April 2, 2023 - The Impact of Understanding Jesus' Identity and Authority - Pastor Paul Vallee

06/21/23 • 53 min

Mark 11

There has never been more information poured into our lives than now. But what is actual reality and truth, and what is fiction? What do you believe? And why do you believe it? What we think shapes our decisions, ultimately affecting what we do and how we do it. Jesus, in talking to his disciples after they had witnessed many miracles and listened to Jesus explain many things, asked the most critical question, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ The answer to that question shapes a person’s life. Yet, that question needs to be understood in light of His authority and our response to that authority. If we believe Jesus is who He has revealed Himself to be, it will affect who we are, who we will become, and ultimately where we will spend eternity.

It’s interesting reading the gospel writers explaining the various moments in the life of Jesus. One of the more moving accounts is in the final days of Jesus’ life as He enters Jerusalem, which the church celebrates as Palm Sunday because of the Palm branches placed before Jesus as He rode into the city. Matthew described the event this way in Matthew 21:10: “When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’”

Luke also reported that the city was stirred, and the term used there is where we get our term “seismic.” There is a sense from both of these writers of the amazing excitement and anticipation that Jesus was about to do something significant.

Mark 11

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March 26, 2023 - Chosen and not Rejected (A Word of Restoration in a Time of Discipline) - Pastor Paul Vallee

Jeremiah 33, Jeremiah Series

Sin shatters our sense of self-identity. What others do to us, what we do to others, and finally, what we do to ourselves distorts the image of God in our lives. Sin, followed by failure, loss, rejection and abandonment, causes us to wonder who we are and where God is in the equation. The exile shattered the nation of Israel. The questions that came to the surface in their minds were: Are we still God’s chosen people, or are we rejected? To this issue, God wanted to reassure His people that they were not rejected but that a transformation was about to occur in their hearts that would change everything. When God wants to reassure people of what He is about to do, He speaks again. Here we see that God is reaffirming to Jeremiah what He is about to do, so we see that God’s word came to Jeremiah again.

Jeremiah 33:1-3: While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

The hidden things God will reveal to Jeremiah are yet to come. They lie in the future. So, what is God about to do? How should we respond to the future God has planned for us? Is there any response we should have when God makes promises to us? Matthew Henry, the puritan devotional writer, says: “Promises are given, not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer.”5 We need to act on God’s promises by praying they will be enacted in our lives. God makes promises for a brighter tomorrow. God begins in the nations painful present to encourage a better day ahead. We discover what God reveals to His servant and messenger, Jeremiah, a message of hope and future blessings. So, what was God revealing?

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April 9, 2023 - What is Keeping Me from Experiencing a Transformed Life? - Pastor Paul Vallee

Matthew 28

What difference does one day make? It all depends on the day. Today we are celebrating the day that made all the difference in how our world has gone and, hopefully, most of us. It is the day that changed our lives forever. I am speaking of the resurrection of Jesus Christ almost two thousand years ago. The key to experiencing the resurrection power is that it must be applied in our lives. What is it about Jesus Christ that has such a transforming impact on the lives of people? How can a man who lived twenty centuries ago still impact people’s lives today? The resurrection is the reason. Jesus is alive. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single most crucial facet of His story. Apart from the resurrection, Christianity would be like any other religion, with a moral leader and good ethical teachings. What makes Christianity unique is the resurrection message. Matthew, in writing his gospel, retells the story in such a way as to refute the rumoured story that the resurrection was a hoax, a fabricated story to deceive people. Matthew helps people overcome barriers to faith in Christ. What were some of the barriers of faith that the early disciples had to overcome that first Easter morning, barriers that people today struggle with?