Campus Blogs

This Year the University family has embraced 10 strategic priorities that provide a roadmap for facilitating an engaged presence. These markers will be strategic for us as we follow Christ in Kingdom thinking and ministry formation. Help us, as we seek to do HIS will, by praying for these priorities along with us.

1. Increase efficiency and effectiveness of academic & administrative governance (re-structure).
2. Develop a Plan for financial stability.
3. Prayer for the University academic plan.
4. Strengthen the links between main and satellite campuses (student identity).
5. Identify cost and plan to address deferred maintenance.
6. Design and initiate a comprehensive capital campaign.
7. Strengthen collaborations between the seminary and other academic programs..
8. Develop a collaborative governance model between faculty and staff.
9. Giving thanks for the new appointment of our University provost.
10. Identify funding priorities for 2018-19.

 

  Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” 9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. Introduction: There is no greater honor on earth than to be on a journey in life to worship our King. We were created for worship, we were designed to worship, and everything in us wants to worship something. That’s why we lift up people, places and things. We like to honor stuff because we are creatures that worship. This is why this text is so arresting today, because here we see a glimpse of those who are passionate about worship.

• The wise men in this text were driven to worship • The wise men in this text were motivated to worship • The wise men were excited to worship

And they bring for us an example of what true worship really is. Background: The text suggests that Jesus has already made His great dissension into earth. He was born to a little virgin girl named Mary. Her and her Husband were residing in a place called Bethlehem. There in this little city of Judah, the scripture has been fulfilled. At the same time that scripture has been fulfilled, there are people who are awaiting this fulfillment of the promise of God. When the wise men come on the scene they come as a snap shot of how we ought to come to worship Jesus. We too ought to come ready, willing and excited to have the privilege to worship Him.

• The wise men knew why they came to worship! • The wise men knew who they came to worship! • They wise men knew the opportunity they had in worship!

The wise men knew this was the greatest King that there ever was and ever would be! Note: The one alarming reality of this text is that everyone does not want to worship Christ, the King of Glory. Within this text there are those that want to destroy Him, and those that want to ignore Him. Hidden within the meaning of the Passage is another King, who opposes the coming of the true King of all the earth.

A Leader Worth Serving, a sermon preached by Dr. Wilson Col 1:15-18 Over the Last few weeks I have discovered that our brother Paul has laid out for us a prerequisite for Love and leadership in the church. We have observed how he was passionate for them because of their faith in Jesus Christ and their love for the gospel. Paul said that Epaphras had given them the report of the faith that was in the church.Once again let me say how much I like this letter, because in it we discover some amazing facts about Church Leadership.

• As a leader in the Church you got to love the church
• As a leader in the Church you must want to guard the Church
• As a leader in the Church you ought to want to see her grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.
• As a leader in the church you must pray for the church

And as a leader you must look out for one another and continue to encourage each other in the faith. Tonight, we see a shift in the teaching of Paul and we begin to see why he is thankful for the church. He is thankful because of the Leader of the Church. He gives us the powerful picture of who our leader is and why he has the authority to do what he does in the church. The Portrait of our Leader 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Paul in his thesis of what good leadership is gives us the example of our Lord and savior to look up too. He calls Jesus visible image (eikoon) This word means that Jesus is the very stamp of God the Father as he was before the Incarnation and is right now in glory (Phil 2:5-11; Heb 1:3). Jesus as our Leader of the Church looks like God, acts like God, serves like God and He is God!

• When He was seen on earth he was the stamp of God!
• When he did the miracles on earth, they were done by God,
• When he rescued us from Hell it was the stamp of God!
• Whatever you see Jesus doing in the gospels, you see God doing in the earth.

Example: At several of my Jobs as an administrator, I had a rubber stamp that I kept for the secretary. On the stamp was my signature. In my absence (When I was invisible to the staff) my stamp was used to authorize my, my power, and my authority in the office to get things done.

• Because of my stamp, I didn’t have to be present.
• Because of my stamp, the staff could operate on my behalf.
• Wherever the signature was it was my approval for the office.

Application: When Jesus came to earth, He was already God. He was his own authority, His own Power However, man had never seen this power in the flesh! So, he wrote his own signature in the incarnation, and wrapped in flesh. So, when He signed off on a miracle, we would know it was God

• As servants of Jesus Christ, we have got to know who our Leader is.
• As servants of Jesus Christ, we have got to know who our savior is.
• As servants of Jesus Christ, we have got to know who our helper is
• As servants of Jesus Christ, we have got to know who our redeemer is.

He is the visible Portrait of our Father in heaven. When you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father He is the first-born “The son of Man & the Son of God” He is the Alpha and the Omega, and there shall never be another like Him! He is the only stamp of God! The Power of our Leader 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Paul in this verse wants us to know the endless boundaries of his Power. Paul begins with the power to create other things to start with. He describes Jesus as Creator, maker, designer, developer, life giver and the one who has given all life to everything Created. He points us to two worlds, Heaven and Earth! Let’s start with Heaven;

• He is the creator of the Spiral galaxy which houses our milky way
• He is the creator of our Irregular galaxy which houses its own trillion stars
• He is the creator of the Elliptical Galaxy, that house a family of independent stars
• He is the creator of the lenticular Galaxy, that spiral galaxy without a spiral structure, framing its own stars and sending them to and fro.

I have not even mention the planets in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, Pluto, Mars, Venus, the stars that give us light and Heat. It was from the Power of our Leader that created those things! Look at the Earth:

• It was our leader that created the Atlantic Ocean, the Artic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean!
• It was his power that scooped out the continents and separated them from the waters;
• It was his power that gave us North, South, East and West.
• It was his power that, that brought us mountains and valleys, Deserts and Beaches, Snow and Rain, Sunshine and Clouds.
• It was His power that gave us gravity, and Grace, snowflakes and zephyr breezes.
• Our God has all power in Heaven and Earth.

Note: He also made the unseen Spirits in the earth and the heavens. The good ones and the Bad ones. The Angels are his design; they fly because he designed them to do so. They sing because he put the vocal cords in the right place. The devil is His devil. He was created to bring God honor and Glory in the earth. Observation: This verse alone reminds us that our leader cannot be compared to any other, there is none like Jesus! As our Leader, he knows no limitations. He has all power and authority in the earth! Application:

• As servants of Jesus Christ, we have got to know the power of our Leader.
• As servants of Jesus Christ, we have got to know the power of our Savior.
• As servants of Jesus Christ, we have got to know the power of our helper.
• As servants of Jesus Christ, we have got to know the power of our redeemer.

The Position of our Leader 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Paul in this verse wants us to know the endless boundaries of his Position Before there was time there was Jesus Before there was a beginning there was Jesus Before there was a yesterday there was Jesus Before anything thing ever existed, there was Jesus Paul uses the word Consist, because it describes the perfect ability from God to place together and to hold together.

• Whatever God places together it holds together!
• Whatever God hooks up, it can’t be torn apart
• Whatever God designs it can’t be outdone

The Praise for our Leader 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Note: Paul knew the false teaching that had crept into the church by the Gnostics (enemies of god) they had a Jesus as being just another Spirit. So, Paul wanted the Colossians to know He was more than Just a Spirit. But, he was the HEAD of the BODY, THE CHURCH! He was God. He was the Leader of the Church to whom they owed all things. He wanted them to know the (Pre-eminence “the first Place over everything”) greatness of The Christ! Without Jesus, there is no Church, without Jesus there is no Salvation Without Jesus there is no Heaven. Without Jesus there is nothing! Application:

• I am glad today that Jesus made Himself the Visible image of the invisible God.
• Because He did, we have a picture of what God is like.
• I am glad that God sent his only Begotten Son to earth to die on our behalf.
• Because He did we know what leadership is like.
• I am glad today that Jesus lived sacrificially because the standard for leadership is found in Jesus.
• He came. He gave, and he rose from the dead, that we might have eternal life.
• He is a Leader Worth Serving, I am going to stay with Jesus, until the end of my days, and then I am going to stay with him in eternity
• He is a leader worth serving, my life has been mad3e better because of HIM
• He is a leader worth serving My Home is made better because of Him!

 

What did a manor house look like to Jane Austen? What was the setting for C. S. Lewis's science fiction trilogy? What was London like in G. K. Chesterton's novels and journalism? And on what bridge did T. S. Eliot portray his tired souls walking across in The Waste Land? English Christian writers have influenced and encouraged millions of readers in the 20th and 21st centuries, none more than C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. In June 2018, we are heading out to Oxford, Salisbury, London, and Canterbury to explore the stories and sites of Christian writers of England. We begin with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and their work in Oxford. We have planned for some intensive days, some special events, and some time for each on their own to explore.

C. S. Lewis memorial, Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey (a brief explanation can be found at the (BBC website). At FPU we seek and work to learn, understand, imagine, and live thoughtfully and faithfully. This year's tour for alumni and friends of FPU (and friends of friends of FPU) brings all of these desires and goals together. You can find the tour itinerary, price and other information at https://reformationtours.com/package/rsv18/. If you have any questions, I would be happy to speak with you: steve.varvis@fresno.edu or (559) 453-7155.