All In with Jordan Easley

Today, as we open God’s word to the book of Job, I want us to see from his life and his story: How to trust God when you don’t understand Him. Have you ever been at a place in your life where you just didn’t understand God? I’m talking about a place where you believe in God, but you just don’t understand Him. You don’t understand his decisions. You don’t understand how He could allow this or that. You don’t get his plans or His purpose. Have you been there before? I think many of us have been there and we often stay there. We don’t understand the point of sickness and death. We can’t wrap our minds around God allowing poverty and starvation. We look around at suffering and pain and loss and most of us are left wondering, “WHY?” How are we supposed to trust God when we don’t understand God? We’re going to be addressing that question today while looking at the life of Job.

Sometimes in a world like this… a world of abundance and resources… we tend to forget that God designed us to have a primary dependency on Him… and God’s people have forgotten that truth, time and time again. That’s why Elijah warned King Ahab (in verse 1) and said—There’s a famine coming to this land— a long and severe famine—and Israel will be punished for their sins. That’s what it says in 1 Kings 16:30, “But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the LORD’s sight more than all who were before him.” Ahab’s evil provoked God’s anger, and now, as a result, Ahab was about to experience God’s punishment for that sin. Fruitful land would become barren land, all because God’s people forgot the source of their blessings and turned to false gods instead of the One True God. There is a lot we can learn from this story about God’s provision. Specifically, There are two things in this story I want you to take note of today.

Perhaps right now you could say, “I have a deep wound that needs to be healed, or a relationship, or a family, or a disease, or a disorder that needs to be healed. Let me ask you: Do you want to get well? That was the question that Jesus asked in today’s key passage. And after hearing many excuses, Jesus did what only Jesus could do. John 1:8-9 says, “’Get up,’ Jesus told him, ‘pick up your mat and walk.’ Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.” From this passage, we learn that Jesus is the source of healing. He is all-powerful and fully capable. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And even when you’ve lost hope and feel like your miracle is a million miles away, you’ve got to remember that Jesus can heal you. So with that in mind, in today’s message, I want us to see five types of healing that God brings about in our lives.

Has Jesus genuinely saved you? If so, God has given you that story to tell. Maybe you’re not sure how to tell your story. Perhaps you’re wondering where to begin. If that’s you, I want to walk you through four points that should be part of your story to help you build a framework from which you can share your testimony with others.

Many people believe that if you are a Christian and if you love and trust God, then your life on earth will be free of trouble and tragedy. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus promises His disciples (and therefore He promises us) that we WILL experience trouble. He said we’ll experience difficulties, pains, and problems in this world, but He also reminds us that there is purpose in every problem. If you’re walking through a difficult season today, the promises in today’s key verses apply to you. God isn’t surprised by your circumstance, but He does have a plan, and the Bible reminds us that His plan is always for the good of those who love God and are living for God. In this message, we are going to see what it looks like to persevere through our trials and we will learn about three things our trials lead us to.

Before there was a crucifixion, and before there was a resurrection, there was a baptism. Three years before Jesus died, He was baptized. We don’t usually associate his baptism with Easter weekend because, the truth is, three years is a long time, and many things happened in Jesus’ life and ministry between His baptism in the Jordan River and His grave experience in the garden tomb. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in how the story ends that we forget where the story begins. But in this message, we’re going to change that and focus on what we can learn from the beginning of Jesus’ story – His baptism.

When we reflect on and remember the suffering of our Savior—it should lead us not just to a place of sadness, but to a place of worship! What Jesus endured, He endured for you and me. The suffering, the anguish, the humiliation, the pain, the scourging, and the beatings… He did that for all of us! The cat-of-nine-tails on His back and the rusty nails in His hands and feet… the spit and the shame… and the people around him cursing his name… Jesus experienced all of that FOR US! He makes this clear with the statements He makes with His final breaths. In today’s message, we’re going to look at what those statements were so we can better understand how much Jesus loved us and why He was willing to die for us.

The disciples of Jesus wholeheartedly believed that He was the Christ. They knew the prophecies and had the privilege of watching Jesus fulfill them right in front of their eyes. They understood the significance of Him riding a donkey into the city. They got it! After years of following Jesus, these people had faith in Jesus. All of them except for one. For some reason, even after years of knowing Jesus, following Jesus, and being around Jesus, Judas failed to have faith in Jesus. And it is from Judas’s betrayal we learn so much.

If you’ve been raised in America, you’ve heard over and over again that we stand with Israel. You’ve heard it from presidents and politicians and preachers across this nation. But today, I want to address the question: Why? Why should we, as a nation, or better yet, why should we as Christians stand with Israel? Some would say it’s because they’re a strategic bridge to the Middle East, or because they’re America’s strongest political ally, both of which are true. But are these the reasons Christians should stand with Israel? NO! Standing with Israel is more than a strategic partnership. It’s a biblical mandate. With that in mind, I’d like to show you from God’s word give reasons why every Christian should stand with Israel.

J. Vernon McGee says, “Distress indicates pressure.” And the truth is, the pressures of this life are great. What we need when life gets stressful is the encouragement of the Lord. Psalm 50:15 says, “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” Are you feeling stressed? Has your stress turned into a chronic, “lifestyle” type of stress? If so, I have good news for you. The same promise God gave in Psalm 50 is accessible to you today. In this message, we’ll dive deeper into the truth that if you will call on Him, give Him your stress, give Him your worries, He will deliver you as only He can.

The word “hypocrites” is used 17 times in the New Testament, and it’s pretty interesting that every single time this word was used, it was used by Jesus. He talked about it. He denounced it, and He addressed it head-on. In fact, when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, He taught his disciples exactly what to do to help prevent holy hypocrisy. So today, we’re going to look at the teachings of Jesus so that we, too, can prevent hypocrisy from being present in the church.

The question I want us to address today is this: “Why can’t I just save myself? I believe there’s something inside each of us that fundamentally believes we can do this on our own. We look at life and our morality like a scale and we think at the end of our lives, if the good things we’ve done outweigh the bad things, then certainly, this GOOD God is going to see how GOOD we’ve been and let us into heaven. Logically, that thought process sounds like it should work. If we see our lives as a scale, and the good outweighs the bad, then practically speaking, our good works should tip the scale and there should be a payoff in the end. The only problem with this thought process is…it’s wrong. And in this message, we’re going to learn exactly why this thought process doesn’t work in the Kingdom of God.

In the early years of my ministry, I’d try to give politically correct answers to the question: How could a loving God send people to Hell? I’d attempt to soften the justice of God, saying things like, “Well, God doesn’t actually send people to hell…He just allows them to go there.” But the longer I’ve read my Bible and the more I’ve studied the Scriptures, the more I realize that our God is a God of love and grace and mercy, but He’s also a God of justice – and as a holy and righteous Judge, He is fully committed to carrying out His justice. With this in mind, today’s message is going to show us two very important truths about God that we need to understand: God is a loving God, and God is a just God.

Unfortunately, I don’t think you and I will ever really understand on this side of heaven why bad things happen. In 1 Cor. 13:12, Paul says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.” He’s talking about our perspective and our perception of the world, and he tells us that today we’re trying to see clearly and understand the big picture, but we can’t because right now, it’s like we’re living in a fog. Today is a foggy day, and we can’t see anything clearly. But there’s coming a day when our questions will be answered…a day when we’ll be able to clearly see why. But for now, we’ve got to keep moving forward by faith and learn how to navigate the fog. So in the meantime, there are a few truths that God gives us in His Word that can help us move forward in the fog.

Today we’re going to begin our new series, Questioning Christianity, by unpacking one of the primary problems many skeptics have with Christianity. Many have said that it’s narrow- minded to believe that Jesus is the ONLY way to God or Heaven. And when people say that, ? I agree with them. It is narrow- minded to believe these things. But just because Christianity is narrow doesn’t make it untrue. When you think about it, all truth is narrow-minded. When I say 2 + 2 = 4, someone could say, “Well that’s pretty narrow-minded for you to believe that. Why can’t it be 3? Why can’t it be 5?” Well, the reason is that it can’t be 3 or 5 because it’s 4. That belief is narrow-minded, but it’s also true. And at the end of the day, I’d rather be narrow-minded and believe the truth than be open-minded and convinced of a lie. We’re going to unpack this truth more in this message as we look at what Jesus has to say about Him being the only way to God.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen from the Bible how the Lord has commissioned us to love God, find community, and make a difference. Today, as we wrap up this series, I want us to talk about how we can actually accomplish this God-given mission. If we’re going to accomplish our mission, we’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing! So with that in mind, let me ask you this question: What is the MAIN THING in your life, the MISSION, that you believe God has called you to?

I love the fact that when Jesus says, “You are the light of the world,” He includes people like you and people like me. This wasn’t a metaphor that exclusively applied to a distinguished few. It was a metaphor that relates to all who believe in Christ and have dedicated their life to following Him. If you know Jesus today, then you are the light of the world. And we can agree that light makes a difference in the darkness. But in order for that difference to be made, three things need to happen.

God created community to be a power source for people. When our marriages are rooted in Christ and His design for marriage, we experience power. Families built on a strong biblical foundation are a powerful force. Friendships bring power when we connect with others on a deep level. Faith groups increase our spiritual power as we sharpen each other like iron sharpens iron. And when the local church gathers together to connect with God and worship together, we are empowered to live the lives God is calling us to live. There is power in community, which is why I want to talk today about why it’s so important that you find community. We’re going to understand this better by discussing how community makes a difference in our lives.

The mission of the church will never be accomplished if we don’t first love God. Loving God is the foundation of our mission. And not only is it the foundation of our mission, but it’s also the first step in accomplishing our mission. Until we get THIS right, we as the church will never BE right. So what does it look like to love God? Let’s find out together.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been walking through a series and a season of Advent. That word “Advent” means “to wait” or “to anticipate.” We’ve seen how Christmas was the culmination of Advent#1 — 2,000 years ago — God’s people were waiting for the Messiah, and they were waiting because God had promised them that He would send a Savior. Seven hundred years after the promise was made, the promise was fulfilled, and Jesus Christ was born. Jesus came. Christmas came, and the wait was finally over. Our Heavenly Father did the most loving thing He could ever do and sent His Son to earth to live, die, and resurrect so our eternities could be forever changed. And it’s that kind of love we’re going to look into deeper today.