Eric Ludy Sermon Podcast: Church at Ellerslie

In no uncertain terms, Jesus says to his disciples, "It's either the world or me—you can't have both; it's either or." When we choose to follow Jesus, like Jacob we are touched in the hollow of our thigh, and in this world's eyes we have a limp. We no longer have that ultra-cool swagger we once possessed. We now appear weak, foolish, lesser, and intellectually inferior. We are now Christians, and there has never been, throughout all of history, anything hip and vogue about following Jesus Christ with abandon. None of us wish for such a limp, but such a limp must accompany the Church triumphant, so that the impediments of self-centeredness and self-glory may be shed and so that the believer might run their race with humble, heavenly gusto.

In our western world, very few of us understand the meaning of covenant. And thusly, we struggle to fully comprehend the covenant meal, known in Scripture as “the Lord's Deipnon,” or “the Lord's Supper.” And the strangest thing about it is that the meal Jesus was referring to wasn't bread and wine—the meal was Jesus, Himself, and the bread and wine were merely symbols of his body and blood. Jesus was saying, "My body is real food, and my blood is real drink." And unless we partake of Jesus, we can have no part in Him. Jesus is meant to enter into our bodies, to be digested into our inner man, to come in and wholly alter us. He was the body of God made food. And we are called to follow His example and feed a spiritually hungry world with our obedient lives.

Featuring special guest star, five-year-old Hudson Ludy, this message has "little kid" written all over it. And yet is a surprisingly powerful enunciation of some of the most beautiful and complex Gospel Truths.

It took Eric Ludy four years of spiritual wrestling before he was ready to deliver this super-charged message. After all, within a modern Christian system that has been greatly undermined by the "health, wealth, and prosperity gospel”, no one in the "Biblically conservative" camp really wants to touch this issue which lies right smack in the middle of the "Charismatic" and "Faith Movement" controversy. But it's high-time that the Church of Jesus Christ gain a Biblical and sound answer to this important issue of healing without blindly throwing the blanket answer of "cessation"over it. Was healing merely an outward seal upon the ministry of the Messiah and His apostles, or is it something that is intended by God to be included in our understanding of the atonement? The answer to that question has far-reaching ramifications.

There is a common spiritual ache that bonds those of us at Ellerslie together, and that is the longing for more of Jesus Christ. We all, at various points within our spiritual journeys, have wondered if what we see of modern Christianity is all God intended it to be. The question, "Is there more to this thing called Christianity?" pokes at us all. And here in Windsor, Colorado, we have come to the conclusion that there is a lot more of Jesus to be had. We ask daily for Christ to increase within us, to expand our love, to enlarge our faith, and to increase our strength, courage, and daring. We want to make sure that there isn't one single crumb of promise that was blood-purchased at the Cross that goes unrecognized. So, this naturally begs the question, "Is our request and expectancy for more actually in concert with Scripture?"

A man built by God must know when to draw the steel blade to fight and when to draw the cup of cool water to serve. The two notions (steel and down), though seemingly opposite one to the other, are actually intended by Heaven to be complimentary dimensions of a heaven-constructed man. Whereas last week brought us "Men of Steel," this week's message trumpets the virtue of a man who knows how to be soft when softness is required. Combine "steel" with "down" and suddenly a glorious picture of the ultimate man, Jesus Christ, emerges into clear view.

There may not be anything more thrilling than seeing a man living as a man ought to live—strong when he must be strong, weak when he must be weak, firm when firmness is required, and soft at the very moment when softness must be supplied. In this age, when the Church of Jesus Christ walks about with a limp in its gait and a frailty in its wrist, there is a very real and pressing need for God's men to arise and prove their mettle. Men of steel, where are you?

The great preacher, Leonard Ravenhill, once stated that the American church has exchanged a true and lasting Godly peace and joy for the counterfeit form of peace and a counterfeit form of joy found in Hollywood entertainment and professional sports. Psalm 16 claims that "In God's presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore." The question is, "Do we actually believe it?" Is it really possible to find fulfillment in God's presence alone? Just imagine if the answer to that question was "yes."

The Bible reveals our God to be so far above us in regality, purity, power, mind, strength, love, and wisdom. He is perfect—without an Achille's heel, without a gap of vulnerability, without a trace of weakness. Our God—rock- like and immovable—was moved by love to come to this earth and rescue us. And to pull off this extraordinary rescue, our God deigned it right take on the utter weakness of our humanity. He came, knowing full well the cost of such a venture. He purposely chose the route. He was misunderstood and vilely mistreated. He was mocked, slandered, and falsely accused. He was beaten, scourged, and crucified. And He walked His mission out as the Arnion—as the Lamb. It's almost too much to conceive. Almighty God became a lamb? It's both bewildering and utterly beautiful. But for His great mission to succeed, Almighty Highness needed to fully bear our earthly weakness.

This last week was an extraordinary one on the Ellerslie campus. God's presence was sweet and intimately near, but also deeply soul-searching and convicting. It was an entire week on our faces, beholding the holiness and yet also the amazing grace of our Beloved. Amidst this campus- wide revival, the enemy attempted with great energy and ammunition to counter the forward steps of the saints. This led to a showdown, a classic gunslinging shootout between the best lies of Hell and the best Truths of Heaven. This message is an introduction to the facts that never fail, the Word that never returns void, and the Truth that truly does make the Christian free. Because in such a showdown—the Cross of Christ always proves victorious.

Adoption is one of the centerpieces of the Gospel. And it is important to note that the idea of adoption strikes the Christian at two levels. The first being in our own personal adoption as believers to the Heavenly Father. And the second being in adopting the burden and love of God for the vulnerable around us, willingly becoming a conduit of the love and mercies of our Heavenly Father by inviting "outsiders" to become "insiders" in our homes and churches. If you desire to know the heart of God, then begin to explore this precious truth at a deeper level.

As strange as it may seem, there is a pattern for "dying well" and "dying triumphant" found in the pages of Scripture. And this pattern is evidenced in the deaths of the greatest and most godly men and women throughout the ages. For instance, Stephen was stoned, James (the brother of John) was beheaded, Peter was crucified upside down, Paul was beheaded, Philip was crucified, Matthew was slain with the sword, James (the brother of Jesus) was stoned and clubbed, Matthias was stoned and beheaded, Mark was dragged to pieces, Jude was crucified, Bartholomew was cruelly beaten and then crucified; Thomas was thrust through with a spear, Luke was hung, and John was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil (and removed unscathed) and then exiled to Patmos. But in all their deaths, these Christian men exhibited a superhuman behavior—a pattern for facing the most extreme suffering with a brave calm and a steadfast courage. And it is this pattern that we as Christians are to begin practicing in our daily lives.

WARNING: This message contains forthright and unabashed answers to very uncomfortable questions and in no way is politically correct. This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and thusly our country is lacquered in pink and laced with pink ribbons. There is every corporate and political advantage to "pink-wash" your product or campaign. How should a Christian deal with this issue? Should we leverage this cause to our advantage? Should we be marked with pink, race for the cure, and seek the united power of human compassion? Or should we be marked by something greater?

There is a strange paranoia in the modern church regarding the idea of spiritual "work." To lift a finger in spiritual labor has been classified as "legalism" by many, and of course, none of us wish to be legalists. The key to removing the paranoia is to clearly define "God's work" as contrasted with “the believer's work." For the problem of legalism arises when believers attempt to do God's work instead of their work as assigned clearly by God for them to be doing. So the question is, “What is God's work and what is the believer's work?” The answer to that simple question may very well set you free.

To join God's armed forces, God asks of his soldiers that everything precious to them be left behind—father, mother, wife, and even children. Everything must be counted loss. And the recruit must realize that sorrow and sufferings are guaranteed companions in the ensuing enlistment period. With such an extreme and high cost, why is it that countless multitudes of fighting men and women have counted it the highest privilege to serve this King in battle and gladly die for His fame to be spread? What is God giving His soldiers to cause them to forsake their bodies and blood for Him with such loving abandon? The answer to that question is the essence of the Gospel.