Cedar Grove Community Church

Jesus became human, in part, because God cares as much about the quality of character we demonstrate on earth as He does about our ultimate arrival in heaven. 

Because He is God, He absolutely has the authority to tell us how to live.  But, His humanity gives him credibility.  Because He was a man as well as God, He could connect with people in a way that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.  Living as one of us, He models the Christian life for us, and then calls us to do what He did.   From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus was not only focused on saving our souls, but He was redeeming our lives as well. Text: Mark 1:9-15

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This week we meet a relative of Jesus by the name of John… John, the Baptizer.  John was the last of the OT prophets and was the lead blocker for the Savior as Jesus presented Himself to Israel as their Messiah and as He went to the cross to take away our sins.

Right from the beginning we are forced to grapple with an important question:  How does our own story fit with God’s story? Text: Mark 1:1-8

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Don’t you appreciate someone who gets right to the point of the story?  No rabbit trails.  Time is short and therefore valuable.  Let’s get on with it. If you are an action person Mark is your kind of writer. 

But who is this man who wrote what is probably the earliest of the four Gospels?  What was his purpose in writing?  What is the main goal we have in studying this book of the Bible?

Our Goal in this study is to get to know the Savior.  Jesus comes among us as one who serves. The focus of Mark is in presenting the Savior in terms understandable to a Gentile audience who may not be acquainted with Jesus life and customs of the Jewish people.  Mark will use events rather than discourse as the means of showing the serving nature of the Savior.

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The Cross of Christ reveals just how far God would go for our salvation. God went ‘Above and Beyond’.

Have you been lingering a little bit longer at the Cross these weeks? As we come to our fourth Sunday in our series on the Cross of Christ, it has been our hope that together we are preparing our hearts for Easter. The Cross of Christ changes everything!

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The Cross of Jesus Christ stands at the center of our faith.  The cross, once the tool of crucifixion, now stands empty, a reminder that the Savior’s death was sufficient to pay for all our sins. There are times when I fear that we have lost the awe of the cross.  We may begin to grasp its brutality through our imagination and the record of the crucifixion in Scripture.  But what did God do for us when Jesus died for us? The Apostles wrote about the importance and the accomplishments of the cross of Christ using a vocabulary that can be lost without careful attention. Words like justification, redemption, and propitiation are vivid in message and context.  Text: Romans 3:19-26

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We read in the newspaper of some evil act against another human being and wonder if anything can be done about those pain-causing actions that permeate our society. Eventually we look to God for the answers.  And secretly we wonder why God doesn’t just eliminate pain.  But He doesn’t.  So where is the hope for this life?

Writing some 800 years before the Savior’s ministry on earth, Isaiah paints a picture of God encountering pain.  Isaiah looked ahead to the cross of Jesus, an amazing prophecy for sure.  But there is a redemptive purpose behind the pain that God experienced at the cross. 

God doesn’t explain every purpose behind every experience of our pain.  But we know that God was willing to take ultimate pain upon His Son. Text: Isaiah 52:13-53:12

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This Sunday we turn our focus on the Cross of Christ. Over the next few weeks as we walk toward Easter, our faith community will linger a little longer and remember what God has provided. The cross is so incredibly central to our faith; the cross reveals the heart of God. God’s plan flows toward and from the cross – it is the place of our salvation and the whole point of our worship. Text: Matthew 16:13-28

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This Sunday morning, we will accomplish a goal we set back in August of 2011.  Our study through Paul’s New Testament letter called Ephesians, comes to a conclusion with a look at Eph. 6:18-24.  Take your time as you think through the Apostle Paul’s closing to this letter to his friends.

So… now that you can see the finish line in your study of Ephesians, how about some celebration, reflection, anticipation. Text: Ephesians 6:19-24

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As we near the end of our study of Ephesians, it is time to face the truth that we have a spiritual adversary.  Known in Scripture as the Devil, Satan, and the accuser of the brethren, among other labels, our spiritual enemy is real and formidable.  

Many people have difficulty believing in a real Satan.  Others see Satan and his demons behind every bush.  Some would prefer to skip this study because it bothers them to consider the possibility of a devil and his minions that can influence our lives.  Others would see this as a waste of time, because “as we all know, the educated realize that the Devil is something superstitious people make up to explain evil.” Either way, the Devil wins.  The only hope we have to get the straight scoop on Satan is to look at the Scriptures. Text: Ephesians 6:10-18

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We continue to work our way through the book of Ephesians and land on the text that best applies to our work environment. Our focus will be on the realities of our employment as the closest application of this text to our lives. Keep in mind the broader context in which this passage is found.  The vision of walking in love (Eph. 5:1, 2), walking in the light (Eph. 5:8), and walking in wisdom (Eph. 5:15, 16) is worked out as we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us (Eph. 5:18 – 21).  These verses keep us anchored to the vision that God is communicating to us through the Apostle Paul. Text: Ephesians 6:5-18

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