God's Covenant with You 8/21/16

In this message I (Jonathan) share who you are, on the most fundamental level. Getting this right changes everything. Look at this with me through the lens of baptism!

Reclining With God 4/3/16

One of my favorite moments in the Bible is found after Jesus raises a man named Lazarus from death, and then later we find them "reclining" together at dinner. So cool. Lazarus could dip his bread into the same bowl as Jesus, the One who was touching him with God's love. The promises of Scripture were no longer abstract--they were sitting next to him!

Do you know God in a practical way?  Is the Bible abstract? Or is the Bible what you recognize being lived out practically in the midst of your surrounding life. This is what the church is all about! This is what CPPC needs to be all about.

In this message we engage Scripture to see Jesus as the practical form of God, and the church as that ongoing practical form now.

Shallow Worship 3/20/16

For many people today Jesus is little more than an ideal. Jesus is liked because he offered good teachings, because he represented love. And then, when it comes down to it, Jesus is easily pushed to the side when convenient. Jesus said to do “this;” I want to do “that;” I push “this” aside and do “that.” We all do it. And so, let's be real enough to say, "I need to re-form my view of Jesus through listening to his words."

Scripture shares how Jesus entered Jerusalem being praised by people that honored him for his teachings, for his miracles, for his love. But they were only willing to call him a “prophet” (a God-chosen teacher). And then a week later these same people are found yelling, “Crucify him.”

Who you are willing to say Jesus is will decide how you can treat him. If Jesus is only a teacher filled with great insight for our lives, then you certainly can pick and choose what you want to hear. If you are interested in believing what Jesus said of himself—that he is God and so Lord of your life—then your only choice is to accept all of his words. Who is Jesus to you? Who is Jesus to the people around you today? How can you encourage yourself, and those around you, to accept Jesus as the ultimate authority (rather than simply a man full of good sayings)?

Peter, like all of us, learns this the hard way on more than one occasion. Once he was trying to be on Jesus’ side, to protect him even. Nevertheless, since Peter was picking and choosing what he wanted to accept Jesus put him in his place (big time!).

Matthew 16: 

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

The only way you can move toward accepting Jesus for who he is will be hearing or reading and accepting the words that he spoke (open a Bible, find Mark or Matthew, and read).

In the message below I share on the importance of Scripture shaping, and re-shaping, both your life and the life of CPPC.

The Shaky Church 3/13/16

God must shake things up in order to make things right. When we welcome our participation in God’s action then things are going to change for the better.

In this message the concentration is upon Canoga Park Pres Church’s current shaking. We are a shaky church! This can be uncomfortable—for everyone. And at the same time we take comfort in the shaking as we know this is the evidence of God’s hand upon us. So let’s consider what it will mean to boldly welcome this shaking.

God's Watching 1/17/16

How's your heart?

We're here for such a short time on Earth. One thing that will remain throughout your life is what’s happening on the inside, in your heart. Your circumstances will change, but God always focuses on your heart. Your successes or failures, popularity or poverty, beauty or any other place where people look are simply not where God focuses when looking at you. 

In this message we talk about taking our pulse together.

God's Way 12/6/2015

When God hands out those Ten Commandments we all learn: God does have THE WAY we are intended to live. And the church, the collection of Jesus' disciples, exists to strive for THE WAY. In this message I (Jonathan) speak on CPPC being God's Word bearers.

God's Plans for You 11/29/2015

This message is a wonder-inducing call to live in the fullness of what God plans for me (and you). Pastor Raul shares from his heart out of life of  Moses.