Monday, March 10, 2014

12 YouTube Sermons by Mark Driscoll on Jesus Christ


Jesus Christ is the very center of Christian faith.  There is no Christianity, there is no Bible, there is meaning or purpose to anything at all, without the incredible center of Christianity, Jesus Christ.  

I've been struggling a bit lately, as we all do, and this sermon series has been powerfully edifying to my faith.  It's very easy to drift off into the Old Testament, doctrinal issues, Armenian vs. Calvin, and issues surrounding the Christian faith.  

Be cautious in your own walk, that Jesus Christ is always at the very center.  We hear about the cross of Jesus Christ so often in our lives that it becomes easy to just pass it over.  It's been spoken and re-spoken so many times to us, that we begin to lose touch with the power and meaning of it.  Just like with extremely popular Bible verses like John 3:16, I'll start to avoid those popular verses because I'm just so tired of hearing them over and over.  

Constantly in my walk as a Christian I want to be finding ways to rediscover the power and beauty of the cross of Jesus Christ.  I want to be falling deeper and deeper in love with my glorious Savior.  I'm not special, I'm just some blogger, seminary student at best.  I can very easily fall off track.  But a good sermon series like this can do a lot to strengthen the core of my belief system, which is Jesus Christ.

The way Jesus lived is a constant inspiration.  The way Jesus died provides a powerful example for me to aspire to.  His sovereignty as he lives in heaven on the throne at this very moment is a constant imputing into my life of authority, leadership, correction, and most often, powerful encouragement. 

This is a sermon series by Mark Driscoll one of my heroes of faith.  I've decided this is a sermon series I'll regularly return to, in order to always be reminding myself of the center piece of my personal redemption.  The man Christ Jesus is my brother, my savior, my best friend, and my God.  Nothing can ever change that, I was saved at the moment I believed in him.  No demon or fool can take Jesus Christ away from me, and I know they will try.  But they can't.  

Before you delve into these wonderful sermons, be aware that Pastor Mark Driscoll is exceedingly crass, lewd, and direct.  He doesn't hold back, and he explains things exactly as they are.  Before we as moderate Christians jump on his back about his abrupt, sarcastic, and intense mode of preaching the gospel, let's consider who he preaches to.  He communicates the gospel to young men in their 20s in the west coast city of Seattle, Washington.  Very simply Mark Driscoll is engaging the culture and radically adapting the objective truth of scripture to the cultural practices and styles of communication in that area of the country.  This is absolutely Biblical.  At the Acts chapter 15 Jerusalem council, it was ruled that non-jews becoming Christians would not be forced to comply with the cultural practices of the Jewish faith.  This allowed the gospel to flow freely into the Greek world and beyond.  Missionaries in foreign lands, in China, India, and other parts of the world take the truth of scripture, separate it from the traditional religious practices of western culture, and help new people groups apply it to their indigenous cultures.  This is a practice the modern Christian church in the United States needs to adopt, because when we cling to our traditional American ways of communicating the gospel, we do so at the expense of younger generations.  We can't be surprised when using that approach, that the entire culture begins to turn radically against Christianity.  Relevance, relevance.

Jesus Christ is Lord.  This is an apologetically strong sermon series, often addressing issues and sourcing outside direct reference to Bible verses, in order to edify and build up possible new believers in the coherence, historical accuracy, philosophical superiority, and incredible love within the life, death, resurrection, and current heavenly ministry of Jesus Christ, who lives now in heaven and works in the lives of billions of believers today.  

Enjoy!