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Thriving: Caught by Surprise (Jn. 5:1-17) Chris Altrock – January 17, 2016

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On Sunday mornings, we are making our way through John’s Gospel.

  • Two Sundays ago I shared how this gospel is focused on the topic of “thriving.” In Jesus, John writes, we gain the capacity not simply to be alive, but to thrive. We saw how that theme of thriving is woven into the beginning of John in Jn. 1 and the end of John in Jn. 20.
  • One Sunday ago, Eric spoke about one of the most profound statements in John’s Gospel. It’s found in Jn. 3 where John the Baptist says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn. 3:30 ESV)
  • This morning we come to chapters 4-5 which contain a story of Jewish Jesus interacting with a Samaritan woman, Jesus healing the son of an important official, and Jesus teaching about religious authority. Chapter 5 is where we find the story which is our focus this morning: Read More »Thriving: Caught by Surprise (Jn. 5:1-17) Chris Altrock – January 17, 2016

Thriving: Coming to Life in Jesus (Jn 20:30-31; Jn. 1:1-5) Chris Altrock – January 3, 2016

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Resolving to Thrive

John Ortberg writes about a medical phrase: “Failure to Thrive.” His wife Nancy, a nurse, says that doctors and nurses apply that phrase to an infant who can’t seem to grow or gain weight. The baby is alive. But it does not thrive. It suffers from a failure to thrive.[1]

C. S. Lewis wrote of similar failure faced by adults. He used two words–bios and zoe–to describe it. Bios, from which we get the word “biology,” refers to living. Every person not in a cemetery succeeds at bios. Zoe, however, refers to more than living. It refers to thriving. Every person has bios; not every person has zoe. Bios, Lewis proposes, is like a statue. Zoe is like the statue coming to life. Many of us have bios but we suffer from a lack of zoe. We are alive but we do not thrive. Our heart beats but our soul does not flourish. But when you finally go from just having bios to also having zoe, it’s like you’ve been a statue all your life and you’ve come alive as a real human.[2] It’s like you were once a wooden puppet and now you’re a real boy named Pinocchio.Read More »Thriving: Coming to Life in Jesus (Jn 20:30-31; Jn. 1:1-5) Chris Altrock – January 3, 2016

The Good News of Christmas – Part 2 (Luke 2:7) Chris Altrock

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A friend of mine has a nativity set which he displays each December in his home. Mary’s face is serene. Joseph’s is solemn. The sheep are meticulously shorn and mercifully silent. The wise men appear as if they stepped out of a first-world fashion shoot.

But one December the manger was mangled. My friend’s toddler grabbed some Sharpies in one hand, baby Jesus in the other and splashed lines of permanent color all over the scene. When his father stumbled upon the demolition he could hardly recognize the familiar display. Never had such saintly figures been so sadly soiled. A polished and perfect nativity became a mess in a matter of minutes.

In a way, that mangled manger is more true to life than most of our refined sets. Entering our world as an infant was risky for Jesus. It was no walk in the park. The manger was more mayhem than magnificence. More danger than delight. Nothing could be more perilous. Yet nothing created intimacy with us than Jesus’ infancy.Read More »The Good News of Christmas – Part 2 (Luke 2:7) Chris Altrock

The Good News of Christmas-Part 1 (Luke 2:7)

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On an unusually blue-sky afternoon in March 2015 I stood with seven intrepid explorers from Highland on the ancient stones of the Forbidden City. Our visit fell several days after the Chinese New Year. This holiday left factories vacant and the smog they produced dormant. The workplaces rested like giant napping dragons. For a few glorious days we joined Beijing’s twenty-one million in celebrating crisp air and clear skies.

Our guide, a native of Beijing, shared tales which brought the venerable palace to life. The Forbidden City was the geographical, economical, spiritual and emotional center of Beijing. From its heart pumped life to the rest of the city and the region. Built as the home of China’s emperors, the “forbidden” in Forbidden City meant that most were banned from entering. Unless your status was unusually high up, its gates remained closed up.Read More »The Good News of Christmas-Part 1 (Luke 2:7)