The After-Life
10. When You've Hit the Wall
June 6, 2021 • Chris Seidman
In the last message in our “After-Life” series, we'll ask the question: What do you do when you “hit a wall” in your spiritual journey – even after you’ve walked with the Lord for some time? This theme arises often in Scripture. So what do you do when you’ve hit a wall?
9. Out of the Grasp of Grasping
May 30, 2021 • Chris Seidman
Of all things, it’s like a virus. Today we consider another common theme Jesus and the rest of the New Testament writers often addressed in the lives of those who were already following Him and experiencing the “after-life.” Sometimes you don’t know it’s operational in your life until after you see symptoms of it. Paul acknowledged it as the reason some “wander from the faith” after they’ve had an encounter with Jesus. And yet, both Jesus and Paul give counsel as to how to inoculate ourselves from such a virus. Most of us have probably dealt with it at one time or another. What is it?
8. Handling the I.E.D.
May 23, 2021 • Chris Seidman
Intermittent Explosive Disorder. That’s what some therapists call it. We read of soldiers being injured or worse by IEDs overseas. Some of us have been taken out by a different kind of IED over here. Someone wise once said, “Speak when you’re angry, and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” I think a lot of us have been there. Acting in anger can often lead to more regret. Over and over in Scripture, we find the subject of anger being brought up. In fact, it’s a theme in Jesus’ teaching to His disciples and Paul’s writings to believers. This weekend in our “After-Life” series, we’ll consider how to handle anger before it handles us. It’s actually the fruit of something else. To deal with it, we have to get underneath it. Of course, not all anger is wrong. The Scriptures tell us God is slow to anger and we are called to be slow to anger as well. Love isn’t easily angered. But nowhere does it say that God is never angry and that we are never to be angry. But even anger when it’s “right” can quickly go “wrong” when it’s not processed appropriately.
7. Freedom From Approval-Ratings
May 16, 2021 • Chris Seidman
We’ve all had “What was I thinking?” moments in our lives. It’s striking how much Scripture speaks to this trap. Jesus spoke to this often, as did the apostle Paul in the rest of the New Testament. Walking in the freedom found in Christ involves addressing the desire for approval/fear of rejection dynamic in our lives. Walking in freedom doesn’t mean we don’t regard what others are thinking or how they are responding to us. In fact, loving people for their sake and the sake of the gospel involves those very things. But the reasons why we do these things are different. And the “why” is transformed by the “who” – Jesus. John 5:42, John 12:42, 2 Corinthians 5:7-9, and Galatians 1:9-10.
6. Shear Grace
May 9, 2021 • Chris Seidman
Today we consider what Jesus meant when He talked about God pruning our lives so that we might be more fruitful. He doesn’t stop working on us after we’ve found life in Christ. The idea of pruning shears and “cutting away” things doesn’t leave us with warm, fuzzy feelings. But there’s such a thing as “shear grace.” John 15:1-8
5. The Life I Live In This Body
May 2, 2021 • Chris Seidman
“The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God.” This is powerful revelation found in Galatians 2:20 is very much the essence of the “after-life.” So what does it look like to live by faith in Jesus while occupying these bodies that we have and in the variety of contexts we find ourselves in?
4. Under New Ownership
April 25, 2021 • Chris Seidman
Of the more than 31,000 verses in the Bible, Galatians 2:20 would be one of my candidates for a “life-verse.” It’s dense with powerful revelations for what it means to live “the after-life.” The gospel tells the story of two of the greatest substitutions there have ever been. Christ dying in our place upon the cross, and Christ living in our place within our hearts. This week, we’ll consider the significance of this phrase: “but Christ lives in me.”
3. You’re Dead – And That’s A Good Thing
April 18, 2021 • Chris Seidman
What in the world does it mean that we’ve been “crucified with Christ?” It's all over the New Testament, but most of us probably don’t think about it much. You’re not just “raised with Christ,” you’ve “died with Him.” Really? When did this happen? And what difference does considering myself a “dead man” or “dead woman” make practically in my life today?
2. Before And After
April 11, 2021 • Chris Seidman
The gospels are full of some powerful before/after stories... And in every one of those before/after’s Jesus is the difference. When you read the rest of the New Testament, one of the most common phrases the writers use to talk about the life of a Christian is the phrase “you’ve been raised with Christ.” Raised from what?
