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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Who Do You Say He Is?</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>If I told you to
pull out a piece of paper and write on it who you say Jesus is what
would you write? We all have some answer; we all have some images of
Jesus. Some of them are the images we learned as children in Sunday
school which have proved troubling and we don't' have anything to
replace them with. Sometimes we dismiss Jesus on the basis of what we
knew about Jesus at age six. Some of us have never examined the evidence
for ourselves.<br>
<br>
One of my main goals in preaching is to gain a
fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already
understand him. I'm sorry to tell you this, but you probably don't.
Because what happens sometimes is that presumed familiarity has led to
unfamiliarity. Jesus is sometimes obstructed by clouds of
well-intentioned misinformation.<br>
<br>
But ultimately, rather than give
you my answer to the question I'd rather challenge you to answer the
question for yourself because that's the only answer that matters. Is he
Messiah? If that's what you think, what does that mean? Jesus clearly
didn't' fit into what a Messiah was expected to be. Messiahs were
supposed to have power, were supposed to take charge, were supposed to
set things right and free the Jews from political expression. But Jesus
refused to stiff arm anybody. He refused to dominate or to take up arms.<br>
<br>
Is
he Savior? OK. But what is he saving us from and what is he saving us
to? Some people clearly had no interest in being saved. When Jesus said
the poor are precious and the rich are in big trouble, only those on one
side of that equation found it intriguing.<br>
<br>
Is he Teacher? Surely, but is that all?<br>
<br>
Who do you say he is? Messiah, Savior, Lord, shaman, teacher, friend, prophet, prince of peace?<br>
<br>
Now,
as you try and answer that question, don't be too alarmed if you cant'
nail it down. Even those of us who wrestle with the question regularly
find it difficult, because Jesus is sometimes downright
incomprehensible; he is often enigmatic, ambiguous. From the very
beginning, who Jesus was, what he was about, was far from self-evident.
There were people who stood face-to-face with Jesus and said, "This is
God incarnate." There appear to be many more who said, "This man is
nuts." Although I think that for most of us, the biggest issue isn't
that we've listened to Jesus and found him incomprehensible; it's that
we've listened to him and found him too damned difficult.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Herb Miller, Who Do You Say That I Am?</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>____________________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Defining Christ </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Every photographer
knows the importance of having the camera lens in focus before
triggering the shutter. You can set the right shutter speed. You can
open the lens to its proper setting. But if that lens is not in focus,
the picture will be worthless.<br>
<br>
Anyone who's trying to sell
something these days knows the importance of having an accurate focus on
the market for which a product is intended. Whether you're trying to
sell soap or soft drinks, it's necessary to know exactly which people
will most likely purchase your product. On what age group or sector of
the public do you focus your advertising?<br>
<br>
So Jesus realized that
if people were going to follow him, and if his followers were going to
be truly effective Christians in the world, they needed to know exactly
who he was. They also needed to know precisely what was involved in
being a Christian.<br>
<br>
That's probably one reason why he asked this
simple, but all-important question in our Bible reading. "Tell me," he
says, "who do people say I am?" And a little later he refines the
question: "What about you?" he asked them. "Who do you say I am?" </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Richard W. Patt, Partners in the Impossible, CSS Publishing Company</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>________________________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Many Different Christs Are Offered</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span><br>
Marva Dawn in
Reaching Out without Dumbing Down suggests the possibility of different
christs today when she writes: At the 1987 Vancouver World's Fair, the
Christian pavilion's presentation utilized glitzy double-reversed
photography and flashing lasers. When I tried to explain my qualms about
the production to an attendant who had asked me how I liked their
"show," she protested that it had saved many people. I asked, "Saved by
what kind of Christ?" If people are saved by a spectacular Christ, will
they find him in the fumbling of their own devotional life or in the
humble services of local parishes where pastors and organists make
mistakes? Will a glitzy portrayal of Christ nurture in new believers his
character of willing suffering and sacrificial obedience? Will it
create an awareness of the idolatries of our age and lead to repentance?
And does a flashy, hard-rock sound track bring people to a Christ who
calls us away from the world's superficiality to deeper reflection and
meditation? [p. 50] <br>
<br>
Marva Dawn, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down. Submitted by Brian Stoffregen</span></div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>_____________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Under Control</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>There was a certain
bishop, in the horse and buggy days, who had two horses named Pride and
Prejudice. He said on one occasion that people thought it was awful
that a bishop should be drawn hither and thither by Pride and Prejudice,
but he reassured them that it was a wonderful thing that a Bishop would
have Pride and Prejudice under control. </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>That's a wonderful
thing for any of us. It is the test of our manhood and womanhood that we
are able to deny ourselves. The world says that to be a real man or a
real woman we must give in to pleasure, but that's absurd. Any creature
can give in to natural impulses.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>King Duncan, Collected Sermons, </span><span><a shape="rect"><span>www.Sermons.com</span></a></span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>____________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>He Is the Son of God</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>"I am trying here
to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say
about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I
don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not
say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said
would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on
the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would
be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was,
and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can
shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or
you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come
with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He
has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>__________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>On Sunday He Is God</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>There are very few
who in their hearts do not believe in God, but what they will not do is
give Him exclusive right of way. ... They are not ready to promise full
allegiance to God alone. Many a professing Christian is a
stumbling-block because his worship is divided. On Sunday he worships
God; on weekdays God has little or no place in his thoughts. I want
people to place their faith in Jesus and motivate them to live more
obediently. </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>D.L. Moody</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>___________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span> </div>
<span>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Stop Following Your Shadow <br>
<br>
There
is a fable about a man who lived in the desert. He would wake up every
morning and follow his shadow. So as the sun moved across the sky from
east to west the man essentially walked in a large oval. At sundown he
ended up where he had started. This continued for years. The man walked
in circles day after day, following his shadow. One night the man heard
the voice of God in a dream while he slept. The voice told him to stop
following his shadow. Instead, "Follow the sun," the voice challenged,
"And you will experience life as you have never dreamed it could be."</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span><br>
The man thought for many days about his vision of God while he continued to walk around in circles in the desert...</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>The rest of this illustration, as well as many additional illustrations and sermons for the whole year, can be accessed at <a shape="rect"><span>www.Sermons.com</span></a>. </span></div>
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