1753 results for tag: Greg Albrecht

Take Away the Religious Rocks – by Greg Albrecht

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said. —John 11:38-39 Religious rocks create barriers in our relationship with God. Notice the "red letter" words in our passage in John 11:39, the four words in this verse that Jesus actually spoke. Take away the stone.... The background for our passage begins in the first verse of chapter 11 of the book of John. Lazarus was sick. As the chapter unfolds we discover that Lazarus eventually died. His sisters Mary and Martha were overcome with shock and grief. Our message begins at the house of mourning, in a place where ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

April 11, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “Grace is like streams and rivers filled and nourished by the rain.  Life-giving rain is given to those whose lives seem to deserve it and to those who do not (Matthew 5:45).  The rain (and reign) of God’s grace resists attempts to collect, own and dispense it by those who live in high places of religious pride and announce themselves as God’s representatives.”  Originally published in: Wonders of His Grace ------------------------------------- Help Us Help Others - Give Now

Easter Never Ends

When all the eggs are gathered and when all the ham has been consumed, Jesus remains. His resurrection is more than a day, for it never ends! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!   https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR372.mp3

Jesus Rocks … And He Rules!

We invite you to an Easter celebration. We will not simply honor the legacy of a good man, a man who once was. We will celebrate the Rock, the cornerstone of our faith, our risen Lord, who is, who triumphed over death and the grave.   https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR060.mp3

You Ain’t Got No Easter Clothes – by Greg Albrecht

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."—John 11:43-44 Welcome to the party! Easter is the annual celebration Christians around the world anticipate and long for. Once again we savor victory in Christ. As Christians we are celebrating the most triumphant and victorious day in all history.Let's begin with the words of Peter, who tells us, in 1 Peter 1:3-4: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

April 9, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “The kingdom of Rome, spurred on by the kingdom of the Jewish religious culture, joined forces to get rid of him – through torture, humiliation and publicly shaming him before they finished him off (or so they thought) by mercilessly crucifying him.  He responded by accepting and receiving their (and our own) vengeance and hostility.  He soaked it in.  He absorbed and assimilated all human hostility and hatred … and he forgave it.  For Jesus the end of violence is not more violence.  The end of violence is love.”  Originally published in: Beautiful Sayings – Beatitudes of Grace ...

New Hope

We will journey with two of Jesus' disciples on the road to Emmaus, as they left Jerusalem convinced all was lost. Jesus walked with them, just as he is walking down life's roads with us today.\\   https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR110.mp3

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

April 06, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “… the desire to ‘prove’ the resurrection to be true often causes many to become so focused on the details that they miss the big picture… Proofs are not the foundation of our faith.  Jesus alone is the foundation of our faith.  The gospel is not about intellectual assent to historically proven details… In the ‘resurrection chapter’ (1 Corinthians 15), Paul does not attempt to ‘prove’ the resurrection of Jesus, but he assumes the resurrection as fact.  He simply states that Jesus is risen, and he calls the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the gospel – that ...

Good News From the Cemetery

Breaking news :live from the empty tomb! The good news of Easter is that it was impossible for death to claim the body of Jesus. Nothing is impossible for God. HE IS RISEN!   https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR216.mp3

Why Did Jesus Die?

The first answer that might occur to you - to this question - might not be the complete answer. Join us as we consider the full and complete answer to the question, Why Did Jesus Die?   https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR270.mp3

I Am Making Everything New – by Greg Albrecht

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"—Revelation 21:5 God making old things new is one of the great themes of the Bible—and is one of the powerful themes of the gospel.In the Bible we learn:• God gives us a new name.• God gives us new wine.• We sing a new song.• God gives us a new heart.• Jesus gives us a new commandment.• We become new men and women in Christ.• God makes a new covenant with us.• God gives us new life—life that never ages or wears out—eternal life. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 …if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new ...

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

April 04, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “Far from being an obscure point of doctrine, the cross of Christ is ground zero of our faith.  All of the teachings of Jesus are best understood and illuminated by his cross.  The crucifixion of Jesus is a priority – a defining part of his identity, and for that matter, a foundational building block for all of us, as Christ-followers.  The cross of Christ is an essential part of his identity – it is the heart and soul of the gospel. The cross crushes the tyranny of attempting to please God on the basis of law while simultaneously and tenaciously insisting that the lavish grace of ...

Go to Him Outside the Camp

Just as Jesus entered into the dark places of religion so that he could overthrown and overcome it, he invites you and me to leave the camp/city of Christ-less religion, and never look back.   https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR320.mp3

Sorrow and Joy

Palm Sunday when we commemorate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem was a joyous occasion as was Jesus' resurrection one week later. Those two joyful events were bookends to a week of sorrows. Greg's sermon focuses on the meaning of Jesus entering the city.   https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR008.mp3

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

April 02, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “Just as the road to his resurrection ran through a cemetery, so too does ours… Living in Christ (and he in us) means our old spiritual man must die.” Originally published in: Letters to My Friends ------------------------------------- Help Us Help Others - Give Now

It’s Not Over Until It’s Over – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from April 2023 Christmas, at least in its popular celebrations, centers on the birth of a baby. Who doesn’t love and adore babies? What’s not to like about feasting, music, decorations and presents? But Easter? In large part Easter is celebrated with eggs, chocolates, bunnies, flowers and Easter bonnets because that’s the way the secular world has dolled it up. But by contrast with the warm, fuzzy and heartwarming story of Christmas, the deeper meaning behind Easter involves the haunting specter of a cross, with agonizing suffering, eventually death… and then there’s that dead body in a tomb.  Birth ...

Crucified Identities

"How are you?" is a common greeting. Even when the person who says those words really wants to know how we are, and while how we are is important for the here and now, who we are is critically important on this and the other side of eternity. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR475.mp3

Reflections Along the Jesus Way

March 30, 2023 - Quote for the Day: “We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in a Christ-centered way, for it is about Jesus’ own personal, victorious bodily resurrection – the resurrection is about him.  In and through him we have new life now! He is alive – he is our risen Lord! But Jesus’ resurrection is also about our own future resurrection, and for that matter, the resurrection of the entire cosmos, when a new order of things will begin.  The new order of things is by him and for him.  At his Second Coming we will be bodily resurrected because he lives in us, and he will never die.  Those who are in ...

Resting In Christ Alone

Christ-less religion explains that we must work first, and then God will give us his rest.  But, as it so often is, the truth of the gospel is the precise opposite!  The invitation of Jesus is to his rest, in which he then empowers us to work and become the workmanship of God.   https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR403.mp3

Did God Tempt or Test Abraham? If so, how and why? – Greg Albrecht

QUESTION: I really appreciate your daily CWR Unplugged programs.  Recently you made a comment about Genesis 22, and you remarked that God was not testing Abraham, but he was revealing the love of God to him.  So, I am struggling with this.  God asked Abraham to sacrifice Issac, but what, it wasn't really a test on Abraham but a show of God's love, I guess not requiring the sacrifice? But when I read in Genesis 22, it clearly is described in verse 1 as a test, and in verse 12 that Abraham had passed the test. Can you help me understand this better? RESPONSE: Here’s what I get out of this narrative: Sometimes a ...