1753 results for tag: Greg Albrecht

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

June 15, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “You and I need a big God.  A really, really big God – not a small god who religion attempts to shrink down so we can relate to him.  We need a God who can encompass this whole planet – for that matter, this entire universe.  We need a God whose relentless love is big enough for all of us – for everyone who has ever lived or ever will live.  We need a God for all people, all languages, all cultures, all colors and all religions.”  Originally published in: Spiritual Soup for the Hungry Soul, Volume 1 ------------------------------------- Help Us Help Others - Give Now

A Father’s Legacy

This week as we celebrate Father’s Day we consider the high calling of human fatherhood, and we give thanks for our gracious and loving heavenly Father. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR122.mp3

Old Time Religion is Not Good Enough!

The hymn, which dates to 1873, declares "Give me that old time religion, it's good enough for me." https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR448.mp3

Who Said Grace is Fair? – by Greg Albrecht

The inscription on John Newton’s granite tombstone in the small cemetery of the parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the town of Olney (population about 6,500), Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, reads:  John Newton, clerk [pastor], once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy.  Newton, who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace,” once shared these thoughts about the wonders of God’s grace: “If I ever reach heaven I expect to find three wonders ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

June 13, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “I believe that physical death is not the end of God’s pursuit of us, and I base that belief primarily on the full and complete (as I understand it) revelation of God within the pages of the Bible… My hopeful perspective of God’s pursuit of all of us – and I do mean ALL – is that he will do whatever it takes to win us.  However, I also think he allows us to make choices and respects our choices – many biblical passages speak to this, perhaps none better than the Prodigal Son, when the father ‘lets’ the son leave his house.  He honors the son’s request for his inheritance – he respects ...

Christ Followers Cannot Not Forgive

C.S. Lewis insisted "If God forgives we must forgive. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than him." A Christ follower in whom Jesus lives cannot not forgive. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR447.mp3

Spiritual Forces

The basic religious forces of our world enslave us to false gods that intimidate and bully with their required observances of traditions, taboos and superstitions that supposedly make God happy. But these religious forces are paper tigers that are powerless to set us free and bankrupt because they provide no eternal inheritance. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR446.mp3

Love or Fear? – Greg Albrecht

Question: 1 John 4:18, which tells us that love drives out fear, used to be my go- to verse for times when I was living in fear. Then a preacher told me that this verse means that one should not fear unless they are not "obeying" God. Now I just live in fear. Can you help me understand how 1 John 4:18 should be interpreted. Response: Your question is real and authentic.  Many people, if they are honest, live in fear.  In some respects, we all do to some level.  But a Christ-centered understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ explains that fear is the motivational factor of all that is anti-Christ, and I use that term not in some ...

The Kingdom of Service – by Greg Albrecht

by Greg Albrecht Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

June 11, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “God’s grace is proof that our currency – our medium of spiritual and religious exchange – is not accepted in the kingdom of heaven.  We cannot pay for or earn any standing with God because he doesn’t accept our ‘money.’  Christ-less religious institutions would have us believe that the religious currency it prints in the church basement will enable us to buy a ticket to heaven.  But God’s grace says that God’s ‘money’ is free.  Of course, within legalistic, authoritarian religious institutions God’s grace doesn’t really count for much because their legalisms blind them so they ...

Beatitudes #5

In this fifth and last sermon in our series on the beatitudes, we ponder why we would ever be persecuted for "righteousness sake" and why a Christ follower experiences inner peace and joy while being persecuted.

Experiencing His Peace – by Greg Albrecht

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.   For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

June 8, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “I believe that a Christ-follower may be more liberal than friends and family or more conservative than friends and family and still be a Christ-follower.  Christ-followers are not political yellow pencils. Within reason, excepting fanaticism (and definitions of fanaticism vary!), we can differ about political opinions while remaining respectful and understanding.  Unfortunately, some feel as if their task is to bulldoze everyone into submission so that all agree with their political perspectives.  This ‘warfare’ happens within Christendom as well – in fact, in some quarters especi...

Beatitudes #4

Keeping in mind that these eight fruits of God's favor are descriptive of what he does rather than prescriptions for what we must produce via our own hard work, we'll take a closer look at how God empowers us to be pure in heart and to become peacemakers.

Beatitudes #3

As we ponder what it means to be blessed by hungering and thirsting for righteousness and being merciful, we remember that these be-attitudes are God's gift, his handiwork, lived in our lives by and through Jesus.

“Come, you also!” – The Stupor of Grace in Dostoevsky – Greg Albrecht

Consider what the famed Russian novelist, Dostoevsky, wrote about the judgment of God and the gospel of grace, in his classic work, Crime and Punishment. At the last Judgment Christ, will say to us, “Come, you also! Come, drunkards! Come weaklings! Come, children of shame!”  And he will say to us: “Vile beings, you who are in the image of the beast and bear his mark, but come all the same, you as well.”  And the wise and the prudent will say, “Lord, why do you welcome them?” And he will say, “If I welcome them, you wise men, it is because not one of them have ever been judged worthy.”  And he will stretch out his arms, ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

June 6, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “God’s grace is not about human perceptions of entitlement or justice.  It is perfectly natural to feel resentful about those who appear to be ‘getting away’ with something. Our sense of human justice cries out for them to ‘get theirs.’  We start this behavior early in life, as children we point out the shortcomings of others to authority figures such as parents and teachers, hoping they will be punished and penalized.  There is, of course, one person whose shortcomings we do not point out to the authorities – our own.” Originally published in: Between Religious Rocks and ...

Beatitudes #2

We continue our series on the beatitudes by considering what it means to be blessed and by studying the beatitudes/blessings of mourning and of being meek.

Beatitudes #1

Join us for this first sermon in our five-part series about the beatitudes. This message will discuss the blessing of being "poor in spirit" and provide an overview of all eight blessings that form the introduction to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

Did God the Father Forsake Jesus the Son on the Cross? – Greg Albrecht

Question: Thanks for all the great resources you provide. I’m trying to reconcile the what seems to Jesus to be a “forsaken-ness” or estrangement/alienation of God and Jesus on the cross. How are we to interpret the cross in light of this? Love you guys. Response: My sense of this much debated statement on the cross – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) – begins with a Christ-centered interpretation, which is the place where I try to start any question about a biblical passage. Jesus was and is God – (see John 1:1-3).  He was never not divine, and forever will be divine. In his ...