Weekend Preview | It Is: Part 1 – It Is Coming
By Chris Denning
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The temperature is rising, buds are blooming on the trees, and the grass is turning from brown to green. This can only mean one thing: Spring is coming.
I think most of us anticipate Spring with excitement, even desperation (I lived in Chicago, so I know what that’s about), but Spring is always a time for renewal and life. For that new life to happen, change must abound. Brown to green. Cold to warm. Change brings new life.
And with Spring, so comes a great reminder of why we believe what we believe: Easter.
As we head into Easter at Journey, we’re going to be diving into a series called It Is . . . , where we’re going to be taking a deeper look at God’s plan for redemption and what it means for us today.
Part 1 is called “It Is Coming.” But what is it? This week, “It” is Redemption. Redemption is coming.
If we look back at history, even before Jesus, we can see how God was planning our redemption from the very beginning. Even before our very first fall, God knew that we would fail and fall short, but he also knew how he would restore us and give us a way to be close to him once again.
I mean, how incredible is that? At Journey, we believe in the sovereignty of God, but to come to grips with the reality that God had a plan for the beginning can be hard to believe. Don’t believe me? Check this out.
I was at a conference last week, and Pastor Willie George was talking about how the God of the Bible is a God that makes plans. He mentioned an illustration referencing the first 10 men in the bible:
Adam, Seth, Enos, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, & Noah.
Each of their names means something different in Hebrew. Look at this:
Adam – “Man”
Seth – “Appointed”
Enos – “Mortal”
Kenan – “Sorrow”
Mahalalel – “blessed God”
Jared – “shall come down”
Enoch – “teaching”
Methuselah – “his death brings”
Lamech – “despairing”
Noah – “rest”
Put it all together, what do you get?
Man appointed mortal sorrow, blessed God shall come down teaching his death brings despairing rest.
Tell me God didn’t know what he was doing since the beginning.
I know people will debate true meaning of words and such, but honestly, the fact that its even kinda close to the Gospel is pretty amazing. I tend to place my trust in people who have good plans, so why wouldn’t I place my trust in the hands of a God who has a perfect plan for me?
Redemption is coming. Looking into the past we can see that redemption has ALWAYS been coming. For you, for me, for us all.
I hope you make the decision to join us this weekend to find out more about this Jesus who has always been working to make a way for you to have direct contact with God. The next few weeks are going to be incredible, and this is an awesome opportunity for you to invite someone to come with you to Journey. I promise you won’t regret it.
Join us this weekend at 9 or 11am
(Click for Directions)
or Online at TheJourneyOnline.tv at 11am