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Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim.
Before we begin today, I’d like to give you an update regarding the show. A couple of weeks ago we aired a special episode where I interviewed a very dear friend and mentor of mine name Bennette Ash. And one of the things we talked about was the difference it makes having a life that is built on the foundation of Christ. And not long after that we received an encouraging email from a gentleman named Thomas, expressing his thanks for her testimony of what a difference it means to be rooted in Biblical principles and in a relational experience of God. He said, “I caught this broadcast while flipping stations on my radio. So in some manner I took it as a message of encouragement from God to me during a tough time in my life right now. And of course we are glad to hear that the Lechem Panim broadcast is reaching people who need that hope and encouragement. There are many ways to listen to the broadcast; via our website (LechemPanim.org), as well as on our Facebook page and YouTube channel. But we are excited to announce that we are now available to listen to via Podcast; and you can subscribe to us through Apple Podcasts or your favorite Podcast provider. And so we want to invite you to do so. And thank you for listening (click here to subscribe). Airport Nervousness-- This past Christmas season, I traveled with my family to go to my sister Lauren’s wedding. And so we found ourselves in a number of airports. And coming from a person who has flown quite a bit in his lifetime, I can say that airports are very interesting (and at times stressful; and at other times even very stressful) places, especially when you are traveling with kids. And if you are ever in an airport, {(as someone once pointed out)] one interesting thing to note is the the [the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on standby. The ones with confirmed tickets read newspapers, chat with their friends or sleep. The ones on standby hang around the ticket counter, pace and … pace. The difference is caused by the confidence factor. If you knew that in fifteen minutes you would have to stand in judgment before the Holy God and learn your eternal destiny, what would your reaction be? Would you… pace? Would you say to yourself, "I don't know what God's going to say--will it be 'Welcome home, child,' or will it be 'Depart from me; I never knew you'?] That is a question every one of us must at some point ask ourselves. Yet if we have placed our faith in Christ and chosen to follow Him, we can (and ought) to have assurance that we are indeed saved. And that is what our passage today is all about. In 1 John 4:17, we circle back to this theme of confidence. It says… 1 John 4:17 (ESV)-- 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. And this word “confidence” shows up a number of places in John’s epistle. 1 John 2:28 (ESV)-- 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 1 John 3:21 (ESV)-- 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 1 John 5:14 (ESV)-- 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. Abiding, Complete Love, & Confidence-- So we see that this theme of confidence is and important theme in 1 John, and one that John emphasizes very strongly as we draw nearer to the close of his epistle. John wants his readers to be abiding in Christ, to have that relationship authenticated by having demonstrated in themselves the fruit of a transformed life (a love that that is “complete”); and lastly to have a life that is marked not by fear, but by confidence; and particularly a “confidence for the day of judgment ”. Not Arnold’s Judgment Day-- Now if were to google image search “judgment day” right now (and I did just recently) you would find that most of the pictures you would be greeted by are not Biblical pictures. Instead of pictures of Jesus you are greeted by photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator looking back at you. As cool as he may have looked in that movie (and as much as I have been told I look like him;…….okay that’s not true) we are talking about a very different kind of Judgment Day. Day of Judgment-- [The day of judgment is that time when all people will appear before Christ and be held accountable for their actions. {However, for Christians} With God living in us through Christ, we have no reason to fear this day because we have been saved from punishment.] Romans 8:1 (ESV)-- 8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Looking Forward To Judgment Day-- And so this means that [Instead, we can look forward to the day of judgment because it will mean the end of sin and the beginning of a face-to-face relationship with Jesus Christ.] We can have assurance during and leading up to that day; an assurance that produces a confidence; a boldness in how we live, how we pray, and how we witness. Now how do we get that assurance and confidence? 1 John 4:17a (ESV)-- 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment:… So first of all, we see that we need to have a love that is complete. Well what does it mean to have a love that has been made complete? 1 John 4:17 (ESV)-- 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. Now this is a stunning and powerful statement. And what it is pointing us to is the marvelous reality that the true believer is clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Romans 3:21-22 (ESV)-- 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)-- 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Philippians 3:9 (ESV)-- 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- Imparted Righteousness-- Now John is clearly talking about more than our being covered by the righteousness of Christ (imputed righteousness) where God sees us through the blood of Jesus. As important as that doctrine is, John is careful to communicate that Christ’s imputed righteousness must also become our imparted righteousness; we can be made righteous as God Himself is righteous. A strong statement? Yes, but one that is in perfect accord with what God has always said was both possible and necessary. 1 Peter 1:14-16 (ESV)-- 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Now with our being being clothed with the righteousness Christ as we experience His love for us and reflect that love back on Him, our former fear is replaced with confidence. John writes in… 1 John 4:18 (ESV)— 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Not Just Emotional Fear— Now I want to point out that what we are talking about here is more than just a feeling of fear or anxiety; which we all struggle with from time to time. We are talking about a significant doubt in our salvation. John Wesley’s Doubt-- Before Wesley’s famous Aldersgate experience where he receive assurance of his salvation, Moody writes how [After John Wesley had been preaching for some time, someone said to him, "Are you sure, Mr. Wesley, of your salvation?" "Well," he answered, "Jesus Christ died for the whole world." "Yes, we all believe that; but are you sure that you are saved?" Wesley replied that he was sure that provision had been made for his salvation. "But are you sure, Wesley, that you are saved?" It went like an arrow to his heart, and he had no rest or power until that question was settled.] What the Apostle John is teaching us is that fear is banished by the confidence that comes to us in and through the love of Christ. And scripture teaches us that [we do not love God and come to Him in love, and at the same time, hide from Him in terror (cf. Rom. 8:14, 15; 2 Tim. 1:7).] We don’t have to fear the future judgment (and the moment or punishment that goes with it) because our sins have been forgiven through faith in Christ; and we have been redeemed and are being perfected in love. That is what it means to live by faith. And that faith is rooted (ultimately) in the love of God. As verse 19 says… 1 John 4:19 (ESV)-- 19 We love because he first loved us. And [If we ever are afraid of the future, eternity, or God’s judgment, we can remind ourselves of God’s love. We know that He loves us perfectly (Romans 8:38-39).] Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)-- 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so [We can resolve our fears first by focusing on his immeasurable love for us, and then by allowing him to love others through us. {In doing so} His love will quiet your fears and give you confidence.] Now if we have that confidence in His love for us and our belonging to Him, that love will move us to love those around us. And that love is one of the clearest evidences of the fact that we truly belong to Jesus. John writes in… 1 John 4:20-21 (ESV)-- 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. And so I want to encourage you today to ask God to create that kind of love in you in a deeper way. With that love will come righteousness; and with that righteousness will come the assurance that you belong to Him and a confidence and a boldness that will allow God to use you in a powerful way in your family, in your church, and in your community. Ask Him for that today. Amen.
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Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim.
The Tiny Thread of a Root-- A few years ago I remember I had to undergo the task of pulling out numerous bush-like weeds that had grown up through the cement of my family’s back porch. And what amazed me was how such large weeds could protrude from such tiny little cracks. In other places on the porch, however, there were other weeds that had become withered and died. Both had received the same amount of rain and sunshine, and yet some flourished while others faded away. The key to the life of those that flourished wasn’t found in what they themselves could absorb from their environment, but rather upon a tiny thread of a root that (through the almost imperceptible cracks) connected them to the earth beneath the pavement. And the same is true of us. Jesus says to His disciples in… John 15:4 (ESV)-- 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. The Key To Life-- Now what John is doing here in our passage today here in 1 John 4:12-17 is he’s expounding a little bit on what Jesus was saying, reminding his readers that the key to life itself lies in our abiding in Christ; we must abide in Him and He must abide in us. Take note as we read verses 12-17 just how many times we come across the keyword “abide” and the keyword “in”: 1 John 4:12-17 (ESV)-- 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. Our Spiritual Transplant-- So here we see the process by which the believer comes to abide in the family of God. We confess that Jesus is the Son of God (v 15) and then immediately in that same verse we see that after confession God abides in the Christian and the Christian in God. And in that abiding we experience two things. The first is the love of God for us; and the second is the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. And really the Spirit is the secret to the life of the Christian. He is the One who shapes us into the image of Christ to where we are holy and righteous (John even says “in this world”) as he is. In fact, it is helpful to think of the Holy Spirit as the Holy-making Spirit because His chief role is to make us like Christ. And it is the sense of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives that John says confirms that we are in Jesus. It says in… 1 John 4:13 (ESV)— 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. Kinlaw on The Role of the Holy Spirit-- Now one scholar I read often points out here how: [the Spirit whom Jesus gave to his disciples was not just the third person of the Trinity; it was the Spirit who had empowered Jesus’ own life and ministry. The secret to Jesus’ life was the Spirit, and the Spirit is anxious to be the secret of your life and mine. The Spirit was the one who initiated Christ’s conception. It was he who anointed Jesus at his baptism. The word Christ means “anointed,” so it was the Spirit who made Jesus the Christ. It was the Spirit who led Jesus and sustained him through his temptation in the wilderness. The Spirit was the source of Jesus’ power over the demonic, and the Spirit enabled him to endure the Cross. The writer of Hebrews speaks of Christ as the one “who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God” (Heb. 9:14). It was the Spirit who, with the Father, raised Jesus from the dead. The Spirit was the key to the earthly life of Jesus. Now on Jesus’ last night before the Cross, he told his disciples that he wanted them to have the same one in their lives who had been in his own. He promised them the Holy Spirit. And that promise is to you and me as well.] A Spirit-empowered Love-- Now when the Spirit re-makes us in the image of Christ, the Christian finds that their life becomes characterized by love. Not the world’s standard of love (which is incredibly shallow) but rather the kind of self-sacrificial love that Jesus embodied and demonstrated on the cross; the kind of love that John has been talking about in and throughout this entire epistle. That kind of love is what separates Christianity from mere religion. Getting On The Cross-- It’s as someone once said: [“Religion is hanging around the Cross; Christianity is getting on the Cross."] Abiding in Jesus means we will also abide in and share His sacrificial love. John says in… 1 John 4:12 (ESV)-- 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. The Best Preacher-- [Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, famous British preacher, had five sons, all of whom became ministers of the gospel. One day a visitor in their home dared to ask a personal question: “Which of you six is the best preacher?” Their united answer was “Mother!” Of course, Mrs. Morgan had never preached a formal sermon in a church, but her life was a constant sermon on the love of God.] And that is what our lives are supposed to be as well; a constant sermon on the love of God. But that love does not begin in us, but rather starts with our first accepting Jesus Christ and His love for us. John says in… 1 John 4:14-16a (ESV)— 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. From Vertical to Horizontal-- Before anything else, we must accept and receive the love that God has for us. And that means accepting Christ. It is only when that vertical relationship with God is healed through the work of Jesus that the Holy Spirit can come in and begin to transform our horizontal relationships with one another. And He will. Once we begin to abide in Christ, not only do we connect ourselves with eternal life, but also with the source of Love. And that forever changes our relationships with other people; to the point where we become identified by the love of Christ. John says in… 1 John 4:16b-17 (ESV)— God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. Cleansing of The Heart— Now how this works is that the Holy Spirit works in us a cleansing of the heart. Cleansing from what? Sin, yes; but what does that look like? What is sin? Sin is more than an act of disobedience. It is an orientation of the heart; an orientation that has been shifted from seeking to please and obey God to seeking our own wants and desires and placing them first. The Two Men and The Two Fish-- [You may have heard the story of two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant. Each requested filet of sole, and after a few minutes the waiter came back with their order. Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter. One of the men proceeded to serve his friend. Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table. "Well, you certainly do have nerve!" exclaimed his friend. “ What's troubling you?" asked the other. "Look what you've done," he answered. "You've given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself." "How would you have done it?" the man asked. His friend replied, "If I were serving, I would have given you the big piece." "Well," replied the man, "I've got it, haven't I?" At this, they both laughed.] The Selfless Mark-- The mark of a transformed, abiding Christian is that all that he/she does is not ultimately for themselves, but for the glory of God, which also means a placing of the needs of others before your own. That is the essence of love. [LOVE OF A DISCIPLE-- Clement of Alexandria, describing the person who has come to know God, wrote, "He impoverishes himself out of love, so that he is certain he may never overlook a brother in need, especially if he knows he can bear poverty better than his brother. He likewise considers the pain of another as his own pain. And if he suffers any hardship because of having given out of his own poverty, he does not complain.”] The Self-Emptying of Jesus-- As I was reading this quote, I began thinking about the self-emptying of Jesus. Jesus impoverished Himself; lowered Himself; bore our sins in our very flesh which He took on. In the same way we are to empty ourselves for one another and for Him. Our selfishness; our sin must give way to abiding in the Love of Christ and allowing that love to move us to give ourselves to others as Christ gave Himself for us. The question is, have we gotten on the cross? Are we living lives of sacrifice for other people that is characteristic of Christ’s own sacrifice for us? That is the mark of the Spirit-filled believer; and it is something that John comes to time and time again. And so we come full circle to the question of abiding. Are we just going through the religious motions? Or are we connecting ourselves (like that weed through the pavement) to Christ, the source of real, genuine, Spirit-filled Life? It is so easy to lose sight of what matters. The Ephesians John was writing to in this passage had become disconnected from God. And John wanted them to cast their roots and begin to connect back. And today, that is what God is asking us to do. Now maybe you don’t feel able enough or strong enough to cast deep roots; and that’s okay. You might feel like the pavement is just a little too thick. But you know what, if you are willing to ask God to meet you where you’re at, He will bring His ground up to you and help you to get deeper into Him. But it begins with our asking; our invitation to Him to allow Him in. And so let us invite Him in today. Amen. Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim.
Years ago I worked at an Apple retail store. And during my time there I had an atheist acquaintance I used to work with that I tried to witness to. And he was open to Christianity, but remained unconvinced. But I will never forget what his chief struggle was. It wasn’t any of the typical things you might think an atheist would struggle with; the problem of evil in the world, or anything like that. No, it was something else. The primary thing he just could not get past and accept was the fact that the God of the universe would ever lower Himself to care for people like us to the depth and to the degree that the Bible says He did. For my friend, that seemed very un-God-like. And you know I think you can even be a Christian and struggle with this question. I know sometimes I have questioned and even doubted God’s love for me simply because of how unworthy I feel of that love. But one of the things we will unpack as we begin to move through this passage today is that God loves us not on the basis of who we are, but on the basis of who He is. He is not just “loving”; no, He is love. He defines love. And though it is one of the clearest Biblical teachings, the doctrine of God’s love for us is at the same time one of the most profound truths and (at times) the most difficult to accept. God is Love — Have you ever wondered why it is that God loves us? Or, on a similar note, why did He create us? Have you ever wondered why God created man? Is it because one day He just got bored and lonely and decided to create us for entertainment; or for company? I mean if God has always existed and existed before we were created, what did He do? Does God need us? Was He compelled to create us because, by Himself, He was deficient? Is He like some kind of Ferris Bueller character that says to us, “You complete me.”? Does God need us? That is an interesting question because of what is revealed to us in… 1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)-- 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God is Love— Now notice that it doesn’t say that God is loving. No, it says God is love. He is the very definition of love. This is something that sets Christianity apart from every other religion. God is not merely loving; He is the very definition and source of all love. Requiring and Object-- Now love, as we all know, requires an object. You cannot love; truly love by yourself. Love is something that is demonstrated by your actions in another person’s life. Love is not a feeling. It is an action verb. Well, let me ask you this. Long before man was created; long before the world was created; long before heaven and angels were created, was God still love? That is what Christianity teaches. But the question then becomes, “Well, how could God be love before there was anything to love?” How could God be love before there was an object that could receive that love?” Now you can say that God was not love until He created man, but that is not what the Bible teaches because then that would mean that God had to change at some point; and the scripture is very clear that God never changes. It says in… Malachi 3:6 (ESV)-- 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. James 1:17 (ESV)-- 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. The Triune Nature of God-- So how could God be love from eternity? How could He possibly be love before there was a single created thing? Well the answer lies in the unique Christian doctrine of the Trinity. God is not one person, but three; God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit. And so rather than being just one, God is three. God is a community of persons who live in constant communion; a fellowship of love with one another; and have done so from eternity. And so God has always been love in Himself because all three persons of the Trinity have always existed and have each poured themselves out in love to the others. The Most amazing thing-- Now this is important in answering our first question: Does God need us? Because one of the most amazing things we come to know about our relationship with God is that while we need Him, He does not need us. He is already a community of persons in Himself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). He doesn’t need our companionship, our worship, or our prayers. Rather, He is sufficient; He is complete in Himself. So why then did God create us? Well, while our minds cannot even begin to grasp the depth of that love and every aspect of it, we do know one thing about it: IT CANNOT BE CONTAINED. IT CANNOT BE CONTAINED. You see, God’s love is always growing; always expanding. It is so selfless that it is always seeking for new beings to love. Why? Because God’s love is always creative; it always bears fruit. It always desires to expand. And so because God is that kind of love, He wanted to produce more beings who might be recipients of the overflow of His love. God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness...” The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit wanted to allow their love to produce a fruit. And so they created man. And that is the defining characteristic of Biblical love; Godly love always bears fruit. Humanity the Overflow of God’s Love-- Humanity is the fruit of the overflow of God’s love. And, because Biblical love is always fruitful, so was mankind to be fruitful. Just as God is plural, yet one, so man was to be plural, yet one. Man was to cleave unto His wife and become one flesh. And that relationship was meant to bear fruit. The first command given in all of scripture was to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, .…” (Gen. 1:28 ESV) Fruit Now Born Through Pain-- But then of course man sinned. And sin changed everything. Adam and Eve did what they thought was best for themselves rather than what was in God’s interest or each other’s interest. And the result of that sin was that we became separated from God. But it is interesting how the curse immediately affected them. Adam would work the ground, which would no longer easily bear fruit. Eve, who would become the mother of all living, would from this point onward experience pain in childbirth; at the very point of her fruitfulness. God would still allow them to bear fruit; fruit from the ground and fruit from the womb, but that fruitfulness was now limited and associated with pain and toil. And that is what sin does; it always touches us at the point of our fruitfulness. Love as Christ loved us— Now God could have turned His back on us. He could have said, “You are no longer my children. I am going to leave you to the death that your sin has produced, which will be the end of you.” But He doesn’t. Instead, He begins to show His true Father-ness; the depth of His love for us. 1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)— 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Frequency of the World Love-- Now in verses 7-21 the word “love” appears 27 times. Now there are many words for love in the New Testament. But I looked every one of these up in Greek. They are all agape. Well, what is agape love? The Boy Rewrites the Story of The Ant and the Grasshopper— I remember reading a story a number of years ago. [The mother of a nine-year-old boy named Mark received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon. It was the teacher from her son’s school. “Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your son’s third-grade class. Your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately. The mother began to grow worried. The teacher continued, “Nothing like this has happened in all my years of teaching. This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of the ant and the grasshopper: “The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work. Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he begs, ‘Please Mr. Ant, you have much food. Please let me eat, too.’” Then I said, “Boys and girls, your job is to write the ending to the story.” “Your son, Mark, raised his hand. ‘Teacher, may I draw a picture?’ “ ‘Well, yes, Mark, if you like, you may draw a picture. But first you must write the ending to the story.’ “As in all the years past, most of the students said the ant shared his food through the winter and both the ant and the grasshopper lived. A few children wrote, ‘No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer. Now I have just enough food for myself.’ So the ant lived and the grasshopper died. “But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child, ever. He wrote, ‘So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper; the grasshopper lived through the winter, but the ant died.’ “And the picture? At the bottom of the page, Mark had drawn three crosses.”] Defined by the Cross-- You see agape love is the deepest kind of love; it is self-sacrificing love. And it is defined by Christ’s own love demonstrated for us on the cross. And it is a love we are called to as well. 1 John 4:11-12 (ESV)-- 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. By The Spirit-- Now the only way for us to love self-sacrificially not only those who love us, but even those who wound us (just like Christ loved those and prayed for forgiveness for those who were at that time wounding him on the cross) is by the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can enable you to love like that. So if you are loving like that, then that is strong evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in your life. But the self-giving, sacrificial love of the cross is the standard. And you and I can know that love. But it must begin with your own relationship with Jesus; you have to come to the point where you accept and receive God’s love for you in and through His Son Jesus Christ; and the sacrifice He made for you on a personal level. Only then can we fully reflect a love that is (like Christ’s) perfect and complete. And though we may never understand why God loves us (at least FULLY), we CAN know that He loves us. Let’s embrace that Love today. Amen. |
Rev. Cameron Ury graduated from Asbury University in 2007 with a B.A. in Bible and Theology. From there he continued his studies at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, MS. It was there that he met his wife Tanya, who graduated from WBS with her M.A. and M.Div. degrees. Cameron and Tanya got married in 2009. Cameron then graduated with his M.Div. degree with a pastoral concentration in 2011.
After shepherding churches in both Mississippi and Ohio, they joined the ministry team at Renton Park Chapel in January of 2018, where Cameron serves as Senior Pastor and Teacher. Cameron is also the founder and host of Lechem Panim, a weekly radio show that airs on KGNW 820AM "The Word Seattle". The ministry of Lechem Panim is centered around leading people into the life-giving presence of God in and through Bible study, prayer, and active discipleship with the aim of ministering to a world that is in desperate need of the healing touch of Jesus Christ. Archives
November 2022
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