Savior

October 13, 2025

The Burning Bush

Exodus 3

For forty years, Moses has been living in the land of Midian, presumably enjoying a quiet life. His life in Egypt is a fading memory. Living in relative seclusion. Ah, the golden years.

But God isn’t finished yet. Not with Moses and not with His people.

An encounter with the LORD in a burning bush, and Moses is called back into action. He’s given a mission. A message for the people: “I have surely seen, I have heard, I know, I will go down, and I will bring you up.” And a message for Pharaoh: “Let My people go!” Although Moses will have a part to play, make no mistake about it—it is God who will rescue His people.

God still sees the affliction of His people, He hears our outcry, and He knows our suffering. He’s already at work. On the flip side, He has a job for us to do. He does the rescuing, but we have a part to play. Our’s is to say yes. If we are still here, then we’re not done. He has work for us to do. To reach the lost, to storm the gates of hell, to advance His kingdom…

Do you know this God? If not, you can today. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and believing that Jesus is the Savior whom God promised. The Hero that God’s people had been anxiously awaiting for thousands of years. He lived a perfect life and died a sacrificial death. He was raised to life on the third day, proving that He had conquered both sin and death, so that by believing in Him, the Bible says we, like Adam and Noah, Abraham and Joseph, can be saved—not because of anything that we have done, but because of what Jesus did. The Innocent who died for the guilty so that the guilty could be declared innocent.

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This post is based on a sermon from our Exodus series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

August 9, 2016

Suffering Before Glory

Luke 9.28-45

When we began the Luke series last fall, one of the things we talked about…what Luke wanted us to do as we read through his Gospel…is to examine the evidence so that we might be able to answer the question, “Who is Jesus?”

We’ve come a long ways since then, and no doubt we still have a ways to go. Now we’ve reached a pivotal point in Luke’s story. Last week Peter rightly answered our question for us…“Who is Jesus?” He is the Christ of God. But what does that mean? The disciples thought that they knew what it meant…a Conquering King bringing in a glorious kingdom. The overthrow of Rome and Israel once again in a place of prominence on the world stage. And while Isaiah talked about a Suffering Servant and there were hints of adversity to come (Genesis 3.15), still Jewish folks living in the 1st century were expecting a fierce Warrior-Messiah like David.

While there were plenty of OT prophesies to justify their expectations, there were also personal reasons why folks would want a Conquering King…we all want to be on the winning side. Their expectations weren’t wrong, just mistimed. Jesus will come back as Conquering King. Everyone who is on His side will win with Him. But first He would be the Suffering Servant. Suffering before glory.

I think sometimes we have a similar timing problem. We like the glory part. We like the kingdom part. But we don’t like the suffering part. And if we are honest with ourselves, many times we do anything we can to avoid it. We want to follow Jesus without cost or consequence. And yet the constant testimony of Jesus and the rest of the NT is that suffering is a fundamental part of the Christian life. But the good news is…we are never alone in suffering for Jesus. Somehow Paul says that we can experience the perfect peace of God in the midst of chaos, joy in the midst of pain, hope in the deepest darkness. We don’t have to give up or give in because Jesus wins. And we have a heavenly Father who delights in us and desires our good, who loves us so completely that we will spend an eternity trying to comprehend it.

Sometimes ours isn’t a timing problem, but a “Who is Jesus?” problem. We are looking for a Jesus who meets our expectations. We want Jesus to rescue us from our sins, but we don’t want Him to change us too much. We want Him to heal us or fix our marriage or solve our financial problems…we want Him to be Savior in lots of ways, but we don’t really want to listen to Him. We don’t want His words sinking into our ears. We don’t want Him to be Lord of our lives. We want Him to make much of us…we don’t want to make much of Him.

But Jesus is both Savior and Lord. He is Suffering Servant and Conquering King. He is both Lamb and Lion.

Maybe today is the day that you need to let Jesus’ words sink into your ears. Maybe today is the day that you need to see Him in all His glory as both Suffering Servant and Conquering King. Maybe today is the day that you need to recommit to following Jesus, no matter what the cost. Maybe today is the day that you need to be reminded that suffering comes before glory.

Until next time…stay salty.

“May we be willing to follow Jesus in both the good and the hard times this week.”

This post is based on a sermon from our Luke series, Live & Love Like Jesus. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @ccclancaster