Westside Church of Christ

The church is a remarkable partnership of struggling souls and an all-powerful God. We often look at our relatively small group and feel weak. Apart from God, we are. We could accomplish some worldly success, but nothing of eternal significance. We must not interpret societal achievement as a sign of divine approval. Remember, the devil offered Jesus kingdoms if He would worship him (Matthew 4:8-10). The Savior knew better. Do we?

The Son of God turned human notions upside down. It’s immediately obvious that His ways are radically different from ours. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is among His most famous teachings, and His definition of what it means to be blessed leaves us scratching our heads. Poor in spirit and those who mourn? It’s not the assertive but the meek. It’s blessed to be persecuted? They don’t teach us that in public schools.

Yet, He moved from those unlikely characteristics and their promises to the assurance that such people will be the ones who will make a lasting impact on their neighborhoods. They will mix among the sinners to bring change, like salt preserving and adding taste to the dying and bland. They will shine a can’t-miss-it light to a grim and dark world. Disciples feel feeble. Living the beatitudes does not impress our senses, but it has the supremacy of God behind it. He uses the unlikely.

We forget, as we read our Bibles, the power of the One behind those words. He offers us a new way which runs head-on into our cultural norms. His word created the worlds, not only the ones we can see but the ones beyond the view of the most powerful telescopes. He took common dirt, shaped a human, and breathed into him life unlike any other on earth. It was His intent for people to be superior to the animals. He made us better than that and knows how we can live like it.

He can do what we cannot, and He brings believers into fellowship with Him (1 John 1:3). Christians are in partnership with the God of the impossible. He offered up His unique Son to make what is impossible from a human perspective a reality. It was an angelic message to Mary, “For nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1:37).” A mountain of sin stands between the guilty and a perfect God, and there is only one way to remove it. It seems extremely doubtful, but His ways often do.

In a world full of schemes and gadgets, it is the improbable solution of a loving Redeemer that cures our ills. It was the perfect, sinless blood of our holy Savior. There is no other plan. He gave His life, and the God of the impossible raised Him up. We have limited resources, but He does not and He is our partner.

Call to Praise: Acts 17:16-21

His word on it: Acts 17:30

Sermon: “The Unknown God”