Meeting Jesus - Extraordinary Encounters

I was in my second year of college in 1996 when the comet named Hyakutake (ya-koo-ta-kee) filled the night sky.  Around 10 o’clock at night, my friend and I hopped in my car to get away from the city lights to get a good look at it.  Outside the city limits, we made lefts and rights down some backroads until we finally were far enough away from the city lights to get a good view. We were surrounded by thick trees, the sky was black, and once we found a little clearance at the top of a hill, I pulled my car into a dirt road. My headlights hit a house with boarded windows and doors…

We jumped out of the car, left the doors open, the headlights on pointing toward the woods across the road, and the engine running (because my car usually didn’t start the first time I turned the key) and turned to look at the comet.  

It was stunning.  The huge ball of fire, the streaming brilliant tail that went on for thousands of miles….it was incredible.

But…something felt off.  It felt like I was being watched.  Something did not feel right. It felt like that the moment I jumped out of the car…and it built up.  I couldn’t shake it. After driving 45 minutes to get out of town, I spent less than a minute looking at the comet. As awesome and brilliant as the comet was – something didn’t feel right. I turned to my friend and asked him if he wanted to go.  Quickly, he said “yep.”  

I turned to get in the car, and in the headlights just at the edge of the road, a man was walking directly toward me! He had on dark clothes, a hat pulled down over his head, and was moving silently through the leaves toward me. I jumped into the driver’s seat. Yelled to my friend, “Get in the car!” He saw the guy, jumped in. We slammed the doors, put the car in drive…and as I pulled out past the man, he glared at me through the driver side window and KICKED the back of my car as hard as he could.

I did not stop at one stop sign or red light until I pulled back onto campus.  Once on campus, we both leaped out of the car and quickly looked underneath to make sure this guy wasn’t hanging on. That was the strangest encounter of my life! We had questions like, “Why couldn’t we hear him?”  “Why was he coming toward me?” “If we were trespassing, why didn’t he just yell at us?”  I had no answers.  It was a bizarre, strange, and weird encounter.

Sometimes we encounter things in life that we are unable to explain. Maybe you have had a bizarre experience in your life as well. Some people make claims that they have seen Bigfoot. Or abducted by aliens… 

It’s crazy that in light of all the technology that we carry around in our pocket on our cell phones, most of these strange encounters are blurry and out of frame. Luke recorded a very strange encounter that the disciples had with Jesus.  Two dead prophets and Jesus would hang out together on a hill, and Jesus clothes and appearance would turn to radiant white.  It was strange and bizarre, but I believe there are some great take-aways in the passage for us.

Luke 9:28-36 (NLT2) 

28  About eight days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a mountain to pray. 29  And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30  Then two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. 31  They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. 32  Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him. 33  As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 34  But even as he was saying this, a cloud came over them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them. 35  Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” 36  When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn’t tell anyone at that time what they had seen. 

This was a bizarre and strange encounter.  Men who had died hundreds of years before…Jesus appearance being changed.  The voice of God booming from within a cloud. For Jesus, this was a public affirmation from God that he was going to save the World from our sins…that he was the chosen son of God…and that we should all listen to him and do what he says to do.

And It is interesting that in this moment, 

JESUS DID NOT SEEK VALIDATION FROM INFLUENCERS

This was the most significant moment in his life to date...yet he did not bring in the heavy hitters with political or religious influence to see it. Jesus did not contact the local news team. He didn’t gather together the heads of the tribes of Israel, He did not invite Kings, scholars, philosophers to observe this moment of validation. He didn’t invite people from different arenas who would tell others about what they saw, and about who He was. He did not seek out the popular people among the Israelites. So many people in our culture today seek out validation from INFLUENCERS in social media.  

We have many Social Media Influencers in our church.  Let me ask you to use your influence to shine the light on Jesus and to point others to Jesus.

Be informative. Be witty and clever. Be funny. But periodically, point them to something greater than you.

The greatest influence you could ever have is to lead somebody to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. Many people today want to be recognized on social media – they want their opinion to matter more than others. They want the recognition. They build revenue through LIKES and HEARTS and COMMENTS.  If enough people like them – sponsors will pick them up.

But some people who want to be an influencer have it wrong. They want to be important and they want to matter.  Some people who try to be an influencer aren’t seeking revenue or cash, they are building their view of self.  They think, “The more people that like my posts, the more important I will be.” 

And, “If people do not like my posts, apparently I do not matter.”

Let me say this right now – you are important. You do matter.  Your self-worth is not found online. If you seek out validation from other people to feel important, stop it.

Jesus has given his life for you – you matter. There may be absolutely nothing exciting or incredible about you. You may not have any talents whatsoever. Your checking account may make a homeless person feel rich…

You may be absolutely NORMAL, like Jesus demonstrates in this passage:

GOD INVITES NORMAL PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE THE ABNORMAL

Jesus took regular ordinary people to the top of this mountain to experience something abnormal. Something unexpected. Something unheard of. Peter, James and John were all regular uneducated, untrained, fishermen.  They were mediocre fishermen at best.  When Jesus first called them, they had been fishing all night and did not catch one fish.  They weren’t the best or most skilled in their line of work.

They were ok. They were adequate. They were normal, everyday people that he called to experience the abnormal. That is what God continues to do today. If you want to experience the abnormal in a life-changing relationship with Jesus – you can be wealthy, or poor, you can be be attractive, or ugly. You can be a nobody or a somebody. You can be married. Divorced. You can be single.  

You can bring all your flaws, all your faults, they way you are, surrender your life to Jesus, and experience an abnormal life. I know normal quite well, because I am normal. In many ways, I consider myself below average. God has gifted me as a teacher.  I love teaching his word and helping people experience the abundant life He has for them…

On the stage, I teach pretty transparently.  In fact, one of my core values is to live transparently…I often share my own struggles with applying God’s Word to my life…and often my own failures.  

I acknowledge that I am a guarded individual.  I am very guarded when it comes to who I let in my life.  I have experienced a lot of hurt in my childhood, and a lot of hurt in ministry. Because I am guarded, I may come across as uncaring. Normal people have problems – but we should not let our problems stand in the way of experiencing the abnormal.  

So – what are your barriers to growth?  What are the areas of your life that needs to experience healing? Besides Jesus, Peter is the only other man that speaks in this passage of scripture – and essentially he is a blubbering idiot.  He doesn’t know what to say, so he rambles.  

33  …Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

In the presence of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah – Peter felt a need to say something – so he just blurted something out. That was Peter’s personality.  He often did or said things that were dumb things to say.  

He jumped out of the boat to walk on water and sank. He rebuked Jesus and told him he was wrong. He blurts something out here just to say something. Like you and I, Peter was a normal ordinary guy. He had a lot of rough edges. He had to make a lot of apologies…

But Jesus knew that…

GOD TRANSFORMS ORDINARY INTO EXTRAORDINARY 

After Jesus rose from the dead, God took this man named Peter, a normal ordinary man and transformed him into a preacher and leader. In the Book of Acts, under Peter’s preaching – thousands and thousands of people surrendered their lives to Jesus and experienced forgiveness of sins and were made brand spanking new. God took the man that smelled like fish and made him a fisher of men.

God took the man with no communication skills, and transformed him into one of the most gifted and honest speakers of his time.

Acts 4:13 (NLT2) 

13  The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

Both Peter and John were Ordinary until God grabbed ahold of their lives. So, how can you let God transform you?  How can you as a follower of Jesus, become extraordinary. At Beach Church, our mission is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. We not only lead people to Jesus…we lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. That means, all those in Jesus continue to be changed by Jesus. Let me give you a little glimpse of what we will be incorporating into our Next Steps classes.

Our Next Step classes are designed to help people learn more about our church, and to help followers of Jesus transform into people who become more like the person God created them to be. I have developed 7 Questions called Anchor Points that will be incorporated into our Next Steps course, but for now, I want you to have these questions that you can ask yourself on a regular basis. These Anchor Points are questions designed to help an “ordinary” follower of Jesus become an “extraordinary” follower of Jesus:

Here are the Seven Anchor Points for a follower of Jesus to ask themselves on a daily basis:

ANCHOR POINTS

LOVING: How am I showing others kindness and respect?

GROWING: How am I deepening my relationship with God?

CONNECTING: Who am I getting real with?

FORGIVING: Who am I forgiving and extending grace to?

SERVING: How am I selflessly meeting the needs of others?

INVITING: Who am I encouraging to follow Jesus?

GIVING: How am I trusting God with my finances?

God wants to take your ordinary and make it extra-ordinary. Will you let him?

Meeting Jesus - Overcoming Roadblocks to obedience

This week – the college world series started, with the regionals. Coastal Carolina even hosted one of the tournaments. They are now playing the super regionals and next is the College World Series. Baseball can be a fun sport to watch. The young men are throwing baseballs at 90-98 MPH. I watched one game, where the pitcher hit 100 mph.

Do you know how difficult it is to hit a baseball traveling 90-98MPH?  I tried, 80 MPH at a batting cage once and played against some guys that could throw the ball that hard, so I can tell you that it is very difficult especially the older I get. Pitches traveling at 95-100 mph take just 400 ms to travel from the pitcher to the hitter. Since the typical reaction time is 200 ms, and it takes 100 ms to swing the bat, this leaves just 100 ms of observation time on which the hitter can base his swing.

There is NO ROOM for HESITATION when you are at bat.  You must make a RAPID decision and begin to swing IMMEDIATELY if you want to make contact with the ball. When it comes to following Jesus, believers in Christ can sometimes get caught up in hesitating before applying God’s Word to our lives. Think about it.  A follower of Jesus reads God’s word and KNOW a CHANGE needs to occur in their life. They understand that God has called them to Love God and Love people…to forgive, show kindness and compassion, and grace…

 …But we hesitate.  

Let’s read the words of Jesus from Luke 9:18-27 to see what Jesus has to say to his followers about living in obedience to Him.

Luke 9:18-27 (NLT2) 

18  One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 19  “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.” 20  Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!” 21  Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. 22  “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” 23  Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25  And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? 26  If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27  I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God.” 

This passage of scripture is Jesus challenge for his followers to die to themselves. He isn’t sharing this with the crowds.  He shared this with only those who were his disciples.  They believed that Jesus was sent from God and that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus took this small group to a deeper level and challenge them to APPLY what he had been teaching them.

BUT, when you hear “take up your Cross” it can stir up some hesitation.

A COMMON ROADBLOCK TO LIFE CHANGE IS HESITATION. 

For Instance, I remember when I first surrendered my life to Christ. My life began to change, but I was still dealing with some hesitation especially about going public with what was happening. Of course, I told my family, but I hesitated when it come to telling others, especially my friends about what Jesus had done. I was afraid that if I told them, that they would no longer be my friends. I remember on one occasion, I had a friend named Michael that point blank asked me what was different about me. As I thought I hesitated to tell him that Jesus had turned my world upside down. I wanted to tell him that I now know what Love is, I have peace, I have hope, I have joy. I wanted to tell him that he could have the same. 

BUT, I didn’t! 

I hesitated because I was afraid of what it might cost me.

“Take up Your Cross”??? that means I have to give up something. I did not want to lose one of my best friends.

Luke 9:23 (NLT) 

23  Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 

At this point in the life of Jesus – everybody wanted to be his follower.  Life-Change was happening all around.  People were being healed.  He was turning the entire religious system upside down.  He was showing compassion, grace, forgiveness.  Crowds were following him at no risk to themselves.  It cost them nothing.  In fact, it was a rather popular position to be in.  

Jesus had already called those HE now called APOSTLES to give up their lives and follow him.  Now Jesus turned to the crowd and said, before you can follow me – you have to do two things before you can be my follower. 

TURN from your selfish ways

TAKE up your cross daily

Let’s think back to the Garden of Eden.  At the root of ADAM and EVE’S sin was SELFISHNESS. The Fruit was desirable. James 1:15 Says “These desires give birth to Sinful Actions” Adam and Eve WANTED to please themselves by giving into their desires. Pleasing their creator was important – (we know it was important to them because they HID from God after they had sinned) but PLEASING themselves MATTERED more.  Pleasing themselves mattered more than anything.  God said not to eat the FRUIT but they wanted to satisfy and gratify themselves

WE HESITATE BECAUSE WE ARE SELIFSH

Lucifer was kicked out of Heaven because of SELFISHNESS. ADAM and EVE were kicked out of the Garden of Eden because of SELFISHNESS. From the time our children are able grasp the concept – we teach them not to be selfish but to share.

Every sin is rooted in selfish desires.  

Selfish attitudes.  

Selfish ways.  

If you struggle with temptations and give in often to sin – it is because you are a selfish, selfish person.  You may not be selfish in all areas – but you are selfish in some.  You struggle with sin because you want to PLEASE your flesh.

If you fight often with your spouse – it is because you are being selfish.  You didn’t like something they did.  You don’t like that they left something for you to do… Most of the time, when my wife and I argue it’s because one of us being selfish. Let me rephrase that: It’s because I’m being selfish.

If you gossip it is because you deep down – you want to appear wiser, smarter, and better than the person you are talking about. 

So JESUS says the very first step, the very first thing we must be willing to do to follow him is to TURN AWAY from our SELFISHNESS.  

We need to tell ourselves “NO” 

NO I will not say that.

NO I will not think that.

NO I will not go there with my words.

NO I will not look at that.

NO I will not get mad at all Walmart Employees because only one line is open.

We TURN away from our SELFISHNESS.

BUT we limit the MEANING of the words of Jesus spoken in Luke 9:23 if we only focus on SELF-DENIAL.  Self-DENIAL is only part of the equation.  

Let’s look at Luke 9:23 again

Luke 9:23 (NLT) 

23  Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 

In order to be a FOLLOWER of Jesus – we must “Deny ourselves” and “Take up our cross daily.”

The Cross was a symbol of Death. The crowd would have known what carrying a cross meant. The disciples knew. We know how brutal it was because of what we have read and know. We know that when a man carried a cross it was not a round trip ticket. We know if a man carried a cross, HE WAS GOING TO DIE.

Denying ourselves is one thing – but taking up a cross is a whole deeper level of commitment.  You can not be a follower of Jesus without committing to not only DENYING self, but SACRIFICING self as well. This is something that we do daily!! We are selfish people and so we have to take up that cross and deny our selfish desires.

You have heard the expression, “It’s not about me.”  

The most selfless thing we can do is to SELFLESSLY SACRIFICE for others.  Serving in the NURSERY is a SACRIFICE.  Serving in our Children’s ministry is a SACRIFICE. Serving in the student Ministry is a SACRIFICE.  Serving in the church, on a mission team, on any of our teams here at Beach Church is a SACRIFICE. If I can be honest, if we are truly sacrificing self for others church’s wouldn’t have to beg for volunteers. Jesus EQUATED TAKING the CROSS of SUFFERING with what it means to FOLLOW him.

CARRYING a CROSS is LIVING with PURPOSE.  

CARRYING a CROSS is a lifestyle of ACTION.  

CARRYING a CROSS is being a SERVANT to ALL.

CARRYING a CROSS is GIVING so much we feel it.

CARRYING a CROSS is HUMILIATING.

CARRYING a CROSS is giving up all SELFISHNESS and EMBRACING SACRIFICE.

One of the things I have NEVER understood since I became a Christian is how people can be SO PREFERENCE DRIVEN in the church when Jesus calls us to DIE to OURSELVES. 

They think CORPORATE WORSHIP should be the songs THEY LIKE.

They think MISSIONS OF THE CHURCH should be where they DESIRE to go. 

And on and on and on…they fight for their colors, their ministries, their turf, their worship, their preaching style, their SELFISH DESIRES!

When the CHRISTIAN chooses to FOLLOW JESUS they have abandoned their PREFERENCE way of DOING things and PICKED up a CROSS with a ONE-WAY ticket to HEAVEN. This is when we truly understand “It’s not about me”

We were not SAVED merely to STOP doing things – we were saved to “CARRY a CROSS.”  We were saved FROM something FOR SOMETHING!

Paul illustrates what it means to carry a CROSS beautifully in Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:21-24 (NLT) 

21  Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22  throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24  Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. 

The way Paul describes TURNING FROM OUR SELFISHNESS and CARRYING a CROSS is by THROWING OFF OUR OLD MAN and PUTTING ON THE NEW MAN…just as we would throw off nasty dirty clothes and put on new ones.

Paul then provides illustration after illustration of what that looks like:

Ephesians 4:25-29 (NLT)

25  So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26  And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27  for anger gives a foothold to the devil. 28  If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. 29  Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. 

This has always been a fascinating passage to me because it illustrates the LIFESTYLE of a FOLLOWER of JESUS who has turned from his selfishness and is carrying a cross.

A LIAR is transformed to a person who can be TRUSTED by OTHERS.

A HOT-TEMPERED person is transformed into a person controlled by FORGIVENESS to OTHERS.

A THIEF is transformed into a person who WORKS HARD to give GENEROUSLY to OTHERS.

A FOUL-MOUTHED PERSON is transformed into an ENCOURAGER of OTHERS.

THIS IS NOT A HARD CONCEPT TO UNDERSTAND BUT IT IS SOMETHING WE MUST APPLY

There is a radical transformation that has occurred!  Something uncommon has happened to an individual who DENIES SELF.  Something amazing.  Something beautiful…SOMETHING that has forever changed the habits of his life!  That something is REPENTANCE.  

True repentance alters a person’s life!  Truly turning from our selfish ways is a result of GENUINE REPENTANCE.

DYING TO SELF HELPS US BECOME THE PERSON WE WERE CREATED TO BE

When we are humbly seeking the Lord, and seeking his face to do what is right, we will take up our cross on a regular basis.  We become the person God has created us to be – we begin the journey of becoming an unselfish person who sacrifices for others.

That first step of REPENTENCE is simply this, rejecting your selfish ways and turning yourself toward God’s ways through Jesus. If you’d like to do that right now, pray this prayer.

Dear God,  

I want to be a follower of Jesus.  Therefore, right now I reject my selfish way of living and turn to you.  I believe that Jesus has paid the penalty for my sin on the cross, and ask you to forgive me of my sin and I receive your one and only Son as my Savior.  Through your strength, I ask you now to help me carry my cross and live out this repentance through my actions.  Thank you for saving me. Thank you for loving me.  I receive Jesus as my Savior and Ultimate example of everything I should strive to be like. 

In Jesus name, Amen.