What Happened On Easter?

The biggest thing that happened Easter here at Alive is that 17 people made commitments to follow Jesus – that is so way awesome!!! Let’s do a little celebrating with these folks as they become a part of God’s family and begin a new life this week!!!! We are committed to living out Jesus mission by "Leading People Who Are Far From God To Be Followers Of Jesus". Kudos to all our Weekend Experience teams at TwinPeaks, Oro Valley and our Web campuses.

We baptized 6 people at the Oro Valley campus and we scheduled another baptism for the weekend of May 21st and 22nd for those who have made decisions to be followers of Jesus. Baptism is such an important Next Step in our journey with Jesus. Baptism serves as a public identification with Jesus death, burial and resurrection and that we are a part of His church. Jesus commanded it for us as His followers and gave an example for us by being baptized Himself. Baptism is an act of obedience, commitment, and proclamation. I want to encourage you as a follower of Jesus if you have not taken this Next Step in your journey to consider joining us in baptism on the weekend of May 21st and 22nd. You can email me jeff@alivechurch.com and I will make sure you get on the list for that weekend.

Easter weekend was the beginning of a new weekend series called “Fearless”. We looked at Jesus first words after the resurrection, “Don’t be afraid.” We said that if we will “face our fears with faith we will live in freedom.” My prayer for us all as a church is that over the next few weeks we will experience a new level of freedom from all our fears as we dig in deeper to “Fearless”.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
2 Tim 1:7 (NLT)

Easter weekend services were an encouragement to all of us…as this series continues this weekend it will not only encourage you but your friends, co-workers, loved ones and neighbors. Take a few moments this week and invite someone you know that does not go to church or know Jesus and invite them to join you at a weekend service this weekend. I am going to be continuing the “Fearless” series with a talk I’m calling “A Matter Of Perspective” this next weekend.

Have a great week – know that I am praying for you Alive Church.
In Christ, Jeff

P.S. The Big Switch is happening this week for our student ministry – big concert on the Oro Valley campus on Wednesday evening where all of our campuses will be joining together – 7 pm.

It Is Finished

I have had people ask me, “What’s so good about today? Isn’t this the day Jesus died?” It was not good for Him in His humanity, He was crucified. Had it been any of us we would say this was more like “black Friday.” What makes this Good Friday is what Jesus did for us. When He gave Himself on the cross it became a good thing…the good thing He did for us is proclaimed in His words: “It is finished.”

What was Jesus talking about? His Life? Certainly His life in human form was coming to a close, but when He spoke He spoke of something far greater than the end of His physical life here on this earth. Jesus actually spoke one word that translates into “It is finished.” That word in the original text is the word tetelestai. It means to complete, fulfill, to pay a debt or to carry out. It is a word that is used many times in the New Testament. A servant would use this word to tell his master that he had completed the task that he was given.

What is the task that Jesus declares from the cross that He has completed? Jesus has finished the task the Father sent Him to earth to accomplish. God’s plan for mankind to have a way, a path, a doorway to Himself was now complete. The prophetic words that God spoke back in Genesis 3:15 after Adam and Eve sinned: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (NIV)

Jesus completed everything that the Father sent Him to do, but we have not. He still has good things for us to do before we can say “It is Finished.” Paul tells us this in Eph 2:10; “For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” To get to the end of life and know we finished the task that God created us for is the ultimate ending. Paul was able to declare this about His life; “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Tim 4:7-8 (NIV) That’s powerful. He speaks words that sound very familiar to those spoken by Jesus on the cross.

How about you? Are you running the race of life with a resolve to “finish” what God has created you for? Is there some unfinished business that you are avoiding or ignoring? I want to run the race in such a way that not only can I declare like Jesus and Paul that “I finished” but to hear the words spoken by the master: “well done.” (Luke 19:17)

Because Jesus finished His work on the cross, we have His power and life in us and through us to be able to finish all that God has given and created us to do and be.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Phil 1:6 NLT)

Today, You Will Be With Me In Paradise

What does it take to get to heaven? In John 3:16 Jesus said: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” The Bible shows us that God the Father sent His son to pay a debt He did not owe on the cross. Our debt! We owed a debt that would could not possible pay for, the debt of our sin and by putting our faith in Jesus and His work on the cross, we are forgiven.

Jesus words from the cross to a criminal hanging next to Him, who like us deserved to be there, were; “I assure you; today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) I love the words Jesus speaks: “I assure you.” No second guessing, no worries, no questions asked…the guys has Jesus, the creator of the universe Word, he is going to be with Him in paradise on that very day!

How do we achieve that status? How can we be assured with a certainty that the criminal must have felt when Jesus looked in his eyes and spoke those words? It’s simple, the picture of the two criminals hanging next to Jesus on the cross is a picture of us; “One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, "So you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you're at it!" But the other criminal protested, "Don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom." (Luke 23:39-43) We, like the criminals, have been sentenced to die because of our sin. We see that one criminal continued to scoff at Jesus until his death and the other recognized that He is who He says He is and ask for His grace and mercy. Jesus willingly and wantonly gives it.

Both of the criminals wanted to be saved. “Save yourself and us…” Only one of them saw their need for Jesus, acknowledged his sin, and recognized Jesus to be the Son of God, the one who as Peter put it when asked by Jesus of how he identified him: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16) As we make that declaration, we to have the assurance that Jesus gave to the criminal on the cross: “I assure you…”

I Am Thirsty

It wasn’t that Jesus was just having a bad day and that He was thirsty when He spoke the words “I am thirsty” from the cross in John 19:28. There is so much more to these few words than a physical need of thirst, although I’m sure it is accurate to say that in the midst of being crucified and nearing His death, Jesus physically was thirsty.

There are many scripture that different scholars believe that Jesus may have been pointing to when He spoke the words “I thirst”. Some say Psalm 69:21; “But instead, they give me poison for food they offer me sour wine for my thirst.” Others say He is quoting Psalm 42:2; “I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?” Either way Prophecy was fulfilled.

I want to go back a little further with these words, all the way back to Exodus 17. God’s people have been in slavery, a picture of us being slaves to sin in our lives, now Moses has led them out to freedom. During their journey through the desert they become thirsty, living in the Sonoran desert it is easy to understand. God’s words to Moses in Exodus 17:6 are; “Strike the rock, and the water will come gushing out.”

We know Jesus in the New Testament as the Rock of all ages that He is the solid Rock we are to build our lives on. For those living in Jesus day they did not have the New Testament Bible, while many of us have many, including several different versions. If we don’t own the books themselves we have incredible tools like YouVersion.com where we can look at over 40 different versions online for free. For the culture Jesus was in, the children of the families of Israel had to memorize Old Testament scripture. In fact, they often were not allowed to leave the home until they quoted verses.

All of the Old Testament verses prophetically pointed to Jesus coming to earth, dying on the cross and resurrecting to life on that first Easter. It would not be a stretched of our imagination at all to consider that Jesus said “I am thirsty” from the cross to point that culture back to the days of slavery and their desire for a messiah, as if to say, “I am the one, I’m here, I have come.” The Old Testament verses and stories were so ingrained in them that they viewed all of life through scripture. The rock that Moses struck in the desert that gushing water flowed from to quench the children of Israel’s thirst was a picture of the Messiah, the rock of ages, the one who says; “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt 5:6 NIV)

Because of what Jesus did on the cross our thirst for righteousness is quenched. He became sin for us, He took our thirst. Consider His words today. Consider how regardless of your hunger and thirst to have a right relationship with God the Father you could not do so on your own, so Jesus became thirsty in your place. From Him, the Rock of all ages, the water of life is gushing out to us today to quench our thirst.

My God, My God, Why?

Have you ever had something happen in life where you just had to ask why? Why does God answer some prayers the way we want Him to and others not? Why do good things happen to bad people? There are so many questions in life that just simply don’t have clear cut answers.

Today as we look at Jesus “Famous Last Words” from the cross, I want to look at the words He asked the Father: (Matt. 27:45-46) "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

If you are going through a hard time right now, a time when things seem insurmountable, there may not be any simply answers for it. We often have people tell us the reasons we are going through something, and though well meaning, their words can be piercing. Jesus was under attack from Satan from the moment of His birth and yet we never see Him complaining about it. Jesus became sin for us on the cross, the Bible says that the Father withdrew His presence from Jesus because of this, it became dark on the earth. At that moment Jesus cried out, “my God, my God why have you abandoned me?”

It’s easy to have faith when everything is going our way and the sun is shining. It is another thing entirely to have faith in the darkness and when there are things going on in our lives that we don’t understand and we are asking why.

The truth is we only see part of the story, we only see our perspective, but we serve a God who sees all and knows all. We fail to see and understand His perspective. When Jesus cried those words from the cross He fulfilled the prophecy in Psalm 22. As God the Father looked on His heart must have broken with the sacrifice of His only son, yet it was the most selfless, loving moment in all of history. He loves each of us so much that He allowed the cross to happen.

God loves us so much that when we ask “why”, He replies, “because I love you.” Jesus cry from the cross offers us forgiveness. I Peter 2:24 says that He (Jesus) himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; and by his wounds, by his suffering, by his stripes, we have been healed.”

Because of the cross, because of Jesus cry of being forsaken, we have the promise of God never forsaking or leaving us. We have the promise that nothing can separate us from His love. In the middle of pain some of us will get angry at God and reject Him, others, even with questions of why, will recognize God’s presence and know that He is all we need.

Make it your prayer today that regardless of what you are going through, regardless of all the “why” questions, that you will experience His presence and love in a fresh new way and that you will always trust Him.

"Father Forgive Them"

As I begin blogging this week I want to look at Jesus famous last words from the cross. There are seven phrases that Jesus spoke from the cross, today I want to look at the first phrase: “Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

Jesus lived a perfect sinless life. He healed the sick, spoke to the dead and they came back to life. He left the comfort of heaven to share The Father’s love with each of us. He loved in a way that no one had ever loved before Him to give all of us, the world, eternal life. Yet, He was betrayed by one of His own. Falsely accused, tried, and condemned, even though He was innocent. He was stripped of His clothes and beaten; they placed a crown of thorns on His head and mocked Him. He never retaliated; in fact He spoke no words up until this moment. Then from the cross, as He suffered for our sins, He begins to speak.

Had I been there as a spectator I would press in during this moment. I would want to hear what Jesus was going to say. My expectation would have been that He may respond like I would have, maybe cursing those who had crucified him, or praying to the Father for relief from the pain of being crucified, but He didn’t. Instead He spoke these famous last words; “Father, forgive them. For they don’t know what they are doing.”

Amazing; His first words from the cross are words of forgiveness. The significance of these words are powerful. Prophecy from 700 years earlier is fulfilled (Isaiah 53:12). He prayed for the sin of those who crucified Him. Amazing; He modeled prayer for us from the cross. He started His public ministry with prayer and now as His public ministry is coming to an end, He prays, and He models what He taught us, “pray for your enemies.” Amazing; His first words from the cross reveal humanities greatest need, forgiveness.

In my daily life the first words from the cross come to life…what do I do when someone has hurt me? What do I do when someone has done me wrong? I do what Jesus did, I pray; “Father forgive them…” I have to admit, my tendency is to pray that the person wronging me will get what’s coming to them that God will get them. I know most of you would never feel that way. I have to ask God for help to even utter these words. Yet, it is so important. Not so much for the person I am praying for, but for me. Unless I learn to pray like Jesus prayed from the cross, bitterness, un-forgiveness and hatred will contaminate my heart and destroy me.

Jesus taught it, (Matt 5:43-45) "You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.” Now from the cross Jesus models it for us.

So, who is it that has hurt you? What broken relationships need restored? What do you do with those people in your life? Pray like Jesus prayed. Pray for those who have hurt you. Pray for restoration. Pray to forgive. Pray this way for your own heart, pray that God would make the words of your mouth the sincere desire of your heart so that you, like Jesus on the cross, can live in freedom.

It Might As Well Be You

There is a dryer still sitting on the stage from the weekend. I was serious that I want to give it away. doesn't anyone need a dryer or know someone who needs a dryer? More important I hope you remember why I had it on the stage; Toxic Words. The words of Proverbs 18:21 are still echoing in my mind from this weeks talk: "The tongue has the power of life and death." Not only for how we speak to others but ourselves.

I told you all this weekend that when I travel I typically always ask for a free upgrade to first class. I have gotten it four or five times over the years. ON my recent return trip from Ohio after doing my Grandmother's funeral I asked. I did not get upgraded to first class but did get upgraded to "Premier" on United. The guy behind the counter looked at me and said; "It's a full flight and I have to give all the Premier seats away anyway so, it might as well be you."

I couldn't get those words out of my head. Talk about life-giving words verses Toxic words. Most of the world is telling us and we go along in agreement, that it will never be us, in whatever and for whatever. But on that flight I kept thinking about that guys words and how I am a son, a child, of the King. My Father is the creator of all things. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, nothing is impossible for Him.

I began to consider how different our lives would be if instead of Toxic words and thoughts that tell us why we can't do what God has given us to do and receive the blessings He for us...what if our words to ourselves were more life-giving? More like the words from the guy behind the counter; It might as well be you?

As a follower of Jesus you are a Kings Kid - It might as well be you!!!

Toxic Relationships

A little weekend wrap-up on this beautiful Monday in Tucson.

First, I love that weekly there are people who give their lives to be a follower of Jesus for the first time. This week is no exception we had several, 5 that we know of. Welcome to a new world, a new you and a new life! Welcome to God's family!!!

Second, there are a few things that are really sticking with me from the weekend teaching: Healthy relationship are intentional and require investment. This truth reiterates the passion and importance of every follower of Jesus being in a Life Group where we can experience authentic relationships that build us up and encourage us and we can do the same for others. The new semester is coming in the next week - call the office to sign up or find a group that is a fit for you. 520-544-7638. Also, we have online groups you can be a part of at www.alivechurch.com

Also from the weekend: people are our greatest asset or our worst. For me, my take away is the question; am I a great asset to those in my life? How can I add more value to those I know and love.

I am committed this week to living out the next steps from the weekend Talk; establishing healthy boundaries in at least on toxic relationship and choosing to invest in a healthy relationship. One of the ways we can all invest in a healthy relationship is by inviting someone we know to our Easter services at Alive. We have Invite cards for you, take as many as you will use. The series that we will begin on Easter weekend is called "Fearless". Jesus first words to His followers after the resurrection were "Do not be afraid". We are going to spend a few weeks looking at how the Bible teaches us to stand Fearless against insurmountable odds.

As of this blog I am wrapping up the talk for this coming weekend: Toxic Words. Already the Lord is challenging me. Pray for me as I prepare. I look forward to seeing you this coming weekend and to all that God will do among us.