Tag: one world one king (Page 1 of 2)

Praise The King

April 5, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Easter for those of us who follow Jesus is about so many amazing things. While some try to shun the bunny and the eggs, some of us can fully embrace these fun parts of Easter with the real meaning of this great day. For followers of Jesus, Easter is about Jesus. It’s about his resurrection and how he conquered the darkness and all the powers of evil in the world.

At Living Word Galena this Easter we focused on Jesus as our King. We talked about how he is the one true king this world needs. Knowing that we serve a King who’s not like other kings is pretty freeing. Knowing that Jesus is kind and compassionate and selfless and is willing to put himself aside for the those who follow him makes this day known as Easter even that much more special.

Today I want to leave you with a song that pretty much summarizes what we talked about this Easter. It’s a song titled Praise the King. I just heard this for the first time a few days ago and was struck by the power of the words.

Nothing flashy. Nothing over the top. Just Jesus as your king but then again that’s all you really need.

Nailed To The Cross

April 2, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Today is Good Friday. It’s a day for people who believe in Jesus to pause and reflect for a minute. We take a day and set it aside for remembering. Remembering the person Jesus was. The life he lived. The death he died. And what it all means for me today.

Today isn’t Monday but this song spoke to me and I wanted to save it for today. So in this week’s Music Monday post we sit on Good Friday and consider the week behind us and the weekend in front of us.

Good Friday is the day all of my junk, pain, sadness, fear, frustration, wrongs, lies, betrayal, denial, every negative and evil thing I’ve ever done gets nailed to the cross. It’s when Jesus did what I could never do. It’s when he took my place and paid my price.

Take a listen to this song and enjoy Music Monday on a Friday and remember it may be Friday but Sunday is coming.

The Table Is Set

April 1, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Today marks a pretty special day in the life of the church. It’s actually a pretty cool thing that happens on this day and we’ll talk more about it tonight in our worship service but here are a few things I thought would be helpful as you consider what this day is all about.

Maundy

Ok so for starters this is just a weird sounding word. We don’t use it any other time but so often we throw it around as if it’s normal or something. The word actually derives from the Anglo-French and means commandment. I know that’s not the normal focus of our Midweek Maundy Thursday worship but that’s where the word came from.

There actually was a command that was part of what we normally celebrate as the Maundy Thursday account. The command is to love one another as Jesus has loved them. The command isn’t about doing anything or performing some weird ritual. It’s about loving and serving one another and putting others before yourself. That’s the Jesus way!

Why did they all sit on one side of the table?

I know you’re probably not wondering this but I always find it odd that in every picture they’re all sitting behind the table as if for a photo op or something. But none of them are looking in the direction the camera would be! So obviously none of these pictures are real and they really in all likelihood sat around a table like most normal people do.

Why this night?

So there’s a lot of history and tradition and ritual in the timing of all of this. Jesus doing this on this particular night fits right in with the rest of the week. We talked about Palm Sunday and all of the cool hidden details in a previous post that you can read here. The idea is simple really. Jesus had to celebrate this meal with his disciples on this very night to fulfill everything the Old Testament points toward. There was a celebration in the Jewish calendar known as Passover which commemorated the plagues on Egypt and how God delivered his people by letting the angel of death pass-over the faithful. The way the angel would know whose house to pass-over was made clear by the sacrifice of a lamb in that house and the blood being on the door posts. This signified the people relying on God to deliver them.

Fast forward to this night and we see Jesus celebrating the Passover while he’s preparing to be the newer, better, fuller, forever-er sacrifice for all people not just the Israelite ones from the Old Testament.

Where’d he get the bread and wine?

Another cool thing that we might miss if we’re not paying attention is that while Jesus eats the Passover meal, he takes some of that meal as the elements for the new meal that he starts. So he takes the bread that was made for the Passover meal and consecrates it, sets it apart for what we call communion. He does the same thing with the wine. He takes a cup of wine, of which there were several in this meal to mark different attributes and actions of God. Then he blesses it and sets it apart as His very blood of a new covenant.

So when the Old Testament followers of God celebrated the Passover they had to kill a lamb to atone, bible word for pay for, their sins and their lack of faith. Now in the new Passover event, we don’t see the killing of many lambs but the self sacrifice of one lamb known as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.

How often should we do this whole bread and wine thing?

The simple answer is…yes. I know that’s not an answer to the question but really you should take it as often as it is offered. So if it’s offered once a year, then take it! If it’s once a month, then take it! If it’s every other week, take it! If it’s weekly, yep you got it – take it!

There is no set rule for how often a church should offer it. That’s left up to the context of each congregation. And no you will not lessen its meaning if you offer it weekly. No you won’t find it less special if you take it every week versus once a month. That’s ludicrous.

Who should take it?

Now this one is where the bus comes to a bit of a screeching halt for many. The church body to which I ascribe my doctrinal beliefs has a pretty solid teaching on this. The way we do this in the church I serve is I explain what communion is, and if you agree completely with the explanation I give and have had some teaching and instruction on it before that moment with a pastor (either me or someone else) then come on. If, however, you don’t think the same way, don’t believe it the same way, are confused by it, or don’t even think it’s important – then by all means don’t do it! This is a huge deal so don’t go at it willy-nilly. You have to understand what it’s about or you make a mockery of it and it will actually not benefit you at all.

So there you have it. A few little tidbits of info on what Maundy Thursday is all about, why we do it, and why you should too! If you have a church home then please set some time aside to go and worship tonight and this whole weekend (heck go every Sunday!) If you don’t have a church home, then we’d love to welcome you as our guests at Living Word Galena. And if you’re just not sure but want a little more, you’re welcome to check us out online first to listen along to see if what we teach and believe lines up with what you understand and believe.

Happy Holy Week!

Why was Palm Sunday so important?

March 30, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Ok so some of you won’t really care about this nearly as much as I do but I’ve been a pastor for 19 years and have read, preached on or at least heard the Palm Sunday story every year that I’ve been alive. But this year the whole thing took on new meaning. It’s like 19 years of ministry finally paid off with a little knowledge.

The Palm Sunday account, known as the triumphal entry has tons of meaning packed into it. I’ve included the video of the message at the bottom but here’s a list of the things Jesus really did when he came riding into Jerusalem on that day we call Palm Sunday.

Mount of Olives

Did you know that over 600 years earlier, recorded in Ezekiel 10 and again in 43, the prophet is given a vision of God’s glory leaving and then returning to the temple? In 586 BC the glory of God filled the temple then exited through the east gate. It proceeded up the Mount of Olives and rested there until…

Yep that’s right, until Palm Sunday when Jesus came back down the Mount of Olives as the Son of God bringing the Glory of God with him.

Colt the foal of a donkey

So Jesus asks his followers to go, get him a donkey so he could ride into town. Now before we get all freaked out that he stole a donkey, that’s just not true. You see they had a practice in this time that a king could claim eminent domain on a beast of burden if needed. Well, Jesus is king, granted a totally different kind of king but king nonetheless, so the donkey was rightfully his to use for this moment.

And it had to be a donkey and not a full grown horse because tradition also demonstrated (and is echoed in Genesis 49 and the accounts of David and Solomon in 1 Kings 1) that a king would come into town on a donkey if he came bringing peace. Jesus then is the Prince of Peace according to Isaiah 9, so rightfully he brings that peace into Jerusalem once again. This riding in on a donkey was also prophesied in Zechariah 9, so Jesus doing it this way was fulfilling what was promised about him.

Additionally the donkey is said to be an unridden donkey. This too was significant because a king to be considered the greatest would ride a donkey that was unridden. The king was the only one who was to ride his animal. It generally was unbroken by someone else showing that no one could be as great or powerful as this king.

Hosanna!

The people lined the streets, threw their coats on the ground, waved palm branches and shouted hosanna! This may seem to be nothing major but even the words of the people fulfilled some of the Old Testament. The words that the people spoke were and echo of Psalm 118 in a psalm of praise.

Triumphal Entry

A triumphal entry was a Roman tradition actually. One would get a triumphal entry parade if you were a king or mighty warrior who was headed into battle against a worthy adversary or had conquered a group of 5000 or more. Oddly enough Jesus would actually do both of these!

A few days after he was welcomed into town in this triumphal entry, he would go to a cross where he would die on the cross. Now for most people dying was a sign of weakness or being beaten, but not for Jesus. To fulfill the Old Testament rules, someone had to die to pay for sin. Since Jesus didn’t have sin, his death would be a perfect death. That meant that in his death he was victorious. Therefore he deserved a triumphal entry!

But if you go ahead in the story to Acts 3-4, you see the disciples healing a man. Then everyone wanted to know how they did it and who they were. They taught about Jesus and this very week in history. People were so overcome by the event that they surrendered their previous way of life and gave themselves to Jesus. And there were 5000 of them total!

The temple

Jesus lets the fanfare run its course then ends up in the temple. But in a very anticlimactic way looks around and leaves. This is a sign to show that while the glory of God has returned it’s not going to be staying in the temple. Now the glory of God is on the loose. This would be made even more evident in the events of Good Friday when the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom symbolizing God tearing.

The temple curtain was said to be the divider between God and man. But when Jesus died the glory of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God was released for all to see. Now instead of standing in judgment afraid of eternal punishment, we stand before God made holy and righteous because Jesus is our righteousness and God’s glory at the same time.

These are just a handful of the Old Testament passages that are fulfilled in the event we call Palm Sunday or the triumphal entry.

Welcome to the Kingdom

March 25, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

It can be seen all around us. The little everyday moments of kindness and love. Going out of our way to show care for someone in hurting. Being generous with our time or our possessions toward someone in need. Being an ear to listen or hands to help. It’s all around us but rarely do we see it.

The bible is full of references to the Kingdom of God but what does it even mean? It’s kind of an abstract idea. Is it a building? Is it a person? Is it a place? Is it just sometime in the future?

All of these can be where the Kingdom of God is found but they don’t fully represent the kingdom. All of these ideas are great but the kingdom is found in all of them. At the same time.

The kingdom of God is found wherever God is found. It’s found when two people sit down to read the Bible. It’s found in the waters of baptism. It can be found in a church gathering for communion or leaving on a mission trip. It can be found on Easter Sunday or the second Sunday in July. The kingdom of God is present in the phone call to a hurting friend or the prayer offered for a hurting loved one.

The kingdom may seem abstract but when we realize that we carry the kingdom in our thoughts, words and actions it becomes much more visible. Much more concrete.

The video below will explain what the kingdom of God is and where it can be found. It’s intended to help you see the kingdom all around you and even inside you.

Selfishness Is NOT Cool

March 23, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I have to tell you when I hear people that they’re in this whole living life thing to make themselves happy something inside me goes a little crazy. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard. There are some people that want life their way. They want things handed to them on a silver platter. It just has to be about them.

Have you ever had that person who just likes to find problems in life? I mean you give them a compliment and they somehow turn it to a knock on you? You thank them and they tell you that you’re not doing enough? Or they just want everything to be done their way and if not they’ll let you know all about it?

Well selfishness and self aggrandizement is called out by Jesus in Mark 10. There were a couple of his close followers that wanted to get something from him. They asked Jesus to give them whatever they wanted. Pretty bold I know!

Hearing that passage it’s pretty easy to think well how dare they! I’d never do anything like that… But is that really true? Can you honestly say that personal happiness and having things done your way isn’t driving your decisions from time to time?

I think in the world today, we’re seeing a lot more prominently displayed a self-centered approach to life. We see people who want to be the center of attention and for life to revolve around them. We are seeing people take disagreements as personal attacks. There has to be a better way.

Yes there is. Jesus takes the whole selfish pride outlook on life and flips it on its head. He says that for you to be great you have to be willing to be least. To be first you should be last. To be best you need to be ok with serving other people instead of asking why you didn’t get picked first.

Jesus tells his followers that we need to look different than the world looks. Check out this message on struggling with pride and selfishness.

Black and White

March 15, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Not sure if you noticed or not but black is not white and white is not black. I know that sounds a bit simplistic but I’m not sure our culture gets that. The world today doesn’t want to do the hard things in life by living with difference. Instead we try our hardest to lose distinctions and blend everything into some form of mush. We love the gray area because it seems to offend the fewest people.

I don’t agree. As a matter of fact, when we draw a clear line of distinction and properly delineate between two sides of an issue or two ideologies, we are less likely to divide than if we try to appease everyone.

There is a push in our society to gray the lines of right and wrong, male and female, racial distinctions and even life and death. The only thing this is doing is creating a greater divide. One would think that an attempt to make everyone equal would make things better, but that’s not how this works.

The problem is when we force someone to lose what makes them unique in life, we devalue everyone. Now I do believe we need to do better at valuing our brothers and sisters despite our differences. You see there are so many things that make you who you are that are valuable and special. Trying to make you into someone else just isn’t right.

In our time together this past Sunday we focused on leaning into our distinct sides. We focused on not blending things together and creating a mess in the mushy middle. There is no gray area. There is a clear right and clear wrong. The more clear the distinctions in life, the easier it is to live with and value those distinctions.

Here’s this week’s message. Jesus didn’t dumb things down, so we probably shouldn’t either.

What A Foolish Bunch

March 8, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

It’s no secret what I do for a living. I’m a pastor. That means that everyone thinks I work only on Sundays and I just basically get paid to talk a lot. Well truth be told, I do work on Sundays and Saturdays and just about every other day throughout the week in some capacity or another. And I do tend to talk…a lot…even when no one cares to listen! But there’s more than just that. It’s more than work and talking. It’s about a calling and a way of life for me.

The interesting thing however is that what I do for a living, God has called all of us to do in some form or fashion. We’re all called to be available to help those in times of need. We’re all supposed to be encouraging and uplifting, to challenge and strengthen. But there’s more to it. The heart of what we’re about as followers of Jesus is the message. We call it the gospel.

But the message of the gospel is not all that easy. Don’t get me wrong. It’s simple but not easy. It’s simple because the message is really all about what Jesus did for us. He did the work, we get the benefit. But that’s exactly what makes it hard! We like to do things ourselves. We like to know we’ve done enough or completed a task. We need to check the box when a to-do list item is finalized.

To say that the message of the gospel to some in our world is foolish is an understatement. The message of the gospel put as plainly and completely as possible is that Jesus is the Son of God who became a man at the time of his birth, what we call Christmas. Then he lived a pretty normal life for the first 30 years or so. The only thing was he didn’t sin. He did no wrong. He wasn’t some goody goody kind of character but he just legitimately did the right thing, like all the time! Then when he was about 30 years old he really came into his own. He gathered crowds. Taught messages. Did some pretty cool signs and miracle things. Then one day was accused of having the wrong intentions, which he didn’t. He ended up being tried, beaten adn killed for his way of life. Then after he was buried, he was raised up. Yep came to life again.

The message of the gospel is built on the belief that Jesus did all of this to show God’s love for you and me. He didn’t do it to get anything from us or make us go through some weird ritual of some sort. He did it so that one day you and I could see him for who he is and live with him forever in heaven. That may sound absurd to you. And if so, that’s ok. You’re not alone. The bible even warns about that one. But what might sound foolish to some is actually the source of all that we are as followers of Christ. Our identity is wrapped up in this very reality of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

So there you have it. Foolish? Maybe but not for believing in Jesus. That’s the only wise thing about many of us, ok well about me anyway. Check out the full message on this topic in the video below.

I Can’t Take It Anymore

February 25, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Have you ever had one of those moments when you just wanted to throw in the towel? The moments when it felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders? A moment when even the people closest to you, the ones supposedly in your corner, seemed to be against you? Those moments quite frankly suck.

But how do you react when the weight of the world is on your shoulders? What do you do when you have a burden to carry that is just simply too much for you?

I recently talked about something I call heart-felt prayer. Now if you’re not a Jesus person and don’t really get into the whole prayer thing I get it but there are some principles in here that are transferrable to a non prayer setting.

Many hands make light work

First we need to surround ourselves with people who can help us carry our burdens. These are our people of peace (more on that another time). The people that are willing to listen to us and carry those burdens with us are people that we need to lean into when times get tough. Jsut because they might say something that isn’t exactly what we want to hear doesn’t make them any less a person of peace. So don’t go it alone. Surround yourself with people who can carry you when you can’t do it anymore.

Jesus knew his friends couldn’t make his problem go away. He knew they wouldn’t be of any help whatsoever really. But he still chose to bring them along. They were there for comfort and peace in a pretty challenging time. Who are your people that you can bring along who will bring peace to you while you struggle? They may not help, but they will always be there.

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal

The second thing we need to do is be honest about our struggle. We tend to be a world of wannabe heroes. We think that sadness and struggle is a sign of weakness, but that’s just not true. Think of working out when you think of struggles. If you don’t push the muscle beyond what it’s capable of doing you won’t see any growth. The same is true for you and me in our struggles. If we don’t allow ourselves to be pushed beyond what we’re capable of handling alone, we’ll never see growth in our abilities.

Jesus did something similar when he was honest with his Father about not wanting to go through the events of holy week. He was sorrowful. Sad. Broken. Burdened. He collapsed on the ground and just prayed. Perhaps there are struggles in your life you’ve been hiding or burying. What do you need to be honest about and get a weight off your shoulders so you can be free for a new day?

Ask for help, not because you’re weak but because you want to remain strong.

The third part of this heartfelt prayer is simply but boldly asking for what we want. Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t dance around the issue. Don’t get all shy. Just ask for help. Say what you need or want in a given situation. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness by any means. Asking for help is a way to stay strong.

Jesus did just this. He told his Father that he didn’t want to go through the events of the next 24 hours. He told him to let this cup pass. He wasn’t looking forward to being left alone by his Father. What do you need to ask God? What do you need to just get off your chest and have help with?

Submission is yielding my desires to his plan.

The final part of going through an honest assessment of struggles and pain is to be submissive. This doesn’t mean to let people walk all over you. It means that you’re ok with things not being ok for a time.

Jesus did this when after telling his Father he didn’t want to go through with the next 24 hours but ended with not my will but yours. That means I don’t want this but if it’s the best way then I’ll do it. What stands in front of you that you’re not all that excited about or that might make you uncomfortable that you might end up needing to do because it’s the best thing?

There you have it. Fall down with friends, admit problems, ask for help, then be ok with doing things in a way you’re not expecting.

To Whom Do You Pledge Allegiance

February 22, 2021 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

It’s probably no secret that I’m a patriot. I value and defend the principles of the place where I choose to set up residence. But while my allegiance to a degree is very much in the defense of the country in which I live, there’s something far greater and more widespread that has my allegiance completely.

This past week it was made known that a pastor was arrested in Canada in part for holding a worship gathering. He was taken before the judiciary and was told that if he recanted and promised not to do this again he could go free. I don’t know many other details of the account. But what comforts me is that he’s still in prison.

Don’t get me wrong! I want him released to be certain! But I’m comforted to know that he didn’t back down. He didn’t recant for preaching and proclaiming the truth of Jesus. I am glad that he realize that his allegiance was more to the King of kings than the head of the state.

As Americans I fear we’ve mixed up our allegiance to kings. I think some have pledged a greater allegiance to political parties that divide than to the King who unites. In the message below we unpack a pledge of sorts found in the bible. It’s an oath we take that declares God as sovereign, holy and powerful.

It’s not just politicians that vie for our allegiance but we willingly bow to the latest fads, newest ideas, things that benefit us and make us feel better. We take a knee before our pet project or medical experiment. All of it simply distracts us from what is real and true and absolutely life changing.

I pray you defend what’s important to you. I pray you put your all into the cause or thought about which you feel passionate. But I caution you to never give your full allegiance to anything other than Christ.

Tag: one world one king (Page 1 of 2)

Praise The King

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Nailed To The Cross

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