February 11

John 1:14

Today George began his explanation as to why there was much controversy about who Jesus was. Was Jesus God?  Was Jesus a human being?  Did he become God?

George says the early church believed that Jesus was first man and because he lived his life like God. He was perfect.  He sat on the right side of God and then He became DIVINE.

God revealed himself through him and when he was resurrected, he became divine.

Years later, The view that won out, was that Jesus was God. Not human.  He WAS DIVINE and later became flesh. God reveals himself through Jesus because  Christianity is a "REVEALED" religion.

Is God "in you?" or does he need to relieve himself?

Much later, St. Paul comes along and says, "GOD REVEALS himself to you"...This is what people believed for many centuries.

1. In the beginning was the word (GOD)
2. and the word was with GOD
3. and the word was GOD.

George will continue to share this scripture as it evolves through time.

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Lent began February 14th. On Valentines Day this year! This hasn't happened since 1945. So what does this mean. Not really too much if you're Christian at FCBC.

Lent is generally celebrated for 40 days before Easter. Because Passover is a moving event/ the calendar changes every year and begins with Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, where ash is placed on your forehead to acknowledge the resurrection of Christ. Many Roman Catholics practice this and continue with Lent and choose to sacrifice something for 40 days to honor Christ, such as chocolate, meat, etc.

We divided into small groups to discuss Lent. Before doing this, George shared some thoughts of his own.

George says there is no mention of Lent in the Bible.  In fact, there is no mention of Christmas either!  He thinks it’s artificial and it was set in the early church to help regulate the life of Christians so they can learn to sacrifice.  But what is sacrifice if you’re going to fatten up anyway?? :-O

Since it’s not mentioned in the Bible, what really counts is what is IN THE BIBLE.
We celebrate Christmas because we are social beings, not really for Christian reasons...The BIGGEST and MOST IMPORTANT event is Easter (Resurrection) and The Lord’s Supper.  If you follow the Bible and DO what Jesus Says, “...do this to remember me...” then Sacrifice everyday.  You really don’t need Lent...what do you think?

Well done George!

Thank you!