Crossbridge Community Church Of Ocean County

In a time where anxiety, weariness and frustration has gripped so many there is a voice that resonates from Heaven that calls us and says “ Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest “ . The Sabbath that the Spirit of God calls us to is one in which we will encounter Peace , regeneration of the mind and above all the one who loves us with a love that is beyond words.

 Our sinful nature doesn't like being held accountable. We tend to have this attitude that shows itself differently: You can't tell me what to do! Don't judge me! He/she made me do it. I received a letter from the IRS that I am being audited! Teachers/professors should not use grades when evaluating tests. Public school teachers should refrain from using red pencil or ink when they correct a paper or test. That offends me and makes me uncomfortable. There are many more examples. In the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus taught the disciples that when He returns, there will be a day of accounting and judgment. Some great lessons in this parable will help us in theology about the end times and practical theology to help us live our daily lives.

 Since the church's inception at Pentecost, Christ's followers have always been curious about the Second Coming of Christ. Sometimes, we tend to let this question distract us from a more critical question. Are we ready for Christ's Second Coming? In Matthew 24, the disciples raise this question of Jesus' Second coming, and Jesus answered them with a sermon to refocus their thinking on the more important question. "Are you ready?"

One can sense something supernatural when a Christ follower worships in Spirit and truth. We sense once again the deep love of the Father and the Son. Our response is to worship and serve Christ because of our love relationship. When you and I worship Christ in Spirit and truth, we sense an intimate communion so special that the atmosphere around us becomes beautiful. Listen to Revelation 1:9-20. This beautiful passage in John 12:1-11 gives us some excellent and practical insights into what it means to worship Christ in Spirit and truth.

 You have heard me say that a dysfunctional system will always try to find a way to sustain its dysfunction at any cost. Here is an example: The Sanhedrin included the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees were not meant to be a political party. Their function was to live according to the letter of the law. All that was important for them was to live up to the letter of the law no matter who was in the political power. The Sadducees were a prominent political party of wealthy and influential people. They were willing to cooperate with the Roman authorities as long as they were allowed to keep their wealth,  comfort, and power. To further complicate the dysfunction, all priests were Sadducees. Therefore, the priests controlled most of the talking in these meetings. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, many Jews who came for the funeral believed in Christ as the Messiah. Therefore, Jesus was a growing threat to this dysfunctional system's power, greed, pride, and authority.

Can anyone tell me if there is a difference in meaning between a house and a home? A house is a structure, while a home is or ought to be a place of peace and rest. Therefore, you may have a mortgage on a house or rent a house, apartment, or trailer house; they all could be home if Christ is the centerpiece. If you recall, Jesus had no house, tent, or dwelling for the last three to three and one-half years of His ministry. Jesus had close friends who provided Him a place To rest and find understanding and peace during His ministry's good and rough portions. We meet this family again in John 11. There were two sisters, Martha and Mary, and their brother, Lazarus. In this beautiful narrative, we find out that Lazarus is ill with a terminal illness.  Lazarus' two sisters sent word to Jesus that His friend was sick. This is a story of love and grace and great theology that has application to us today. Let's dive into this passage and see God's great truths today.

Listen to an inspiring and encouraging worship and praise service.

What are some theories or principles which we are asked to believe in this day and age? Let me list some: the big bang theory, evolution theory, woke theory, the flat earth theory, the Bible is an antiquated document written solely by men, science will come to a point where we will not need God, life doesn't start at conception, and there are 74 genders. Despite what the Scriptures tell us and significant evidence, many people tend to believe the lies of this world rather than the truth. In this passage, we will see how easily people dismissed and rejected the truth of who Jesus is.  Even with the living truth speaking to them, they refused to believe Jesus. Most things have stayed the same in 2000 years. Jesus still says plainly to people, and many still choose to reject him. Let's dig into this passage in which Jesus makes a fantastic claim with a promise.

Intro: A shepherd's job is less prominent today than in Jesus' time. Being a shepherd was essential in both the Old and New Testaments. Shepherds ensured their flock was fed, led, nurtured, and appropriately protected. Even though shepherds were important, they were looked upon by their fellow Jews, and the religious establishment believed they were nothing but low-class people. Historians have recorded that when a shepherd came into town, one could smell him before they saw him. People in the city would go out of their way to avoid a shepherd. God has used shepherds to do remarkable things to advance God's kingdom. Allow me to give you a few examples; Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, and Amos, to name a few. David gave us a beautiful example of what a good shepherd does. If you remember, he wrote the 23rd Psalm. We will take a look at that. Also, David protected his flock with his own life. In this pericope in John 10, Jesus introduced Himself to the Pharisees and the religious leaders as the Good Shepherd. We

ntro: Have you ever met a superstitious person? Let me give you some examples: If you break a mirror, you will have seven years of bad luck. You will have bad luck if you see a black cat on Friday the 13th. If you throw salt over your left shoulder, that will bring you good luck. If you pass on this chain letter, you will get money. You will receive money if you get Pastor So and So's miracle water. If you buy this holy handkerchief, you will be healed. There are many more. This same type of thinking of religious leaders who are superficial and legalistic always results in bad theology, which causes grief and false guilt when people are going through circumstances beyond their control. In this pericope, Jesus graciously heals a man who was blind from birth. When Jesus healed this man, He taught His disciples a wonderful lesson about bad theology. At the same time, Jesus infuriated the Pharisees by exposing their bad theology, inhumanity, and self-righteousness. Let's take a deep look

Intro: Have you ever met a superstitious person? Let me give you some examples: If you break a mirror, you will have seven years of bad luck. You will have bad luck if you see a black cat on Friday the 13th. If you throw salt over your left shoulder, that will bring you good luck. If you pass on this chain letter, you will get money. You will receive money if you get Pastor So and So's water. If you buy this holy handkerchief, you will be healed. There are many more. This same type of thinking of religious leaders who are superficial and legalistic always results in bad theology, which causes grief and false guilt when people are going through circumstances beyond their control. In this pericope, Jesus graciously heals a man who was blind from birth. When Jesus healed this man, He taught His disciples a wonderful lesson about bad theology. At the same time, Jesus infuriated the Pharisees by exposing their bad theology, inhumanity, and self-righteousness.

Last week, we talked about some of the consequences of original sin. Original sin makes us more prone to believe lies than God's truth. Let me illustrate this concept with some examples: If the internet says it, it must be true. If the View, CNN. Fox, Hollywood, and the politicians say it is true; it must be true. It must be true if they say the Bible is antiquated and full of errors. It must be true if they say Jesus was just a good man. If the professors and teachers say, there is no absolute truth, that must be true. Recognize the contradiction in this statement. If religious leaders claim to be the final authority rather than the Bible, they must be telling the truth. Review the dangers in trends and traditions to be the final authority; that must be true. Jesus addressed this issue head-on in the pericope today.

There is a theologically incorrect statement that I hear from many people. Many times this statement is used when someone is justifying a sinful practice. Here is the statement, "We are all children of God."  Jesus challenged His opponents in another debate to understand that the only way to be a child of God is by faith alone in the Person and work of Jesus. Please allow me to correct the theology. We are all made in the image of God, and original sin tainted that image. We can only become a child of God through grace by faith in Christ. Then and only then are we adopted into God's family as sons and daughters.

The world continues to debate who Jesus was and is. Was He a teacher? Was He a fanatic? Was He a prophet? Was He a liar and a fraud? Is Jesus the Messiah, fully God and fully man Who came to pay the penalty for our sins in our place? Is He holy love incarnate? Is He the exact representation of God? In this pericope, we will discover that Jesus' person and work will be debated. Our final decision in this debate will be a life-or-death decision.

Light has some interesting properties. Light is composed of both energy and matter. We know light has energy because light produces heat and is necessary for life. Some years ago, scientists found out that light has matter when they were a laser beam was able to suspend a pearl in mid-air. We also know that complete darkness cannot extinguish or overcome a light. In today's pericope, Jesus declares Himself to be the Light of the world. The Bible talks about sin and evil as darkness. It sometimes uses the phrase-deep night. I invite you to explore what Jesus wanted to convey to His original hearers and what applications apply to us today.

Allow me to explain the textual notes in your Bibles about John 8:1-11. This passage is only found in some of the early manuscripts of the New Testament, but it is found in some of the earlier and many of the later manuscripts. A careful reading of this passage is ideally in line with the person and work of Jesus and consistent with the rest of the Scriptures. Therefore, many Bible scholars and theologians believe this passage belongs to John's gospel. This pericope gives us great insight into Jesus' holy grace and the hypocrisy of legalistic self-righteousness religion. This passage is a beautiful message of hope to all of us who have made a mess of our lives because of sin. We can see God's grace reaching down to the vilest of sinners.

If you were to receive an invitation, from whom would be the most important?  Only you could fill in the name and the reason.  I need to ask one other question about invitations. Isn't it true that any invitation you receive is answered? Yes, I accept, or No, I decline. The Bible is replete with invitations from God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Isaiah, God invites rebellious Israel, "Come and let us reason together." All the prophets invited people to repent their sins and turn to God. In the New Testament. John the Baptist invited Israel to repent of their sins, for the kingdom of God is near. Jesus offered His invitation to believe in Him and follow Him. Then Peter gave a great invitation on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended and indwelt believers to start the church. The main idea is that how you and I respond to the invitations given by Jesus will determine our eternal destination and the quality of life we live on earth. Let's dive into this beautiful passage in John 7.

The premise is based on the fact that as the world continues to offer humanity so many unfulfilling things to run to ,we in the body of Christ know who fills the spirit and fulfills life in us.

If you get five people in a room to discuss an issue, you will get six opinions. We have all experienced this in committee meetings, church meetings, or family gatherings. I would ask you to imagine for a moment that you were attending the Festival of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. In the course of being with other Jews from Jerusalem, Jews from different places, and the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes, there is much gossip about Jesus. Generally, the Jews who came to Jerusalem were more open to Jesus. They were amazed to hear that the religious authorities considered Jesus, an outlaw and that they wanted to kill Him. The Jews who lived in Jerusalem sided with the religious authorities. The Jews in Jerusalem were probably afraid that they would be excommunicated from the temple if they disagreed with the religious leaders. If you recall from last Sunday, the religious leaders and the Jews who sided with them tried to discredit Jesus' character.  Allow me to read verses 12-13. It was Jesus' time to clear the ai

The four gospels teach us much about Jesus, but they teach us much about ourselves. It is no secret that the world's system is hostile to Jesus and true Christianity. The world's system tolerates and celebrates vulgarity, profanity, and indecent behaviors. Our culture has taken rights away from parents, invents its perverse morality to justify its immoral behavior, and devalued human life to the point where the womb is the most dangerous place for a baby. In this passage, the Apostle John gives us some insights into why the world can be so hostile to Christ and His message. Review the context. Jesus talked about eternal life, beginning with a wholehearted belief in Jesus, the Bread of Heaven. Continued spiritual health requires loving obedience to Jesus and His Word under the power of the Holy Spirit. The crowds and the religious leaders didn't like what Jesus said, and most of His followers left Him. The original twelve chose to continue to follow Christ.