Sermons @ Hope

Luke 9:28-36 is about the Transfiguration of Jesus. It is a rich theological text that teaches us about the glorious Son of God whom we worship. It is what we call a Christological text. It teaches us who Jesus is so that we would respond to him appropriately. In many ways, this text should be taken with the previous text, Luke 9:18-27. In this previous text, Jesus spoke of his suffering and what it looks like to follow him. Now, Luke 9:28-36 reminds us of the identity of the one who is asking. He is the glorious Son of God. So, Christian come after Jesus. We deny ourselves. We pick up our cross daily. We lose our lives for his sake. And all this, Jesus can ask of us because he is the glorious Son of God, as we see at the Transfiguration. This text is an epic theologically rich meal. It is loaded with Old Testament allusions and themes to present Christ in all his glory! The allusions to the Old Testament give us old categories to understand Jesus. But the parallels to the Old Test...

La fin de la vie d'Attila le Hun est l'un des événements les plus décevants de l'histoire. Au Ve siècle, Attila a vaincu toute la partie orientale de l'Empire romain. Il ne lui restait plus qu'à envahir Rome pour conquérir toute l'Italie. Après toutes ses glorieuses victoires, il est rentré chez lui, où il est mort d'un saignement de nez. On lui attribue la citation suivante : « Là où je suis passé, l'herbe ne repoussera jamais. » Il restera désormais dans l'histoire comme l'homme le plus redouté qui soit mort d'une hémorragie nasale. Quelle fin décevante pour un guerrier aussi impressionnant ! Le paradigme d'un homme qui a mené une vie si impressionnante pour finir de manière si peu impressionnante aide à comprendre Luc 9:18-27. Jusqu'à ce moment-là, le ministère de Jésus était si impressionnant et si prometteur. Dans notre texte, le ministère de Jésus prend un tournant radical. Ce tournant déçoit beaucoup de gens. Il change tout pou...

The end of the life of Attila the Hun is one of the most anticlimactic events in history. In the fifth century, Attila the Hun defeated the entire eastern part of the Roman Empire. All he needed was Rome to invade all of Italy. After all his glorious victories, he returned home, where he died of a nosebleed. A quote attributed to him was “There, where I have passed, the grass will never grow again.” He has gone down as the most feared man in history who died of a nosebleed. What a disappointing ending to the life of such an impressive warrior. The paradigm of a man who lived such an impressive life only to have such an unimpressive end helps to understand Luke 9:18-27. Until this point, the ministry of Jesus was so impressive and had such promise. In our text, Luke 8:18-27, Jesus’ ministry takes an unexpected turn. This turn disappoints many. It changes everything for everyone. From texts like Ps 2, the Jews expected a conquering, victorious, warrior Messiah. So far in Luke, Jesus ...

« Qu'est-ce que l'Évangile ? » Croyez-le ou non, il existe un débat parmi les chrétiens. Certains se demandent si l'Évangile présenté dans Matthieu, Marc, Luc, Jean et les Actes diffère de l'Évangile de Paul. S'agit-il de l'Évangile du royaume de Dieu ou de l'Évangile du pardon des péchés ? Nous ne devons pas nous laisser troubler. Il s'agit d'un seul et même évangile. Nous devons comprendre comment le règne de Dieu et le salut s'articulent. Cette compréhension nous aidera à mieux apprécier ce que Dieu a accompli en Christ. J'avais l'habitude de dire que l'évangile, c'est que nous sommes des pécheurs, mais que Jésus est mort pour nos péchés. Si nous croyons en lui et nous repentons de nos péchés, nous sommes pardonnés. Je continue de croire cela. Dans 1 Corinthiens 15:1-5, Paul dit que l'Évangile est ceci : 3 Christ est mort pour nos péchés conformément aux Écritures, 4 qu'il a été enseveli, qu'il est ressuscité le tro...

"What is the Gospel?" Believe it or not, among Bible believing Christians there is some debate. Some have asked if the gospel presented in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts differs from Paul's gospel? Is it the gospel of the kingdom of God or is it the gospel of the forgiveness of sins? They are one and the same gospel. Christians must know how God's reign and salvation fit together to understand the gospel. I used to say, “The gospel is that though we are sinners and fall short of God’s perfect standard, Jesus died for our sins. If we trust in him and repent from our sins, we are forgiven.” I still believe this. In 1 Cor 15:3-5, Paul says that the gospel is that : Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve." Rom 6:23 states that "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal lif...