CCK Blog

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The writer of Hebrews compares Christ to what he knows about Judaism – that He is the supreme version of everything (High Priest, sacrifice, etc).

Christianity is not about rules but about the person of Christ.

God has spoken
1. Many times, many ways
2. Last days – spoken through His Son
3. God speaks through what Jesus is

• Prophecy today is judged by the Word
• Prophets do speak today, but God speaks to all of us by His Son – not just by what He said but by what He is, which is the very Word of God

Jesus is supreme (v.2-3)
1. He is the heir of all things

• Jesus conquers all people groups through love
• Christianity is not a lost cause that will one day fade away – God’s plan is to unite all of creation in Christ, restoring the created order under His headship

2. Through Him, God created the world

• God spoke and the universe came into existence

3. He is the radiance of God’s glory

• God speaks to us about His glory through Jesus – in grace and in truth

4. He is the exact imprint of God’s nature

• We now have access to God through Christ

5. He upholds the universe

• He sustains all with purpose, moving it all towards a glorious consummation
• The Son holds it all together

6. He made purification for sins
7. He sat down

• High Priests in the Old Covenant could never really sit down – the work was never finished
• Jesus is on the throne – the work is finished – and He is waiting to come back

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‘As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.’

This verse uses the symbolic language of finding rest and relief from the heat in the shade of a tree. Although the book of the Song of Solomon is about romantic love between a man and a woman, it can also be interpreted as symbolic of Jesus and His Bride, the Church.

People often view Christianity as hard work and loading on extra burdens of guilt and shame – but in fact, Jesus does the very opposite. He does precisely what this verse describes – He is like a tree that provides shade from the “heat” of life. Jesus came to give inner rest, as He says very clearly in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The qualification for receiving rest for our souls from Jesus isn’t “you who are spiritual/perfect/righteous” or “you who have it all together” – the qualification is “all who are weary”.

Sitting down

• you actually have to sit under tree and take advantage of the shade
• this means letting go, taking the weight off your feet, relaxing

Be still and know

• we need to stop, to cease striving, to let go of our anxieties and fears
• it is like God says “Enough!” – that He is in control and cares for us
• it is when we know that God is God, that we find that shade and inner rest in Him
• Romans 8:28: ‘And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.’ – the point is that we have to know this, otherwise we won’t benefit from the shade God has for us

Being saved

• we don’t just need a one-time salvation from Jesus – we need saving from Him daily, to save us from the “heat” of life, from the fears and anxieties and pressures we face all the time

Example of Joseph

• Joseph faced so much hardship and suffering and injustice, constantly being sinned against – but the fact is that everything that happened to him was a step leading closer to his destiny – to rule over Egypt
• we are not simply at the mercy of other people and their sin – God is in control and He works all things together for our good and to get us to the place He wants us to be in

The shield of faith

• Ephesians 6 – the armour of God – says ‘In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one’
• we need to keep holding our faith up, trusting God and standing our ground, so as to extinguish the fiery darts that the devil sends our way

Breaks & holidays

• we have missed the point when we view rest as simply having a break or a holiday, where we abandon everything, including spending time with Jesus
• true rest is found in the presence of God!

The “giants” of life

• when we merely focus on and are intimated by the giants, we do not trust God and therefore are effectively rejecting Him and treating Him with contempt
• you’ll never arrive at your destination unless you understand that God provides rest, and that you learn to rest in His shade

The “heat” of a guilty conscience

• the blood of Jesus cleanses all of our sin and guilt and shame
• God is just – He will not punish us as well if He has already punished His Son in our place

The presence of Jesus & the fruit He provides

• ‘in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore’ (Psalm 16:11)
• Jesus also provides us with “fruit” in His presence – the closeness His affection and love and tender mercy

The example of Paul

• Paul lived with a tremendous amount of hardship and suffering and pressure – but it was all so that he could learn that God’s grace is sufficient
• it is not about the power of “positive thinking”
• Paul ends up boasting in his weakness because it shows that Jesus is enough for him

A series of articles written by Joel Virgo are currently being featured on The Resurgence Blog, a resource based in America and run in partnership with Mars Hill Church Seattle and the Acts 29 network. With over 20,000 subscribed followers, the blog is a significant resource and speaks into the lives of many. For the Resurgence Blog Joel has written a series of articles on prayer entitled; “You actually have to pray’”, which looks to the book of Nehemiah for lessons in how to pray fervently and effectively. Please take a look at this helpful resource and be encouraged to share it with others.

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His Righteousness
Through his sacrificial death on the cross he provided righteousness that does not belong to us. We are now declared righteous and the perfect life that Jesus lived is now exchanged for our sinful one.

Communion with Him
We have not been made righteous to feel better about ourselves. It’s for communion with God, it’s so we can know God and have fellowship with Him. We have been rescued for communion.

Victory Over Darkness
Colossians 2: 15 Rulers and authorities have been disarmed (this is talking about satanic power). Although we can be led to believe that satan doesn’t exist and he’s just a comic book character, he does. His greatest trick is to convince us he does not.

At the cross Jesus destroyed Satans kingdom. Jesus has won the decisive battle over all darkness.

Healing
By his wounds we are healed. At the cross we find healing.

Grace for suffering
God gives us grace in the midst of our suffering. With Christ we will still suffer, we are not removed from the world, but God gives us grace to be able to endure and even be blessed in our suffering.

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In 2 Kings 7, Elisha promised that circumstances in the besieged city would be transformed by the next day. What seemed impossible became possible when four lepers who were already exiled outside the city realised that they had nothing to lose. They were already as good as dead. Why not throw yourself on the enemy’s mercy? Why not risk everything?

Having reached the enemy camp they were amazed to discover that the enemy had gone. Defeat was turned to victory. Not only was the enemy rendered ineffective, spoil was there for the taking. Silver, gold, food, clothing – they marvelled at it, ate it, drank it, tried on the clothes, gathered it, hid it and entered another tent to do it all over again! They had a total blast and it was all free and theirs for the taking.

Spoil is a strange word to the 21st century urbanite. Isaiah 9 promises that the coming kingdom of the new born baby will be like light breaking into the darkness. It will make men rejoice as they do when gathering a harvest or when they divide the spoil (Isaiah 9:2-3).

What on earth is ‘spoil’?
Modern city-dwellers don’t know much about ‘harvest’ and are not very familiar with ‘spoil’. ‘Spoil’ was what you gathered when you defeated an enemy army. Jehoshaphat’s army took three days to gather theirs (2 Chronicles 20:25). In Isaiah 53:12 we are told that God’s triumphant Servant will share the spoils of his victory with his people. Ephesians 4 tells us that he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.

He’s a powerful conqueror and he freely shares the spoils of his victory so that Peter, who so recently swore and cursed and said that he never knew Jesus, was invited to take the spoils of Christ victory. This hopeless failure got to preach on the Day of Pentecost! A few days later he announced to the cripple at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, ‘Such as I have, I give to you. Get up and walk!’

‘Such as I have.’ Where did you get that Peter? ‘Oh, that was one of the spoils of Jesus’ victory that I took.’ Jesus won a great victory. The spoils are breathtaking and you don’t have to be very special to pick them up. Anyone can come, like the lepers did, and put on fresh clothing, pick up phenomenal spoils and go in the strength of that victory.

We enjoyed looking at this story on Sunday at CCK. Maybe you would like to download and listen to it and enter into something of the freedom of God’s grace and the wonders of His free gifts to His people celebrating the defeat of your enemy.

Throughout the autumn at CCK we’ve been showing videos each week of various CCK members sharing stories of how the gospel has changed their lives.

These videos have served as excellent demonstrations of the tangible evidence that Jesus changes our lives, heals our broken situations, lifts us out of our addictions, carries us through times of difficulty or illness and offers us complete transformation. There are so many examples of God’s faithfulness and care in the stories shown in these videos, and they point out that the gospel is impacting people from all walks of life; whether you are an ex-rapping drug dealer or a woman provoked by the miracle of  her newborn child.

They are excellent tools for evangelism and would make great viewing for those who would find these testimonies helpful or provocative. These videos are like seeds that can be very easily sown. That’s why we have put them all together in one place! It’s really simple to forward this page on and share these stories to those who may need to hear them.

Here they are on the CCK website; CCK STORIES

And here they are on CCK’s YouTube channel; CCK STORIES

Exclusive; here’s a video unique to the web; CCK elder Matt Davis tells his story; MATT’S STORY

Joel Virgo – Mens Day from CCK FRUITMEDIA on Vimeo.

To book into the CCK Men’s Day go here

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• Real World Power
• Infinite Power
• Costly Power
• Call on His Name

On the 21st November CCK are hosting a Men’s Day for all men in CCK at the Clarendon Centre. The day will run from 9am to 2pm and include a generous buffet lunch.

Joel Virgo and John Groves (Lead Pastor of Winchester Family Church) will be preaching and worship will be led by Stuart Townend. The day will include a Q&A session and further news about our upcoming Men’s Weekend (May 21st to 23rd 2010).

The day costs only £5. Please follow this link to book in.

The potential ramifications for a good gathering of CCK men at this time in our history are huge so I want to do all I can to ensure the optimum impact. The more men that gather the greater effect the day will have for the mission Jesus has given us. Please make this day a priority in your diaires and book in now!
Joel Virgo

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