Transformation Church Thunder Bay

Last weekend, we heard how God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, has given us new life, so that we are now a kingdom of priests. This means it's our calling to help people get near God. We follow the example of Jesus, the high priest who laid down his life for us. This week, we hit one of the hardest, but also one of the best, points in this big story. This event is still in the future, andthis event will happen to you and me. All things right.That's the event. We call this judgment. Our text for this weekend is Revelation Chapter 20. In this chapter we hear about God acting as judge as he calls all of humanity into his courtroom. You can easily get lost in this chapter as you try to figure out all the happenings. I want you to step back and notice a few things as you read. Who wins the battle? Who loses the battle?Who gets bound? Who gets thrown into the fiery lake of sulfur?We likely have discomfort with this passage, but as you step back, let yourself see this in the chapter. There's a final battle. Christ wins. Judgment begins. Evil is vanquished. All things are made right.Don't you long for that?John leaves us with a sobering question. On Judgment Day will you be on the side of Christ or the side of evil? There's only two options...

Josh De Jong Last week, during our Sunday sermon, we closed the Old Testament and opened up the New Testament. We saw that on the first page of the New Testament, Jesus is said to be a descendant of Abraham and a descendant of David. God is faithful. He keeps his promises. Enter Jesus Son of God and Son of Man who would make Abraham's family a blessing to the nations. Here is the One with an eternal throne and kingdom. What's more, recall that long-standing desire of God's: that the family of Abraham would be a kingdom of priests? This week, we learn how that becomes a reality. There are a couple key texts for our sermon this coming weekend. Read Acts chapters 12. Read 1 Peter 2:110 and Ephesians 2:1922. What do you see? Do you see a temple? The place where God's presence dwells? Where is that temple? Do you see a kingdom of priests? Who are those priests? Are you the priest? Are you the temple? If so, what does that mean? Prayerfully, consider those implications.

We've talked about several agreements or covenants that God has made with people and now there's a long period without a big agreement. In the meantime, the story of Jonah gives us a bit of a checkup on how it's going. God told Abraham that his children would be a blessing to the whole world! How is that working out? I encourage you to read the story of Jonah in the Bible. It is a short story with lots of drama, one of the easiest to read but not necessarily one of the easiest to put into practice! Most of us have probably heard the story in some fashion, but you might be surprised at what the Bible actually says about it. Have we accepted God's mercy? Are we eager for "bad people" to experience God's mercy? How's it going with us?

Abraham's family, the people of Israel, reach the Promised Land, the land of Canaan. They begin to settle the land. God raises up judges among them, rulers that are supposed to help the people focus on God as their King. Nevertheless, sin runs rampant, and by the end of Judges the peole are in a moral quagmire. "In those days, Israel had no king. All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." (Judges 21:25) The people look at the nations around them, notice that they have kings, and request to Judge Samuel that they have a king. Samuel is displeaded with their request. God was their king! Samuel brings their request to God. God grants their request. (with many warnings) Saul is anointed king, but despite his good looks and tall stature (things people looked for in a good king), Saul's character is deeply flawed. God removes the kingship from Saul and gives it to David. Will David be a good king? Will he be the king everyone is looking for? God makes a remarkable promise to David, one that continues to fulfill the promise made to Abraham, a long, long time ago. If you can,read 1 Samuel 16 and 17. Notice how David isnotthe kind of person everyone expects as a king. He's a nobody. A shepherd with a sling. Notice what God thinks about David. Continue on.Read Second Samuel 6 7, and First Chronicles 15 - 17. Notice David's heart toward God. Notice the promise God makes toward David. This is God's Story

Faithful Father

Sermon: Lauren Hiebert for the Kid's Service.

This week, we wrap up 1 John. We will be studying Chapter 5:13-21. As John closes this book, he once again affirms how close the family of God is, to the Father. So close, in fact, that we are in Him. We don't need to be led astray by everything that is false and a lie. We are in Him, who is Truth. "He is the true God and eternal life." (1 John 5:20) It seems as John wraps up, he wants us to know this: "In God's family, we live close to Jesus, free from sin's clutches, free from lies, fully alive, safe and sound in Jesus. Jesus is Truth and Jesus is eternal life." In verses 13-17, we see this beautiful picture of the family of God being so near to Jesus that they can ask him anything and receive what they ask for. They can pray for their brother or sister who has committed sin, and God will give life.John says that there are some sins that lead to death and some that don't. What could that mean? John closes the book with one short sentence: "Dear children, keep yourself from idols." We don't talk about idols that much. What would they be?

A mentor of mine always used to say, "You can't argue with a man's testimony." The idea was this: you can try to convince someone about something, arguing intellectually, but a testimony moves outside of intellectual argument and says, "This happened to me. I give evidence of it!" This is why we all love it when testimonies are shared at church. Testimonies move us beyond the theoretical to the experiential. These testimonies are "eyewitness" accounts. Is it surprising to hear that God has a testimony? This week, we will be studying 1 John 5:1-12. John starts out by telling us about the family life. He tells us how the life of the child of God is wrapped up in believing that Jesus is the Christ. When we believe that Jesus is the Christ (the anointed leader who comes to bring freedom from sin and peace with God) we become born of God. And when we are born of God, there is only one possible outcome of that birth: we love God and we love God's children. We love God by keeping His commandments. We love God by loving each other. We can't help but love God's family.And since we're in God's family, it's God's family that overcomes the world, because God has overcome the world. Just in case there's any confusion or doubt about who Jesus is John then moves on to give us proof that Jesus is the Christ. God has a testimony. It is "He gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." (verse 11) We believe a lot of things when much less authoritative people give testimony to what they have figured out or experienced. We trust our lives to engineers, scientists, and the like. John says, "If God has a testimony, we should believe it." (verse 9) God is the eyewitness. Actually, He's more than the eyewitness to this testimony. He gave of Himself, by dying, so that we could have Life. John says that the proof of God's testimony is the incarnate son of God, who is proved authentic by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. God has testified. Do you believe it? If you believe it, the invitation then is to placeall your eggs in that basket.

This week, we take a look at 1 John 4:7-21. Hannah Chun is preaching. In this passage, John brings us to the very foundation of the Christian life: love. John says something remarkable. He doesn't simply tell us that God loves. He tells us that God is love. Love is not just something God does from time to time; it is who He is. Everything that God does flows from His loving character. As I've reflected on this passage throughout the week, I would offer this summary statement:Those who know the love of God become people who love like God.John reminds us that God showed His love by sending His Son into the world. Jesus did not come because we deserved it. He came because God loved us. The cross is the clearest picture of what love looks likeself-giving, sacrificial, and undeserved. As a result, John tells us that if we have received this love, we cannot keep it to ourselves. God's love changes us. It moves us outward toward others. Children of God act like their Father. They love because they have first been loved. John also speaks about fear. Many people live with fear, uncertainty, guilt, and shame. But perfect love drives out fear. The more we understand God's love for us in Christ, the less fear has power over our lives. We do not have to wonder whether God is for us. He has already shown us through Jesus. There are two ways to live. We can live controlled by fear, or we can live rooted in God's love. John calls us to abide in that love. The one who remains in God's love grows in confidence, joy, and assurance. Children of God know love. They have experienced God's love in Jesus Christ, and as such, they become loving. They act like who they are.

This week, we will look at 1 John 4:1-6. In this passage John addresses the false ideas that some people had about who Jesus was. John warns his readers that we should not just accept without discernment what people say about Jesus. It's easy to think that because someone talks about Jesus, they must be a believer. We need to be more discerning than that. The fact is, there is a spirit of AntiChrist in the world, and it is at work to sow confusion and disinformation about our faith. If this spirit can cause Christians to become confused in their thinking, it will lead people away from the faith. So first of all, we need to use our powers of discernment when listening to what others are saying about Jesus. Secondly, we need to resist the spirit of deception that is at work to lead us astray. Lastly, we need to declare the victory we have. There are many Christians who live scared, confused and defeated lives. John says that we are the victorious ones. We have the victory over the world by the Spirit that lives in us. That means we can be confident, joyous and courageous in life. We are not sloshing around in miry clay, slipping and sliding our way through life. We have our feet standing on solid ground. We are walking a straight path. We are moving towards a glorious future. Don't let any deception convince you otherwise! As John later says: "everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith."

Knowing Love This week, we take a look at 1 John 3:11-24. It may surprise you how binary John is about hate and love. He reminds us of the story about Cain. "Cain," he says, "belonged to the evil one and killed his brother." Notice the wording. Cain belonged to the evil one. As I've pondered this throughout the week, I would offer you a summary statement of what John is telling us in this passage. There are two powers to belong to. We all belong to one or the other. To belong to the evil one results in killing, murder and death. To belong to the Good One results in life and sacrificial love. As a result, John tells us that children of God know love. They have experienced love in Jesus Christ, and as such, they become loving. Children of God act like who they are. To know God is to know love. To know love is to live a life filled with love.

We continue on with our study of 1 John with chapter 2:28 through 3:10. Last week, we learned about the antichrists who had been in the church community, but had left, claiming that they had a superior revelation of who Jesus was. This week John would have us know this: "Children of God will act like their Father." Like Father, like Son. Like Father, like daughter. The antichrists did not act like Jesus.John gives us tests, allowing us to test consistency. For those of us who are new to the faith and for those of us who have been long time followers of Jesus these tests are convicting and refreshing. We are reminded that we've become new people in Jesus, and because we are new people, born of God, there's only one way for us to live, the Jesus way. We don't muck around in the muck anymore.

This coming weekend, we continue on with our study of 1 John with chapter 2, verses 18-27. In this passage, there's a group that has recently left John's church. They were divisive. They were antichrists. They were liars. They claim to know the truth, but their knowledge is based in a lie. John would have us remember the truth. He clearly spells out for us what the truth is. This truth is non-negotiable. John shows us that what we believe really matters. John then encourages his people to go back to what they've been taught from the very beginning. While the false teachers claim to have the knowledge, he says to his church, "You too have received the Holy Spirit and you too can listen to Him. You do not need a teacher." In preparation, what truth is non-negotiable, and why does that truth matter so much? What characteristic marked the attitude of the antichrists? How do we cling to truth?

We've been working through the book of 1 John. It seems that as we launch into 1 John: 2:12 -17, John starts off by taking a pause. He's been challenging and admonishing the believers to probe their lives for what's real. Here he wants to reassure and remind in verses 12 to 14. Reflect on this as you read it. I've read it over and over again. Why would John repeat reminders of the faith to the three different categories of people? Why would he repeat all the categories twice? It seems to me that for John to do this twice means this is the pinnacle of what matters, the great reminder of what gives us hope, courage, and strength as we follow Jesus here on this earth. Notice that he says, "I am writing this to you," and then he changes and says, "I have written to you." John would have us know that there is areal life to be had with a real God. John then goes on to contrast how if we believe the lie of world that promises "real life" our true life with the Father will be lost. What this world has to offer, when placed outside of relationship with God, always comes up empty handed. Everything about this world and its short term promised satisfaction will pass away. We can havereal relationship with a real God. Let's not settle for the lesser things.

The world that has become so good at creating something that'ssoclose to authentic.We now carefully scan our emails for "The fake" before we click on it. We study images to see if we can detect AI, and now we have to think about the future with deepfakes. We crave authenticity. John says authenticity is the only way to have relationship with God.Jesus is completely authentic. John provides us with the ability to do a test, a litmus test on our lives. This test provides us with the ability to know if we have a relationship with God, or not. We find his test given to us in 1 John 2:3-11. The results of the test either reassure us that we know God, or they convict us that we are talking "smoke and mirrors." The test is not complicated, but it is surely probing.

John is an elder by now. He's in his 80s or 90s. He's seen life. John's letter is written to a congregation in the first century. Some false teachers have caused chaos. They have taught things about God that aren't true. John wants His congregation toknow that they know,to have clarity and truth about who God is, and how we relate to him. Of course, God in his divine plan knew that we also would need such a letter. In our chaotic world where so many things have become subjective we need something to base our lives on. We need to know that we know. John had discovered what was real in life and he wanted everyone to know the realness of fellowship with God. He wanted everyone to know that real fellowship with God changes us. He wanted us to know that holiness in our life matters. He wanted us to be aware of our sins, and to acknowledge and confess them. He wanted us to know these things, so that we wouldn't sin, but that if we did, we had Jesus on our side. John had clarity and he wants us to have it too. In preparation, I encourage you to read 1 John 1 through Chapter 2 verse 2.

God provided miraculous bread every morning for the people of Israel in their desert wanderings, which gave them temporary relief from hunger and temporary life. Now God has given us Living Bread from heaven that gives permanent relief from hunger and permanent, eternal life. Jesus invites us to come and participate in His life, and receive His lifegiving presence, receiving the Spirit of life and receiving daily manna, fellowshipping with Him and drawing on Him for the abundant life that He said that He came to give. Jn 6.35Jesus replied, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty 47 I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.

Easter Sunday radiates with light, as God, who is the light of the world shatters the darkness of death. It is this weekend that we ponder the fact that Almighty God humbled Himself to death as a common criminal upon a cross. It is this weekend that we realize that the risen Jesus left behind His grave clothes and commissioned His disciples to take the message to the world. Jesus is alive!

This final Core Value could be compared to the final goal of the game. It is the winning score. It is the goal that wins the game. Our passage is Matthew 6:5-14. We've all read this many times. As a matter of fact, my mother-in-law, Alice Marie, preached a sermon on this about a year ago here at Transformation Church. This week, I'm inviting us to re-examine this passage again as we consider our Core Value:We pray because we need God. In preparation, perhaps ask yourself some of the following questions: - Do you pray?- Why do you pray?- What are your expectations about your prayer being answered? Jesus' teaching on prayer in this passage provides us with some great answers to these questions. If we were to design a Core Value of prayer based off of Matthew 6:5-14, I think it might read a little bit differently. What do you think it would say? We pray because.....

This coming Sunday we consider our seventh Core Value:We love God by wholeheartedly helping those around us. Our passage is Luke 10:25-37 This is the famous story that Jesus tells, often titled "The Good Samaritan." It takes some work to understand the context in which Jesus answers the lawyer who tests him with the question, "Who is my neighbor?" I will do my best to bring this to the forefront, because that is where we find the shock value of Jesus' story of neighborly love. For starters, it will help us to know that, according to the Jewish people, there werenogood Samaritans. They were a hopeless case. They were confused in their worship of God. They were "secular Christians." They were a people to be avoided, for they had strayed far from God's heart. To make matters worse, the Samaritans thought they were right. The Samaritans thought that the Jews had it wrong. Can you think of a person who you believe is a hopeless case? Can you think of a person who is confused in their worship toward the Divine? Can you think of another Christian who thinks they're right but with whom you very much disagree? If you can, you are closer to feeling the tension of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus' last words in this story are, "Go and do likewise." I pray this story moves us beyond talk to action.