The Unwanted Gift - April 14, 2024 - Jeremy Ashworth

·28 min·2 clips

A church offered $15,000 worth of acoustic panels they hated—would the brown panels match Circle of Peace's purple chairs?

The episode opens with announcements about the church's building project and a $1 million fundraising goal called '1 million strong,' emphasizing prayer, giving, and sharing faith. Jeremy introduces a tactile prayer activity involving writing on rocks to be placed in the foundation. He then shares a personal anecdote: a neighboring church offered $15,000 worth of acoustic sound panels they disliked due to the color. Jeremy accepted without checking if the brown panels would match Circle of Peace's purple chairs. Upon inspection, he discovered the chairs weren't purely purple but contained brown shades that matched perfectly. This leads to the core theme: sometimes we need something new to reveal what has always been true. Jeremy applies this to Jesus and the Old Testament, explaining that Jesus' community questioned if he matched the Old Testament scriptures. He outlines the Bible's structure, with the Old Testament as the written word of God and standard for truth. Jeremy argues the match matters because God doesn't contradict himself. He provides evidence, noting the Old Testament is referenced over 250 times in the Gospels, and the Christmas story fulfills Old Testament prophecy about a virgin birth. He discusses how people didn't see the match at the time, citing John 20 and Luke 24 where disciples only understood after Jesus' resurrection. Jeremy delves into Psalm 22, reading verses that describe suffering, pierced hands and feet, and divided garments—echoing Jesus' crucifixion—and notes it ends with 'It is finished.' He explains the Bible is a unified story leading to Jesus. Jeremy gives a crash course: Old Testament themes like earthly kings, priests, law, and sacrifice are fulfilled in Jesus as ultimate king, high priest, law-keeper, and perfect sacrifice. He shares a story about a Bible nerd and computer nerd who mapped 63,779 cross-references in the Bible, showing a visual graph of connections. Jeremy transitions to pastoral application, acknowledging some listeners might be hurting and feel disconnected from the teaching. He uses the cross-reference graph as a metaphor: our lives are small specks in a larger divine plan, and though we may not see the full arc, God is at work. The sermon ends with a prayer emphasizing trust in God's unseen work and gratitude for Jesus' resurrection.

As heard by us

A building campaign leads into a sermon on resurrection, delayed understanding, and the work God may be doing before it can be seen.

Circle of Peace opens with the sounds of a building project: concrete poured, steel rising, and a $1 million goal for a new church facility. From there, the sermon turns toward a larger theological claim: God's work can feel sudden only because much of its preparation has been…

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Why you'd press play

You want a resurrection sermon that opens with a $1 million new-facility goal, then turns into a sharp lesson on what only looks sudden.

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