the centuries. With over 10 million people visiting this monumental painting annually, it can be argued as the most famous painting of all time. Da Vinci’s artwork typifies the Italian Renaissance, a period and country known for achievements and cultivation in painting, science, and architecture, among many other subjects. Da Vinci was a prominent artist, scientist, and inventor. His notebooks included artwork, studies, and inventions in flight, engineering, architecture, mechanics, and human anatomy. His artwork focused on realism, and he married his artistic skill with his scientific understanding to create works of reality. At that time, he was a supreme visionary for the arts and sciences, significantly advancing what had come before him. His supremeness was because of his skill and contributions in significant areas. He was supreme, or above, others in art and science, with contributions of greater importance and significance than anyone else at that time. Similarly, Jesus is supreme in all His aspects: His person and work. Let’s stop and think for a moment about how Jesus is supreme. He is fully God and fully man. He is before all things, and by him, all things were created and are held together (Col. 1:15-20). Jesus is the Word made flesh, God’s only Son, and the fulfillment of all prophesy for a redeemer. He is the true and better Adam, a greater prophet, priest, or king than any person or group before him. He is head of the church, and His power, authority, rule, and glory are unmatched. He is the unblemished lamb, the perfect sacrifice, and the obedient suffering servant. He is the only one with power over death and the only mediator between us and God the Father. That is supremacy! Philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo said, “Jesus Christ is not valued at all until He is valued above all.” May we behold Jesus' work far greater than Da Vinci's or any other person who has ever lived.

Jesus fulfilled and escalated all that came before Him and pointed to Him. Reading scripture linearly shows that everything in the Old Testament makes sense once Jesus comes. It is as though we figure out the ending of a mystery novel and then go back and reread everything that preceded the complete revelation. Once we have the answer, the questions, clues, and foreshadowing make total sense. First, Jesus is the true and better Adam. Both Jesus and Adam were identified as the son of God, tempted by Satan, and entrusted with God’s Word. Whereas Adam was tempted once in paradise and failed, Jesus was tempted three times in the wilderness and was faithful. Adam doubted God’s Word, yet Jesus spoke it to Satan. Adam failed to be a prophet by doubting God’s Word, a priest by not guarding the garden, and a king by not having dominion over the serpent. Jesus fulfilled these roles perfectly by being the Word incarnate and fully obedient to the law, serving as our High Priest, providing the ultimate sacrifice, and our King where he will reign forever and ever. As a result of sin, Adam’s life produced curses of death, shame, and judgment, but Jesus’ life produced blessings of reconciliation, salvation, and eternal life. Jesus was the full manifestation and revelation of God and the only way to provide life after death: victory over sin. He is supreme in His person and work.

Does the supremacy of Christ influence how you live and think? He is Lord of all and calls us to make Him Lord of our lives. Is Jesus supreme in your life? Does He rule your thoughts, stir your heart, guide your actions, and lead you to repentance of sin and faith in Him? When we see the supremacy of Christ, how can anything else matter? Jesus and His supremacy should influence everything we do. To live is Christ means that He is our supreme desire, and we live our lives where His supremacy is reflected to all.

9.15.24 - Dr. Jeff Raines

Raising Teenagers or Screenagers - Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Today we are talking about the technology that has taken root in our lives and how that is effecting the way we are raising our children.

In our text today, Deuteronomy boils down all of the law to one commandment - to love. As parents and leaders, Deuteronomy 6 tells us that the words that God tells us should be on our OWN hearts first. What we choose to be passionate about in our lives is the prevailing factor that will shape our children’s lives. The greatest gift that we can give our children is a life of devotion to Jesus Christ.

We also need to be devoted to teaching the core Christian spiritual principles to our children. In our text, the Hebrew word for teach here literally means “to sharpen”. To sharpen something means that we continually attend to it - again and again. This is the way we are called to teach our children - continually.

Our children are especially vulnerable to the technology of today that is DESIGNED to keep us addicted to our screens. This increased attention to our screens is creating an incredible amount of anxiety and depression today.

Let’s make sure that WE are teaching our children that fulfillment and peace and joy does NOT come through the world and its devices but ONLY comes from our relationship with Jesus and experiencing his presence.