Was Jesus at church this Sunday?

It seems that churches across America consider Jesus to be one of many topics that can be preached on, or at least He is not for every Sunday. Jesus must be at the center of our lives and our teaching and preaching. Yet it seems like He is merely an accessory in today's 'emerging' brand of Christianity. As Paul Washer puts it,

"Jesus Christ is NOT a yuppie's accessory! The message in churches today seems to be, 'OK. You have a great job, your wife, 2.5 kids, a dog -- now all you need is Jesus.' NO!!! You have nothing without Jesus! Apart from Christ you have absolutely nothing, and you are absolutely nothing!"

Well put, Paul. I read a great blog today over at jWinters.com, explaining Pastor Jay's recent visit to a local emerging church (he lives near Tallahassee, Florida). In his post, Jay gives a breakdown of his entire experience, and of each portion of the service. Jay is a Lutheran pastor, so his experience is unique and of course different from many contemporary settings which you see today. It was very interesting for me to hear his reactions. For instance, he had never seen a MediaShout worship PowerPoint before this experience, nor was he familiar with having caffeine kiosks in the church lobby. Having been to churches of all kinds, shapes, and sizes; I feel somewhat desensitized to all of this, so I enjoy hearing fresh perspectives.

One of the things Jay said that hit him was that he noticed a "lack of Jesus:"

It seemed like when Jesus was mentioned, it was in a more lip-service kind of fashion than being the center of the worship experience. To a Lutheran, this is a big no-no, as I would hope it would be in many churches.

I also would hope that this is a big no-no in many churches, but I know that nothing is further from the truth. Jesus must remain the focal point of our lives and worship! Why isn't this the case in many churches today? In a previous post I've written, entitled What Ever Happened To The Bible?, I posed a possible answer to this question:

The problem is, somewhere along the way while the delivery was being changed, the message was changed as well. Instead of the source for preaching being the inspired Word of God, sound doctrine seems to be taking a backseat to a seeker-friendly message that makes the Gospel much more inclusive and non-offensive....

.... Perhaps the church doesn't need a reinvention or more programs and activities, perhaps it needs the Word of God, through which God promises to work! God says about His Word,

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."
(Isaiah 55:10-11, ESV)....

.... In today's consumer-driven society, people look at church as another service to the community - it ought to be tailored to my desires. But we know from experience that what we think we want is not always what we need! The Gospel is just this. It's not what we might naturally expect. The Law is written on our hearts, but the Gospel is not self-evident. Jesus didn't have to die for us, He chose to because of His great love for us! That's the beauty of it! But without a knowledge of sin which comes through hearing the rightly handled Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), we will have no need for a Savior.

We must understand that eternal life is a free gift (Romans 6:23). It is not earned or deserved (Ephesians 2:8-9). No one can earn their way into heaven, because we are all sinful (Romans 3:23). Because of our sinfulness, we cannot save ourselves, we are not perfect (Matthew 5:48). However, in spite of our sin, God is merciful and does not want to punish us (1 John 4:8; Jeremiah 31:3). But the Bible also tells us that God is just, and as such He must punish sin (Exodus 34:7; Ezekiel 18:4). This creates a problem! God loves us and doesn't want to punish us, but at the same time He is just and must punish sin. God solves this problem for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who came to earth and was fully God and fully man (John 1:1, 14)! What exactly did He do on earth? He died on the cross in order to pay the penalty for our sins and He rose from the grave to purchase a place for us in Heaven (Isaiah 53:6; 1 Corinthians 15:1-6). Jesus Christ bore our sin in His body on the cross and now offers us eternal life (Heaven) as a free gift. This gift is received by faith and only by faith(Acts 16:31).

The Holy Spirit draws the believer to Christ through the Word and creates faith in his or her heart. The Bible clearly teaches that our salvation cannot come about by our own works; it is entirely the work of God. Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life! It means resting upon CHRIST ALONE and what HE HAS DONE rather than what you or I have done to get us into Heaven.

Telling people the Gospel without first showing them the Law does them little good. By removing the offense of the message, which tells us that we are sinful and cannot come to Jesus Christ nor accept Him on our own, we remove the great power of the Gospel.

Do you think it's a problem that Jesus has been made into a topic, rather than remaining the focal point? Have you ever felt like Jesus was missing at church? Have you had an interesting experience visiting another church?