Out of Neutral | Grace Baptist Church Paul Sadler

There’s so much to do, and if you believe that what you do matters, doing more of it and doing it well is important. I’ve read all the books and I’ve tried all the apps. They’re helpful, but they tend to say the same things using different words. Jesus makes a truly unique contribution to a vision of personal productivity.

People sometimes ask, “Why doesn’t Jesus spell out more plainly the fact that He is God?” While He does express His divinity plainly enough, we often forget that Jesus carried out His ministry in constant threat of death. The authorities were looking for a sound bite they could use as evidence to prematurely end His ministry. And after just a few years, they succeeded.

Jesus doesn’t send His disciples out to battle armies or take over enemy lands. But the message of Joshua is important for Christians today. It gives vital lessons on how to face our spiritual battles.

Joseph is given a dream of greatness and royalty, but he’s rejected and despised. Each time people try to harm him, he ends up closer to the throne. After his enemies presume him dead, he ascends to power and brings salvation and forgiveness to many. Joseph shows what kind of Saviour to look for and helps to identify Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s plan.

Everybody knows the story of Noah’s Ark. Children love drawing the zebras and monkeys, and adults endlessly speculate about how everything fit and what it might have been like. But all of those things distract us from the message that Noah’s Ark is intended to convey. Do you know what it teaches? There are several important lessons that we should hear from Noah’s Ark no matter what our age.

If someone ate a cheeseburger and a root beer, thought about what Jesus did on the cross, and called it the Lord’s Supper, you’d probably tell them that Jesus had something more specific in mind. I think the same needs to be said about baptism.