The Gospel is still good news! (Pt.1)

(Part 1 of 2)

“This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.”-Mark 1:1

Is the gospel still newsworthy? There are some people out there that would like for the world to believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is fake news. That it is propaganda and none of it really happened or is simply an outright lie. There are some that would like for you to believe that it is old news and that the gospel is antiquated and that we have evolved past it or enlightened beyond it. 

Some would argue whether it is news at all. They claim that it is a story that has been circulating for generation. It certainly isn’t news. Isn’t that what makes news, well news? One definition of news is: newly received or noteworthy information especially about recent or important events. If that is the case, then the gospel may be good information, but in their minds is hardly news. 

Yet at the very end of the book of Mark, Jesus command His disciples to:

“Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”-Mark 16:15

Truth of the matter is, it is going to take a while to preach the Good News to everyone. So it wasn’t the latest news for sure by the time it gets to some, but it was still going to be good news. News can also be defined as information not previously known to someone. For those who have never heard the gospel message, it would certainly be good news. Still today, there are those who have never heard the gospel fo Jesus preached. So we are still operating under the mandate to preach the Good News to everyone. 

So with over 2,000 years passed and the explosion of technology, and thousands upon thousands of missionaries, churches and Christians spanning the good, why hasn’t the whole world heard yet? Has the gospel lost its goodness?

Who loves the smell of a new car? So many people like that smell, they have tried to create air fresheners that smell like a new car to give you that feeling long after the newness has worn off. However, just because the newness has worn off doesn’t make the vehicle ineffective. We don’t abandon it for another one, once the newness wears off. 

For many people, the newness of the gospel has worn off and along with it so has their passion for it. Nevertheless, just because the newness has worn off, doesn’t mean that the gospel itself is still not good, effective, full of purpose, and able to transform lives. To those who are hearing it for the very first time it is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). It is life transforming. 

In Luke 4, Jesus quoted this passage from Isaiah 61:1-2: 

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.”

It may seem like yesterday’s headline to you, but it is good news to the poor; it is a comfort to the brokenhearted; it is freedom for those held captive; and it is hope for those who are mourning. They are experiencing in the moment what many of us have archived away along time ago. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

All things new! (Pt.2)

(Part 2 of 2)

"And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.”-Revelation 21:5-6 

When Jesus went into the grave He went in with a frail, human body but He came out with a transformed body. It was new. Although it bore the visible evidence of what he went through, it was not the same body he once was. God didn’t simply polish up his old broken body and send him back out. He gave him a new body.

When we talk about being restored, we are talking about how Jesus restored us back into right relationship with God. He did not, however, come to restore us to our old way of life. I think that a lot of people would be satisfied if Jesus just cleaned them up a little bit. They are not looking for a new life because, although this old life has sin has caused them nothing but trouble, they still are having a hard time letting go of it. However, it doesn’t make any sense that Jesus would die to set us free from the power of sin only to restore us to a sinful life. 

Jesus didn’t promise us a better version of our sinful life. He promised us a new life in him. 

What if I told you that if you bring me your old car that I’ll give you a new car?  Then I took your old car and had it detailed and brought back to you, handed you the keys, and pronounced “Here is your new car!” That would simply be a lie. That is just a cleaned up version of your old car. Although it may look better, under the hood it’s just the same old car.

That is why Paul said in Ephesians 6:21-24:

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”

Throw off the old and put on the new! I am going to say it again, “Until you are finished with the old way of life, you can’t enjoy the new life God has for you.

Are you finished with sin? Finished with the old way of living? Jesus rose from the dead to give you a new life. However, he can’t pour the new life he has for you into an old life that can’t contain it. Jesus compared it to trying to pour new wine into an old wine skin:

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”-Mark 2:22

New wine was always put into new skins, because as it fermented, it would expand stretching the wineskin. A brand new wineskins would be flexible and able to stretch, but an old one that had already been stretched, couldn’t stretch any further. To put new wine into an old wine skin would cause it to burst. 

A cleaned up versing of your old sinful life cannot contain the amazing life God has for you. You have to let go of it, throw it off, and embrace the new life that Jesus has secured for your through His death, burial and resurrection. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

All things new! (Pt.1)

(Part 1 of 2)

“Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.”  A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”-John 19:28-30

Jesus knowing that his mission was complete, just before bowing his head and giving up his spirit, declared, “It is finished.” What was that mission? According to Luke 19:10:

“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

Sin had separated us from God. The Bible tells us that the wages fo those sins sins is death. Each of us had a debt that could not be paid. A sin debt that kept us isolated from God, but Jesus through his sacrifice on the cross paid our ransom in full. His suffering at Calvary’s cross restored and reconciled us to God. 

However, having our sin’s forgiven was not the end of the story, just as Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story. Jesus’ declaration “It is finished” was to announce the closing of one chapter and the opening of a new one. The old life filled with sin, death, and destruction was finished, but a new life was on the horizon. Three days after his crucifixion life would burst forth from a borrowed grave. 

The cross was about restoration (reconciling a broken, sinful humanity back to God), but the resurrection is about transformation. That is the overriding message of Christ’s resurrection. Your old life is gone and a new life has begun:

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”-2 Corinthians 5:17

Jesus is in the business of making all things new! That is not just an observation, Jesus declared it:

"And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.”-Revelation 21:5-6 

He who said that he is making everything new also declared, “It is finished.” Why? Because before you can pursue a new life, you have to be willing to be finished with the old one. Until you are finished with your old life, you can’t enjoy the new life God has for you. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

He went on a little farther

He went on a little farther

“One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”-John 20:24-29

There is one disciple, whom, although he would go on to give his life proclaiming the gospel, would unfortunately be remembered more for a momentary lapse of faith rather than his sacrificial missions work. We commonly hear him referred to as Doubting Thomas. 

Thomas was not in attendance with the other disciples the first time that Jesus appeared to them just after His resurrection. When they told Thomas of the encounter they had with Jesus, Thomas refused to believe. He declared, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound on in his side.”

Thomas had been a disciple of Jesus for 3 1/2 years. He witnessed and experienced Jesus feed the five thousand, walk on water, heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead. He had sat under all of Jesus’ teaching and was given authority by Jesus to heal the sick and cast out demons on occasion for himself. It is evident that he was fully aware what happened to Jesus at the crucifixion and what Jesus suffered by his description of the event. Yet, his statement leads us to believe that even after weighing all of that, it still wasn’t enough to make him believe. It begs the question…How far does Jesus have to go to make you believe?

“He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion,

crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”-Isaiah 53:3-5

At anytime along this painful journey to the cross Jesus could have stopped. He could have stopped at Gethsemane, but He chose to lay aside His will for God’s will (Matthew 26:36-39).  He could have stopped at the palace where they beat Him, robed Him in purple mocking Him, just before crushing a crown of thorns onto His brow. He could have stopped there instead of bearing the shame (Matthew 27:27-30). He could have stopped at the whipping post after securing our healing (John 19:2, 1 Peter 2:21-25). He could have stopped at the cross and came down like everyone kept insisting He do to prove He was the Son of God (Matthew 27:39-44). 

However, He would have never secured our forgiveness. He could have went directly into the presence of God, but instead He vanquished hell and came out with the keys of death, hell and the grave so that we would not have to live in fear (Revelation 1:18). 

Nevertheless, He went on a little farther and came out of the tomb three days later and secured for us eternal life with God! How much further do you need Him to go before you will believe?

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church

Your Savior is come!

“Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey-riding on a donkey’s colt.”-Zechariah 9:9

Zechariah the prophet lived 500 years before Jesus. He was part of the group of exiles that returned from Babylon commissioned with rebuilding the Temple. 

He, along with the Prophet Haggai were used by God to stir the Jewish people to finish the construction on the Temple. What is interesting about him is that he is seen by scholars as being, “the most Messianic of all the Old Testament prophets, giving distinct, verifiable references, to the coming Messiah.”

So this passage is of keen interest to us this week as we consider what took place as Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem:

“When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ” So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”

And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.”-Luke 19:28-36

As Jesus came to the Mount of Olives he sent his disciples into a nearby village. He told them what to look for, where to find it, and what to do with it. They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride. As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. Why? Why such reverence?

There is certainly nothing special about a man riding a donkey. Unless, of course, your hopes and dreams of a coming Messiah are bound up in the words of an old dead prophet. Although, Zechariah had lived some 500 years before this, he had prophesied that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey’s colt. The Jewish people surrounding Jesus would have known this passage very well. They would have seen this and immediately known what was being fulfilled before their eyes. 

Reverence soon erupted into the praise the closer He inched towards Jerusalem. Jesus was no longer trying to keep His identity hidden. He was openly fulfilling Messianic prophecy. 

The crowds that followed Jesus began to cry out as He was entering the city: 

“Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes  in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”-Mark 11:9-10

Hosanna means: save now. It was not just a shout of praise, but a plea for deliverance. The crowd that had followed Him for so long started to look at Him differently. Now, they were not just focusing on Jesus as a great prophet, rabbi or teacher. They were seeing Him as the Messiah! 

The passion week has a way of revealing Jesus to us in ways that we had not previously seen. These days leading up to the celebration of His resurrection have caused people, for hundreds of years, to look at Jesus differently than they ever have before. Even this week, 2,000 years later, for the first time many will see Him as more than a prophet or great teacher, but instead they will see Jesus as their Savior. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Let broken table lie (Pt.2)

(Part 2 of 2)

“When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”-Mark 11:15-17

Upon returning to Jerusalem the next day, Jesus makes a straight line for the Temple. Jesus visit to the Temple was not out of religious obligation or custom. Instead, His visit was intentional. He came back to see something. 

It should be noted that this wasn’t the first time Jesus cleared the temple:

“Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” -John 2:13-17. 

The Jews demanded that Jesus give them a sign to confirm he had the authority to do what He had done. It is here that Jesus revealed His future death, burial and resurrection when he declared: “Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Jesus was moved with passion over the corruption and worldliness that had occupied the Temple. The people, specifically the religious leaders had attempted to marry the world to the presence of God and Jesus responded. 

Jesus would move on from there and teach, perform miracles, heal the sick, walk on water, raise the dead, cast out demons. Three years later, He would enter that city once again at Passover and return to the place where he declared His death, burial, resurrection. He would return to the place where with great passion He rebuked worldliness and corruption and demonstrated His zeal for God’s house; only to find that they had obviously went back to their old ways of living. 

Makes me wonder, how long after Jesus left the building did they immediately go back to setting up the tables? How about you? How long after Jesus upended your life (tossed out the sin and corruption in you heart and mind); after you heard the message of His death, burial and resurrection did you start setting up tables again and get back to the business of your old life. 

Jesus’ stop at the fig tree was symbolic. Jesus should be returning to a people who had an encounter with Him and there ought to be fruit in their lives to show it. However, they were leafy and looked healthy but upon inspection they were barren. Jesus came back three years later to see that nothing had changed. 

Are you any different than you were three years ago? Have you grown any? Have you become any more passionate? Any more committed? Have got comfortable? Have you started looking at those overturned tables and thought, it won’t hurt to set one of them back up. What is Jesus going to find in your life that he addressed three years ago that you still refuse to “clear out”. What tables have you set back up? 

Can I tell you let those broken tables lie! You are God’s temple. Before we can truly embrace what Jesus did at the cross, we must clear the temple. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Let broken tables lie (Pt.1)

(Part 1 of 2)

“When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”-Mark 11:15-17

How do you prepare yourself spiritually for Easter? How does one properly prepare one’s self for the death, burial and resurrection of our Savior?

Many Christians around the world participate in and observe Lent. Lent is a six week period that leads us into Easter. It is similar to the celebration of Advent that builds up to Christmas. However, while Advent is a time of expectation and anticipation, Lent is a more solemn observance looking ahead to Christ’s suffering and death. It is often celebrated with a time of fasting or giving up something as a means of staying our minds on Christ and preparing our hearts to remember His life, death, and resurrection. 

It got me to thinking about what Jesus was doing in preparation for Easter. Jesus, at that time, was the only one who knew that His death was imminent. How did he spend that final week? Where did He go? What did He say? 

One of the first things that I was drawn to was this story of Jesus cleansing the Temple. 

Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, just prior to the Passover celebration on what would be His farewell tour. We read about it in Mark 11. It is called the Triumphal Entry. Here we read how Jesus comes into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey with crowds of people surrounding him, waving palm branches, praising God and shouting “Hosanna, blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.”

His first stop on the tour, upon entering the city, was the Temple. 

 “So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples.”-Mark 11:11 

What was Jesus looking for? What was Jesus hoping to see? Jesus leaves the temple to return to Bethany for the night, but early the next morning, He beats a path once again for Jerusalem:

“Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”-Mark 11:12-14

As Jesus was returning to Jerusalem the next day he passed a fig tree. From a distance it was “full of leaf” and appeared as though it ought to have something on it. But on closer inspection, Jesus discovered that it did not and He cursed the tree. This encounter with the barren fig tree makes what happens next, so much more powerful.

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church