Doing God's work, one step at a time

Cruciformity and "The Parables"

2012-02-17T09:59:00.000-06:00

This week for the blog, I am going to post an answer I gave for one of my assignment questions this week. After this post, I will make a few more comments. Now, if you are unfamiliar with the word 'cruciformity', it merely means 'crosslike'. So, if I were to state that we should live a 'cruciform' lifestyle, that means that we need to live a 'crosslike' lifestyle, in other words 'formed to the image of Christ'.

2. Which of Paul's big ideas (chapter 6 in Gorman) do you find most compelling for the church to grasp or grapple with at this time?

Choosing between two of these is going to be difficult. The reason being is that two of these, in my mind, go hand in hand. Gorman lists #9 as “Cruciformity, or The Law of Christ” on page 140, and #11 as “The Church as Alternative Community” on page 141. The way I see our culture is that we are self-centered, pied-piper following groupies. Most people go to church on Sunday to get their “get out of hell free” card stamped. They do it to “feel good about themselves”. We neglect to realize that living this “Law of Christ” includes letting the effects spill over into our private, everyday lives. Instead, we go into the world living according to the community that the world says should be. We even drag the world into our churches! We argue and fight, not create “harmony, humility and above all love-” (pg. 141). We live in our little subcultures and don’t realize the need to bring this Cruciformity and covenantal community to the world. The church I am at is battling what I see as its “final battle”. It pains me to see a split coming which will send this church into closure or a sell-out and yet the wisdom that I present as gotten from the Spirit is not heeded or paid attention to, except a few strong spiritual people. In most cases, it is completely dismissed and argued out of logic. I am afraid a lot of churches around our country will suffer this same fate if we fail to heed the Spirit’s guidance and warnings. I see these two as paramount in our world. I pray the Spirit works through our culture like wildfire and that people are open and respond to it with a fervent and steadfast love.

Going to church on Sunday is not enough to get us to Heaven. Being 'good people' is not enough to get us there either. Only Christ can accomplish that work. Once we've surrendered to Him, it is a daily work to do this. The effects of this 'surrendered lifestyle' or 'cruciform lifestyle' should spill over into our private lives. If we see nothing but dissention, disaster and discord, the convertion we've made needs to be examined. Are we attending church for the right reasons? This will be our topic in the sermons for the next 3-4 weeks. I pray you'll join us as we look at why you go to church.

Here is the link from last Sunday. Keep in mind as you watch this, I am now unsure of whether a real Shepherd goes after a lost sheep or not. I always saw this as a logical oxymoron, but I am investigating to see whether or not this is truly the case. Nonetheless, what we have to understand is that no matter what, God DOES go after the 1 lost sheep...as should we.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG-jKtRywHY&context=C3972b0eADOEgsToPDskKUG4gUfAmmzeBAz5uEwIo5

"Oneness" can be a good or bad thing...

2012-02-08T15:51:00.001-06:00

God is good. God is faithful. Just when we are having issues with certain things, He prompts us with beckonings of the Holy Spirit to guide us in our thinking, walk and lifestyle. I was having lots of issues this week with direction for the church when I listened to a sermon today on "Confusion". Ooooooh goodness...basically it stated that "oneness" can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing too...Just because we unite together in a church, doesn't necessarily mean we are doing God's Will. Only by seeking His face through the disciplines will we see the direction He is calling us. Unity is a good thing...we just have to be sure we are all united on God's path, not our own particular desires. So, what's the direction for our church? Well, it's gonna start with prayer, fasting, solitude and sacrifice. We will then realize the goal for our little church in due time. I can guarantee it doesn't involve only sustaining the church. It involved getting out of our laziness and putting our words to action. It's going to involve a lot of time, committment, talents, treasure and plenty of sacrifice. But then again, Christ sacrificed everything for the church so we can have a path to the Father...

It's time to put words to action...be practicing the disciplines, prayer, fasting...etc. Put it to action. Wait for God to answer...then we'll come together to see what the options are, and then have a prayer meeting together over a period of a few hours or so. We need to begin the action. Will you participate (If you come to The Federated Church)?

Here is the sermon link this week!
"The Life of Christ: The Miracles"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3NsWn2smRA&context=C3972b0eADOEgsToPDskKUG4gUfAmmzeBAz5uEwIo5

The Half-Truth Problem & The Life of Christ: The Sermon on the Mount Link

2012-01-30T13:48:00.001-06:00

Here lately, I have seen a rash of people hanging onto what I would call 'half-truths'. What I mean by half-truth is this: what they say is partially the Truth, partially a lie. My friends, a half-truth IS a lie. The enemy uses half-truth's to steer us away from the salvation we gain through Jesus Christ. Here are some of the examples of half-truths that I have seen:

"Homosexuality is not a sin."

"Faith is an individual thing, there isn't one path that is exactly the correct way to get to heaven..."

"We have to do works of The Law (Hebraic Jewish Law) and keep the entire Law in order to be saved in addition to believing in Christ."

"Why would a woman want to keep a child of a rape??? Abortion isn't wrong in this instance..."

"I'm a good person, that's enough to get me to heaven."

"Religion is just a system of control on society."

These are just a few of the various things I have seen. Here's the problem. The Bible itself refutes all of the above. Here is my refute against these claims with Biblical knowledge. The Bible isn't just a book. It is God's Word so we might know Him: Father, Son and Holy Spirit better.

Homosexuality is talked about in Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:26-32. (By the way, you can read Romans 1:18-25 for all of these.)

Jesus says in John 14:6, that he is the only way to the Father. All other roads lead to Hell.

Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ is what gets us into Heaven, not works (Ephesians 2:8-10). Works are how you tell a Christians Faith (James 2:14-26).

Abortion isn't directly mentioned, but God is the one who allows a baby to be conceived and gives it the breath of life. It is a living being and it is murder to end a human life, any human life born or unborn, by way of abortion is murder (Exodus 20:13).

Being good won't get you to Heaven. Only Jesus does that(John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8-10).

Religion isn't a system of control. In Christ we are freed from the bondage and guilt of our sin (Galatians 5:1). But first, we must recognize our sin.

The world tells us that we must keep up with the changing times in order to survive. Wrong!!!! Just because it's becoming more popular to be gay or get an abortion doesn't mean that it is right. Just because gay people are in 'healthy' relationships and happy doesn't make it right. All people are to be treated equally yes, but sin is not to be tolerated in the church or in our world. However, that doesn't give us the right to judge. We are not to judge people, just the sin they committ. We are to love the sinner. People sin. I sin. You sin. We all sin. I hate the sin. I love you, me and all of my brothers and sisters in the love that Christ has for us. I write this, not to be hateful, but to be loving. God rebukes those He loves, He rebukes me, and it is my job to show the Truth where I see Truth being distorted. I pray this reaches you where you are at. I pray you realize that Christ is the only way, nothing else will do the job. Turn yourself to Christ. It is never too late until you're dead. Turn back, let yourself be loved by others who confess Christ as Savior. Let yourself be loved by Christ.

Please remember, I am here to help and I pray that the Truth opens your eyes. God Bless you.

Here is the link to the sermon. Don't forget to click the 'comment' tab to weigh in!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37OmAEbXPg&feature=youtu.be

The Life of Christ: The Temptation

2012-01-24T13:31:00.003-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWMDmZUXndk&context=C318685aADOEgsToPDskKUG4gUfAmmzeBAz5uEwIo5

Copy and paste this link into your browser and listen to the Sermon! Check back here to comment!

The Life of Christ: The Baptism of Christ

2012-01-16T19:04:00.002-06:00

Here is the link to the Audio sermon! Copy and paste this into your browser and check back to give your feedback!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cDdth7qw9k&feature=plcp&context=C3df2c60UDOEgsToPDskIgyiqCiHIxbluINuTevBjh

The Life of Christ: The Boy in the Temple

2012-01-07T14:47:00.001-06:00

Today we are going to start a 14 week sermon series entitled “The Life of Christ”. This is by no means going to be a comprehensive study. There is no way we can look at the life of Christ in 14 weeks…it’s impossible. There is simply just too much information. I actually did this class in 6 weeks in school. It was REALLY intense. I actually had two textbooks for this class; “Four Portraits, One Jesus: An Introduction to Jesus and the Gospels” by Mark L. Strauss & “The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is” by N.T. Wright. Both of these books are great reads, however, very intense. I have a couple copies of each of these books if you would like to be challenged and grow your faith.

But over the next 3½ months, we will only be able to hit the highlights, obviously ending our series on Resurrection Sunday, April 8th. Between Christmas and Resurrection Sunday every year, there is roughly between 10 and 18 weeks between the two, depending on the year. However, before I get started delving into our subject for today, I want to put the whole ‘time’ aspect in perspective.

Every year, we celebrate both Christmas and Resurrection Sunday. Every year. When Jesus walked the earth, time had to pass. Mary had received word that her baby being born would be the Savior. She didn’t get to see the immediate results that we do within a time span of roughly 15 weeks. Jesus was an infant. He had to learn how to sit up, crawl, stand, walk. He had to learn how to talk, and use his fingers to grasp food and feed himself. He had to grow up and do all of the things we watch our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews do. Jesus did not come out walking and talking. He had to learn. Two weeks ago, we celebrated Christ’s birth. This week, we will be looking at a 12 year old Jesus. Think about the time span there. Think about a child you know. Now go back and realize how much time that is. Yet, the only ones who knew were Mary and Joseph and perhaps a few family members…by now, some of Jesus’ brothers were being born and growing up too.

But what about that promise Mary received? What happened during Jesus’ childhood? We know they went to Egypt because of Herod and came back after he passed, but aside from that instance, the arrival of the Wise Men when he was 2 or 3, and the instance of the Boy in the Temple that we are going to look at today, these are the only portraits of childhood we have of Jesus.
Stop and think for a moment about the amount of time that had to pass, just to get to the age of 12 and the story here today in the temple. Think about it for a second before we move on.

Let’s read Luke 2:41-52.

41 Every year His parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. 42 When He was 12 years old, they went up according to the custom of the festival. 43 After those days were over, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents did not know it. 44 Assuming He was in the traveling party, they went a day’s journey. Then they began looking for Him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him. 46 After three days, they found Him in the temple complex sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all those who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers. 48 When His parents saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”
49 “Why were you searching for Me?” He asked them. “Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what He said to them.
51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.

In our text today, it says that every year Joseph and Mary went up to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Keep in mind that the Passover was instituted back in Moses’ time when they smeared the blood of a lamb on the doorposts so God wouldn’t smite their firstborn. This is the festival they were celebrating. It is also the festival upon the Passion Week is surrounded. Being the good Israelites they were, they went to celebrate this festival.

It then states that when Jesus was 12, after the festival that year, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parent’s knowledge. Now, I want you to keep something in mind. This traveling party talked about in verse 44 wasn’t just Joseph, Mary, Jesus and his brothers and sisters. It was a whole bunch of people. It was a caravan of sizeable proportions. The Passover festival was a time for gathering and celebrating and all devout Jews partook; so naturally, there would have been a lot of people.

Joseph and Mary naturally assumed that Jesus was in the traveling party. Obviously he wasn’t with them, but he was probably hanging around somewhere else. After they had gone a day, they realized that he wasn’t anywhere to be found.

Have you ever gone to the grocery store and realized that one of the kids has disappeared? I have a very good friend who did that exact thing. He and his wife had just adopted a baby girl. It was their first and doted on her like most parents would. It had been a long day and he had picked up their daughter from daycare and made a stop at the grocery store. He was trucking right along on his list and got done with it and thought he was forgetting something. Not able to realize what it was, he continued through the store to see if he could remind himself of what it might be. At the complete opposite end of the store, he saw the ‘baby aisle’. It then dawned on him that he had left their new daughter in the van! He ran out of the store, leaving the cart where it was in the aisle to go out and get her. Luckily, it was Fall and was not too hot or cold, but when he got outside he realized why he had forgotten her…she was asleep and never knew the difference. I remember him telling me this story and he said he just innocently got out of the van, not hearing anything forgot he had her with him because it had only been a few days. I still do not
know if she knows to this day!

It’s not that my friend, Mary, or Joseph are bad parents…hey, it’s easy to make those mistakes! Can you imagine their panic!? You go looking for this promised Child of God, the promised Messiah; and he’s not with your family, friends or anywhere in sight. You get back to Jerusalem, and on the third day of searching, they found him. Think about it for a second! A King has already sent people and made a decree to kill this boy…and now he’s disappeared without anyone saying anything. I guarantee though they had no idea what the Messiah came to do, but they also knew he was their child and responsibility and they were worried sick about him.
When they finally found him, he was in with the teachers in the temple, asking questions and listening. They were all amazed at him…how much he understood and at his answers…even his parents. Then Mary went up to him and uttered the second half of verse 48…or in other words of mothers today, “Where have you been?! You had me worried sick!”

Then, Jesus says a line that most of us know. 49 “Why were you searching for Me?” He asked them. “Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” or it could also read, “Didn’t you know that I had to be involved in my Father’s interests (or things)” or even “Didn’t you know that I had to be among my Father’s people?” No matter which way he said it, no one understood. Only Joseph and Mary knew about the angel’s words from God…but he was 12! It just didn’t make sense because the word he used for Father could be used for earthly father OR heavenly father. Most people would have thought he was referring to Joseph…

So, then he did what he should have…he obeyed his parents. Pay attention to the second half of verse 51…“Mary treasured up these things in her heart.” She did the same thing back in 2:19 when he was born. She treasured these things up in her heart…even though she didn’t understand them then, by the time Jesus’ life was over…this would all come rushing back to her. So, it says, Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and people.

Has Jesus grown in wisdom and stature with you? What is it about the Boy in the Temple that perplexed everyone in His day? What is it about Jesus that perplexes people still today? What is it about the name of Jesus that people so readily use his name in vein, yet hesitate to speak of him in public?

Have you been looking for Christ everywhere? You’ve checked with family member or friends, yet, you haven’t found him there…perhaps someone you know is looking for Jesus and can’t find him. I think maybe people are looking for Jesus in the wrong places…his parents found him right where he belonged; in his Father’s house.

My friends, if you’ve been baptized in Jesus’ name, YOU are his house. Jesus takes his residency up with you. The Holy Spirit is within you. Search no more. Call on him in your hour of need…when it seems like you can’t find him. Low and behold, he’ll be right where he should be. Don’t put him in a box, because he will break through the barriers we put on Him. Surrender yourself fully…give up control…let him drive; and hang on, because you’ll be in for the ride of your life.

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A Time for New Beginnings

2011-12-31T18:45:00.001-06:00

'Twas the week after Christmas, and all through my room, nothing would fit me, not even fruit of the loom. The cookies I'd nibble, the eggnog I'd taste, all the holiday parties had gone to my waist. When I got on the scales, there arose such a number! When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber). I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared; the gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared. The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese and the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please." As I dressed myself in my old cardinal’s shirt and prepared once again to battle the dirt. I said to myself, as I only can, "You can't spend a winter dressed like a fan!" So away with the last of the sour cream dip, get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip. Every last bit of food that I like must be banished, until all the additional ounces have vanished. I won't have a cookie, not even a lick. I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick. I won't have hot biscuits, or cornbread, or pie. I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry. I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore, but isn't that what January is for? Unable to giggle, no longer a riot, Happy New Years to all and to all a good diet.

New Years means two things. 1. Stop eating and get active. 2. Time to make resolutions to break a week or two down the road. Resolutions for me are just too easily broken. I just don’t take them seriously enough. It’s almost a joke to see who can last the longest…most New Year’s resolutions are in the dumpster by 2 weeks out. Why is that? Do we not really want to better ourselves? Not really…I don’t think so. I think we really do want to better ourselves, it’s just really tough to break the bad habits.

You know what I think primarily? We expect perfection. When we make New Year’s Resolutions, we aim to lose weight, stop smoking, stop drinking, get out of debt…blah blah blah. But you know what? Quitting something cold turkey is about as successful as getting a lead balloon to float. Stopping a bad habit or picking up a new one is something that has to be taken a small step at a time.
We didn’t just put a man on the moon overnight. We had to take small steps to get there; but eventually, gradually, over time, we made it. July 20, 1969; the entire process started with testing of the V-4 rocket back in 1942. 27+ years we are talking. Great things don’t just happen overnight.

In our culture, we are an “I want it now” type of people. We expect results. Immediately. We don’t want to have to wait for results. I see this more in the cities than I do out here, but it is still something we battle with.
The Scriptures I have picked for today are not the typical type for New Year’s. Today I want to take a look at the Leadership passages. Let’s read through 1st Timothy 3:1-13.

1 This saying is trustworthy:“If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.” 2 An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher, 3 not addicted to wine, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy— 4 one who manages his own household competently, having his children under control with all dignity. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the Devil. 7 Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the Devil’s trap.
8 Deacons, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And they must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons. 11 Wives, too, must be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything. 12 Deacons must be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently. 13 For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves, and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Like 1st Timothy, 1st Peter and Titus give more qualifications and guidelines of Leadership. So, since we’re in Leadership passages, let’s take a look at some of the things listed here.

First, let’s look at the qualifications of a Wife, spouse or deaconess; 4 things. Not bad.

Next, let’s look at the Deacons. We have to take the qualifications of the previous and add them to our list of Deacon requirements. Now we have 12.

Let’s now look at Overseers and Elders. Now we’re up to 41…holy cow!!! 41 requirements to be an overseer or deacon?!?!?! The problem is, I know there are more within Scripture than that. I want a show of hands of people who think they qualify! I don’t even hit all of them! For a very long time, this perplexed me. I didn’t understand how anyone could measure up to this standard. All of these qualities for leadership are important. However, not any one of us is perfect in any of these areas. We all fail at one time or another.

It starts in the realm of being worthy of respect, having self-control, not being someone who tears down people and faithful. That is where it all begins. We will fail…but the real answer to the question is what will you do once you do fail. Will you continue on and wallow in your failure, or will you get back up again, repent and learn from your mistake? A true leader repents and learns from his mistakes. They keep on trying. Again. And again. And again.

Most people count themselves out of leadership before it begins simply because they either; 1. Don’t know what to do. Or 2. They don’t think they’re good enough.

Do you wanna know what I think? Nonsense. It starts with a desire to do it. Then, you find out, ask questions, seek out people who are currently leading.

It all goes back to the New Year’s Resolution thing. We seek immediate perfection and success. But if there is anything the Christian walk should tell us is that this is no immediate solution to our problems. The Christian walk is a lifetime achievement award. We don’t get it unless we reach the finish line striving for the prize!

Since this is the New Year, let me put this into application for the vision for the next year. My goal for our church this next year includes many things. First of which, obviously involves leadership. Not leadership in the sense that we need to overhaul the entire church. Leadership in the sense that we need to always be training, always be learning, and always be teaching someone else to do the job we do within the church.

We have some great leaders here at the church. People who are dedicated beyond dedication. But what we fight now is the burnout factor. The same people have been doing it for a long time and we need new blood. So how do we do that?!
Well first, we need everyone involved. Most of our congregation who attends, I have seen at one point or another volunteering. That’s awesome! We need more of that!

But new blood doesn’t just come from within. It comes from the outer realms too. We do that by continuing doing the things we do well. VBS, Camp, Dinners, Local Missions support, being present within the community. We do that by building on what we do well now. When new people begin coming and start being regulars, befriend them, encourage them!

I am working on doing a talent survey within our church. We will survey our people for their talents and then as new people come in, we will encourage them to do the same. The idea is that we plug people in where they are talented and interested so no one gets overworked or has the burnout factor. It also gives those who are burnout the opportunity to heal and rest. I am looking at getting this done by the end of January and started in February.

If we plug people in where they fit best, they are doing what they love and we have the ministries spread all over. As new people come in, we can plug them in too! If you wanna switch, add or take something away, we can do that! Don’t think that by committing to something once puts you down for a lifetime. It’s good to refresh our surroundings sometimes.

But, overall, here’s the idea. It’s the New Year. It is a time for new beginnings. It’s not time to make radical changes because radical changes hardly ever take hold. No, this is a time to make a new beginning. It is time to start anew; start small and work our way forward.

Next week is the Annual Meeting after church and potluck where we will vote for the new officers for the year. If you are interested in this, see Margaret who is the committee chair or come to me. I would love to sit down with you and help you discern whether or not you would be called to leadership…or any particular direction within the church. Start afresh, start anew. Make 2012, a time for new beginnings.

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now-The Return of the King

2011-12-24T16:04:00.001-06:00

The Advent of Christ Sermon Series has been about looking at what the arrival of Christ meant to the Hebrews and what the 2nd arrival of Christ means to you and me now. As we began to connect last night, when Christ came to Earth, he brought with him numerous gifts to mankind; hope, peace, joy, love and many others. The greatest gift of all though, was Him. His humanity and deity, all wrapped up into one, given into the world only to be taken out of it by a sacrifice. The little baby who came in innocent as a lamb, left innocent as a lamb, blood shed and body broken for us. Now, we await The Return of the King.

Our King, who ascended into heaven two millennia ago, will come again in the future to usher in an era of peace. The first time the Christ came as a child; an innocent tiny baby in the humblest of circumstances. When he left, he had been scorned, abandoned, shamed, crucified, died, yet still innocent. Claiming his victory over death, he rose again and then ascended into heaven claiming he would return the same way he left. All in chapter 13 of Mark, Jesus describes what it will be like in the last days leading up to his return.

He tells tales of deceptions, false christs, wars, rumors of wars, natural disasters such as earthquakes and famines. We are told that we will be persecuted and despite our fear of what to say, we will have the words thanks to the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel. We will be hated because of our commitment to Him.

Many will come in His name with claims…many people will come trying to steal us away from Him. He gives us his words to stay strong in, to remain in, watching, ever ready for his return.

Then, Jesus says these words in Mark 13:32-37.

32 “Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son—except the Father. 33 Watch! Be alert For you don’t know when the time is coming. 34 It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his slaves, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert. 35 Therefore be alert, since you don’t know when the master of the house is coming—whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning. 36 Otherwise, he might come suddenly and find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be alert!”

My friends, we already know that no one knows the day or hour. So, because we do not know when Jesus will return, what are we to do? 4 Time here we are told to watch, be alert, keep watch, be on guard. Something tells me that we are to stay alert and keep watch, not getting lazy in our duties, but always being mindful that we are not sure the exact time he is returning; especially nowadays where it looks as if it is getting much closer to his return. Now is not the time to fall asleep!

We await the second advent of our Lord Jesus. And as we wait, as years travel by ever closer are we getting to that glorious time when he will come again.

Christmas is the time of the year we take to celebrate the greatest gift ever given to mankind. With Jesus, he brought an era of grace and mercy in a time when humans needed it the most. Jesus Christ is the greatest gift anyone could ever get, anytime, anywhere. This is the time of year we reflect on this moment in history when Love entered in the form of a baby…Jesus Christ.

This is the time to take stock of your faith in Jesus. This is the time to take stock of your dedication and obedience to him. This is the time to take stock of your watchfulness to his Second Advent. I would like to read an anonymous poem titled If Next Sunday

If Christ should come next Sunday,
And it may be that He will,
Would the thing that I’ll be doing
Set the Master’s heart athrill?

If the Christ should come next Sunday
Would he find me loyal, true,
In my place with my influence
Doing what He’d have me do?

If the Christ should come next Sunday,
Let’s suppose He came at ten,
Would He hear me answer “present”
In the class I should attend?

If the Christ should come next Sunday,
If He came just at eleven,
Would He find me in His service,
Singing praises unto heaven?

Let’s expand this poem a bit…not to include Sunday only, but to include every day of the week. It doesn’t matter if it’s Sunday or Wednesday or even Friday night…if Christ were to come back at any particular time, would he find you doing what he would have you be doing? Would he find you loving others? Would he find you giving the greatest gift ever?

This time of year is not about the tinsel, Christmas trees or lights. It isn’t about Santa, elves or Reindeer. It isn’t about running around like mad trying to get the perfect gift for someone. The best gift we can give this time of year is the gift of Salvation. Give the gift of Jesus Christ; the gift of faith, love, grace, mercy, hope, joy and peace.

I want to throw a scenario out there for you. Imagine yourself at a Christmas party. At the party there is a gift exchange and, let’s face it, we all love gifts. We like the surprise of what’s inside. We love the fact that we have no idea what it is that we are about to get but we can hardly await the thing that lurks underneath the wrapping paper. Low and behold…it’s a gift you not only don’t need, but you don’t want either. The old joke is the “Christmas Sweater from Grandma”. Imagine the worst gift ever in your mind…something you totally don’t want at all.

Let me pose a question now. Would you refuse that gift? Would you seriously look the giver in the eye and say, “No thanks. I don’t really want it.” No. You’d at least accept the gift and then do something with it later…most of the time I get whatever I didn’t want home and actually find it surprising that I actually now am putting it to good use.

Now, picture a different Christmas party. At this party there is a gift exchange. This time, God…Creator of the Universe…Father of all mankind is at this party. He is the one giving out the gifts this year. Soon you find a box being handed to you. You eagerly tear into wrapping paper, excited what Father God has gotten you. Low and behold upon getting the gift open, you find this note: “My dear child, I Love You. So much so that I want to give you something very precious to me. I want you to have my Son. He is my gift to you…he will provide forgiveness for your sins and allow a path to be opened for a relationship between us. Please accept my gift.” Would you now accept that gift? Or are you going to reject it? This Christmas, accept God’s gift to you. Right now you might not think it may be very useful. Right now you question whether or not it could be put to use in your life. I want to urge you to accept that gift. You might find it surprising later on that it was the best decision you ever made. Even those of us walking the Christian walk today have trouble keeping the gift we’ve already accepted in the driver’s seat. We have trouble handing our lives over to him fully. Friends, you don’t have to bear the burden on you today. The perfect gift is waiting for you today. Would you receive him today and make him Lord of your life?

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now - True Love

2011-12-16T17:58:00.001-06:00

By now, I pray that you are beginning to see how all of these themes tie together. Not one is independent of another. They are mutually dependent upon the relationship of the others. Love is the response of having something to hope in, by which we have peace and joy. Love however, contrary to popular belief, is not a feeling. Love is an action…it’s a verb.

All the time on TV and movies we hear the phrase, “Oh I think I am falling in love!” As we define it today, they are correct. A word better suited for that however is ‘infatuation’. Like this, most people think that the opposite of Love is Hate. Again, hate is not the opposite of Love; Apathy is the opposite of Love. Apathy is simply a lack of interest. You would just not care either way.

Probably the most famous set of verses on Love is 1 Corinthians 13. It spells out what love truly is. As I read verses 4-7, keep this idea of Love is an action in mind.

3 And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,

and if I give my body to be burned,

but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind. Love does not envy;

is not boastful; is not conceited;

5 does not act improperly; is not selfish;

is not provoked; does not keep a record of wrongs;

6 finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth;

7 bears all things, believes all things,

hopes all things, endures all things.

Did you see when it described love it did it in the form of actions? Love isn’t just actions though; it is the attitude behind them as well. Verse 3 explains that better.

So now that we have an idea of what Love is and isn’t, we are ready to focus on our verses for today. If you would, please flip to the Gospel of John, first we’ll read chapter 15:9-17.

9 "As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love. 10 If you keep My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commands and remain in His love.
11 "I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 12 This is My command: love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you slaves anymore, because a slave doesn't know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. 17 This is what I command you: love one another.

Jesus tells us to remain in his love. What does that mean? Well, for further clarification, Jesus was just telling the story of how he is the vine and we are the branches and in order to produce fruit, we must stay attached to the vine. Jesus goes on with this word picture. Staying attached to Jesus means to keep the commands he has given us, exactly like Jesus carried through on God the Father’s commands.

Now, don’t get me wrong here, it isn’t to say that we must be perfect. We are human, we will never be perfect like Jesus was. However, this is the standard to which we must keep to.

To the Israelites, remaining in his love meant keeping his Laws, decrees and sacrifices schedule, with the proper attitude…Love; not legalism. The Pharisees lacked this.

Yes, the standard bar is high. Extremely high. However, it is all the more reason that we stay attached to Christ, because we cannot do it on our own.

Jesus continues. The whole reason why Jesus does this is so that his joy can remain in us; making our joy complete. Then, Jesus gives us a command. Not a suggestion, a command. Love others as he has loved us. The greatest way you can love another person is by laying down your life for them. There is no greater act.

Like God called Abraham his friend, Jesus is now calling us his friends, compared to ‘slaves’. The word slave carries with it a connotation sometimes that a slave cares nothing for his master’s business. But a friend cares a great deal.
A man had just arrived in Heaven, told Peter how grateful he was to be in such a glorious place, and asked Peter to give him one glimpse into Hades in order that he might appreciate his good fortune even more. This Peter did.

In Hades he saw a long table extending as far as the eye could reach, laden down with the most delicious of all varieties of foods. But everyone around the table was starving to death. When asked for an explanation, Peter said, “Everyone is required to take food from the table only with four-foot-long chopsticks. They are so long that no one can reach the food from the table to his mouth, and therefore each one is dying of starvation.”

Quickly they returned to Heaven, and behold, the new arrival saw an identical table, laden down with identical foods, but everyone around the table was happy and well fed. Then he said to Peter: “With what do they take the food from the table?” and Peter answered, “Only with four-foot-long chopsticks.” At that the new arrival inquired: “Then why are all those in Hades starving to death while all those up here are so well fed and happy?” Whereupon Peter replied: “In Heaven we feed each other.”

The difference in a Christian walk is action…or lack thereof. Will actions save you? No. Never. The only action that will save you is by loving and remaining in Christ. That’s it. But, if we are truly God’s friend, we will love others, unequivocally, without hesitation, no strings attached. The acts that we do show the attitude of the heart.

God chose us. Whether that means predestination or not, God has chosen us. Period. We are to go out therefore and produce fruit by staying connected to the vine…Jesus Christ…loving others as he did us.

We can only lay our life down for our friends once…or can we lay it down more often? No, we will only die physically one time…however, we can die daily to ourselves. We can give up bad habits to show the way, such as smoking, cursing, having a bad attitude, drinking to excess, among others.

Love = Sacrifice. We must sacrifices ourselves on a daily basis for those whom we are engaged in daily relationships with, whether good or bad.

Love = Christ. Christ sacrificed a great deal for us. How much more should we be doing too?

Love = God. It was God’s plan from before the world was created. Before God was…Yahweh…“I AM” The Great “I AM” has first loved us. How much more should we love Him? Bearing fruit that lasts is the key. What is your attitude? How will you be remembered at your funeral? Death is scary. But sooner or later, we all must go through it. Will you be remembered for Love? Lust? Laughter? Anger? Work?

I will leave you with this question. How will you be remembered? What is your fruit? Make your fruit Love today. It is never too late to be changed. Remember, Love is an Action.

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now-Joy Comes from the Lord

2011-12-12T14:31:00.003-06:00

This time of year it’s hard to go anywhere without hearing Christmas music. One particular song I hear is Joy to the World. When I hear that song sung, it always reminds me of Three Dog Night’s version of that song. Jeremiah was a bullfrog…was a good friend of mine…there’s just something about that song that’s catchy. I had never really thought about the words to the song very much until I got curious a year or two ago. So, I looked up the lyrics. When I did, I was a little surprised to say the least when I read what they were actually saying. Let’s just say they weren’t talking about anything that the Christmas song says. It’s highly inappropriate. However, the song is still catchy and it’s a fun tune to sing. But more than that, it speaks volumes to what we take in on a daily basis…what we allow our eyes and ears to witness. The type of joy that Three Dog Night talks about is the type of joy of the world.

Today, obviously, we are talking about Joy. Sometimes the joy we think we need, we look for in the wrong places. If you would, turn with me to Nehemiah 8:2-12. Nehemiah is located between 2 Chronicles & Ezra and Esther, Job & Psalms. So go to 2 Chronicles and hang a right.

2 On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding. 3 While he was facing the square in front of the Water Gate, he read out of it from daybreak until noon before the men, the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively to the book of the law. 4 Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform made for this purpose. Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah stood beside him on his right; to his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was elevated above everyone. As he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and with their hands uplifted all the people said, " Amen, Amen!" Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

7 Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah, who were Levites, explained the law to the people as they stood in their places. 8 They read the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read. 9 Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, "This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, "Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because your strength [comes from] rejoicing in the LORD." 11 And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve." 12 Then all the people began to eat and drink, send portions, and have a great celebration, because they had understood the words that were explained to them.

I am not sure why Ezra and Nehemiah were placed where they were in the Bible, but the time period in which they take place is in the 4th Century B.C. It is roughly 458 B.C. when Ezra is back in the Promised Land following the Babylonian Exile. Nehemiah follows about 14 years later, and this is where Nehemiah records this passage. This particular passage describes a time where The Law was to be read aloud before the people. Prior to the Exile, this did not happen, with the exception of a few times such as with Josiah.

Just for giggles, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar is Tishri which is around September/October for us. Tishri 1 is the Feast of Trumpets, Tishri 10 is the Day of Atonement, and Tishri 15-21 is the Feast of Tabernacles. The Law was read on Tishri 1.

The Israelites, fresh out of captivity, realized the importance of keeping God’s Law’s and commands. They realized the importance of hearing God’s word, adhering to the feasts, sacrifices and such. They had learned that the only joy that comes comes from the Lord. It comes from hearing God’s Law, applying it to their lives, living by the sacrifices, adhering to the feasts, learning from their past mistakes. They realized that the things that they were allowing to enter their eyes and ears were corrupting them.

Like them, we don’t even think about some of the things we deem to be ‘normal’ in our culture. The violence on TV, sexuality promoted everywhere to sell everything, even the lyrics to the songs we listen to. Now, I’m not saying that we have to be offended or drastically change a lifestyle to accommodate this; but lyrics in songs are the primary reason why we only listen to Christian Radio.

My girls love Alvin & the Chipmunks. Not just love, I mean LOVE…obsessed…they wore out the DVD from playing it so much. The first and second ones use popular songs, like they always have, and do it, Chipmunk style. In the second movie, they use one song in particular that is extremely inappropriate for a kid to sing. They had no idea what it was they were singing. When I asked them what the lyrics meant, they didn’t know. Still, the lyrics were ingrained in their head. Sherri and I now try to watch all movies before they do. I don’t want to shelter them from everything, but the issue is more along the lines of ‘normalizing’ certain behaviors and ideas. The more you see or hear something, the more ‘normal’ it becomes.

For example, I remember when I was a kid, the word homosexual was reserved for vile and disgusting behavior. It was lude, inappropriate and not something to be involved in. Over the years, as I got involved in theatre, I ran into men who were actually homosexual. As I was exposed to it, it became much more normal. These days, homosexuality is, unfortunately, a strong part of our culture. Not that it makes it right, but in the eyes of the public at large, it is ok. For those of us still in religious circles however, it is still taboo because God’s deems it as inappropriate behavior. The world has normalized something God says is wrong.

Friends, this is exactly….EXACTLY what happened to the Israelites. They didn’t just start out one day saying they were going to pursue other gods, construct asherah poles, take part in Ba’alism and other atrocities. No! Slowly over time, they were exposed to this sort of thing. Over time, it became a ‘normal’ part of culture. I’m not just talking about homosexuality, but I am also getting at violence, sex, drugs, abuse, abortion…over time, it all becomes a normal part of everyday life.

The only reason we battle all the problems of the culture is because it has been allowed to become a normal part of culture. It is simply people seeking joy from the wrong places. They are seeking things out from the world to give them the joy they long for. What they don’t realize is that the only joy that lasts is the Joy that comes from the Lord.

In John 16 Jesus talks about how our grief will turn to joy. In verses 20-24, Jesus is telling the disciples about how they will grieve when Christ is crucified, yet the world will rejoice. They will have sorrow, but they will see their King again. He will return and they will rejoice then.

True joy comes from our risen Lord. True joy comes from knowing God provided a way out of our grief. The sorrow of our disobedience has turned to joy because we have the knowledge that we’ve been forgiven our sins against God and others. It isn’t something that is promised for the future…our sins aren’t hanging over us until some future point at which they will be forgiven then…they are forgiven now! They are forgiven when you accept Christ as your Savior, when you give your life over to him. Not because you have to, but because you want to do everything you can to please him. My friends, true joy comes from the Lord…nothing the world says or does can fill that promise like Jesus can. No song lyric, vacation, love interest or TV show can fill the joy…they all end at one point…they all lose their magic…Jesus forgiveness lasts forever. Will the fire burn hot all the time? No. But his forgiveness lasts through the ‘desert’ periods in your life. It isn’t something that waxes and wanes like the tides in the ocean. It is constant, forever and current. Joy comes from the Lord. Praise God.

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now-Peace Promised, Given and Yet to Come.

2011-12-05T12:04:00.001-06:00

Today we continue our trek on the Advent train with peace. In my own personal opinion, peace is so very hard to achieve. The reason it is so hard to achieve is because we always have some form of chaos in our lives. It seems that when one thing goes wrong, they all do! Chaos can come in many different forms: job, government, family, vehicles, pets, friends, schools…you name it, it can be chaotic. But in the midst of the chaos, we can have peace.

But what is peace? Why is it important? How do we achieve it? Webster’s defines peace as “a state of tranquility or quiet.” However, it can also mean “freedom from civil disturbances, a state of security, freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions or even harmony in personal relations.” Peace is truly all of these. But it still leaves the question…what is peace? I mean true, real, lasting peace? This time of year, we talk about “Peace on Earth, good will toward men.” The word peace or the root of the word peace appears in the Greek and Hebrew texts a total of 367 times in the entire Bible. It is an important subject apparently. Today we are going to attempt to find out what and how to achieve this peace.

If you would, turn with me first to Isaiah 9:2. Let’s read.

2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of darkness,
a light has dawned.

3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased its joy.
[The people] have rejoiced before You
as they rejoice at harvest time
and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.

4 For You have shattered their burdensome yoke
and the rod on their shoulders,
the staff of their oppressor,
just as [You did] on the day of Midian.

5 For the trampling boot of battle
and the bloodied garments of war
will be burned as fuel for the fire.

6 For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

7 The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7 is one of the most popular prophecies of Jesus. What we normally miss is the first 4 verses before 6 and 7. Verses 2-5 talk about Jesus ministry and the lack of need for war. Verse 6 comes and talks about Jesus’ birth, naming all of the names that he will be called. Then in verse 7, the first sentence there describes how Jesus dominion will be vast and the prosperity will never end. Then, it talks about how his kingdom will never end.

* This image will be explained in the next paragraph. Refer here to see the picture.

Here is the issue. For those who were in Sunday School in the first week of November, you’ve already seen this rendering, courtesy of my professor at school. It is a primitive drawing, primarily because I don’t do people. I draw and paint landscapes. But anyway, at the beginning here, we see the prophet. As he is receiving the vision from God, his line of sight only views the journey up and one point. To him, there aren’t three points, just one. But in the actual line of time which runs along the bottom, there are prophecies of Israel, prophecies about Christ’s 1st advent, or arrival, and prophecies about Christ’s 2nd advent. We are viewing this from in the middle of the 1st and 2nd advent. To us, there are plainly in view, three different points. We can see the past because it is history that has been passed down. We see the 2nd coming of Christ because it hasn’t happened yet. However, from the prophet’s view, he can only see one point…not three separate ones. This is why the prophecy of Chapter 9 appears to have elements of all three combined into one. That is what makes prophecy so hard to determine…we have trouble seeing it from their point of view.

My friends, this is why the Pharisees crucified Christ. They honestly thought that the true Messiah was going to come, be born and institute his kingdom all in one fell swoop. They didn’t see that he was coming 2 different times. We clearly can see it from our vantage point because we are between the two advents. We question them for doing what they did and criticize them for not being able to see it. They couldn’t. They didn’t have the correct vantage point.
This aura of peace that they thought the Messiah was going to bring would be an Earthly kingdom that would not have to fight any wars or deal with any unsettling things. Unfortunately, the peace they thought was coming was actually the peace coming after Christ’s final judgment.

So now, we have this hope of an eternal peace, prophesied long ago. We are expecting it to come with Christ again, in which it will have no end. Everlasting and eternal peace.

So what do we do now? Wallow in the chaotic ramifications of a fallen world? Absolutely not! Proverbs 14:30 says, “30 A tranquil heart is life to the body, but jealousy is rottenness to the bones.” Peace gives us life…chaos, jealousy or envy rots us to the core.

I love peace and quiet. Chaos makes me grumpy…very grumpy. I actually love going to my Dad and step-mom’s house…they live peaceful lives. When we are there, they always tell the grandkids, “Grandma and Grandpa’s house is a place of peace and quiet, so that means quiet voices, no yelling or fighting.” And for the most part, it is a very peaceful time. However, when we get home it’s the usual fighting and arguing. Oh how I love peace and quiet. Let’s take a moment to read Colossians 3:12-17.

12 Therefore, God's chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must [forgive]. 14 Above all, [put on] love—the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. 16 Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

This particular Scripture in Colossians is about the Christian Life. Heck, verses 12-15 is a sermon or two on their own! There are 8 things Paul says are included in the Christian life: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, and peace. These are similar to the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, give and take a few qualities. Whereas Galatians is addressing the battle of the Spirit vs. the Flesh, Colossians is tackling the issue of the Christian Life and what that looks like.

What I want to focus on now, is verse 15-17. Let the peace of Jesus control our hearts; because we were called to do such as one unit. For this, I’d like to refer to John 14:27. Jesus left us with his peace; but he doesn’t give like the world does…he gives without taking it back. We indeed have the peace of the Savior. But what does that look like?

Well, conveniently, Paul has outlined 4 things (and one sub-category) that help develop the 8 qualities of the Christian Life from earlier.

1. Be thankful.
2. Let the Message of the Messiah dwell among us.
a. Teaching and admonishing (or give advice) in wisdom.
3. Worship God (sing psalms, hymns, spiritual songs with gratitude).
4. Do everything you do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ-giving thanks again to God the Father.

We don’t have to always be waiting for the peace of God to get here. We can actually have it now.

On the note of having peace now, I want to share a true story with you…one that could have turned out much differently.
Two years ago, I was working with a friend of mine on my mother-in-law’s roof because it was in bad need of repair. While we were working on this, another project came up in the back bedroom of the house. The ceiling in the far right corner of the room all the way to the door was dethatched from the ceiling and falling down. It hadn’t fallen yet because it was built in the 70’s when they had the wires running through the house in the ceilings for heat. Those wires were all that was holding it together. So, after we got the roof done, we went into the back bedroom to start working on this ceiling. It was going to be a complete renovation job. We were taking it from a 70’s red room to a modern day room. First task however, was to pull the entire ceiling down so we could redo it. As we were contemplating this, my buddy goes, “I think we’d better start by cutting a 4x4 hole in the ceiling. It’s always the first move.” So, naturally, having never done this before I agreed. I stood across the room watching as he cut this section out and then subsequently put his ladder in that space. He proceeded to explain that they do this so that if the entire ceiling falls, there is a space where it is clear and they won’t get taken out by the falling drywall. He then started to cut down the line where the ceiling was coming undone. I was still across the room watching and he cut and pulled on the ceiling and it budged a little, but when it did, the whole ceiling jerked. Immediately, I started wondering if I needed to move out from under the remaining ceiling. No sooner than I thought that, than he said to me, “I think you need to come stand behind me just in case.” So, I moved over and he put his hands back up where they had been on the ceiling and no sooner than I got under the open space than the entire ceiling came crashing down to the floor. He had barely moved it and it was all over. Sherri, being in the next room, heard the collapse and was yelling for us because she thought we’d been killed in the process. Neither one of us dared to open our mouths yet because the insulation in the ceiling was the old ground up newspapers and I am not kidding when I say it looked like 9/11 in that room. You couldn’t see anything, and my buddy was standing literally right in front of my face. After it had cleared a bit, we told Sherri we were ok and dug ourselves out from under the blocked door. When we got out, we both went outside and took a break and let sink in what had just happened. We both knew we had been protected by God and were nearly killed. Talk about peace…

I know there are some in the room today who could tell of a story like mine. No, probably not exactly the same, but an instance nonetheless of where God protected you from something. Peace is a gift of God, not just for our enjoyment in eternity, but right now too.

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now-The Hope of the Savior (1 of 6)

2011-11-26T17:26:00.001-06:00

What did the coming of the Savior mean to the Israelites? Moreover, what did the hope of the Savior mean? Isaiah had a lot to say about the coming Savior. Unfortunately, it proves only that you can study Scripture until you’re blue in the face…but you must know what they say. Looking back now, we can see obviously that Isaiah (among other) prophecies talk about the coming of the Savior and that they plainly spell out what happened. Unfortunately, the Israelites mistook what the Scriptures said…and it cost them dearly; especially the Pharisees.

We have two Scriptures for today, the first is from Isaiah 42:1-9. If you would, turn there and we’ll read this portion.

1 "This is My Servant; I strengthen Him,
[this is] My Chosen One; I delight in Him.
I have put My Spirit on Him;
He will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry out or shout
or make His voice heard in the streets.

3 He will not break a bruised reed,
and He will not put out a smoldering wick;
He will faithfully bring justice.

4 He will not grow weak or be discouraged
until He has established justice on earth.
The islands will wait for His instruction."

5 This is what God the LORD says—
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and life to those who walk on it —

6 "I, the LORD, have called you
for a righteous [purpose],
and I will hold you by your hand.
I will keep you, and I make you
a covenant for the people
[and] a light to the nations,

7 in order to open blind eyes,
to bring out prisoners from the dungeon,
[and] those sitting in darkness from the prison house.

8 I am Yahweh, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
or my praise to idols.

9 The past events have indeed happened.
Now I declare new events;
I announce them to you before they occur."

The Israelites had a funny idea about the Savior. Even the Apostles in Matthew 20:20 had some ideas. James and John wanted to be on the right and left hand sides of Jesus when he took reign. There’s a problem with that. Jesus sits on the right hand side of the father; which means God is on Jesus’ left. But you have to understand that they didn’t know that. They actually thought that Christ’s reign was going to take place on Earth. They thought that he’d set up his kingdom like David or Solomon, with his royal subjects-his 12 disciples-at his side to reign over the Earth for all time. The words “his kingdom will have no end” they thought it was literally on Earth. What the Israelites saw when Christ claimed to be the Messiah was not the King they had in mind. It wasn’t what they were expecting.

There was a schoolteacher who was trying to persuade her class to buy copies of the class picture. “Just think,” she said, “how nice it will be to look at this picture when you’re grown up and say there’s Mary, she’s married, or that’s Harry, he’s a lawyer.” One of the little guys piped up and added rather innocently, “And there’s the teacher, she’s dead.” Oops…not quite what she was expecting.

The problem is, Jesus wasn’t the Savior they were expecting. Although He was anointed by God, he was chosen by God to install the covenant between God and his people, he was still rejected. Psalm 118:22 talks about this capstone that the builders rejected…it’s also quoted in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts. Christ was rejected, just as predicted and prophesied by the prophets of God. That was then. This is now.

What does it mean to have the hope of the Savior now? As we celebrate the Advent of Christ now, we are celebrating the wait for him to come 2000 years ago. But what we sometimes miss, is the fact that we are still expecting him today. No, not in the form of a baby, manger scene, or wise men; we are expecting him to return the way he left…on Mt. Olives, ascending. This time, he’ll be descending. What expectations do you have for his return? We can get caught up in the theological discussion of the end times, or the nickel preacher’s word, eschatology.

Really, that is what the hope of the Savior is about nowadays. It’s nothing more than the theory of how he is going to return and when. Let’s dig a little more into this hope idea. Romans 5:1-5.

1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Also through Him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

How many times during your life have you had a trial, or affliction, and considered it a good thing; considered yourself lucky or rejoiced in it? We should. Paul says that affliction causes, endurance. Endurance is how we make it through the tough times, which produces proven character, therefore resulting in hope. The hope we have, comes from Jesus Christ. By faith we have in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit because of the Love of God, produced the sacrifice in Jesus that we can have the hope of eternal life; which does not disappoint.

So rejoice in the hope of the glory of the Lord! The difference between then and now is that Christ has already come to bring Salvation to the world. What we’re waiting on is his return to bring the glory of the Lord with him…judgment, peace and perfection await us. We anxiously await The Second Advent of Christ eagerly.

In the 1990’s large numbers of upscale professionals from big urban areas began moving out of the cities into the rural areas. As you can imagine, things were kinda haywire. Patrick O’Driscoll wrote in an article in USA Today “Your neighbor’s cattle may stink, you may have to haul your own trash to the dump. The mail carrier might not deliver daily, or perhaps not at all. Power or phone lines may not reach your property. The fire department or ambulance may not come quickly enough in an emergency. And, yes, your remote mountain road may not get plowed—or paved, for that matter.” Life in rural America is much different than the life in the city. Some of the city slickers that had moved out to the rural areas called to complain. One county commissioner named John Clarke of Larimer County, Colorado, got so many cranky calls that he finally decided to warn people who were planning to move to the country about the realities that awaited them. He wrote a thirteen-page booklet called, “The Code of the West: The Realities of Rural Living.” Some of his warnings went a little like this:

“Animals and their manure can cause objectionable odors. What else can we say?”

“If your road is gravel, it is highly unlikely that Larimer County will pave it in the foreseeable future…gravel roads generate dust…dust is still a fact of life for most rural residents.”

“The topography of the land can tell you where the water will go in case of a heavy precipitation. When property owners will in ravines, they have found that the water that drained through that ravine now drains through their house.”

Clarke’s motives in writing the booklet wasn’t to keep newcomers away. They just wanted people to know what to expect. We are all aware of the difference in the city to rural life. I sure am. I have lived in the boondocks and right downtown in the middle of Chicago. Sherri unfortunately, hadn’t lived in the country until now. She’s had a little adjustment period to go through to say the least.

What expectations about The Second Advent of Christ do you hold to? Are you sure you won’t be a little surprised when the Messiah comes again like the Pharisees were? Regardless of what opinion you hold, rejoice in the hope that he IS coming again. Every day is another day closer to the time when he will come again. Rejoice in the afflictions that produce endurance, proven character, and hope. Place your hope in Jesus Christ.

The Same Old Thanksgiving

2011-11-19T14:26:00.001-06:00

(Read Psalm 136 as a responsive reading as it was originally intended when written.)

Every year at this time, we gather with family, we eat a meal that’s bigger every year, with a family that continues to grow over the years, eat, watch football, play games, eat again, catch up with people we don’t see very often, eat again…eating is a theme for this holiday isn’t it!? But for what purpose? To give thanks, of course! But what are we giving thanks for? We all know that it’s always the fourth Thursday in November that we designate as the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Did you know that Thanksgiving wasn’t an official holiday until Abraham Lincoln made it so in October of 1863?

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be the Turkey?

We all know that it was the Pilgrims who had the first Thanksgiving after sailing across the Atlantic on the Mayflower in 1621. But, did you know that mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries were not on the menu? More than likely they had lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese and it all lasted for about 3 days.

But with all of this fun facts said, what are we giving thanks for? The reason we celebrate Thanksgiving is in remembrance of the pilgrims and to give thanks. But as Christians, we are called to give thanks continually. Ephesians 5:20 says, 20 giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. As Christians, we are called to give thanks in everything, for everything. Thanksgiving is one day a year that we do this. Giving thanks is something that’s slipped in our everyday culture to just one day a year to be thankful. The problem is, we have so much that we can thank God for that we couldn’t possibly do it all in one day. Instead of eating being the main theme, it would be praying and talking about everything God has done for us over the period of that year.

The Israelites had a lot to be thankful for. As we read in our Scripture this morning, they indeed have been blessed. And that wasn’t even close to all of the blessings they had received. The reason we read Psalm 136 as a responsive reading is because more than likely, that is what it was used as when it was first written. It would have been read by one of the leaders as the congregation responded as you did. Yes, the Hebrews gathered together sorta like we do today, only their services were a little different. The purpose was the same though…to give glory, honor and praise to God.

But what I want you to notice is how after every, what seems like small, statement, the phrase “His love is eternal” appears (depending on the translation you use). It gets repetitive after a while and a little boring…but the point that it drives home is that God’s love is eternal. Now, combine this with the original thought in verse 1, we come up with the theme for this Psalm. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, His love is eternal.” What follows are examples of God’s goodness and love.

Philip Yancey wrote an article in “Christianity Today” back in 1994 about visiting the “Old Faithful” Geyser. He writes:
“I remember my first visit to Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. Rings of Japanese and German tourists surrounded the geyser, their video cameras trained like weapons on the famous hole in the ground. A large, digital clock stood beside the spot, predicting 24 minutes until the next eruption. My wife and I passed the countdown in the dining room of Old Faithful Inn overlooking the geyser. When the digital clock reached one minute, we, along with every other diner, left our seats and rushed to the windows to see the big, wet event. I noticed that immediately, as if on signal, a crew of busboys and waiters descended on the tables to refill water glasses and clear away dirty dishes. When the geyser went off, we tourists oohed and aahed and clicked our cameras; a few spontaneously applauded. But, glancing back over my shoulder, I saw that not a single waiter or busboy - not even those who had finished their chores - looked out the huge windows. Old Faithful, grown entirely too familiar, had lost its power to impress them.”

I have personally been to see Old Faithful, as a matter of fact, in the summer of 1994. For someone who is new to the Geyser, it is an impressive, awe-inspiring sight. But for someone who is there all the time, it gets boring and loses its luster. Have you ever seen this in Christianity? It happens all the time.

Some new believers who has never heard the message of Thanksgiving like we preach every year, is exciting to them. The concepts of justification, salvation, Christmas from the perspective of centering it on Christ, this is all new to them. It’s exciting! They want the whole world to know about the things Christ has done for them.

You and I have been around the church for quite a few years. The concept of giving thanks is very familiar to us. Christ is familiar to us. But, sometimes, we lose the excitement that we once had when we were first saved.

So how do we get back to that excitement that we once had? I’d like to submit that Romans 12:1-2 as a motivator for that. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. It all comes down to your attitude. Transform your mind, not to conform to the world, but to submit yourself before God as a living sacrifice to discern what is God’s Will.

In our passage in Psalm 136 today, there is a method to what the writer is telling us to be thankful for.

First of all, God made the creation. We are to be thankful for that. The birds, trees, soil, our harvest, the air, houses, cars…everything.

Second, God provides aid for us. Listed in the Psalm are some ways God helped the Israelites. What are some of the ways God provides for you? An income, a family, protection from deadly regimes through our military, friends, a place to gather to Worship our creator freely, friends in the faith to encourage and support us when we are down and out.

Third, God provides food for all creatures. All of this is simply because God loves us. His love endures forever.

As you probably noticed, this isn’t the title nor the Scripture that I had planned for today. God worked on me this week and I had to scrap the original idea Saturday morning and let God lead me to where he needed me to go. I am thankful this holiday season for God’s leading. I am thankful for God providing me a wonderful, loving congregation to be a part of and minster to. I am thankful for so many things that, I could probably come up with a list and spread it out over the next year and be thankful for one thing a day for the next year.

What are you thankful for this year? I want to encourage you to renew your mind to be thankful for the many blessings of this past year and for the year to come. May God Bless you and your family this Thanksgiving Holiday.

No Right to be Angry

2011-11-12T15:23:00.001-06:00

Anger is an emotion that we feel when we think something has been done that wronged us. Let me say that again. Anger is an emotion that we feel when we think something has been done that wronged us. 9 times out of 10, anger is about the self. It’s about me. Usually, it’s when something crosses our paths that get in the way of what we want. Anger is an inward emotion. There are exceptions, like when Jesus upset the carts at the temple. He was righteously indignant. However, many times in our world today, we describe our anger as ‘righteously indignant’ when we actually have no right to be angry at all.

Anger, whether good or bad, is a treacherous emotion. This past week, there was an incident at a NASCAR event involving Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday. Kyle and Ron and a third car were going through the corner and all ended up getting together and trading some paint. The caution flag waived and Kyle Busch was mad that he got pushed into the wall, so he came back and decided to take matters into his own hands and crashed Ron.

Follow this link to see the actual event. *Disclaimer* Kyle Busch's spotter who you can hear in the background behind the commentators utters a few curse words. Parents, exercise caution when allowing children to view this. Those sensitive to foul language are encouraged not to watch. I provide this to demonstrate the implications and danger of anger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDBd0CLjOwc

10 years ago, Ron Hornaday could have been serioulsy injured or killed. It was that type of crash that killed Dale Earnhardt. Anger has serious implications.

For me, anger is one of my weak spots. In years past, I had a temper that would rival the best of them. Since then, I’ve learned techniques to bring it under control. You can count to 10, go for walk, memorize Scripture, or pray are just a few of the possibilities. I still battle with this from time to time and for anyone who battles this issue, it will flare at times. The key is to solidify it in our minds that we actually have no right to be angry.

We are going to talk today about Jonah. Most people know the story of Jonah. When commanded to go to Nineveh, Jonah ran the opposite direction. Upon being spit upon the beach by the big fish, Jonah heard from God again…this time he told him the same thing. To go to Nineveh and preach God’s word. Jonah preached that Nineveh would be demolished in 40 days. Jonah issued a decree that said they should all participate in a complete fast; no food or drink, repent of their evil ways, cover man and animal with sackcloth’s and call out earnestly to God.

We will pick up in verse 10 right after the decree by Jonah.

10 Then God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways —so God relented from the disaster He had threatened to do to them. And He did not do it.
Jonah’s Anger
4 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious. 2 He prayed to the LORD: “Please, LORD, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that You are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to become angry, rich in faithful love, and One who relents from ⌊sending⌋ disaster. 3 And now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 The LORD asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God appointed a plant, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort. Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant. 7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.
8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down so much on Jonah’s head that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”
9 Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“⌊Yes,⌋” he replied. “It is right. I’m angry enough to die!”
10 So the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. 11 Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”

So because the Ninevites repented of their ways, God called off the destruction. A nation who was known for their utter brutality actually heard the word of God, repented and changed their ways, however briefly. No one saw that coming…well, except for God and Jonah. Jonah says that’s why he ran in the first place. He didn’t want God to have mercy on them. He knew that if he preached, they’d turn and be saved. They had been brutal against all their enemies and Jonah didn’t think they deserved mercy. In fact, mercy and grace cannot be earned. No one deserves grace or mercy. However, Jonah knew God’s heart. He knew that God was forgiving, gracious and merciful. He knew that God wanted to forgive them and if they listened to Jonah, God would in fact do that.

Jonah was angry about that! So angry, that Jonah was prepared to die because of it! God gives back a question to Jonah that Scripture doesn’t say whether or not Jonah answered back. God asks “Jonah, do you have a right to be angry?”

The next thing we see is Jonah taking a seat on the East side of the city. Why? It seems that Jonah is set to camp until Nineveh gets what it deserves. So…he constructs a very crude shelter and waits. Keep in mind that Nineveh is in Iraq…which is a desert…it was also destroyed in 612 B.C. The remains now of which are on the opposite side of the Tigris River from the modern city of Mosul, Iraq. During the Iraqi conflicts, Mosul was in the news a lot. That is where Nineveh is…it is in the central northern side of Iraq.

More than likely, Jonah was on a hill and constructed his shelter from very loose objects such as twigs and other things. It wasn’t very good at keeping that hot Iraqi (then Assyrian) desert sun off his back. So, God provided a plant to shade him…then a worm to destroy it…then a wind that scorched him…and one more time, Jonah got angry at God.

God then reminds him, “Do you have a right to be angry?” Jonah apparently thinks he does…once again, he’s ready to die because he’s so angry.

And then, the sovereign God reminds us that we have no right to be angry. God explains that Jonah did not do anything to cause the plant to grow…nor Nineveh. God did all of this…it is God’s place to be merciful or gracious or forgiving if he wants to. Jonah has no right to be angry at God or question him. Jonah has no right?

I want you to remember one thing here. Questioning God is ok…that’s how we learn. However, when we question God in anger
because we think God has done us wrong, that is where God is rebuking us. No matter what happens in our lives, we have no right to be angry, or even angry at God. We have no right!

How many times has something happened in your life that you got angry about and wondered, “why is this happening to me?!” Whether or not you realize it, by posing that question, you are actually admitting that you are angry at God. If you are angry at God for something…talk to someone about it. Pray, meditate on it, seek out counseling. Anger towards God hinders the relationship.

Before I sought counseling for my anger issues, I didn’t realize how damaging my anger was for the people that knew me. My parents, wife, and at that time, by new baby Ave. The relationships at my job caused issues to. I was seen as a hardnosed manager…hard to get along with. After counseling, I was able to trace down what the source of my anger was. It all stemmed back to 3 incidents in my life.

1. My father’s cancer and alienation of my mom’s parents.
2. My parents divorce.
3. My brother leaving for the military/my own marriage and divorce.

Because of these three events in my life, I chose to become angry about them. I chose to let them affect me in ways that I would later regret…and then learn that God could use my mistakes to help others. I had to learn that I had no right to be angry about any of the circumstances that came up.

No longer to I allow these events to determine my mood. Through lots of time and work, I’ve learned that all of these events have brought me to where I am now. Had I not been through any one of these things, I would not be standing here today. It probably would have changed the course of my life…and I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else than right here, serving God in this church.

Do you have anger issues? We’re all human. We all have anger issues…the trouble is; what do we allow that anger to do in us? Today I want you to alter your vocabulary. Instead of saying to someone, “You’re making me angry!!!” Realize that you are “choosing to be angry” at someone or something.

I want to close today with a thought from Ephesians 4:26, "In your anger, do not sin." Friends, do not get so mad that you lose control of your senses. If you have anger, diffuse it. If you don't realize you have an anger issue, listen to your loved ones. They're only trying to help. I pray this reaches all those who deal with this. There are techniques and counseling to help. Can't find anyone? Email me. Please. I’ve been there.

How Long Have You Been a Christian?

2011-11-07T14:04:00.000-06:00

I want to start this morning by posing a question: How do you feel when a long time opposer to Christ comes and makes a deathbed confession, knowing that they will receive the same payment that you do for a lifetime of work? Does it make you jealous? Angry? Happy? Sad? Rejoiceful? I want you to think about that for a moment. Think about how that makes you feel. You don’t have to share it with anyone, just think about it; someone who has spent their entire life partying away, doing drugs, alcohol, and maybe committing crimes. That person, because of their confession late in life, will get the same reward of eternal life that we get. Regardless of time spent working for Christ, we are the recipients of the great gift of salvation.

Our subject today poses the question: How long have you been a Christian? We are going to tackle this today in Matthew 20:1-16. If you would turn there and we will read.

1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the workers on one denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine in the morning, [a] he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 To those men he said, 'You also go to my vineyard, and I'll give you whatever is right.' So off they went. 5 About noon and at three, [b] he went out again and did the same thing. 6 Then about five [c] he went and found others standing around, [d] and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?'
7 " 'Because no one hired us,' they said to him.

" 'You also go to my vineyard,' he told them. [e]8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, 'Call the workers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.' [f]

9 "When those who were hired about five [g] came, they each received one denarius. 10 So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. 11 When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: 12 'These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat! '

13 "He replied to one of them, 'Friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Didn't you agree with me on a denarius? 14 Take what's yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15 Don't I have the right to do what I want with my business? [h] Are you jealous [i] because I'm generous? ' [j]

16 "So the last will be first, and the first last." [k]

Footnotes:a.Matthew 20:3 Lit about the third hour
b.Matthew 20:5 Lit about the sixth hour and the ninth hour
c.Matthew 20:6 Lit about the eleventh hour
d.Matthew 20:6 Other mss add doing nothing
e.Matthew 20:7 Other mss add &ls;and you'll get whatever is right.'
f.Matthew 20:8 Lit starting from the last until the first
g.Matthew 20:9 Lit about the eleventh hour
h.Matthew 20:15 Lit with what is mine
i.Matthew 20:15 Lit Is your eye evil; an idiom for jealousy or stinginess
j.Matthew 20:15 Lit good
k.Matthew 20:16 Other mss add For many are called, but few are chosen.

Parables are so much fun. This one especially. Jesus teaches this in the midst of possessions and what it takes to get into Heaven. To follow these up, Jesus then tells the parable here. The story starts out normally, men going to work for a set wage. But what differs here from the norm is that throughout the day, the vineyard owner continues to hire more hands as the day goes on until then, nearing the end of the day, some are just starting work. When the men come back to the vineyard owner at the end of the day, he starts at the end of the line…those who were hired last and gives them their wage first. The men who were first start thinking that they’re gonna get more…but what happens is that they get the set amount they agreed upon. These guys then get irate! They’re mad because this dude who only worked one hour gets the same pay that those who worked through the day and during the heat.

Jealousy in today’s world is a very real threat to us. Jealousy opens the door to further sin.

There is an old fable of the Devil and a Hermit
The Devil once was crossing the Libyan Desert and met a group of friends tempting a holy hermit. They tried seductions of the flesh, used doubts and fears, etc. But to no avail. The holy man was unmoved. The Devil then stepped forward: “Your methods are too crude. Watch this.” Going to the hermit, he said, “Have you heard the news? Your brother has been made the Bishop of Alexandria.” According to the fable, a scowl of malignant jealousy clouded the serene face of the holy man.

The Devil isn’t going to just come flying at us with guns blazing and huge indiscretions in front of our faces. It is going to be with subtlety. There is a reason that he is called the Great Deceiver. A strong Christian isn’t going to be pulled away with a huge sin. It’s going to be the small nods over a long period of time.

I want to take about 5 minutes and show you a music video by Casting Crowns. I was going to just quote a few lines from the song, but I found the video on YouTube, and having never seen it before, I wanted to show it because it depicts perfectly the idea that it isn’t just one huge decision that makes people crumble, it’s a series of decisions over time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QASREBVDsLk

Did you catch all of the small in reverse decisions that led up to the affair, the broken home and family? In everyday life, it isn’t just jealousy that spurs our feelings…however, jealousy for most plays a big part. For others, it isn’t a big issue.

But let’s go back to the original question. How long have you been a Christian? Do you get jealous of other people when God still forgives them and gives them a reward, regardless of the length they’ve followed Jesus? Have you thought about the question I gave you earlier? How does it make you feel? I want to tell you that once upon a time, it would make me upset to think that a dude on death row for murder could repent of his sins and get into Heaven.

But as most of you know now, I am adamant about spreading the Gospel everywhere, regardless of what they’ve done. I have a passion to seek and save the lost…I wouldn’t be a minister otherwise. This is the place that I want to lead you to. I want to lead you to a place where the Grace of God overflows from us like a waterfall.

The main idea of what Jesus is talking about is the “first will be last and the last will be first”. It isn’t necessarily how long we’ve followed Christ that matters in the end. It isn’t our job to worry about who is going to get what. It isn’t our job to try and figure out what criteria God will judge on. What our job is, is this: follow Christ the very best we can with the help of the Holy Spirit.

However, beneath this main point that the Parable gives, I want you to also be conscious of the idea of how the Devil snares us. Remember the fable? The holy man wasn’t tripped up by sins of the flesh. He was tripped up by telling him that his brother was now the Bishop of Alexandria. It was jealousy that nailed him down. Earlier I talked about how jealousy opens the door to deeper sin. Jealousy is just another word for covet. 10th Commandment. Do not covet your neighbor’s ____ (fill in the blank).

I want to leave you with this story. There once was a great man. He unfortunately was in love with his neighbor’s wife. However, his wife had no idea he’d been watching her. He was jealous of his neighbor. While his neighbor was away, he found a way to be with his wife. Soon they fell in love…then he devised a plan to have him bumped off. After he had been murdered, the wife became pregnant…a child of the affair. This man is someone we all know and have heard about. Have you figured it out yet? It’s king David. All because of jealousy in breaking the 10th commandment, he then violated a whole host of others.

When Casting Crowns sings the song of a “Slow Fade”…it’s the truth. How long have you been a Christian? The longer you’ve been walking with Christ, the more subtle the tricks to get you to slide away from God. Be cautious…be prepared…be ready for anything…and everything.

Freedom in Christ

2011-10-31T16:34:00.002-05:00

You can’t just pick and choose what parts of the Bible you want to believe; it’s either all or nothing! How many times have you heard that saying? This week, I was on Facebook and ran across something on someone’s wall. Actually…multiple somethings on their wall. Seeing this led me to an actual web page on Facebook called “Religion Poison’s Everything”. On this page was a picture of someone holding up a sign quoting Scripture. (show photo) By the way, this is being held up at a protest wanting to allow gay marriage. What they are trying to do is use Scripture to point out things that we are apparently ‘cherry picking’ to quote what we believe.

When we look at Scripture, we can’t ‘cherry pick’ them to prove what we want. We must look into the context and be sure of the true meaning behind what we are studying. If we do it correctly, the Truth comes out. Anyone can make any Scripture say what they want. Getting the Truth however, takes time. Today, our Scripture is going to be Galatians 5:1-15.

1 Christ has liberated us into freedom. Therefore stand firm and don't submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all. 3 Again I testify to every man who gets circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace! 5 For by the Spirit we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness from faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love. 7 You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from Him who called you. 9 A little yeast leavens the whole lump of dough. 10 In the Lord I have confidence in you that you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is who is troubling you will pay the penalty. 11 Now brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 I wish those who are disturbing you might also get themselves castrated! 13 For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don't use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

We’re free. We regularly sing the song “I am Free” by the Newsboys. In Christ, we are free to do all things. Today, I chose this topic because throughout the world, we fight and argue over so many things; Denomination, Hell, Heaven, Baptism, Death, Creation, Literal, Figurative, End Times, and even Holidays; Halloween more specifically. Some Christians fight because the holiday started as a pagan holiday and is, quite frankly, an evil holiday to scare the pants off of people.

I’ll be the first to tell you that Sherri and I do not like Halloween. I don’t like the evil it portrays or the pagan ideas behind it. But if I choose not to celebrate Halloween, but I continue to celebrate Christmas, Easter and various other Holidays then I am a hypocrite. I’ve picked and chosen what I want to believe in. I’m not sure how many people realize this, but Christmas and Easter are holidays that the Catholic church started from originally pagan holidays. Both Christmas and Easter coincide with Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.

Christmas was originally celebrated way before Christ. By the 4th Century A.D., it was a holiday known as saturnalia. It celebrated the sun-god Phyrgia who was died on December 22nd reborn on December 25th. The Early church got rid of this holiday by instituting what they called “The Feast of the Nativity”. The problem is, there are a lot of festivals by all kinds of pagan religions around this time.

Easter is no different. Some think that Easter is borrowed. Evidence shows that Passover and the Resurrection were celebrated in the early church because evidence shows Christ was resurrected during the Passover week. However, there are many festivals that surround that holiday that are of pagan origins. Naturally, things creep in that are some pagan traditions.

Halloween is a Celtic holiday. The church made November 1st All Saints Day, to celebrate the saints of the Church (Catholic). Some of the traditions, including the “Jack-O-Lantern”, trick-or-treating, bobbing for apples, black cats, dressing up in costumes to scare away the spirits, all come from a mixture of the pagan rituals and early Catholic traditions.

So, what’s the deal? Can we celebrate these holidays or not? The first verse tells us that we are free; that we are to stand firm in our salvation through Christ and not submit again to the slavery we were once in bondage to. I can’t tell you whether or not celebrating these holidays is right or wrong. That is between you and God. For Halloween, or Neewollah as we’ve come to call it, we fill with happiness, joy and non-scary stuff in our house. As I said earlier, we don’t like evil or being scared. So, we use this time to reach people for Christ. Christmas and Easter, we focus on Christ alone. Are the trees we put up for Christmas, wreaths and all that objects of our worship? No. Christ is. We use them to reach Christ. Same with Easter egg hunts and those type of activities. The point is, in all things we are to focus on Christ and worship him.

Apparently in Galatia, there was a debate, between being circumcised or not. Circumcision is the sign of the Old Covenant with God through Abraham. Some of the Jews who had turned Christian were insisting that the Gentiles first be circumcised to fit in with God’s Law.

Paul here states if we submit to circumcision, then Christ will not benefit us. Now why is that? Why is Christ no benefit if we submit to circumcision? Verse 3 explains it. If we think that we must be circumcised first in order to be proper, then we are obligated to keep the entire law. Essentially what Paul is saying here is that you pick a piece of the Law to obey, you can’t just pick one little thing and do it. You must do it all. There isn’t a half-way about it. The law isn’t sufficient enough to provide atonement for our sins; only Christ can do that.

Some of the ones in Galatia were trying to be justified by the law, not Christ…they’ve alienated themselves from him. Only in Christ does anything get accomplished. It isn’t circumcision or uncircumcision that accomplishes anything…but it is Christ.

You see, the Galatians were doing very well. However, someone came to them and started preventing them from obeying the Truth. God does not call us away from the Truth of Christ. Paul uses the illustration here of yeast in dough. For me, this is easy to identify with.

When making bread, the portion of flour, butter, water, salt and other ingredients is massive compared to the amount of yeast it takes. A very small portion mixed in with these ingredients makes the whole loaf of bread elevate and rise. Likewise with a congregation of believers; one person trying to prevent things from happening will spread like wildfire until everything we worked for is destroyed. The person doing the destroying will be taken care of by God; but we must hold fast to the message we received.
We were called to be free; we cannot use this freedom to do evil. We must serve one another. We must love. Jesus sums up the entire law with 2 commandments. Love God, Love others. My friends, if we fight with one another, we will be consumed by one another.

Remember earlier when I told you about that website? I was furious at what I found on this Facebook page. But I then got to thinking. What is it that made them see Christianity like this? There is nothing in here inappropriate, but I do want to warn that it may offend some people. I know I was deeply offended at first. (play slide show)
What is it that we stand for? Are we more concerned with what we think is right, or what Jesus tells us that is right. The appearances we give off tell the tale of Christianity. My friends, it is a dangerous thing to be a Christian. None of us are perfect. We are all hypocrites. However, we need to realize that we are free from that bondage. We need to consume ourselves in love for one another, so we can save those who are lost, instead of preaching hell and hate. Tell them they’re wrong…but do it lovingly. We shouldn’t be fighting over miniscule things; Holidays, baptism, creation, denomination…nothing. It is minor in the scheme of saving the lost.

Children of the Light

2011-10-23T14:27:00.001-05:00

Before you kiddo’s disappear to Children’s Church, I have a question for you. How many of you are scared of the dark? It’s ok to raise your hand, I know two that should go up immediately. I was terrified of the dark as a kid. Still am. Just for kicks, how many adults are willing to admit they are scared of the dark? What is it about the dark that kids are scared of? What makes you scared of the dark? What is it about the light that is comforting? One of the replies I’ve heard is that you can see what’s going on.

Do you ever have the feeling that something is watching you or following you? It’s a creepy feeling. That’s what I feel when I am walking in the dark…outside or inside…more prominently inside. That is the best way for me to explain to you what I feel in the dark. I feel like someone or something is following me. It’s just eerie.

Today in our Scripture, Paul talks about being sons of the day vs. sons of the night or darkness. It’s going to be 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. If you would, please follow along with me.

1 About the times and the seasons: brothers, you do not need anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, "Peace and security," then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in the dark, so that this day would overtake you like a thief. 5 For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We're not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then, we must not sleep, like the rest, but we must stay awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, we must be sober and put the armor of faith and love on our chests, and put on a helmet of the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

It is obvious that this Scripture is talking about the Day of the Lord; the Second Coming of Christ. When I scheduled this sermon, I don’t remember doing it on purpose to coincide with the false prophecy of the end of the world on October 21st by Harold Camping. However, more recently, I’ve been asked about the seriousness by various individuals all over about my opinion on October 21st, December 21, 2012 and various other “End of the World” prophesies. My usual response is usually Matthew 24:36, “No one knows about that day or hour…” However, our Scripture here today in 1 Thessalonians is another tool to learn from.

Paul is writing to Thessalonica and in this particular passage, is telling them that they don’t need Paul to write to them about this particular subject. Paul proceeds to explain that The Day of the Lord will come unexpectedly. They are not in the dark that they would be caught up in this. Paul explains that we are sons of the day…sons of the light; not darkness or night.

It is explained that they must not sleep, but remain awake and sober. The people who are asleep, do so at night and those who are drunk, also do so at night.

I’m going to pause here for a second and begin to relate this to our own particular day and age. We all know that The Second Coming of Christ will come at a time when we least expect it. We know that we are not in the dark. The Scriptures tell us we are Children of the Light; that light being Jesus Christ. Because we are indeed children of the light, we will not be caught up in the events of the Second Coming of Christ. We are Christ’s co-heirs; we will be right alongside him; not objects of his wrath.

So what are we to make of the whole sleeping and sober bit? Do we really have to stay awake 24/7? Does this mean we cannot drink? Well, this isn’t to be taken literally. It is not possible to stay awake all the time. The word used here is to be taken in a spiritual sense. We cannot be Spiritually asleep. We need to be spiritually sober. We need to be sure that we are conscious of our spirituality at all times; awake and aware of what’s going on.

We all know what it means to be spiritually awake; coherent, alive and on fire for God. Spiritually sober is like this: alcohol affects our judgment if we drink too much. People when they have had too many drinks do things they would never normally do. Now relate this to a spiritual sense. In a spiritual sense, the world is alcohol…too much of the world and we will do things that we would never do if we were sober. We need to be fully conscious of the outside influences on our lives and not automatically shut down everything we know to be true in the Light of Christ.

Those that are not spiritually awake or sober are the unsaved. These are the people that are so absorbed in everything they ‘think’ to be true that they are lost…they are children of the darkness. They live their entire lives (unless they come to faith) in the darkness that the devil clouds them in.

So, what this means is that just because someone comes up with a misguided plan and date for the end of the world, whether it be last Friday the 21st, or next year on 12/21/12, do not take leave of our senses…be spiritually awake and sober to realize that these are nothing more than mere false prophets attempting to lead people astray.
Paul tells us to put on our armor, something he wrote about to the church in Ephesus, though abbreviated here in 1 Thessalonians. We must be sober, put on our armor of faith and love and the hope of salvation on our heads, so that way we can be clear of our designation of Children of the Light.

We are not to be objects of wrath, but gave us salvation through Christ. God loved each and every one of us equally enough to provide the sacrifice for us.
Now this next part is tricky. Verse 10 talks about whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him. Some take this to say that whether we are dead or alive. I contend, after studying the verbage here in the Greek in depth, that Paul is not talking in the sense of being dead or alive, but spiritually awake or asleep.
Sometimes as Christians, we fall asleep. Something happens and we lose our fire or even just get lazy. So, whether or not we are spiritually on fire or lazy, we will gather together to live with Christ at that time. Now, this is not a free pass to do whatever we want and just get spiritually lazy; but look at the next verse here. We have the idea; encourage each other and build each other up.

Right now, I want to share a story with you. I found this on a website called persecution.com; it is a website that is better known as The Voice of the Martyrs. This is the story they report.

A young Christian was forced to choose between faith and family recently when her relatives demanded that she recant her faith. On Sept. 19, 2011, 21-year-old Ying was preparing to leave for classes at an underground seminary when her relatives locked her in the house. They threatened to disown her, beat her and withdraw support — including food —if she continued to attend seminary or church. In addition, they threatened to send her to a remote village with no known Christians if she did not recant her faith. Instead of giving in to their demands, Ying ran away from home and left her family behind.

Ying’s mother died when Ying was young, and her father left her with an aunt and two stepsisters. Although she grew up and lived in a Buddhist family, Ying became interested in Christianity. When she was 20 years old, she overheard an evangelist telling a neighboring family about Christ. Ying approached the evangelist and asked him questions about Christianity. At 20 years old, she became a Christian. Ying began to attend seminary immediately after her conversion. Since leaving her family last month, she has had no means of support. VOM is now helping pay Ying’s seminary fees and living expenses. After she completes seminary, Ying hopes to serve as a missionary to people who have never heard about Christ.

Do you know where this took place? Myanmar. Here are a few facts about that country.

Myanmar (also known as Burma) has a political system that remains under the tight control of the State Peace and Development Council, the military government in place since 1992. Officially, Buddhism is no longer the state religion, but it is actively promoted by the military regime. All those who advocate improved human rights are harassed or imprisoned. After a cyclone devastated much of the country on May 3, 2008, the military junta limited international humanitarian aid to storm victims. Religion: Buddhist 82.90%, Christian 8.70%

The government of Burma continues to discourage, harass and use other, more severe, forms of persecution on any group it considers harmful to the state. Christianity is high on the list, even though the government claims freedom of religion in Burma. A secret memo titled “Program to destroy the Christian religion in Burma” details instructions on how to drive out Christians. It calls for anyone caught evangelizing to be imprisoned. VOM has received widespread reports of churches being burned, forcible conversion of Christians to Buddhism and Christian children being barred from schools. Ethnic Christians, in particular, are singled out for repression because of the government’s goal to create a uniform society of one language, one ethnicity and one religion.This story was put on the website only a month ago.

These are the kinds of things that our missionary is going through. I can’t and won’t know for sure, but there is a strong possibility that this young lady is being ministered to by our missionary. Our support allows that.

Encouragement. Whether abroad or right here within our congregation, it is our duty to help the spiritually lazy awaken. It is our job to carry the light into the darkness. We will be persecuted. We will be tortured, maimed and ridiculed. But we are the Children of the Light; be encouraged by that; take it and use it this week to share that light with someone else. In truth, we have nothing to fear from the dark; because we have the ultimate Light behind us.

The Higher Road

2011-10-15T13:31:00.002-05:00

“Take the Moral High Road.” How many times in life have you heard that saying? Well in my family, we hear it a lot. Just take the moral high road. If you respond to them, you’ll only lower yourself to their standards. Believe it or not, when I was a kid, I got teased a lot. I was constantly being made fun of for one thing or another. In grade school, it was how I was dressed and the grades I got. In middle school I had braces and just gotten glasses. In high school, I was on the golf team and in the band, which in my town was considered nerdy. I was constantly being razzed, ripped on and ridiculed. On the other hand, I had lots of friends too. I quickly became accustomed to hearing my parents say the words, “Ryan, just take the moral high road. Don’t give in, don’t be mean back because you’ll only lower yourself to their level.” As a kid, it’s not what you want to hear. I mean, I didn’t even fully understand what that meant. All I knew was that I wanted to retaliate. But better judgment prevailed (partially because I didn’t want to get into trouble), I pushed it off. Doing this enabled me to be able to take constructive criticism well. These days, I love constructive criticism. It helps me grow as a Christian. Do some of the things people say hurt? Yes. Is there a nugget of truth in it? Yes. But most of all, I can use it to grow. The Scripture we are going to read today is Isaiah 55:1-13; focusing on verses 6-9. This set of Scriptures talk about going to the Lord, more specifically, that high road that we are familiar with. If you would, read along with me. 1 "Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! 2 Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. 3 Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the promises assured to David. 4 Since I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples, 5 so you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel, has glorified you." 6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked one abandon his way, and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive. 8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways." [This is] the LORD's declaration. 9 "For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11 so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it [to do]." 12 You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap [their] hands. 13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; it will make a name for the LORD as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed. Why is it that we humans have a tendency to pursue things that don’t last? Take a car for example. My grandpa always told me that a car would be the most expensive thing you own. Take a car, brand new, straight off the line, a run of the mill basic car, depending on make and model will run you anywhere from 18 – 30K. Not only this, but the value of it depreciates the moment you drive it off the lot by several thousand. Then, you have oil changes, gas, basic maintenance like tires, windshield wipers, air filters, batteries, wiper fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and then…sometimes the thing breaks down and ends up costing thousands more dollars to fix. Unfortunately, it adds up quickly. These days, I think I’d add houses to that too. Same issues, different materials. Yet, one of the things we pursue the fastest is a nice car. Boy have I ever been guilty of that in the past! For 5 years I didn’t have a car payment. We had old junker cars that I was constantly putting money into, but I didn’t have a car payment. Now I have 2. Oh, how I long for those things to be paid off. But why is it we pursue things that constantly break down…that we sink our hard earned cash into things that will not last? Partially because we have to have them survive in today’s world…but then again, look at what some people have in other countries. They have seriously old models of cars and they manage with that one vehicle. So, what’s the point? God tells all of us who are thirsty, to seek him out. God provides what we need; if only we would surrender to him. He’s made us promises of salvation and care; if only we would surrender to him. Focusing in on verse 6-9, their point is to seek the Lord. Abandon the ways of evil. Submit your thoughts to him; because he will have compassion on you, and forgive you. All of this because God’s ways, are not our ways; His thoughts are not our thoughts. Don’t see me picking on cars or housing. I want you to see this as an issue of surrendering to Christ. I’m not saying that cars and houses are evil. What I’m saying is that which one do you pursue more? God’s high road, or the things here? It’s not about cars or houses, video games or sports…but what about the approval of others? Seeking out the approval of others puts them ahead of God. God is the only one we need to be worrying about pleasing. When I talked earlier about being made fun of, one of the things that drove me to want to retaliate was approval. I thought if I fought back, they’d see me as tough and they’d like me more. For a long time, I sought the approval of my mom and dad. I wanted to please them and make the happy…to make them proud of me. However, we have to take the moral high road. It isn’t about retaliation, approval or material things. It’s about pursuing God’s ways. Life is hard. Pursuing God’s ways through this life is even harder. This Scripture that we read today is a prophecy of Christ. Verses 1 and 2 talk about how God provides food and drink without money. Jesus states this very fact in John 6:35. "35 "I am the bread of life," Jesus told them. "No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again." Verse 3 talks about the covenant with David. Just as a refresher, God promised David that there will be a descendant that will sit on his throne forever…speaking of Christ. Jesus is the promise of this New Covenant. The word we translate as Testament is actually better translated covenant. So as to say the Bible is made of two parts, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Verse 4 continues this prophecy. Jesus is the leader and commander of the peoples; Jesus has glorified us all. This week, I want to you to continue on this trek. Re-read this passage this week with Christ in mind. Try to find all of the places where you see Christ prophesied in this passage. This week on the discussion board on the website, I’ll post this question, so you can respond to where you see Christ in these passages. With this said, Christ is the answer to all of our needs. Even in our economic trials, with jobs scarce and money tight, we are still among the richest people in the world. Even those who are the poorest still rank in the top 1/3rd of the world’s richest people. We have been blessed thoroughly by our God. Surrendering to God’s will is the only answer to the needs we have. MOVIE CLIP- ‘Bruce Almighty’ What aspect of taking the moral high road do you struggle with? What keeps you from pursuing God’s ways that are higher than our own? Do you seek the approval of others? Do you struggle with some sort of material issue? Or, perhaps, you aren’t even sure what it is you struggle with? Some of the most prominent problems I have had in the past, I had no idea I struggled with until God revealed them to me. That is what I ask of you today. Ask God to show you the things you struggle with that keep you from pursuing The Higher Road. You are capable with the help of God.

Forgiveness

2011-10-08T15:47:00.000-05:00

If I said that forgiveness is hard, I bet everyone would agree with me. Forgiveness isn’t something that we should take lightly either. It is an important factor in our walk in Christian faith. When the Moravian missionaries first went to the Eskimos, they could not find a word in their language for forgiveness, so they had to compound one. It turned out to be the word Issumagijoujungnainermik. It is a horribly formidable looking assembly of letters. To you and me, it looks like gibberish. But it is actually an expression that has a beautiful connotation for those who understand it. It means: “Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore.” Forgiveness even in our language doesn’t do enough justice to the action that it requires. It can be the hardest thing for us to do. Today we are going to tackle this subject. Matthew 18:21-35 is our Scripture for this morning. Turn there, and we will read. "21 Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 "I tell you, not as many as seven," Jesus said to him, "but 70 times seven. 23 For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him. 25 Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 26 "At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!' 27 Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. 28 "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, 'Pay what you owe!' 29 "At this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' 30 But he wasn't willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. 31 When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. 32 "Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you? ' 34 And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay everything that was owed. 35 So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart." A few weeks ago, we talked about church discipline. If you remember right, it was the Scripture that was just prior to this one we’re reading today. We talked about the procedure we should take if someone is committing a sin. Moreover, we talked about how important it is that we do not hate them, but love on them if we have to ‘treat them like a pagan’. With this in mind, we pick up our Scripture today with Peter asking how many times we should forgive our brother. Peter is asking this because the Jewish law, the man-made laws that the Pharisees came up with, say that we should forgive our brother 3 times. Having lived with this law, I am sure Peter was a little confused to say the least. So, expanding on what was custom as the 3 times, Peter mentions this time, 7. However, Jesus has something much bigger in mind. 70 x 7. The answer to that is 490 times. Yet, 490 isn’t exactly what Jesus is getting at. He isn’t saying that on the 491st time it’s ok to not forgive them. What he’s saying is that you aren’t really going to keep track of that many times. Even if you do, you’d lose track about the 3rd or 4th time. The point is, that we should forgive an infinite number of times. What follows this is a parable. This parable Jesus tells is one that can make a huge impact if we understand it. Jesus tells of this slave who is summoned by the king to pay his debt. This slave owes the king 10,000 talents. First of all, we have to understand that 1 talent is around 6,000 denarii. A denarius was the Roman currency. It is thought to be worth about 16 cents or so. It is thought that a talent is a measure of gold, around 70 pounds. In today’s terms, this slave owed millions of dollars to a king. This amount is impossible to be repaid by a slave. There is no way he would ever be able to repay this debt. Yet, the king commanded that his wife, children and everything he owned be sold to make up for at least some of the money owed. The slave threw himself on the floor and begged the king to be patient; that he would pay back what he owed. The king had mercy on him and thus forgave the debt owed to him, relieving him of the burden of it. However, this slave went out and found a fellow slave that owed him 100 denarii. Keep in mind that 1 denarius is about 16 cents. We’re talking about $1600 compared to several million here. Yet, the first slave was unwilling to work with the second slave, and threw him in prison until he could repay the debt. The other slaves heard about this and subsequently went to the master, the king. They told him what the first slave was doing, and the king went to the slave and told him that since he forgave his debt, then he should have done the same thing to his fellow slave. The king threw the first slave in prison until he could repay the debt. That slave is going to be in prison forever…the debt is already unpayable…1600 compared to several million is a huge difference. It would have been easier to forgive the small debt like the big one had been. Now that we understand the monetary info and background, this is what Jesus is saying about forgiveness. The king represents God. The slaves are you and I, the money we owe is our sin, and the prison is hell. God, the king, is looking to settle things with us. We all owe God a debt bigger than we can ever pay. He sent his son to die for our sins. There is nothing we can ever do to repay that kind of debt. Yet, we go out and when someone sins against us, we choke them forcing them to repay us what they owe us. Whether literal money or repayment for a sin against us, we demand that they pay for what they’ve done. However, when God sees that we, who have been forgiven a debt larger than what we can pay back, are not willing to forgive a sin against us that amount to a very little compared to what we’ve been forgiven, God questions us by saying, shouldn’t you give the same forgiveness you’ve been given? If we continue on in our unforgiving nature, God will not forgive you if you do not forgive your brothers of their sins. Not only do we need to say the words, but we need to feel the forgiveness from our hearts. If we go through life holding the grudges-like we talked about last week, it will eat us alive. If we do this, not forgiving our brothers and sisters, it will act like a poison inside of us. It can literally give you a stomach ache, pain, and a general feeling of being unwell. Many people have physical pains because of not being able to forgive others. Gordon MacDonald tells this story: “One memory that burns deep within is that of a plane flight on which I was headed toward a meeting that would determine a major decision in my ministry. I knew I was in desperate need of a spiritual passion that would provide wisdom and submission to God’s purposes. But the passion was missing because I was steeped in resentment toward a colleague. For days I had tried everything to rid myself of vindictive thoughts toward that person. But try as I might, I would even wake in the night thinking of ways to subtly get back at him. I wanted to embarrass him for what he had done, to damage his credibility before his peers. My resentment was beginning to dominate me and on that plane trip I came to a realization of how bad things really were… As the plane entered the landing pattern I found myself crying silently to God for power both to forgive and to experience liberation from my poisoned spirit. Suddenly it was as if an invisible knife cut a hole in my chest, and I literally felt a thick substance oozing from within. Moments later I felt as if I’d been flushed out. I’d lost negative spiritual weight, the kind I needed to lose; I was free. I fairly bounced off that plane and soon entered a meeting that did in fact change the entire direction of my life. My friends, an unforgiving spirit can literally poison you. Don’t harbor resentment toward anyone or anything that has caused you wrong. A good place to start is by praying for God to show you the people that need to be forgiven. Pray that God give you the capacity and the power to forgive where it needs to be had. Whether that forgiveness needs to be demonstrated to issues within the church in the past, to a family member, or even to a someone you’ve met in passing; forgive others of their debts if you want to be forgiven yours. God does to us as we do to those around us.

Holding Grudges

2011-10-01T20:21:00.002-05:00

On my mom’s side of the family, holding grudges is common practice. For that reason, I haven’t spoken to my mom’s parents in 20 years. Not by my choosing initially, because they choose to write us off. But after a while, I began to grow the same attitude back. These days, I have no idea whether or not the grudge is still there from them to us…but I know I have to be careful in my attitude and thinking, because it can still rear its ugly head because of the pain of the past. Holding a grudge is a dangerous thing. It’s contagious and an evil practice. Not only that, the guilt that lives within can destroy a person. Today’s sermon is a two part sermon. We’ll talk today about holding grudges and next week, we’ll look into the solution for grudges; forgiveness. Our scripture for today is Genesis 50:15-21. If you would, please read along with me. 15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, "If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the wrong we caused him." 16 So they sent this message to Joseph, "Before he died your father gave a command: 17 'Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers' transgression and their sin—the wrong they caused you.' Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when their message came to him. 18 Then his brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, "We are your slaves!" 19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. 21 Therefore don't be afraid. I will take care of you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph’s brother’s are in a mess here. They are begging for forgiveness from Joseph for selling him into slavery, who incidentally told them not to be angry at themselves because what happened to him was of God’s doing for all of their good. But the real issue here is not that Joseph has lacked forgiving them, but that his brothers fear a grudge. They are so worried that Joseph is going to harm them for what they did to him years earlier. It had been 17 years since Jacob and the family moved from Canaan to Egypt…yet after all that time, they still feared it. Guilt is a horrible thing. Living with guilt can rip apart the lives of a family. Joseph’s brothers were seeking something that they had gotten from Joseph already…they just didn’t think they had. Really what they were having trouble with is forgiving themselves. For years, they had been living with the guilt of what they did to Joseph. They weren’t able to put it behind them because they hadn’t allowed themselves to be forgiven. In truth, they were holding a grudge against themselves. Whether or not we realize it, we hold grudges all the time. For me, since it is a natural thing that comes with one side of my family, this is an area that I have to guard against. For me it is so easy to get angry at someone and be mad at them forever about it. I repeatedly have to pound myself in the head and remind myself that it isn’t right to do this. Not only that, but I cannot bind myself up in guilt either. I am horrible at holding a grudge against myself; especially for things that I have done wrong in the past. Like Joseph’s brothers, I get paranoid over something I did eons ago and wonder if they’re still mad at me for it. The truth is, I haven’t the slightest clue! Joseph’s brothers did do something right in this passage. They confronted the person they thought was holding a grudge against them. The problem is Joseph forgave them 17 years in the past. We must do the same thing. If we think someone is holding a grudge against us, we have to confront them about it. We have to talk it out, iron it out and seek the healing we, quite possibly, both need. On Monday, December 8, 1997, tragedy struck Heath High School in Paducah, KY. According to Roy Maynard in World magazine, a small group of students, who conducted a daily prayer meeting in a hallway near the administrative offices finished morning prayers and were about to head off to classes. Shortly after the final amen, it is alleged that a freshman named Michael, whom the prayer group leader had befriended earlier in the year, opened fire on the students with a .22 caliber automatic. The group’s leader, Ben Strong, called out, “Mike what are you doing?” and walked toward him. After firing ten rounds, Michael finally dropped his gun. Ben Strong walked up and put his arms around the gunman, urging him to calm down. Three students were killed in the shooting spree, and five were wounded, including one paralyzed. The girl who was paralyzed, Missy Jenkins, was one of the first victims to send Michael a note. It read, “Tell Michael I forgive him.” When I lived in Paducah, I went to Tech School with Missy. Although paralyzed, she held no grudges against her assailant. She was positive and a very happy person. She was paralyzed and lost 3 friends in that attack and it was amazing to me that she never held a grudge. I always said that I wasn’t sure if I could do the same. Michael took so much away from her, but she’s so forgiving of him. How many people have you wronged or have wronged you, and you still hold grudges against? Is the guilt of a grudge weighing you down? Sometimes even the best of people carry grudges. Former President Jimmy Carter is no different. He ran for President against Ronald Reagan in 1980 and obviously lost. The reason for this was attributed to a debate win. This debate was televised and prior to the debate, according to David Wallis in the New York Times Magazine, columnist George Will came upon Carter’s debate notes and sneaked them to the Reagan camp. From here, Reagan went on to win the election. Carter however, did not forget what George Will had done. In an interview in 1997 with Wallis, Former President Carter said: “I was teaching forgiveness one day in Sunday school, and I tried to go through my memory about people whom I had resentment. George Will was one of those people, so I wrote him a note. I asked myself, What do we have in common, and I had known that he had written a book about baseball, which I had refused to read. I went to a bookstore and found a remaindered copy. Paid a dollar for it. So I wrote him a note and told him the facts: that I had a feeling of resentment toward him, that I had found his book delightful and I hoped that we would be permanently reconciled. He wrote me back a nice, humorous note. He said his only regret was that I didn’t pay full price for his book.” Friends, anyone can hold a grudge, but it truly takes character to initiate the reconciliation. Joseph’s brothers had the right idea. They knew they needed to confront Joseph. Unfortunately, Joseph had already forgive them. They needed to move past it. We cannot go through life despising people for what they’ve done to us. We cannot go through life despising ourselves for what we’ve done. Forgiveness must be had and we have to strive to forgive ourselves of our own trespasses…of our own debts. Guilt over what we’ve done will eat us alive if we let it. President Carter knew he had an issue; and he made the correct move in order to seek reconciliation. Allow yourself to be forgiven of your sins. Allow yourself the capacity to know that you have the blood of Christ covering you. Allow yourself to move on and enjoy life. Joseph’s brothers spent the better part of their lives worried over what would happen to them because of what they had done. They wasted so much time on this that they weren’t able to enjoy life. Don’t make the same mistake. Next week, we’ll talk about the importance of forgiveness toward others. But this week, let’s focus on allowing ourselves to feel the forgiveness.

Church Discipline

2011-09-27T10:16:00.004-05:00

The word discipline brings with it many presuppositions. We must discipline our children. We must discipline ourselves. We must practice the disciplines as Christians. Most commonly, we look at the word discipline as having negative connotations. Being disciplined is no fun…in fact, it’s hard work. Kids love to taddle on each other. I don’t know what it is about it, but for some reason, it seems to give them a satisfaction knowing that someone else is in trouble besides them. My girls are no different…it’s always a constant battle of Dad, she hit me! Mom, she’s spitting at me, she looked at me, she touched me! Sometimes, however, it is something much more serious; like playing with scissors, teasing the dog, throwing a cat, or running out in the middle of the street. When these come, it’s a serious matter that needs to be looked into. One time a schoolteacher wrote a note to go home with one of her students. The note read: “Dear, Mrs. Jones, your son, Jimmy, is a smart boy. He’s one of the smartest in the class, but he spends all of his time with the girls. I am trying to break him of this habit.”The next day, a reply came back to the teacher. It read: “I wish you good luck in this. Please keep me informed as to how you are able to do this. I have been trying to break his dad of the very same habit for years.” Today’s topic is not only discipline, but Church Discipline. It is a subject covered by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-20. If you would, open your Bibles to this passage and we’ll read it. 15 "If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he won't listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. 17 If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. But if he doesn't pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you. 18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven. 19 Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them."This passage is often used for verse 20 saying that where two or three are gathered in Jesus name, he is there with us. A comforting verse indeed, but to get the fullness of this verse, we must read the surrounding text. The reason verse 20 is there is because it is the round-out to a section that talks about discipline…church discipline. There was a time when I presented this method to someone and they had no idea that we, as Christians, had a duty to discipline people. This section here talks about this very thing. Let’s start at the beginning. Verse 15 talks about rebuking a brother…in the NIV it says to show him his fault. We have a moral duty to rebuke our brothers and sisters in Christ…in love. Not harshly or in a mean way, but lovingly show them their fault. One of the dangers with Christians is the “silent approval”. The silent nod of approval is a problem in our country. When I worked for Holiday Inn as the Food and Beverage Manager, one of my employees was known for standing around, texting his friends, and talking on the phone at work. It was against company policy, but he was able to do his job appropriately, and I didn’t want to make a scene of it, so I just didn’t say anything. It started off small, but then it grew…it started affecting his performance, and yet, I said nothing still. Pretty soon, another one of my employees started doing the texting and talking on the phone bit. Before too long, my boss, the GM of the hotel pulled me aside and asked if I noticed my employee’s texting and using their phones. I said that I had, but it wasn’t affecting their performance and I didn’t want to cause a ruckus, so I ignored it. She explained to me that by ignoring the problem, I was giving my ‘silent approval’ that it was ok for them to do it, even though we all knew that it was a wrong. I soon started getting on them about their phone usage, and it eventually quit. How many times in your life have you silently approved of something? What would you do if you found out that a friend of yours was cheating on their spouse? Stealing lighters from the gas station? Had lied to get a job? What would you do? If you would say you’d say nothing, you’re giving your ‘silent approval’. We have a duty to correct and rebuke those whom we know are doing wrong. That’s what’s wrong with the major issues in our country like abortion, homosexuality, adultery and so on. We shouldn’t be outside picketing and hating people who do these things, but we shouldn’t just be sitting aside either. The first step is to go to your brother one on one and privately discuss the matter. The avoidance of publicly doing this is of the most importance. This is why it’s one on one first. The second step, is to take 2 or 3 witnesses with you to rebuke them. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 19:15, where it talks about not being able to establish wrongdoing or sin against someone without a couple people who’ve witnessed what they are doing or have done. It has to be established by 2 or 3 people. This is where we start tying things together. Remember what I said about verse 20 being the main thing people remember? Where 2 or 3 are gathered in Jesus name, he is there? Keep that in mind as we explore these next steps. If we still have not won our brother or sister over, even after confronting them face to face, then with 2 or 3 witnesses, then we are told that we must tell the church. Then the church must be confronting the sin that is at hand. If, after having dealt with this in a public manner, the person is still unrepentant, we are told to treat them like a pagan…tax collector…an unbeliever. This is where the debate comes in. Some use this to say that salvation can be lost, others contend that it was never had in the first place. Most churches use this to ‘excommunicate’, ban or kick people out of the church. I contend that this practice is correct and dead wrong at the same time. “A computer virus on the loose is a computer user’s worst nightmare. A virus can destroy everything in a computer’s memory. According to S & S software international and writer James Coates, here is how a computer virus works. A computer virus is software, or a piece of programming code whose purpose is to replicate…Many viruses enter the computer via [an email, or memory stick] or are downloaded from another source…Once the computer is infected, the virus checks each time a program is opened to see if the program is clean. If it is, the virus copies itself onto the program. Because viruses need time to spread undetected, most will not affect the proper functioning of the computer right away. But eventually, their destructive power is felt as files are erased or corrupted. Just as a computer virus spreads through the files of a computer, so sin can spread in the church.”We cannot let sin run rampant in our churches. However, we cannot be treating people with hatred either. The practice of kicking people out of churches is correct in this manner, because we are told to purge the evil from among us. Six times in the book of Deuteronomy we are told to purge the evil from among us. Deut. 17:7, 19:19, 21:21, 22:21, 22:24, 24:7. However, kicking people out of the church is dead wrong in the respect that we then end up treating them with contempt and hatred. Wrong. How are we supposed to treat unbelievers? Like sinners that need to be saved because, in truth, that’s what needs to happen. So when Jesus tells us to ‘treat them as an unbeliever’, then we need to be reaching them with the Gospel message. We need to be convincing them of the salvation that can be had in Jesus. Does this mean some people might need to be kicked out of the church? Yes. Does this mean we should pour contempt and hatred on them? No. But I say that we should love them and witness to them so their salvation might be had. By kicking people out, we pray that it is enough to move them to repentance and restoration. Every step is a move that is trying to get them to repent. Finally, it mentions that what we bind on Earth is bound in Heaven and what is loose on Earth is loosed in Heaven. This simply is talking about if we take these actions here on Earth, they are done so in Heaven as well…because we are acting in the full knowledge of Jesus. This brings with it a serious notation. We have a duty, that when we are engaging in Church discipline, to do it with prayer and fasting, seeking the will of God, not our personal wants and wishes. Verse 19 is the precursor to the big verse 20. Jesus says that if two or more agree on something that we pray for, it will be done. It’s not if we agree on something…but the fact that it is done in prayer…seeking God’s will. And lo, we have verse 20…where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, he is there among us. Discipline is never fun. But it has to be done. We cannot let sin run rampant. It must be confronted and repented of. Only by seeking God’s Will in prayer and fasting should we be gathering and pursuing Discipline within our church…because sin cannot be allowed to run rampant. It will eventually cause the downfall of a congregation.

Live by Faith

2011-09-17T17:34:00.003-05:00

Every week I come up and preach about things we can improve on. Sometimes it’s hard even for me to hear the words that I say. As you know, I record the sermons so I can send them to those who didn’t attend, couldn’t attend or live far away. I also take time during the week to listen to the sermon for myself. Not only so I can improve my preaching, but because I need to hear every word I’m preaching too. But aside from the fact that we need to become better people, better in our devotion to God, obedience to his word and more loving to his children, sometimes we need to go back and hear a message of encouragement. Today’s sermon is just one of those messages. I pray as we explore this passage, your faith is renewed, the reason you came to Christ in the first place is reignited and the fire blazes once again. Today we are going to talk about faith. Open your Bibles to Galatians 2:11-21 and follow along with me!11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. 12 For he used to eat with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, "If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?"15 We are Jews by birth and not "Gentile sinners"; 16 yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. 17 But if, while seeking to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also found to be sinners, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I have died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. Conflict. Boy Christians can’t even get away from conflict in the 1st century church! The first line here talks about Paul opposing Peter to his face. Apparently, Paul and Peter were disagreeing about something big. Peter has been known in the past to act on fear. This is evidenced when Christ was arrested. Peter denied Christ three times because he was afraid of being crucified right alongside Christ. This time, Peter is acting in fear of the Jewish Christians. Peter was sharing a meal with Gentiles…and Peter is of Jewish descent. Yes, he was following Christ and now one of the leaders of the early Christian church, but there are a couple factors here that we need to consider. First, these men were having to discern the whole Law in light of Christ. They were trying to figure out if the dietary laws still held effect or not. Also, we have to keep in mind that sharing in a meal with someone is one of the most intimate acts we can participate in. Peter being Jewish, was being influenced other Jewish Christian leaders that sharing a meal with Gentiles was wrong. Paul came along and said, NO! In fact, all Christians, whether Gentile or Jew should be fellowshipping together! He basically called Peter a hypocrite because he was living like a Gentile, but claiming the Gentiles needed to be living like the Jews…when in fact, Peter wasn’t even living like a Jew!In effect, it was creating two different ‘types’ of Christianity. Wrong! Paul says that Christ came and died for all. It isn’t the works and the law that saves a man, it’s through Jesus Christ that we are justified. Justification in a nutshell means that we’ve been declared righteous in the eyes of God. Only through Christ is that accomplished. Naturally, Paul received some criticism for this type of thinking. People claimed that in Paul’s line of thinking, this frees people up to do whatever it is they see as ok….freely sinning and pleasing the flesh because Christ is always there to justify us. I love Paul’s response to this. Verse 17-18 says, “17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild the system I tore down, I s how myself to be a lawbreaker.” Absolutely not! Paul says. I love it. But Paul is absolutely right…if we continue to sin, we are only lawbreakers. It our sin that put Christ on the cross as it is…to continue to openly sin and not pursue the path of righteousness only further puts Christ there!Paul finished off here by saying that it is in faith alone in Christ that he loved us enough to give Himself as a sacrifice for us. Upon confessing Christ as our savior, being baptized and repenting of our sins, we die with him in his crucifixion and rise with him to a new life, justified by his blood. Christ lives in us…and does the good work in us…because if we believe that the law is what justifies, then, Paul says, “Christ died for nothing.”How many people do you know that are “good people”? Maybe you’re one of them. I cannot tell you how many times that I’ve heard people say that if they believe in God and are good, then they’ll go to Heaven. For quite a while, I subscribed to that sort of thinking. I thought, hey I believe in God, and for the most part, I’m a good person…that’s good enough. In fact, all through my ‘lost’ years, I truly thought I was ‘saved’. It wasn’t until after that period in my life and I had the dream to influence me to become a minister that I really woke up to the reality of where I was actually headed during that period of my life. It isn’t enough to be a good person and believe in God. There is no good act that we can do on our own that can save us…only by believing in Christ can that be done. Confess, repent, baptize. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. In January of 1985, there was a large suitcase that was unmarked and unclaimed that was discovered at the customs office of Los Angeles International Airport. When U.S. Customs agents opened the suitcase, they found the curled-up body of an unidentified young woman. She had been dead for a few days, according to the county coroner. As the investigation continued, it was learned that the woman was the wife if a young Iranian living in the U.S. Unable to obtain a visa to enter the U.S. and join her husband, she took matters into her own hands and attempted to smuggle herself into America via an airplane’s cargo bay. While her plan seemed to her simple, though risky, officials were hard-pressed to understand how such an attempt could ever succeed. Even if she survived, the journey in the cargo bay, she would remain an illegal alien, having entered through improper channels. Like this woman, some people truly believe they’ll enter heaven and the Kingdom of God on their own since they’ve been reasonably good citizens or church attendees. But the entry plans of our own design prove not only foolish, but fatal; dying not only a physical death, but spiritual as well. February 1, 2003 was our wedding day. It also happened to be the day the Columbia space shuttle returned to Earth. On January 16th, the take-off was picture perfect…or so they thought. The mission was a good one. From all appearances, it seemed successful. However, one detail was overlooked. Upon take-off, a piece of foam insulation broke loose and hit the heat shield on the belly of the aircraft. This small detail that was overlooked proved to be the one piece of information that would have proved to be a completely successful mission. My friends, don’t go through your life being a good person and believing in God only to miss the most important piece of information that will lead to your destruction…don’t miss the fact that Jesus is the only way. The encouragement today that I pray you get is in the freedom from the law. For those who have made the good confession, repented and been baptized, we are free from the law. The good works we do will not save us…we are already saved by the blood of a Savior who was willing to die for us. Nothing we do will ever change that…short of completely walking away from him. So, my friends, if you’ve made the good confession, repented of your sins, and been baptized, you can rest assured that you are covered in justification by the only thing in this world that can; Jesus. If you haven’t ever done this, I urge you this morning do not walk out of this sanctuary without doing so. We must not continue to think that being good and believing in God will get it done. We must confess Christ as Savior, repent of our sins and be baptized.

The Spiritual 2x4

2011-09-10T16:01:00.003-05:00

If I asked for a show of hands of people who loved Osama Bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (9/11 terror plot architect) and Mohammed Atta (the ringleader of the hijackers) I bet there wouldn’t be a single hand out there that went up. These three men were a part of the group that, 10 years ago, sent our nation cascading upside down. They caused the single most death and destruction in an attack on US soil in American history. These men were obviously not loved very much by Americans. Would you think I’m a terrorist if I told you that I weep for these men? The passage we’re going to read today commands us to love these men and other terrorists like them. We are told by none other than Jesus himself that we should love our enemies…not hate them.

43 "You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don't even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

September 11, 2001 is a day that is ingrained into the memory of anyone alive then. It is a day when we all remember where we were at and what we were doing at those exact moments. By this time 10 years ago, all of the planes had hit and the towers had collapsed. Not a whole lot of love was being shown to the people orchestrating this. We loved our own, sure, but we were all calling for the death of those responsible.

On another note, how many times have you prayed for someone to ‘see the light’, come to Christ, or have a ‘reality check’? I’ve prayed for that many times in my life for someone I know. In fact, I’ve even prayed for it for our country of late. I term it “The Spiritual 2x4”. When you pray for someone or something like this, the truth is, you never really know what the answer to that prayer is going to look like. I personally think September 11, 2001 was one of those moments for our country. Unfortunately, it was very short lived.

I was looking up stories of those people who had come to faith because of 9/11 for illustration purposes for this “Spiritual 2x4” idea. But what I found instead confirmed what I’ve been thinking recently.

It was a news report done by ABC affiliate KFSN in Fresno, California. This news report said that according to a new study done by the Barna Group, spirituality is at the same level it was prior to 9/11. Naturally, spirituality rose shortly after, but soon returned to normal.

Throughout the OT, this happens over and over again. God punishes Israel, lets their sins come down on themselves, or does something to spiritually wake them up again, but they soon fall back into the same pattern prior to this “Spiritual 2x4” that either God sends or allows to happen. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, that’s what’s going on in our country right now.

This Spiritual 2x4 that we call 9/11 is now 10 years in the past…a distant memory. 2,977 families are changed forever…a huge reminder of the cost paid that day. What about the rest of us Joe and Jane Americans living thousands of miles? Does this day still affect you like it did that day?

Here’s the scoop. The shock of that day has come and gone. We’re now in an economic hard time, in the midst of several wars going on, and we’re seeing more young people die for our freedom. But why are they dying for our freedom if the very freedom’s we have are being taken away and seen thrown to the dogs? Today’s ceremonies at Ground Zero included no official prayer or pastor. More and more our country is telling us as Christians to be quiet about our faith in public, because it isn’t politically correct. They assume faith is an individual matter and not to be discussed in public. Yet, it’s ok to hate people we don’t know…

At the beginning of May of this year, Osama Bin Laden was killed and around the U.S., Americans celebrated. Including me. I celebrated, shouted for joy and let out a loud WAHOO!!! I even posted something on Facebook about how happy I was. And then, a great friend of mine replied to me with the following words.

“Are you seriously glad he is dead? He is in Hell.
Jesus died for him too. A live capture would have
allowed him to change and repent. I am sad, and it’s
not just your post but other Christians too that are
rejoicing that he is dead and in hell, you just are the
one that gets my sadness at this mind set over Christians
outlook on people who do bad things.”

Whoa. That sat me back in my seat hard enough that my jaw nearly hit the floor. Those words upset me…not in an angry way…in an emotional, “Oh my, what have I done” kind of way. I immediately erased my message on Facebook and wrote on my blog a new one. One that talked about everyone deserving a chance to be shared Jesus.

When it came right down to it, I did not love my enemies. I was rejoicing in the hatred of them. Nowadays, every time I hear some news media or person talk about how much Osama Bin Laden deserved to die and they’re glad he’s gone, I rebuke them for thinking that way. In no way at any time should we, especially as Christians, be partaking in this particular sort of hatred.

Jesus even admits here that it’s easy to love someone who loves you or shares a common bond. The difficult part comes when you love someone who isn’t loveable…like Terrorists. People who have a different faith. We shouldn’t be sitting idly back watching as they truck their way to hell. We need to be going against the Political Correctness of our culture and sharing the Risen Christ with them…they deserve a chance to repent and respond.

I weep for those who have lost their lives and don’t know Christ…whether terrorists or American Soldiers, Buddhists or Muslims. It’s easy to love Christians who share our same ideas! What’s challenging is to love those who OPPOSE us…even within the Christian denominations.

We, in the Church, have lost the ability to love our enemies. If we truly loved our enemies, we would stop at nothing to share the Gospel with them. That’s the reason our country is going away from God…because people are telling us to be quiet…and we are.

This past week I wrote a note on my Facebook account…I reviewed a movie. It’s called “Expelled” by Ben Stein. Yes, the very same “Bueller…Bueller…Bueller…” of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” fame. However, this isn’t a funny movie…it’s a documentary. It’s really about Creation and how Science and Atheists are trying to ‘can up’ Christianity. They’re attempting to put God in a box. My single comment on this realm is this: try and can me up, really, because I’ll just get louder. My friends, we are being “canned up” by all sorts of angles…politicians, science, atheists, opposing religions…and we’re submitting to it.

Don’t get mad. Don’t take revenge…don’t hate…love. Love those whom it is exceptionally difficult to love. Love them by talking louder about your faith. We are free in Christ…free in our country to talk about these things publicly, regardless of Political Correctness. God is with us, so give thanks to him for the freedom we have…open up…speak up…and don’t be ‘canned up’. Because if we continue to ‘can up’…my friends, I shudder to think of the “Spiritual 2x4” that’s coming at us next. If you think September 11, 2001 was difficult…you haven’t seen anything yet. Pray for their Spiritual 2x4 and prepare for the road ahead. Focus on Christ, pray for their turnaround and love your enemies enough to speak up and tell them about the salvation that only comes through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Wrong Way

2011-09-10T15:57:00.002-05:00

Have you ever felt like running away sometimes? Have you ever been going down a path that seemed like the right thing to do, only to find out you were headed in a direction you were never intended to go?

A while back, Sherri was driving the girls to one appointment of many that day, naturally, she was trying to get to all the appointments on time with a fussy child in the back seat. Trying to calm her down and remember where this office was, her mind was going in too many directions at once. So, she was driving down the road and realized she just passed the parking lot for the doctor’s office she’s heading to. So, she quickly made a right turn on the road along the parking lot to get into the parking lot from a different direction. Unfortunately, with all the chaos her mind was experiencing, she did not realize the road she turned on was a ONE WAY STREET. Which would have been okay if she was going the direction of the ONE WAY street, but she was actually going towards the direction of the cars coming at me! Luckily, she realized it quickly enough to safely turn around and head back in the right direction.

Today we are obviously going to talk about going the wrong way…headed in the wrong direction…as our Scripture today talks about. It’s 1 Kings 19:9-18. If you would, please read along with me.

9He entered a cave there and spent the night.
Then the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life."
11 Then He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the LORD's presence."
At that moment, the LORD passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. 13 When Elijah heard [it], he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Hosts," he replied, "but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they're looking for me to take my life."
15 Then the LORD said to him, "Go and return by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 You are to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. 18 But I will leave 7,000 in Israel —every knee that has not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him."

Right square off the heels of a victory over the prophets of Baal, Elijah was facing death. His life was being threatened because of what he had done to overcome those prophets. Elijah, when receiving word from a messenger from Jezebel, took off; away from Jezreel to Beer-sheba; leaving his servant there he took off a day’s journey into the wilderness. After sleeping, he awoke to the touch of an Angel of the Lord. After eating, drinking, sleeping, and eating and drinking again, Elijah then took a 40 days and nights journey to Horeb, the mountain of God.

This is where we find Elijah and the Lord speaking in our verse today. The Lord asks him what he’s doing there. Elijah give his explanation, then the Lord tells him to go to the mouth of the cave where he will pass by. Elijah was told to do the very same thing that God did with Moses centuries earlier. Elijah was going to experience the Lord’s glory. Upon a great wind, earthquake and fire, the Lord wasn’t in any of them. Yet, he was in the calmness afterwards. Last week we talked about being busy and focusing on Jesus. Losing focus means we will start sinking…prior to September 1, 2001, we were sinking and had no idea. The event that shook the nation, changed our outlook. It refocused us in on what is really important. Through this all, everyone asked, “Where is God?”

I believe the answer to that question lies here in our Scripture for today. God isn’t in the chaos. He isn’t in the earthquakes, winds, fires or terrorist planes…he’s in the silence, comforting us afterwards. Going the wrong way can be a costly move. The Hebrews were doing exactly that. In Israel, they had abandoned everything God taught them. They were worshipping Baal, constructing Asherah poles, building altars to foreign gods…they had abandoned God. The Hebrew people were going the wrong way. As a result, Elijah found himself in harm’s way…like so many other prophets of God.

Elijah found himself running away from there, experiencing an angel of the Lord, who took him deep into the desert…to solitude. Elijah was alone with God…again after all of the chaos of the winds, earthquake and fire, God asks him again the same question.

I kinda get the feeling God doesn’t think Elijah should be out there. Yet, God instructs him to do three things. Anoint a new King over Aram, anoint a new King over Israel, and then anoint Elisha as the new prophet. The rest will be done by those Elijah will institute. God said he’s preserved 7,000 in Israel and the rest will be put to death.

Apparently, there are major consequences to going the wrong direction. Even Elijah went the wrong way. No he wasn’t worshipping Baal or anything, but he was on the run. He was depressed and ready for God to kill him. In that little cave…in the silence after the chaos is when God reached him. That’s when God turned him around, got him back on the right path and headed the right direction.

For me this week, this has caused a lot of great in-depth thinking. One of the questions that I found this week posed this question. “Some people think that Elijah was led into the wilderness on purpose by God so that way he could teach him. Does that idea pose anything to ring true in your life?”

My friends, I now pose that question to you. Does it ring true in your life? Can you look back on your life and find point where God led you to a place where he could teach you? There is a point in my life where I was at rock bottom that I could see God teaching me very shortly after. Had God led me there so that I could be taught?

My friends, I don’t want to suggest that God is behind every struggle in our lives. I don’t think that is the case. Sometimes we just need to be led away from the chaos into solitude where God can reach us without any distractions. Doors close, windows close, and yet another window and door opens for us down the line.

There was a point in his life during his 50’s where he found it very difficult to find work in Hollywood. His personal finances became increasingly tighter. He finally wrote in an article for Guideposts that he and his wife Cindi decided things would be easier if they moved back home to North Carolina…Andy’s hometown. So, they put their house up for sale and waited. Well, with the housing market down, nothing happened. Months passed and Andy grew depressed.

Then one day, the Lord gave Cindi and insight. She told Andy that maybe it’s a good thing they couldn’t sell the house. She suggested that, “perhaps it was God’s grace shining through teaching them. If you moved back to North Carolina, it’s quite possible you’d would never work again. What we need to do is stay here and stoke the fire.” Well, keep working is what they did. They visited Andy’s talent agency day after day that represented him. They sat in the lobby, chatted with agents and went to lunch with them. Eventually, work started to come in. He made four movies that year including the pilot for Matlock. As you remember, Matlock ran for 9 years.

Sometimes those closed doors are the key to keeping you on the right track. Way too many times in my life I’ve had hair brained ideas. Thankfully, some of them never came to fruition.

What ‘failures’ have you had in the recent past that perhaps are keeping you on track? I really want you to keep all of this in mind…not just for the past, but for the future as well. Trials come…our attitude towards them can make a difference. If we see a closed door for what it truly is…it will keep us on the right track or get us turned around going back down the right one.

Upon asking Sherri to refresh my memory on this “One Way Street” incident, she said something that really made me realize that she had applied this before she heard me give the sermon! She said that it reminded her of our walk with God, we sometimes get so busy and our mind is so out of focus that we turn down a wrong way street. But thankfully, God is always there to help us turn around and start to go back in the right direction. She applied last week’s sermon to this one without hearing it…and it was exactly what I’m going for. Let me say it again. We sometimes get so busy and our mind is so out of focus that we turn down a wrong way street. But thankfully, God is always there to help us turn around and start to go back in the right direction.

Focus!

2011-08-29T10:52:00.002-05:00

Focus! Focus…alrighty! Isn’t that annoying?! I do that to Hannah when she is in the midst of one of her meltdowns or is just not paying attention to Sherri or I. Hannah has combined ADHD, is being screened for other syndromes and such…plus she’s 6, that’s not a great age for attention anyway…sometimes we have to get creative with her in order to bring her back to reality. Focus! She’s so funny sometimes…but isn’t that just like our culture today? Our culture is one that has so many things going on that it is so difficult to focus on one singular task. We are over stimulated to huge degrees that we lose our focus.

Today we are going to talk about this idea of focus in Matthew 14:22-33. If you would, open up you Bibles and head there.

22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. 23 After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. 24But the boat was already over a mile from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25 Around three in the morning, He came toward them walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. "It's a ghost!" they said, and cried out in fear.
27 Immediately Jesus spoke to them. "Have courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

28 "Lord, if it's You," Peter answered Him, "command me to come to You on the water."

29 "Come!" He said.

And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

31 Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those in the boat worshiped Him and said, "Truly You are the Son of God!"

Now here we see Jesus sending the Disciples out into the boat after he had fed 5,000 people. There are a few things that perhaps need explaining. The HCSB states that the boat was over a mile from land and it was about 3am when Jesus appeared. The NIV and other Bibles state that it was in the middle of the lake and it was the Fourth Watch of the night. The whole idea about a mile or in the middle of the lake is the point that they were really far away from the shore. The Fourth Watch however is a period of time between 3 and 6 in the morning. So to say that it was around 3am is a general statement. We aren’t exactly sure what time it was. All we know is that it was in the wee hours of the morning.

Now that we’ve got those details out of the way, it says that it was storming and the sea was very rough. Not only this, but they see a figure walking on the water toward them in the boat. Now I want to point something out. You and I know that the figure was Jesus. However, keep in mind the Disciples didn’t know that until Jesus announced that it was him. Can you imagine their fear when they saw something walking on water?! They had never seen anyone or anything walk on water. Their natural assumption is that it was a ghost. I simply cannot imagine their terror.

I also cannot imagine their awe as they heard Jesus say that it was him. So, like usual, Peter is the first to open his mouth. Peter says, if it really and truly is Jesus, tell him to come out to him. At first, it seems as if Peter is challenging Jesus…that he really doesn’t believe. However, Jesus, being who he is, simply says, “Come.” And then, Peter demonstrates faith like I cannot imagine. He gets out of the boat. No one in the history of the world had ever walked on water. Peter actually got out of the boat and demonstrated a great amount of faith. As he is walking on the water, his attention gets drawn away from Jesus and to the wind and waves. At this point, it is when Peter begins to sink.

How many times in your life have you been brought back to God only to lose focus on him to the things that surround our lives? I know for me it has happened several times. I remember back when I was in 5th Grade I went to the eye doctor because for several years I had been complaining about not being able to see. So, Mom and Dad took me to the eye doctor and he explained to me that he was going to have to do something called dilate my eyes. Naturally, I had no idea what that meant. Very soon however, I realized. I no longer had the ability to focus. Everything was even blurrier than it had been before. This naturally scared me to death and I began to cry. I hated it. I couldn’t see anything and it was very unnerving.

When we take our focus off of Jesus, this is exactly what happens. Things become blurry and we begin to sink…gradually. At first we may not realize it, but sooner or later, it hits us. It is at this point that we, like Peter, cry out for our Lord going “Save me!” Jesus was more than willing to save Peter, but very quickly, Jesus rebuked Peter for losing faith and doubting. But it took so much faith for Peter to get out of the boat. Why would Jesus say he didn’t have faith and doubted?
Simply put, Peter took his focus off of Jesus. When Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he saw how bad it was around him. When he saw how bad it was around him, he began to doubt…and therefore began to sink. Peter didn’t even realize that his focus was being taken off of Jesus until it was too late.

The process of losing focus on Jesus is not something that happens overnight. It is something that happens over a course of time. Naturally, the devil never wants us focusing on Jesus. If we are focusing on Jesus, then we’re not paying any attention to the Devil whatsoever. The Devil wants us focusing on him so we lose the security we have in Jesus to do any and all things. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Having our focus on Jesus gives us the strength to push through situations we never thought possible. Like walking on water…when they set sail on the boat if someone had told Peter he was going to walk on water for a bit, he’d probably have scoffed and said something to the effect of, “Yeah, right. Ok!” But with Christ, the impossible becomes the possible.

This is all good and dandy…but let’s apply it. Now that we know focus is what we should be doing, let’s look at what it is that draws us away. In our culture, we are obsessed with making sure we are entertained. Movies, clubs, restaurants, bowling, racing, sporting events, school activities, meetings, PTA, government meetings…and then you add career, church activities, television, newspapers, magazines…are you getting the idea yet?

Is anyone surprised that I said church activities? You’re probably thinking I’m a heretic right now huh?! But here’s the deal. The Devil will use anything he can to consume your time to take your focus off of Christ. In churches, it happens a lot. I’ve been to so many churches where it’s the same group of people helping out at every event. This can create the burnout effect…it is important that we are ALL involved in the ministry of the church, so the Devil can’t use activities to consume us and take our focus away.

With all of this said, I want to urge you to keep in mind that if your schedule is way too busy, evaluate your situation from a Biblical perspective. Being busy in our culture is a disease. The world tells us if we aren’t busy, we aren’t good enough. B.U.S.Y. stands for Being Under Satan’s Yoke. Submersing ourselves in ministry is what we should be doing first. Everything else takes a sideline. Non-ministry stuff takes a back seat and should get nixed before any ministry things. If you find yourself consumed in PTA meetings, sports activities, career, watching TV, movies, school activities and taking part in no ministry things; then my urging is to start evaluating.

Either turn these opportunities to witnessing and ministry, or drop something in order to pick up a ministry doing something. It doesn’t have to be at the church. It can be serving in the soup kitchen at the local shelter, Volunteering at a food bank, spending some time at the nursing home, visiting someone who lives alone, or maybe, just maybe…spend some time alone with God. Don’t be afraid to cut activities out in order spend time alone. It isn’t selfish; in order to remain in focus, we have to do this.

Keeping Christ in focus means not allowing the Devil the opportunity to turn your attention away. The key is to keep Christ in everything you do. No matter what it is, keep Christ in focus. Don’t bog yourself down with activities…don’t let the culture tell you that you aren’t busy enough. Slow down and enjoy life…enjoy the presence of the Lord in the activities that you do take part in.

Did you notice the section at the bottom right hand corner of your bulletin? Usually I put some witty one liner to sum up the topic for the week. This week, I actually unintentionally left it blank. I forgot to put something there. This past week on Monday, we found out Judy Van Meter had passed away. On top of this, Hannah’s birthday was Friday, her party was Saturday and my family was coming in on Friday night. We learned the visitation and funeral was on Wednesday and Thursday, so I attempted to get all of the office work done in the early part of the week. That means sermon, bulletins, everything. I knew I wouldn’t have time later in the week. More and more, things kept coming up that drew my attention away from it.

Ultimately, I forgot the wisdom section in the bulletin and I had to intentionally make time in my busy week on Saturday morning to finish my sermon. Here’s the point. I want you to learn from my mistake. When you look at the heading at the bottom of the bulletin that says, “This week’s wisdom” and see nothing there, let that be a reminder that allowing the Devil to avert our attention leaves us blank.

Hold Fast

2011-08-21T13:55:00.002-05:00

When was the last time you heard anyone tell you to ‘hold fast’? It’s not something we say too often in our culture is it? A synonym for it might be adhere or bind; more than likely, we’d here, “Stick to it kid!” When I was in culinary school…back when I never finished anything in my life, my family always told me to “Stick with it!” Sure enough, I did…but if we are to ‘hold fast’ or ‘stick with it’, what are we really telling them? In a nutshell, we’re telling them to continue on the path their on despite the circumstances or perhaps to correct their course. ‘Hold fast’, ‘stick to it’ , because it’s hard to do!

Today we are going to read out of Isaiah 56:1-8. This particular section is where Isaiah is talking about how the Gentile’s will be included in Israel’s blessing. A little background for this text, midway through Isaiah’s ministry Israel went into exile. Judah continued on for another 120 years or so before their exile, but Isaiah is prophesying at this point. Let’s read. Isaiah 56:1-8.

1 This is what the LORD says:
Preserve justice and do what is right,
for My salvation is coming soon,
and My righteousness will be revealed.
2 Happy is the man who does this,
anyone who maintains this,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

3 No foreigner who has converted to the LORD
should say,
"The LORD will exclude me from His people";
and the eunuch should not say,
"Look, I am a dried&nbhyph;up tree."

4 For the LORD says this:
"For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
and choose what pleases Me,
and hold firmly to My covenant,

5 I will give them, in My house and within My walls,
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters.
I will give each [of them] an everlasting name
that will never be cut off.

6 And the foreigners who convert to the LORD,
minister to Him, love the LORD's name,
and are His servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and who hold firmly to My covenant—

7 I will bring them to My holy mountain
and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on My altar,
for My house will be called a house of prayer
for all nations."
8 [This is] the declaration of the Lord GOD ,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
"I will gather to them still others
besides those already gathered."

Isaiah isn’t just prophesying; he’s prophesying about Jesus. Verse 7 is quoted by Jesus in the temple when he is upsetting the carts because they are doing business there. Matthew 21:12-13 speak of this. The entire set of verses here when read with Jesus in mind, speak directly to what is going to happen within 700+ years. Let me read this scripture again, this time, I want you to continually keep Jesus in the forefront of your mind while we read.

It made a huge difference didn’t it?! Did you see all the places where Christ pops out! (Point out all the places in the Passage that point to Jesus). Just as a future note, the next time you read the OT, keep Christ in mind through the whole thing. It’ll make a difference in how you understand it all.

Within the context of these verses comes a message from the first and last verses. A message in which is supposed to encourage us to keep on keeping on, to stick to it, hang on, or, “Hold Fast”.

You know, in life there is no guarantee that things are going to be easy. There are consequences to our sin and what’s more, there’s a curse on the earth as a result of The Fall. Prior to The Fall, Adam and Eve’s relationship with God was perfect. A fine mist fell every morning to water the plants…there was no straight-line winds, tornadoes, drenching rain pours, droughts or even earthquakes or volcanoes. It was paradise. But then, they decided to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Ooops. Only after the fact did they really realize the consequences of their sin. Now, we have to battle with the consequences of it. Our relationship became instantly strained with God because of the choice to sin. Because of this, our relationship with creation…plants, animals and nature, is now strained as well. Now we battle drought, flood, weather, weeds, mosquitoes, asian beetles, Emerald Ash Borers, gnats, fleas, ticks and it all is because we chose to sin. It’s so depressing isn’t it?! We could have had it so good but we had to go and mess it up.

Well, my friends, there’s good news. God wants a relationship with us so badly, that he sent Jesus into the world. Our Scripture today speaks directly to this fact. Jesus was sent so that we could believe and be called to him.
Despite our circumstances, God still loves us. Have you ever heard the song “Hold Fast” by MercyMe? It’s such a great song. But the song itself talks about how difficult life is. We’re undeserving; we’re hurting; we want this season to pass, but the chorus says this:

Hold fast
Help is on the way
Hold fast
He's come to save the day
What I've learned in my life
One thing greater than my strife
Is His grasp
So hold fast

Help, my friends, is not only on its way…it’s here…and help is coming back for us. That’s what some of the prophets of ancient Israel were getting at…not only will he come once, but he will come again.

Life is not easy. Life is rough…we hit spotty patches and our faith is shaken. Our future is uncertain, just like in the economic and political times of our nation now. We really aren’t sure what tomorrow is going to bring. Stocks are up and down, the economic outlooks are sketchy; we have debt that our politicians can’t seem to agree on how to eliminate it, and the moral compass of our country is now Hollywood and News Media rather than God. So what are we to do? Give up? Move overseas? Despair and wallow in our situation? No. We are to encourage each other to Hold Fast…stick with it…hang on…because it’s a bumpy ride friends…and as Christians, we are in it together.

There is a story about a pilot back in 1987, who was flying from Lewiston, Maine to Boston. His name is Henry Dempsey and he and his co-pilot, Paul Boucher, took off with no passengers on board. After take-off, he and his co-pilot heard a strange rattling noise coming from the back of the plane, so Dempsey handed the controls over to Paul so he could go check it out.

As he reached the tail section, the plane hit an air pocket, and Dempsey was tossed against the rear door. He quickly discovered the source of the mysterious noise, as the door flew open. He was instantly sucked out of the jet.

The co-pilot who saw the red ‘open door’ indicator light radioed the nearest airport, which was Portland, and requested permission to conduct an emergency landing. He reported that the pilot had fallen out of the plane, and he requested a helicopter search of that area of the ocean.

After the plane landed, they found Henry Dempsey…holding onto the ladder in the back of the aircraft. Somehow, as he was sucked out, he grabbed a hold of the ladder and held on for 10 minutes as the plane flew nearly 200 mph at 4,000 ft and then kept his head from hitting the runway as they landed…which was a mere 12 inches from his head.

It was reported that it took the airport personnel several minutes to pry Dempsey’s fingers from the ladder. That, my friends, is called holding on for dear life. Talk about ‘holding fast’. Whew!

My friends…like Henry Dempsey hanging on to the ladder for dear life out the back of an airplane going 200 mph, we need to be hanging on…holding fast to our Savior, Jesus Christ as we go through this life. It is guaranteed to be a bumpy ride. It is guaranteed to be hard as nails. It is guaranteed that we will have a rough time…things will not be all peaches and cream. However, if we hold fast to Jesus, if we can manage to stick to it through the difficult circumstances, we will realize the prophecy from the words of Isaiah (vs 1 & 8)…the Second Coming of Christ comes closer with each day that passes. Be encouraged…hold fast to him so tightly that airport personnel won’t be able to break your hold on Jesus.

Getting Out of the Weeds

2011-08-13T21:39:00.002-05:00

When I saw the title and Scripture that I had planned out for this week on Monday morning at the office, I was a bit shocked. I had just preached this Scripture for the kids at camp. My initial reaction was to choose a different one. But after a day or so of pondering what to put in its place, I realized that it’s going to be a completely different sermon that what I used for the kids.

This week we are going to talk about weeds. Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43. It’s the parable of the weeds and then the explanation of it. For the kids, it was, don’t be a weed. Weeds are bad. But for you and me, we already know weeds are bad. We have some gardeners here in the congregation and we are very aware of the nature of weeds. Weeds can choke off healthy plants and deny us the fruit of our labors. I was really looking forward to corn on the cob this fall, homegrown tomatoes and peppers to make spaghetti sauce with, onions, fresh lettuce for salad, zucchini, yellow squash and butternut squash, watermelons and cucumbers and of course, homegrown pumpkins so I could attempt to make a homemade pumpkin pie for the first time. But this Spring, we got way too much water. By the time it dried out enough to get in the garden and work, the weeds had taken over and I got 6 tomatoes, 1 yellow squash, 2 zucchini’s and a whole bunch of radishes. That’s it. The weeds demolished my crop.

Jesus teaches the parable of the weeds and a few others from a boat in the middle of the lake. Unfortunately, we are nowhere near a lake, so we’re gonna have to do this from the Sanctuary. If you would, turn to Matthew 13:24 and read along with me.

24 He presented another parable to them: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds [a] among the wheat, and left. 26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. 27 The landowner's slaves came to him and said, 'Master, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?'
28 " 'An enemy did this!' he told them.
" 'So, do you want us to go and gather them up?' the slaves asked him.
29 " 'No,' he said. 'When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I'll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but store the wheat in my barn. ' "

Then skipping down to verse 36...

"36 Then He dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached Him and said, "Explain the parable of the weeds in the field to us." 37 He replied: "The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and 39 the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 Therefore just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin [d] and those guilty of lawlessness. [e]42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. Anyone who has ears [f] should listen!

Weeds are synonymous with bad things. Anyone who has worked in the restaurant industry is more than likely familiar with the term ‘weeded’. For those who aren’t familiar with it, let me set the scene for you. Picture a restaurant. Friday night. A dining room full of guests…a few tables are open, no one is waiting at the door yet because it’s only 5 o’clock. Everyone is doing their jobs, no yelling yet, no chaos. But all the sudden at 5:30, it’s like a bus full of 100 people pulled up at the door. Pretty soon, the hostesses can’t keep up with the guests coming in, so one of them starts a waiting list. One of the other ones is keeping an eye on the dining room for open tables. The servers are getting nervous now because there is a possibility that two of their tables might finish at the same time and they will get sat twice…two separate tables sitting at the same time is bad. It means the customer is going to get bad service more than likely. Because the hostesses got busy all the sudden, they had to seat a whole bunch of people really quickly. So now the servers are hurried and trying to take care of the customers without upsetting anyone. The minute they walk back to the kitchen to put their order in one of the waitresses hollers, “Man, I’m in the weeds! I need help!” That means that they have too much to do at one time. It’s not something they can handle on their own. One of the cooks hears this and preps the cook line to be prepared because they’re next. Sure enough, in about 15-20 minutes, the cooks are now, ‘in the weeds’. They now have instead of 10-15 tickets (or tables) of food in the window to be prepared, they now have 25-30. Waits become longer and customers wonder what’s going on. Once this happens, you know who’s next? Bussers and dishwashers. Then, the cycle starts over again…on a busy Friday or Saturday night, this cycle can happen anywhere from 3-8 times, depending on the restaurant and the occasion.

When someone is ‘in the weeds’ in a restaurant, that is the key for the manager to get behind the workers and help where they need it. One extra set of hands can make all the difference in the world. That is how ‘getting out of the weeds’ takes place. It comes from having help.

Here’s the thing. This parable talks about the end of time. It talks about how the weeds are allowed to grow with the wheat until harvest. Then, in the end the weeds are gathered up first, bundled and thrown into the fire and the wheat is then harvested. Weeds, being the children of the Devil, will be harvested and thrown into the fire with the Devil. However, the wheat, the good seeds, the sons of the Kingdom, will then live with Father God in Heaven and shine like the sun.

But that is at the end of time and we aren’t there yet. Naturally, we are getting closer all the time, but still, we aren’t at Judgment Day yet. Well, there is a sentence here that can provide some insight. The second part of verse 28-30…let me read it again. “ ‘So, do you want us to go and gather them up?’ the slaves asked him. 29 “ ‘No,’ he said. ‘When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest.”

Did you catch that? We are allowed to grow together with the weeds because if the weeds are pulled up, we might get uprooted too. So, we are allowed to grow together until the time for the harvest comes.

I know, this is confusing isn’t it. We try to eliminate ‘weeds’ and purge the evil from among us all the time. But if we do this, while eliminating the ‘weeds’ or evildoers, we could very well end up uprooting good seed, or children of God, while we are at it. No, we won’t pull up all the wheat, but we cannot afford to lose any more than are already growing as weeds.

However, there are times when weeds can get so thick that they choke off the good plant and kill the fruit that it bears. But in my opinion only, I think that 99% of the people in our churches in the world are good natured people who want to do the will of God. Misguided at times yes, but wanting to do what God wants nonetheless. When weeds get too thick, I believe that is when we are surrounded by influences from the world too much. That is when we get into the weeds.

Indeed, there are a few weeds in the wheat patch in our churches or a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but no matter where they are, in our churches or the world, the weeds are allowed to grow with the wheat so we do not get uprooted before it’s time.
Remember back to the story I set up in the restaurant? How I said that being ‘in the weeds’ means that they have too much to do at one time. It’s not something they can handle on their own? I want you to think of being on Earth as the same way. We are constantly ‘in the weeds’. We are constantly being choked off by weeds…we need help. We need the manager to come and give us an extra set of hands at all times. The restaurant being Earth and the manager, of course, being Christ.

My friends, we are always in the weeds. We need Jesus to step in and give us a hand in the times we need it…which is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We need the master gardener to come along side us and help us grow through the weeds…to bear the fruit that he would have us bear. Only through Christ can we bear fruit in among weeds.

This week, as you deal with life’s trials…remember that weeds are prevalent and that we need Christ’s help to get through until the harvest.

Who is your favorite child?

2011-08-08T15:18:00.001-05:00

Has anyone ever asked you who your favorite child is? It’s hard to decide isn’t it! It’s not that you love one more than the other, they are individual people and therefore you love them differently than the other. Right? Ok, now what about your siblings? Do you have a favorite sibling? Maybe you only have one sibling like me. Oh I have a step-sister and twin step-brothers, who by now are regular siblings. We’ve been family for over 13 years…once you reach the decade mark, it’s automatic! If you are anything like me, my natural brother and I fought all the time. When we do find the time to get together from across the country, we still have our little arguments! It’s a part of the whole brother/sister gig!

Do you find that you favor a child or a sibling more so than the other? Are you harder on one child over the other? Perhaps you do the same thing with a brother or a sister? It is a natural thing to do. I know parents that love their children equally, but have a tendency to be closer to one rather than another for some reason. Today we are going to talk about favoritism, which is as a result, has a deeper problem within it. Judgmentalism. We are going to read Romans 2:1-11. If you would, flip there and we are going to pick up where Paul has just finished talking about God’s wrath against mankind. Romans 2:1-11. Please read along with me.

1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.

Casey Anthony. Orenthal James Simpson. Michael Jackson. Lindsay Lohan. What do all of these people have in common? Does anyone know? Yeah, they all were accused of wrongdoing in one fashion or another. Yet, most got off or got it easier than most thought they should. Do you have an opinion of whether or not they are guilty? Well, having an opinion based on facts is one thing. Saying they deserve to fry for what they perhaps did or did not do is Judgmentalism. We don’t know for sure Casey Anthony killed her little girl. We don’t know for sure that Michael Jackson was a child molester. Were you there to witness it? God was. Besides the person and the victim, the only other one who knows for sure is God. That is what Paul is saying here in the first few verses.

If we judge another, we are condemning ourselves right along with them. We are subject to the same judgment at the end of time that everyone else is.

The real issue is that God’s judgment against those who do wrong is based on Truth. But if we partake in the same rebellion against God that another does, do we think that we are going to get off scot free? In fact, no we will not. The only way we get off is by the blood of Christ…judging another is not part of that. That’s God’s job. Not ours.

There’s a story of a man who was a professed atheist through his younger years. When he was in his mid-twenties, he started raping women. He didn’t get caught, so he kept doing it. He thought he was invincible. Then one time came that during a rape he had killed the woman. Continuing on his rampage, he continued until one time he actually got caught. When he did, he went through trial and got life in prison. Having spent his entire adult life in prison, he refused to acknowledge God even then. One day, an evangelist came to the prison. Cherry picking random inmates, he did a service in the prison. The inmates were behind bars still, but the evangelist was there speaking to them. Blown away by the message the evangelist was preaching, the rapist/murderer right then and there gave his life to Jesus Christ. A few years later, he died. The families of the murdered women were confronted with the question of this man dying. They said that they were happy he was dead and frying in hell. The interviewer stated that this man had accepted Christ a few years prior to dying and they still proceeded to think he was in hell for what he did. They couldn’t wrap their mind around the fact that this man who was convicted of rape and murder could be accepted into Heaven by God.

Do you have problems with things like that? Let’s read verse 4 again. “4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” The same kindness, tolerance and patience that God showed us is equal to the same kindness, tolerance and patience that he shows everyone, regardless of what they have done. If we judge others for what they have done, we are unrepentant of the sins we have committed. We stand in the same judgment that we give them.

We can no longer submit ourselves to the judgmentalism and opinionatedness that we subject ourselves to. We cannot condemn someone else for what they’ve done without condemning ourselves too.

Paul states here that God will indeed give to us what we have done. If we have been eager to judge others and condemn them, wallow in our sins and love every minute of it, and are seeking to please ourselves over others, we are going to be judged by God.

However, if we are doing good, seeking glory and honor and Jesus, we will be rewarded with eternal life. Basically, it comes down to a matter of heart. Is your attitude and heart in the right place?

We can talk up our Christianity all we want, but Jesus doesn’t ask for words. He asks for actions. He doesn’t just want an arm or a leg. He asks for the heart. With the heart, goes the body.

Are you quick to judge others by the mistakes they have made? Do you have issues with people who have committed ‘big sins’? People who are rapists, child molesters, murderers, homosexuals…if they truly repent of their behavior and come Christ for forgiveness, they have the same salvation opportunity that we do.

The whole thing about this is favoritism. Do we favor a certain group of people over another because we think that they are either worthy or unworthy of God’s Love? If so, we shouldn’t be doing that…it’s God’s job, not ours. That is why we are talking about favoritism. The last line of verse 11 says it all. God shows no favoritism.

But you say, “Hey! Paul just said that for the Jew first then the Gentile.” It isn’t about a line of priority of judgment for Jews over Gentiles. If you read the book of Revelation, you’ll see that each group gets their judgment separately. The fact of the matter that we NEED to be looking at is that God judges everyone. No one is exempt from judgment. God shows no favoritism for you or the murderer in the prison, the homosexual, or the politician. My friends, we are all his children. Just like you cannot choose a favorite child over another, neither can God! God doesn’t want to have to choose one over the other, he wants us all!

As siblings in Christ, we do get jealous for our Father’s love. We think we’re more special than our brother or sister…or that they’re more special to God than we are. Not at all! God doesn’t choose! Neither should we!

My dear friends, it is such Good News that God doesn’t show favoritism. God knows you, God loves you, and all he wants is a relationship with you…with everyone present here on the Earth. By judging others for what they have done, we push them further away from our Father…and by doing so, incur our Father’s wrath. He loves us all. My friends, God wants everyone…he shows no favoritism. We should do the same.

Running in Idle

2011-07-31T15:33:00.001-05:00

Do you ever get tired of doing the right thing? Have you ever been in a situation where someone needed your help and you weren’t sure exactly what to do or even if you should do something? Have you ever been in a situation where someone was more concerned with your business than the problems that they face themselves? Today we are going to talk about idleness. Not idol, but idle, as in sitting around doing nothing. Idle as in lazy. We’re going to read 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15. This is the letter from Paul to the church in Thessalonica. If you would, follow along.

6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.
14 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.

The problem talked about here in 2 Thessalonians is first brought up to the church in Thessalonica in the first letter. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 reads, “14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” The problem of idleness showed up before in Thessalonica. Now obviously, it had gotten worse…perhaps out of hand. I love how the KJV describes idleness…disorderly. It literally means lazy. You see, the problem was that people were using the second coming of Christ as an excuse to quit working and doing their fair share in expectation that Christ was coming soon. They had abandoned their way of life expecting Christ was coming to take them away. In turn, they were sponging off the church in order to live. They were taking advantage of the situation.

The problem is, when the apostles and church leaders went to Thessalonica, they accepted no charity. They worked for what they ate and used. It wasn’t that they couldn’t accept charity or gifts, it’s the fact that they were setting a good example for those whom they were teaching.

As Christians, we are called to be a good example, especially to those who are new in the faith. It is our duty to ‘show them the ropes’. The proper term for that is discipling them. When we baptize new believers, it is our duty to teach them the proper way to live the Christian life. The problem is, we lose sight of that and become lazy sometimes. Paul says here directly, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” In other words, earn your keep.

Sometimes in Christian circles, we are called to help others who need it. The trouble is, there are people all over who want nothing more than to receive a free ride and charity from people. Paul tells us to avoid these people. Not only is it calling us to avoid these people, but avoid that activity of lazyness, idleness, and disorder. Activities like idleness have a tendency to rub off. We are like those we surround ourselves with.

When it comes to idleness, we are like a car. When a car is sitting in the driveway at the house, running in idle, it’s functioning, running, and appears to be doing what it’s supposed to. But there’s one problem. The car isn’t going anywhere. The car is not moving. The car’s full functionality is to carry us from one point to another. If it isn’t doing that, it isn’t serving its main purpose.

When we sit at home, in church, at work, or wherever, we’re alive, functioning, running and we appear to be doing what we’re supposed to be doing. But there’s one problem. We truly aren’t going anywhere. We are not moving. Our full functionality is to get closer to Christ with every day that passes and to lead other people to Christ with us along life’s journey.

Idleness is a disease. A lot of people in our country think they are entitled to things. In all actuality, we are called to avoid these people. People who are perfectly able to work need to get up and work.

Now, keep in mind that there are people who do need our help. Sometimes circumstances come around that perhaps someone gets laid off and cannot find work. Perhaps an injury incapacitates someone to function in their life. Maybe life’s just taken a turn for the worse and they need help. What I’m trying to say is that we are supposed to help those who need help. We are called to do so by Christ.
However, there are those that attempt to take advantage of the situation. They attempt to have other people carry them through because they are just too lazy to do something about it.

In Thessalonica, there were those who needed help and received it. However, there were those who had abandoned their lives and sought the church to carry them through. This is what Paul is addressing here to this church.

The end result of this is that some people in the church in Thessalonica were tempted to join those who were being irresponsible. The helpers got tired of doing what was right and sought to join their ranks. Paul is writing them to tell them they are wrong for doing that.

It is our duty to rebuke and correct our brothers and sisters who are making these mistakes. We should never tire of doing what is right, although we do tire in doing it. It is hard, physical work doing what is right. It is mentally and emotionally draining as well.

However, if our attitude toward doing what is right changes to an attitude of, “Man I am sick and tired of doing what is right all the time only to get stomped on!” That is when we need our attitude checked. At that point, we probably need a little ‘me’ time to recenter and refocus on Christ.

Paul goes on to tell us that although we are not to associate with those who are lazy and idle, we are not to become their enemies. That is not the goal. Keep in mind that Christ told us that in all things, Love. Mark 12:30, Christ says, “30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If we are to love our neighbor, making him an enemy isn’t doing that. When someone does wrong, we are to bring it to his attention. If that doesn’t work, then we bring it before the congregation. If that does not work, then we treat them as a pagan. What Paul is emphasizing here is that when we disassociate with those who are not listening to rebuke, we do not treat them as an enemy, yet as a brother, with love. Pagans we treat with love because we are trying to win them to Christ. Those who do not listen to rebuke, we do so because we want to cultivate in them the spirit of repentance.

Repentance is the key word for idleness. Whether it is us or someone we know or a stranger who is seeking out help from the church, idleness calls for repentance. The disease of idleness has claimed many along the lines of battle. As Christian soldiers, it is our duty to be sure we are being the good example and not becoming casualties of the battle.

There’s a story of a couple who had been having difficulties in their marriage. They’d separated, started seeing other people and about 6 months down the road, the family who had been trying to get them to see the light for a long time. They were helping them financially, physically and in every way possible. Finally, they got back together, had started going to church, and a year later, were baptized. Only a few short months later, tragedy struck again and they split up and separated. Asking their family for financial help, this time they turned them away telling them that instead of sponging off of other people as they had their entire lives, they need to quit being lazy. Sometimes the help we give ends up being fruitless. The best course of action is to love them and help them not be lazy or idle.

My friends, cars in idle go nowhere. People are no different. When we operate in idle, we go nowhere. It is our Christian duty to help the idle not be idle by showing them through example.

The 'Idol' Phenomenon

2011-07-23T16:59:00.002-05:00

When I say idol, probably the most common thing on the minds of most reality TV show watching people is “American Idol”. American Idol has developed into a phenomenon that swept the nation for 11 years. For 5 months out of the year, people are glued to the television set Tuesday and Wednesday night with between 18 and 38 million people tuning in. In a biblical sense, it truly has become an ‘idol’ that takes over our time. No, we don’t bow down and worship it, but we will do anything to make sure that we DVR it, make time to watch it, or get the scoop on what’s going on. I wonder what would happen in 18-38 million people went to mid-week Bible Studies for an hour instead of watching TV. Hmm. Interesting to think about. It doesn’t have to be American Idol…maybe you don’t like it. Maybe for you it’s Westerns; Movies, Music, a different TV show, work, games, money, food, alcohol, cigarettes…the list could go on forever.

This week we have a two part sermon series called variations of Idol/Idle. This week, we will talk about Idol. Many times in the OT, the Hebrews got stuck worshipping false gods…idols. Today’s Scripture, Paul addresses the same thing. We will be reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, 3:1-17. If you would, read along.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The center of our subject today is verse 5. The sins of sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed are all forms of idolatry. There are similar lists in Romans 1:28-29, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-5, 1 Corinthians 5:11 and 6:9. All these verses list things that we should avoid. Idolatry is simply replacing God with the need of something else. OT times they bowed in worship to inanimate statues and gods. In today’s sense, idolatry takes a slightly different form. Remember the list I went through a few minutes ago? If these things are replacing God, then we have an issue. Quite frankly, attending mid-week Bible Studies, activities in the church, or home devotional reading is not optional. Is it required for salvation? No. But it’s how you tell where you are at spiritually.

From there, Paul mentions that the wrath of God is coming because of the idolatry and sinfulness of the world. In order to avoid this wrath, we must put these things to death in us. Anger, rage, malice (or ill will; wanting bad to come to another), slander (or defamation or belittlement), and filthy language (the original Greek literally means dirty talk; so whether you say a curse word or flipper biscuits, it’s still dirty talk because of the nature of the attitude.), and lying all tear us away from God. They replace Godly thoughts and turn us toward ungodliness.

The good news is that when we were baptized, we have committed to putting off the old self and putting on the new self. We are being renewed by our Creator. The part we play is to put forth the effort to remain close to him.

Moving down a little further, we find Paul telling us how to go about putting off this old self. It is vital that we surround ourselves in the following qualities: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and thankfulness. This all sounds so good when we list them, but the truth is, it’s difficult to put these things on, isn’t it. It’s so easy to yell at the dude who cut you off in traffic, yell at the kids for doing something for the 500th time you told them not to, get full of ourselves when we accomplish something, join in on the conversation with the guys about filthy topics just to fit in. I know we’re all guilty of shunning the things we should be putting on. Instead of putting on what we should, we clothe ourselves with other things that give us temporary satisfaction.

These things, as I stated earlier, can range a wide variety of things. The point is, to recognize what it is that we are placing in the position that God should be in. I’ve heard countless people say that they’ve tried everything from houses to booze, drugs to cars to collecting things. But when they finally found Christ, nothing quite fit the place that Christ did. I’ve heard them say that he is the perfect fit to the puzzle. There’s nothing quite like the enthusiasm of someone who has just come to Christ. The problem is, is that we lose that enthusiasm through circumstances that happen.

For me, just before I first started going back to church, I got involved with the Star Wars website. Yes, I am a huge Star Wars fan. I’ve seen all of them in the theater, have the DVD’s, have played the multitude of games they have put out for the various game systems, and at that time, I even was involved in the website where they had a Star Wars blog. It was where fans posted thoughts of theories about the movies and things that are never discussed in the books or movies. I loved it…we debated everything from Darth Vader to the Mos Eisley Spaceport Cantina Band. If I wasn’t at work, I was online blogging, playing a game or trying to find time to watch the movies. When I went back to church, I started to find church competing for my time; which I didn’t like. I was upset that it was interfering with my Star Wars time. Gradually I got away from it and filled my time with ministry opportunities. After 6 months of being away from blogging, I went back because I had a free day. It wasn’t the same. It wasn’t what I remembered. Somehow, it didn’t fill in like it used to. These days, oh I’m still a Star Wars fan. However, I have the DVD’s which I haven’t watched in a year at least. I don’t blog about it, play games, or anything else. It has slipped away as the focus of my life.

The point of my story is, there is something that is taking up your time that you should be devoting to God. What is it that competes for your time that you should be devoting to God? Don’t get me wrong, family is important, work is important, making money to support the family is important, there are multitudes of other thing that are just as important in our life, but does it take so much of our time that it competes with that of God? Maybe it isn’t one thing. Maybe there are a couple different things. Could you shave a little time off each to make an hour to attend a Bible Study? We have both a women’s group and a men’s group, and I want to, in the next 6-9 months, start a mixed adult’s meal and Bible Study. Attendance in these groups and or home study should be 100%...but it isn’t. Folks, I’m not even 100%. There are days that I am not good at reading and studying my Bible for my own personal devotion. Sometimes I get swept up in Sermons, Newsletters, Sunday School Lessons, homework and such that I lose time all over the place to give myself growth time.

We have got to make a conscious effort to not let other things become our idols. God has warned the OT Hebrews. Thereby warning us of the very same thing. My friends, idolatry is not dead. In fact, it is very much alive and well in the country of America. We idolize movies, movie stars, celebrities, TV, radio, finding America’s next ‘Idol’. That TV show personifies what it is that we value in our country.

My friends, what do you value? Do you value things instead of God? I’m not saying that we don’t value God, because we do, but where does he rank in our lives? Is he truly first? Or does he rank where it’s the most convenient. Our faith should not be a faith of convenience. If it is, we are not here for the right reasons. We should be pursuing God and his will at all times. American Idol? That American Idol used to be God. Let’s move him back there.

The Voice Among the Many

2011-07-16T14:19:00.002-05:00

I cannot stand busy places…especially restaurants. That sounds funny coming from a guy who worked in restaurants for 13 years huh? They get so jam-packed, sardine tight that I feel like I have to yell at the person I’m talking to just to have a normal conversation. Forget being in the kitchen. You think the dining room is loud? Kitchens are horrid. Usually they are 300-500 square feet with over 50 people jammed into that space. Equipment running, fans blowing, servers yelling, dishes clanging, cooks swearing, Manager trying to keep a lid on it all to give customers the best service possible as quickly as possible. Places like that get me because too many voices really upset me. I have a hard enough time hearing people when they talk thanks to the noisy kitchens, let alone when you add 75 other people to the mix. But in today’s world, it seems that is what all companies are after. To see how many people they can jam into their “Super-Saver Mart with Restaurant One-Stop You’ll Never Have to Go Anywhere Else for Anything Again Club”. Places like Disney-World are great fun…when there isn’t 1500 others waiting in the line for Space Mountain like you are. Our world is one over flowing stimulation after another. It’s no wonder we can’t hear God calling us. It’s too noisy! Now, Quincy isn’t as bad as some of the other cities, but it still gets a little crazy for me.

Today we are going to look at the concept of hearing God’s voice. We’re going take a look at 1 Samuel 3:1-10. This is the verse where Samuel first hears God calling him in the night. If you would, read along with me.

The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
8 The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

I love this passage. For a long time, centuries in fact, God rarely gave visions…communications to Israel and the priests because they had been disobedient to God’s Word. Disobedience does that; if we are impure and disobedient, it will help drown out the voice of God.

Eli, the chief priest was getting older, had difficulty seeing and needed to be attended to by Samuel, the son of Hannah whom was dedicated to the Lord. Samuel was to be used as an instrument of God. He had spent time with Eli in the temple and been doing things in obedience with God, unlike Eli’s sons. So, Samuel, tending to Eli and the duties in the temple, laid down to rest after completing tasks very near to the inner sanctuary where the Ark of the Covenant was, where God dwelled among the Hebrews.

We know it is night because in verse 3, it says that the lamp of God had not yet gone out…this lamp was to be lit all night long in the inner sanctuary. It was lit at sundown and went out at sunrise. It was about morning time, because of the wording here. Pre-Christ and NT, if God was to address his people, in the inner sanctuary is where it would have been. Samuel was sleeping so close that he was awakened by the calling of his name.

Naturally, being the good servant he was, he got up to go see what Eli needed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Eli that called. Three times this happened…God called, Samuel got up to see what Eli needed and Eli told him to go back to bed. Now, in the Hebrew language, because they have no punctuation like exclamation points, they have different techniques to emphasize importance. Such as naming things three times. For example, Genesis 1:27 reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This is stated 3 times, referencing the importance that God created man in his own image. Another example is Isaiah 6:3, which reads, “3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Again, the word holy is stated 3 times, emphasizing the importance that Lord God Almighty is holy. Here, it is to emphasize the importance that God was calling Samuel. Samuel had heard, but made the mistake of not realizing it was God. He was obeying, but it even says in the passage that he had not yet heard from God yet. That is why the confusion.

Samuel, because he was faithful in his service to Eli and more importantly, God, God had chosen to visit Samuel and give him revelations and visions. And that’s the key…being obedient. There have been many times where I am struggling with disobedience and it is extremely hard to hear God and make the right decision. It’s because our minds are too cluttered with sin…the voices of this world telling us what to do that they drown out the whispers of God.

It took Eli to realize that God was calling Samuel. Samuel didn’t realize it, but by the 3rd time, Eli told Samuel just what to do. “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel needed the guidance of a mentor…someone with more experience to guide him to the voice of God. Samuel had to prepare to hear the voice of God…and that is what Eli did.

The whole key to God calling Samuel is that Samuel had learned how to obey. The best leaders are the ones who have learned to obey. Samuel was the first prophet of a line of prophets. Samuel was exactly what Israel needed.

If we are going to hear the voice of God, we have to first learn that our disobedience pushes us further away from God. Even though we have the atoning blood of Christ over us, we are still prone to wandering by our disobedience to the Word of God. Every day we have a choice to follow or not. Too many days of surrounding ourselves in the world’s voices and we will eventually be led astray.

Secondly, we have to realize that we need training. We need a mentor that is further in their spiritual walk than we are. We need them for accountability purposes…to help guide us in the disciplines so we can grow toward God.

Last, we need to learn where and how to listen for God. God’s voice does not come in the midst of chaos. It comes when we are still. In 1 Kings 19:11, the author writes, “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” Likewise, Psalm 46:10 reads, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” Both bring to the point that it requires us to be still and listen for the gentle whispers of God. The big dramatic fashion in which most think God speaks…isn’t the case. Most time he speaks in such soft terms that if we are submerged in the world, we will not hear him.

How many times have you heard God beckoning you, only to realize that it wasn’t who you thought calling you? Has anyone told you to go and be still, then next time respond, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” My friends, pastors aren’t the only ones who are supposed to hear the voice of God. God is speaking to you. It may be in a different way that someone else, but nonetheless, God will speak to you. The dream I had that made me become a minister was one, most of the time, it’s a very small voice in the back of my head that I hear and comes out through discernment or as a thought. For you, only you can know that. I can guide you where to look; but where you find his voice is going to be up to your finding. Undertake the task of listening for God’s whisper…take time to get away from the hustle and bustle of life to be with God in quiet…and listen for that gentle whisper among the many voices of life.

Unanswered Prayers

2011-07-09T20:58:00.002-05:00

Unanswered Prayers are one of the things that plague the minds of most Christians. At one point or another, I have heard people say something on the order of, “I’ve been praying and praying and I still don’t have an answer yet.” The thing is, we can be praying for any number of things, healing, intercession, understanding, direction, wisdom…the list is long. The problem is, sometimes the response is not what we are expecting.

We’ve all heard stories of how people have prayed and gotten great responses. But what about when prayer seems to have gone unanswered? Well, today, we are going to tackle this subject. Daniel 10:1-14 is what we are going to read from today. If you would, read along with me.

1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war.[a] The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. 2 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. 3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, 5 I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
7 I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. 8 So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. 9 Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground. 10 A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

We can learn quite a bit from Daniel’s situation. Daniel has had a revelation which troubled him quite a bit. He has prayed for an answer and understanding to God, and in the mean time, he is fasting.

Interesting little side note from our recent study, prayer and fasting go together. Both are for the purpose of communing with God. So, Daniel has gone on what we call a partial fast. He is eating vegetables and water, no meat, no delicacies or wine.
Twenty-one days had passed before he got an answer to his prayer. Not only did Daniel get an answer, but he got it from an angel of the Lord. Speculation says that perhaps it was Gabriel, who had brought an earlier message. Nonetheless, it was an angel. What we are focusing on today is not the response for which Daniel was waiting for, but the explanation of why the answer from the Lord was delayed.

The angel proceeded to explain to Daniel in verse 12 that Daniels prayer was heard exactly when it was prayed. However, there was a prince of the Persian kingdom who was delaying him. Now, this wasn’t a literal human prince, but an evil spirit that was warring against the angel bringing Daniel a message from God. Just like we talked about last week, spiritual warfare is prominent. The devil and his minions do everything they can to hinder work and prayers and they war against the forces of God.

Some suggest that like God sends angels to surround believers with hedges of protection, the devil sends minions out to hinder people, nations, and groups. Keep in mind that the devil does not have the ability to be everywhere at once, knowing everything. So, the devil and his minions have to work hard to set traps and dispatching forces to battle things.

So what happened was that there was a great battle between the ‘prince of Persia’ and Michael so the angel could get away and deliver his message to Daniel.

The spiritual battles that rage do so unbeknownst to us. The realm in which these things take place, do so where we cannot see with our human eyes. Rest assured, when we do not receive an answer to prayer, the reality is that there is a battle raging somewhere.

Like Daniel, we could be spending lots of time devoting ourselves to God…to seeking his face and understanding a situation. However, also like Daniel, our answer could very well be delayed.

Nowadays, we rarely hear of a person receiving an answer to a prayer by seeing an angel who is delivering a message. So, if we don’t receive answers like this, then how can messages get delayed?

Well, simple. The answer to a prayer could come in the form of aid from an angel. It could come in the form of protection, a specified path for us to follow, or perhaps the angel took a human form. If they did take human form, we would never know the difference. Angels do their work all for God’s glory. We literally would never know the difference.

When we concern ourselves overly with an answer to a prayer, we’re focusing on the wrong thing. In Matthew 6:5-8, Jesus outlines prayer. We shouldn’t be praying in huge crowds for show. It’s not that they are praying with them, they are just out there praying so that people can do the whole, “oooh, aaaaah” thing. Instead, it should be done in private, not for show. There isn’t anything wrong with corporate prayer, such as in worship service or before a ballgame, we just need to check the motives first.

Another thing that Christ advises is that we do not babble on. The root meaning of this is being repetitive or windy. We’re praying to God, He knows what we want and need before we ask. We do not need to repeat ourselves or go into great detail. Father God just wants us to seek Him out.

From the Sunday School Times comes this story, “In the charming little booklet, “Expectation Corner,” Adam Slowman was led into the Lord’s treasure houses, and among other wonders there revealed to him was the “Delayed Blessings Office,” where God kept certain things prayed for until the time came to send them. It takes a long time for some petitioners to learn that delays are not denials. Ah, there are secrets of love and wisdom in the “Delayed Blessings Department” which are little dreamed of. Men would pluck their mercies green when the Lord would have them ripe. “Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you.”
God’s plans like lilies pure and white, unfold;
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart;
Time will reveal the calyxes of gold.”

Whether or not we receive an answer to our prayers, there is an answer. Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is not right now, and sometimes, the answer is even no. But now, we understand that sometimes the answers are delayed by the sheer force of spiritual battles raging on.

Other times, we are called upon to pray from the beckoning of the Holy Spirit for something we’re not sure which we’re praying about.

The Christian Observer printed the following story.
One Sunday night in April 1912, an American woman was very weary, yet could not sleep because of an oppression of fear. At last she felt a burden of prayer, and with tremendous earnestness began to pray for her husband then in mid-Atlantic, homeward-bound on the Titanic. As the hours went by she could get no assurance, and kept on praying in an agony, until about five o’clock in the morning when a great peace possessed her, and she slept.

Meanwhile her husband, Colonel Gracie, was among the doomed hundreds who were trying frantically to launch the lifeboats from the great ship whose vitals had been torn out by an iceberg. He had given up all hope of being saved himself, and was doing his best to help the women and children. He wished that he could get a last message through to his wife, and cried from his heart, “Good-by, my darling.” Then as the ship plunged to her watery grave, he was sucked down in the giant whirlpool. Instinctively he began to swim under water, ice-cold as it was, crying in his heart.
Suddenly he came to the surface and found himself near an overturned lifeboat. Along with several others he climbed aboard, and was picked up by another lifeboat, about five in the morning, the very time that peace came to his praying wife! Supplication! The prayer that will not take No for an answer, that storms the battlements of Heaven, and brings confusion and defeat to all the powers of hell, even death itself!

So whether or not we’re praying for something we have no idea about or wondering about a prayer that we think is unanswered, rest assured that the prayer is not unanswered, perhaps delayed by spiritual warfare, but the prayer has been heard.

We should be comforted by the fact that God hears our every prayer, even though we may not get the answer or the timing we want. Basically put, there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer. Every prayer and request is heard and in God’s time, we will hear our answer.

A Holy Nation

2011-07-02T13:39:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday America! We are 235 years old tomorrow! So, fitting as it is, the title of the sermon this morning is “A Holy Nation”. So, that begs the question, what is a Holy Nation? No, it’s not something we holler when we’re angry. There are some from both sides that say we are a Holy Nation, and others that say we aren’t. I’ll leave that for you to decide. The current state of our country could be much better. But it also could be a lot worse. Our focus has slipped away from God towards other things, and perhaps that is why we are straying a bit. But if I say the words Holy Nation within the context of Scripture, what do you think of? Israel? Christianity? Today we are going to look at 1 Peter 2:9-12. This is the part of the letter in which Peter talks about us being living stones which are in the process of being built into a spiritual house, with the capstone being Christ himself. We will pick up in verse 9.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Does verse 9 sound familiar? It should. It echo’s Exodus 19:6 which reads, “6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This was spoken through Moses to the nation of Israel. Peter here is describing not just the nation of Israel and the Jews, but also Christians who are part of the building being built by the capstone, Jesus Christ. God has called us out of the darkness by his son and now, we have received mercy and are called God’s people, fulfilling the promise to Abraham that God would bless all nations through him.

However, there is a condition to the promise of being a Holy Nation of God. Let’s read verse 5 in Exodus 19, “5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” God is telling Israel through Moses that they must obey God fully and keep his covenant, and then he goes into the part we read earlier that talks about them being a Holy Nation. This does carry over into the NT where Peter is talking. The condition of being the royal priesthood and a Holy Nation for Christ is that we obey God and keep his covenant made through Jesus. Not part of the time or when we feel like it, but all the time, every time.

This next part can help us during the times of great trial and temptation. Peter uses the phrase, “as aliens and strangers in the world”. It sounds a bit funny at first, but if we look into this a bit more, we realize that Earth is not our intended home. This is an alien world we live in. We belong to God, in Heaven. We do not fit here. Peter urges us to abstain from the sinful desires that war against us to waste our souls. My friends, war is not just a metaphor used in Scripture. It is literal. We battle spiritual forces that try to bring us down so that they can waste our soul. The Devil already knows he’s condemned…he’s trying to take as many people with him as he can. Be cautious of everything in your life…question whether or not anything is for the purpose of drawing you away from God.

Being strangers in the world, people are going to look at us and accuse us of wrongdoing, call us hypocrites, ‘bible thumpers’, or even ‘holy rollers’. Peter tells us to continue in our good deeds and works for the Kingdom so all the glory can go to God. He is the reason we do good works.

So, what does this have to do with us on Independence Day? What does this amount to? A hill of beans? A mole hill? Well my friends, while we should be proud of our American Heritage, we need to remember that our true home is not on Earth, it is in Heaven with God. There will always be a constant battle between the flesh and spirit. Our nation, while immensely blessed, has started down the path of other nations. Leaning less on Christian principles and the need for church and God, and more focus on acceptance of everything and searching for meaning within ourselves. Acceptance of everything is not something that should satisfy us…we should hunger for Christ…he is the only way we can possibly get to God in the end.

Now, keep in mind that when I say our country has begun to stray away from Christian principles, do not hear me just saying the ‘big sins’ like legalizing homosexual marriage, divorce, abortion, adultery and so on. But hear me when I say that down to our core…our very inner core of who we are as an American nation has begun to stray away from Godly principles. For a long time we’ve lacked the evangelistic measures to our own communities. Young people are flocking away from our churches to pursue ‘their own thing’. Really, it begins with a slight rebellion of the previous generations ‘religion’. By the time my generation hit adulthood…most of us are consumed by the ‘meisms’ of the modern world and they do not see the need for the church. With each generation, it slips a little further away.

This week I got an email devotion from Greg Laurie and his devotion was about sheep. It was kinda long, but I am going to sum it up. Basically the devotion touched on a story where 450 sheep were killed in Turkey because one sheep jumped off a cliff and the rest just followed him. Some people believe sheep are stupid because they’ll follow anyone right to their death. When they load sheep into a hauler to take them to market, they use what they call a ‘Judas goat’ in order to lead them to their deaths. The problem is, we do the same thing. We, as humans, are exactly like those sheep. If we think sheep are stupid…then we qualify right beside them. We’ll follow anything; whether it’s Harold Camping and the end of the World, the Mayan 2012 end of the world prophecy or certain celebrities and their “New Age” church. We’ll follow anything…however, what we need to be doing is following the great Shepherd, Jesus Christ. If you’re following another human being, you will be lead astray. That is why it is so important to check everything you read, hear or see against Scripture.

In my class this week which is Teaching and Learning in the church, we were discussing the subject of questioning our preachers and teachers. I am of the school of thought that we should be questioning what we are being taught and preached to. I actually encourage people to question me. Look up what I am saying and compare it to Scripture. I’m human, I make mistakes just like everyone else. It is a healthy thing to do…1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 says, “9 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.” We are called by Scripture to test everything. That means anything we encounter here in the church or in the world.

My friends, we are indeed a Holy Nation. We are God’s chosen people. We are not of this world, but the next. We are constantly at war with spiritual forces. These spiritual forces want nothing more than to waste the souls that God wants. We’ve spent too long fighting in our churches and between denominations worldwide over what we think is theologically correct and forgot that we are here for a different purpose…to win souls. That is why we’re here. That is why we are a Holy Nation. It takes unity and work. We are a Holy Nation, a royal priesthood that is not of this world called to do the good work of winning souls and then return home to the Father. This Independence Day, thank God for the nation we are so privileged to live in. Thank God that we have the freedom unlike other nations to practice our Christianity; to share it with others and win souls. Then, let’s get busy asking the questions, building the relationships, and winning souls for Christ.

The Corporate Disciplines

2011-06-25T21:45:00.003-05:00

This is the last week of our sermon series, “Getting the Church to Work: Gifts, Leadership & Disciplines. It’s been a fun journey, about 8 weeks’ worth! Through this process, I pray everyone has learned something.

Today we are talking about the Corporate Disciplines which are Disciplines that are practiced with, to and amongst other Christians. They are Confession, Worship, Guidance, & Celebration. Before we go too much further, let’s pause to read the Scripture for the morning. It is going to be Psalm 138. If you would, read along with me.

1 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
3 When I called, you answered me;
you made me bold and stouthearted.
4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth.
5 May they sing of the ways of the LORD,
for the glory of the LORD is great.
6 Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly,
but the proud he knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,
with your right hand you save me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

First up this morning is confession. But when I say confession, usually we think of Catholics and going in the box to talk to the Priest. Well, confession is more than talking to a priest and it’s much more than a thing that is between you and God. We have to confess our sins to one another; James 5:16 talks about this, “16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” The problem is, we get to the point where we are convinced that we are alone in our sins. We mustn’t isolate ourselves in our sin. If we do this, we very well may retreat into ourselves and put on our ‘perfect face’ for all those while living in hypocrisy. This is the reason many people outside of the churches do not go to church is because of our lack of confession. We fail to tell people about our failures and faults…then we get our self-righteous gig’s up about homosexuality, abortion, murder and all of the ‘big’ sins, while we forget that we are everyday normal sinners too. We have skeletons hiding somewhere in our closets that need to come out too. We have to realize that we are in good company when it comes to sin. Everyone sitting in this church today is very skilled at sinning. We shouldn’t think that we have anything to hide about ourselves because the person sitting across the aisle is thinking the same exact thing.

Confessing our sin can bring about a serious realization that we have freedom to confess to others and move on to some real healing. Have you ever hidden something away? Are you still doing it? If you already confessed what you had hidden, do you remember the relief you felt when you finally did confess it? It is a liberating feeling…and the sin seems so silly afterwards. Confessing has that power to release the hurt and enable us to move on.

When you do something wrong, do you say, “I’m sorry”? Do you ask for forgiveness? We have the power to ask it and give it out as Christians. Once we’ve confessed our sin, it is forgiven!

One more thing about confession; it begins with a deep sorrow. However, confession has to come to an end sometime. It always ends in joy. Do not let yourself continually be beaten down by yourself. Allow yourself to feel the forgiveness of God and the joy that comes after. Make the change of heart to do everything to avoid the sinful life…confess you sins to one another.

Worship is what we’re doing right now. We’re gathering together as a group and worshipping God for the goodness that he brings about in our land. When we truly worship God, we will be able to know, feel and experience the Resurrected Christ in our midst. God should be the only one we worship. We shouldn’t be praying to someone or something else. We shouldn’t put anything else ahead of God. That is why last week I said to do away with anything that produces an addiction. That is idolatry…putting it ahead of God. We need to see God for who he is. When we do this, God moves us to confession. When we confess, it ends in joy, which is where we worship God for who he is and what he’s done for us. We worship God because he chose to act. He created, which he did not have to do. His name means, “the self sustaining one”. God lacks nothing nor needs anything. He wanted us. Then, after we messed things up in the garden, God saw fit to act and send Christ to the world to die for our sins. He provided a way for salvation. We do not deserve it, nor will we do anything to deserve it…accepting his son is the only way to get it.

As far as our priority in worship, it should be God. It isn’t the music, sermon, offering, communion…nothing but God alone is the priority in worship. There is a song called “Heart of Worship”. I want to read the chorus for you. “I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about you, It's all about you, Jesus, I'm sorry Lord for the things i've made it, when it's all about you, it's all about you, Jesus.” That chorus says it all. It is all about Jesus, if we are making it about the style of music, frequency of communion, how much we’re putting in the offering plate or how terrible the sermons are, we’ve missed the point. It’s about Jesus, not those things. It’s about worshipping our risen Savior…God the Father, and our Counselor, the Holy Spirit. Worship occurs by experiencing the glory and radiance of God during every activity that we engage in. Work, play, sleep, eat…we have to prepare ourselves to worship God.

When I went on the Walk to Emmaus last year, my group chose to go back to the Agape Chapel. Now, this place is somewhere that is set up to be where people come and pray for the people on the walk. As we went back and got to the door, our guide told us to take off our shoes and socks, because the ground on which we stand is holy. It’s what God told Moses when God spoke to him from the burning bush. We went in and when we decided to pray there, we could all feel the power within that place. It was AMAZING. It was one of the few times when we were in worship that I felt that kind of power. The kind of power that makes you shake when you pray…that you pray words and can’t even remember what you prayed for…the kind of power that moves grown men and women to tears. That is the kind of experience we should be having…feeling the presence of God, the glory and radiance of him. That is why we worship. All of the elements, music, sermon, offering, communion, fall into place when we focus correctly on God.

Guidance is up next and it refers to the guidance of the Holy Spirit upon our individual lives. If we do this, it turns to a “corporate” guidance. Now, this does not mean that only a select few leaders or individuals, not just our Board or Elders, but church as a whole. Our church as a whole needs to be involved in seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit. The problem is, our culture is so focused on individuality that we’ve lost the ability to be guided as a whole. We must decide together to live by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That is why we need people with all sorts of gifts. Together and only together can we do it. When we have issues that are brought up, the decisions about these things must not be entered into lightly. We must seek the counsel of others and as a group and pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then, we must come together formulate an opinion together. We must not seek compromise, but God-given unity. If we do not have this unity, even if one person is not on board, we need to still remain open…on all ends to pursue it until we all have reached unity. We have to handle this with grace.

When we cannot come to agreements…when splits do happen and ministries do part company, like with Paul and Barnabas did over John Mark, we must pray for the other part and ask God’s blessing upon them. Splitting with nastiness, harsh words and ugliness cannot be allowed. We must pray that they find God and are successful in their ministry going forward.

Finally, we come to Celebration. You remember the old 80’s song, *singing, “Celebrate good times come on! Let’s Celebrate!” The discipline of Celebration is exactly that. Celebration brings joy…and joy makes us strong. Celebration is how we get through tough times, good times, or any time. Tough times come…like a teenager who has lost the innocence that used to be…we celebrate with joy at the time when he or she comes back to their right mind. When a mother is groaning in pain, but she looks forward to the point when the baby is here and she becomes a mother…all the childbearing pain is made worth it. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and it comes from being obedient to Christ. “Trust & Obey”, the old hymn still rings true. The chorus goes, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” We have to be obedient to Christ at all times. Joy isn’t found by attending the latest and greatest church, concert, or gathering. Joy is only found in obedience. It is the result of properly pursuing the Spiritual Disciplines. Following the Disciplines brings the type of transforming joy that changes lives. Don’t celebrate if you don’t feel it. Go back and work on the other disciplines to build it up in your life.

Another way to bring joy by celebrating is to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and various milestones in life! It can rid us of sadness. Then, we can learn to have the carefree worriless lifestyle. Feasts in the OT are there for a reason. We are called to celebrate.

So do you have the life changing transformation point in your life? Have you reached that point? Do you have the joy in your life that comes from being obedient to Christ? Devote your life to him today.

The Outward Disciplines: Simplicity, Solitude, Submission and Service

2011-06-20T17:42:00.001-05:00

Can others tell that you follow Christ by your lifestyle? Are people astonished to find out that you follow Christ? Does it come as a surprise to them, saying, “I can’t believe he’s a Christian! I would have never guessed!” Well, more times than not, that means that you’re not living the lifestyle that a Christian should be living. I heard a man once say, “I didn’t know Christians were allowed to cuss like that?!” Well, that will certainly put things in perspective now won’t it!

Like we talked about last week, the Inward Disciplines are geared to build a personal relationship with Christ, the Outward Disciplines are not only geared to this, but to actually realizing the freedom that we indeed have in Christ. Freedom not in that we can sin to beat the band and still be covered by Christ’s blood, but freedom in that we can realize that there is more out there than us. There’s more to life than just the accumulation of wealth, stuff, and all the things that the world tells us is important. If we are practicing the Outward Disciplines, people will be able to tell that we are Christians. Our main goal in practicing these should not be to show everyone we are Christians, no, that is the wrong motive. But if we are doing them for the right reasons…to listen for the voice of God, then the outward result is a lifestyle lived for Christ. This week, we will be looking at the Outward Disciplines of Simplicity, Solitude, Submission and Service. Let’s read the Scripture for the day, it will be Matthew 6:25-34. Right smack dab in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, we’ll look at worry. Within the context of this passage, there is a much deeper meaning than not worrying. It is having the faith and trust in God to be taken care of. If you would, read along with me.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Footnotes:
a.Matthew 6:27 Or single cubit to your height

Simplicity. What do you think of when I say that word? A hermit? Someone who is richer than rich living in an old broken down house, driving a broken down car and is frugal to the end? In today’s world, we are consumed by the need to have the current fashions, new cars, lust for status and position, buying things for the show rather than the need. We are absolutely consumed by the things we do not have or perhaps the things that others do have and we want. This is not leading a life filled with the discipline of Simplicity. Simplicity is nothing more than setting ‘things’ in their proper place in relation to our God. Have you ever heard the saying ‘first things first’? It’s something my parents always told me. I had, and still have sometimes, some difficulty getting the cart ahead of the horse. We have to slow down sometimes in order to do things in the correct order. We surely can’t go harvest the corn if we haven’t even planted it yet. That would be absurd! So the question then becomes why do we seek material things ahead of God? We know someday our life will come to an end and we won’t take what we have with us. We’ll only have God…and our reward for the work we’ve done while here. So, why do we pursue ‘things’ first and not the Kingdom of God? The Scripture for this morning speaks volumes to the Disciplines we’re talking about this morning. Above all else, we should be seeking the Kingdom of God first, then everything else will fall into place. The Kingdom of God isn’t just referring to Heaven. The Kingdom of God refers to seeking God’s will and pursuing things that will advance his purpose. Theologically, we could split hairs on saying whether or not the Kingdom is yet to come or is here now, but the fact of the matter is, we should be pursuing God before our own motives.

Have you ever thought about who pays your paycheck? It is not your boss or the company you work for. It isn’t the company you sell your seeds to either. It is the sheer grace of God. When I was first hired by Holiday Inn up in Peoria, my main cook, the guy I relied on a lot ended up working for me only because of what happened at his last job. He worked for a small restaurant/bar up in Peoria area. It was a good job, he worked some crazy hours because it was a restaurant/bar, but it brought a good paycheck at the end of the week. Well, one week, that paycheck came and when he put it in the bank, it bounced like a rubber ball off a cement patio. He went into work that evening and the owner apologized repeatedly and promised to get him the money. Well, another week went by and still no money. It was payday again and he got a double paycheck…both weeks were in the check. But once again, it bounced. He went into work that evening again and found that all the furniture had been removed and a permanent closed sign affixed to the door. He said that he never took his paycheck for granted again.

My friends, the only reason we have anything is because of the Grace of God. What are you doing with the resources you have? Here are some ways you can ‘simplify’ your lifestyle. Instead of buying things for status, buy them for their usefulness. Reject things that produce an addiction…TV, movies, game systems, newspapers, coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, cars. Develop a habit that when you are done using things, give them away, donate them. Don’t fall for modern advertising schemes saying you have to have the latest and greatest version of…(insert your favorite gadget here.) Richard Foster gives many more examples in his book, but these are a few to get us started. Simplifying our lives can bring us so much peace.

Solitude is next…or as I prefer to call it, “stopping to smell the flowers.” Please do not get solitude and being lonely confused. Loneliness is better defined as inner emptiness. Solitude is inner fulfillment. Practicing solitude on the inside will have outward effects on your life. Loneliness is being alone longing to be with someone else…being afraid of being alone. In solitude, we seek to be alone to hear God speaking better, not to get away from people. Jesus regularly sought solitude…especially before and after major ministry events. Being with others and being alone both work congruently. If we want to be effective in fellowship, then we need solitude. If we want to be successful in solitude, we need fellowship. During solitude, silence is a must. Silence can be the absence of speech, but it always includes listening; listening for the voice of God. Now, this does not mean that other people cannot be the voice of God. God can speak to us through someone else. Solitude can be practiced even in the midst of people. It’s when we are so focused on ourselves is when we lose the center of the solitude and silence. We must learn to tame our tongues. Our tongue can be a WMD…Weapon of Mass Destruction…OR it can be used as a tool for God. The choice is simply ours. We have to learn when to talk and when to be silent as guided by the Holy Spirit. Solitude is taking time to be silent and listen for the voice of God.

Submission is next and in my personal opinion only, I think this is one of the areas we struggle most with as humans. Submission is HARD…extremely hard as a matter of fact. But, it is not about a hierarchical relationship…from leader to servant, no. It is about how we view the other person and subordinate to them mutually. I want to read a portion of Foster’s book, about a paragraph or two. Before I read this however, I want to offer a warning that this portion of his book nailed me between the eyes. It hit home with me and made me see things in a different light. I pray it does for you too.

“The obsession to demand that things go the way we want them to go is one of the greatest bondages in human society today. People will spend weeks, months, even years in a perpetual stew because some little thing did not go as they wished. They will fuss and fume. They will get mad about it. They will act as if their very life hangs on the issue. They may even get an ulcer over it.” (Skipping down a bit…) “If you will watch these things, you will see, for example, that almost all church fights and splits…” (and I am adding marital fights and divorce here too) “…occur because people do not have the freedom to give in to each other. We insist that a critical issue is at stake; we are fighting for a sacred principle. Perhaps this is the case. Usually it is not. Often we cannot stand to give in simply because it means that we will not get our own way. Only in submission are we enabled to bring this spirit to a place where it no longer controls us. Only submission can free us sufficiently to enable us to distinguish between genuine issues and stubborn self-will. If we could only come to see that most things in life are not major issues, then we could hold them lightly.”

These paragraphs were wrote back in 1978 by Richard Foster. 1978! Since then, more churches have split and the divorce rate has skyrocketed. Apparently we humans still have issues with submission. The reason this hit me was because we’ve been in churches all over the place that struggle with fighting, division and splits. It isn’t just this church, the church down the road or even the church we attended down in St. Louis, it is EVERY CHURCH. There is not one single church that is exempt from conflict and split. When we attended church in St. Louis, we almost left because of the conflict there. But, then we realized that there is no perfect church and that we’d deal with it somewhere else as well. Submission isn’t just about giving in to the other part either…it is about mutually engaging in this activity. In order to submit effectively, we have to deny the self. As humans, we want to gratify the self more than other people, so in order to submit, we have to deny ourselves the gratification of pleasing the ‘me’. Self-denial is simply giving up our right to retaliation and getting our own way. However, we can go too far and submit ourselves to things that are wrong too. This is where we need the Holy Spirit’s guide to help us determine what is biblical and God’s will, and what is not. When the lines are blurry, we need to depend on the Holy Spirit for guidance. We all know that if we were to submit to a government that banned Christianity, that is obviously wrong. However, what about our media who professes that we should be ‘politically correct”? It is not an obvious black or white area. That is where we need to rely on God.

Service is nothing more than the outward expression of submission. True service focuses on God. Self-righteous service seeks personal gain or alternate motives…such as that “look at what I did, I need a pat on the back” type stuff. Service is a way of life. Sometimes, we also need to let others serve us. Otherwise, we could be robbing them of their service too. Stubborn pride, as we talked about in submission can prevent us from allowing others the opportunity to serve God. However, taking advantage of the situation is not acceptable either. Once again, dependence on God is vital. There are many acts of service that can be taken part of…listening to someone when they have an issue. Maybe we won’t have the answer, but they need someone to listen. Being there for someone, we can offer our hospitality to someone, bear their burdens with them or even sharing the Gospel with them. Service can take place anytime, anywhere and involve almost anything. Attitude and willingness is what matters.

So what have you learned today? Have you picked anything up to take with you? Well, to help with that, let me give you the Big Idea for today. It isn’t a statement, just a question. I want you to take this question with you this week and answer it. Can others tell you follow Christ by your lifestyle? That’s it. Your lifestyle is a direct result of the condition of your heart. If it is truly focused on God, your lifestyle will reflect that. Now, nobody is perfect, but we are all a work in progress. We will not be truly sanctified until we reach Heaven.

Does your lifestyle need changing today? Is today the day to commit your life to Christ fully? Maybe you need to recommit. Today, I want to urge you to take the opportunity to come forward as we sing a hymn of invitation.

The Inward Disciplines

2011-06-14T11:56:00.003-05:00

Have you ever gotten stuck? I mean really stuck? Stuck so bad that you're not sure what to do next? Last week we were headed to Tom & Margaret's for the potluck dinner for the Sunday School and we were getting ready to head over there. Sherri asked me, "should I go on the dirt road?" Well, knowing it had rained the night before, but it had gotten hot the next day, so I said, "yeah, sure, why not!" "Ok," she said. So we headed down there and as soon as we went down from the gravel to the dirt road, I knew we were in trouble. I heard the tires spinning, saw mud flinging and sure enough, we got stuck. So Sherri tried rocking the van from fwd to rvse, but nothing. Now what!? Well, the only thing I knew to do was to get out and push. Envisioning myself all muddy, I hesitated for a second, but remembering that the van is front wheel drive, I breathed a sigh of relief. So, I got in the back and pushed. We made progress, but my sandles were caked in mud. We got to a hill that measured about a 3 ft incline, and I could no longer push the couple thousand pound vehicle up that incline. So, I got in front and pushed it back far enough so Sherri could turn the wheels and get into the grass. Finally, after about a 5 minute push, she got onthe grass and I was on my way back to the house to get a pair of clean shoes. But, we had one more obstacle. She couldn't git the van between the power pole and the garden. It was too narrow. So, frustrated as I was, I almost considered leaving the van there until drier weather and taking the SUV up to Tom and Margarets. That, however, was the easy way out. So, I took the van and carefully judged the distance between the pole and the garden, and decided I had just enough room to fit it. I was right. I had plenty of room to spare...about a few inches. Woo!! Finaly, we were on our way back to the house for fresh shoes and a longer route around to the Leeper house.

The point is this: sometimes we get into our spiritual lives and end up stuck just like I did this past week in the mud. Today begins our journey into the Spiritual Disciplines. Today is the day we'll look at the Inward Disciplines of meditation, study, prayer and fasting. These disciplines are partaken of mostly in the personal realm, which is why they are considered inward. They are a personal focus for ourselves to gain a closer relationship with God. We partake of them together as a congregation sometimes, but the end result falls on behalf of the person to absorb and keep the trend going personally.

On the Inward Discipline side, the whole goal is to have a healthy communion with God. You see, communion isn't just something we partake in at church every Sunday. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they had perfect communion with God. They walked together, talked together and spent time together. God dwelled with them. It was perfect. Then, they decided to eat of the tree. Oops...we've been struggling with communion with God ever since. We have trouble communing with God...we have problems commune...icating. That is what the Inward Disciplines are all about. Communing, Communicating and having perfect communion with God. That is why Jesus was sent in the first place. To rectify the communion problem we have. Now, we take part in the act of communion at church, but please realize that it is much more than that. Communion is about having a relationship with God. Communing with God is something that we should be doing every day, all day.

Our Scripture for this morning is going to be two different ones. The first is Acts 13:1-3 and then we'll flip to Psalm 119:9-16. We'll start in Acts. Please read with me...

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

And now, Psalm 119...

9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.

Now, I want you to keep in mind that there are two books that I am relying heavily on for information this week. #1, The Bible, as always. #2, Richard Foster's book, "Celebration of Discipline" written back in 1978. This book, for those who are serious, is a great read to growing a deeper relationship with God. However, I am sure to check what he says against the Bible, which is why I will take what I believe out of the Bible before I will any person. There really isn't a great place to start with one discipline or the other, so we'll jump right in with the Discipline of Meditation.

Christian Meditation is so very different from Eastern views of meditation. An Eastern religious view says the person should 'empty' themselves in order to lose selfhood and individuality. They seek to become 'one' with the universe. That is their main goal. With Christianity, meditation seeks to fill our mind. Fill it with Scripture, focus on God, allow him to move us beyond detatchment and move us to attach ourselves to God himself. Instead of attach, perhaps we could insert the word "commune". Just a thought. This allows us to freely give ourselves to God in a way we never thought we could. Now, don't get meditation confused with Study, which is what we'll tackle next. Meditation is the process of internalizing Scripture. It is the ability to hear and obey God's word. With meditation, there really is no technique involved to do it the correct way. Practice. Really, the only way to get good at meditation is to actually do it. In Psalm 46:10, the Psalmist writes, “Be still and know that I am God.” Meditation is a great technique to follow study, prayer or fasting. What we are doing is listening for the response of God. The problem is, it takes practice in order to do this. Internalize, personalize, and hide the word of God in your heart, just like in our Scripture for today. That is how it is done. I want to take you on a brief taste of some meditation. We’re going to take John 14:27 where Jesus talks about ‘my peace I give you.’ Close your eyes, and I’ll paint a picture. You’re on a hillside, the wind gently blowing the tall grasses all around. It’s a bright, beautiful sunny day, clear blue skies and white puffy clouds all around. Jesus is standing before you and says the following words, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” You can open your eyes. Did you actually see Jesus with his arms open wide, giving you his peace, not as the world does, but fully and eternally? That, my friends, is Christian Meditation. A small taste, but nonetheless, a starting point.

Next up is Study. Study is one of those disciplines that is hard to start and hard to keep going. It’s all too easy to fall away from it and lose ground. True growth and change come from study. Have you ever been at a point in your life where you were coming to church every Sunday yet not seeing any change happening? One of the ways we can help that along is by engaging in daily study. Study is not just taking a bible and reading. Reading is good…but it isn’t study. Study is actually digging into what the passage is actually saying. Digging into the context of the Scripture, finding out who the letter was written to, for what purpose. That is how we bridge the gap from Scripture to application for today. It’s called exegesis. It’s what pastors do every week. When I first started preaching, one of my mentors told me that preaching was like writing a term paper every week. 8 pages, double spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman, and exegetically sound. Wow. He wasn’t kidding. I thought he was, but it is the absolute truth. 8 pages gets me about 20-25 minutes if I don’t get too windy. Now, as a lay member of the congregation, you don’t have to worry about giving a report at the end of the week. Your report is only to God. When you do proper study, fasting, prayer and meditation all play a part. Foster outlines four steps to proper study: repetition, concentration, comprehension, reflection. All four of these steps are hard enough by themselves, let alone all together. So you are aware, we have all of the tools here at the church to study. A quiet place, pastors, teachers, bibles, commentaries, concordances, maps and more. It is also helpful to have a discussion as well. Discussion and debate are part of study. Talking about it can help us grow and see sides to the equation that we hadn’t seen before. Something else we can do is to take a passage or small book of the bible and read it every day for 30 days. Things will pop out at you after a while. Style of the letter, basic outline of the passage or letter. Keep in mind that each book of the bible was actually written as a letter, meant to be read front to back as a whole.

Next, we are talking about prayer. My friends, prayer is something that we make out to be so much harder than it really is. Prayer is simply communication with God. It is more than just giving the laundry list of requests to God. It is listening for a response afterward. In today’s world, we get swept up by the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, and if we do pray, most times we forget to listen afterwards for God’s answer. Real prayer is life changing. It has the ability to move mountains if we ask them to. Real prayer is beginning to think God’s thoughts after him, desiring the things he does, loving the ones he loves. Like meditation and study, real prayer takes time to develop the habit. It is something we learn, and that takes time. The only way to really learn how to pray is to actually do it. Jesus gives us the basic format in the Sermon on the Mount in Mt 6:5-15 where he talks about prayer. The problem we have most days is that we are not tuned to God’s frequency. We have to be focusing on him, tuning him into our radio dial in our heads, scanning the frequencies to find God. Once we find him, pray and then be sure to listen for the answer afterwards. Prayer is simply the reflex action to God’s prior initiative on your heart. The problem is, most of us do not pray until we feel like it. Don’t wait, because it’s too late by then. Pray before you feel like it. Prayer is like work, once you get into it, it doesn’t seem like a chore. It isn’t so bad! The more you pray, the more prayer and action become one. It isn’t always the hands folded, on your knees, bowed head position. It is, and should be, always in constant motion. Pray on your way to work, pray after completing a task, before starting another, during a task. It should be taking place all the time. The more we are focused on God during the day, the less likely we will be to stray away during the day.

Fasting is the final inward discipline and it is on that most people shudder. Now, keep in mind that some of us cannot fast. We medically cannot do it…diabetics are a good example. But fasting is one of the disciplines that has gone by the way side…we are a culture of pure gluttony. There’s a McDonald’s on ever corner in the city and we are a Burger King “have it your way” kinda people. We’ve been trained to think that if we do not get 3 big meals plus snacks a day, we’re on the verge of starvation. Fasting can actually be a good thing. What fasting really is, is a restraint from physical food, and instead, feasting on spiritual food instead…God’s word. A normal fast is restraint from solid and liquid food and drinking plenty of water. A partial fast is what Daniel does in chapter 10. No meat, no delicacies, no wine, only water and veggies. An absolute fast is abstaining from food and water for no more than 3 days, because the human body cannot go without water for more than 3 days. This type of fast is usually designated for dire emergencies only. Esther and the Hebrews did this when they learned that they were going to be put to death. Fasting is usually done personally, but sometimes in groups. In Acts 13, it was a group fast. The point of a fast is to focus on God and not bring light to it. We must be sustained by the word of God. We are feasting on him instead of physical food. God must be at the center of our fast, not doing it for physical benefits, power, success in prayer, spiritual insights or anything. Fasting is to focus on God primarily. That is it. If you want to know more and partake in a fast, please start slowly, and do your research. Ask your doctor too, be sure you are healthy enough!

So, now that we’ve been through all four, do you see how they totally depend on the other? Fasting depends on prayer, meditation and study and vice versa. The whole goal if the Inward Disciplines is to have communion with God. There are many, many scriptures that talk about these disciplines. I pray that this week, as you go from here, that you take them and start to put them into use. Do not get discouraged at first if it is not successful. It takes time to get them down. As Christians, we should be in a constant state of change. The disciplines, along with the Holy Spirits help, we can take these disciplines and form the habits necessary to begin to restore the communion we lost with Adam and Eve, and gained back when Christ died and rose again. The only piece of the puzzle left, is your commitment to him. Have you done that yet? Do you have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you actually said the words and been baptized? It is vital that you do…a Savior is waiting to accept you with open arms, no matter how bad your past is. No one is too far gone for Jesus to save. He rose from the dead, if he can do that, then he can save you from the sins you commit. Give your life to him today.

Leadership

2011-06-04T14:45:00.003-05:00

“Leaders are not born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.” That is a quote from one of the greatest coaches football has ever seen…Vince Lombardi. Whether you’re a Bears fan, Packers fan or Miami Dolphins fan, everyone agrees that Vince was one of the best. But the quote is right. Great leaders aren’t born. They’re made.

In The Last Days Newsletter, Leonard Ravenhill tells about a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village who walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked, “Were any great men born in this village?” The old man replied, “Nope, only babies.” How true! A question meant for mockery brought forth a very profound answer! No one is born instantly great. Growth takes time, and even spiritual leadership must be developed and earned.

It is my contention that everyone has the potential to lead. I have the same potential that anyone else in this room today has. But leadership isn’t just inherited. It is earned. It is learned.

Today we are going to talk about what is involved in leadership. We are going to look at 1 Peter 5:1-6. Then, we won’t read the whole thing, but we’ll read a portion of John 13:1-17 a little later. If you would, follow along with me, 1 Peter 5:1-6.

5 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

We see Peter here writing to people in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. This area is now known as modern day Northern Turkey. In our particular verse, he’s addressing both the elders and young men. Peter starts off his instruction by staking his claim to the authority given to him to do so. Verse 2 is where he starts to dive into this instruction. He’s telling them be shepherds of the flock, to serve as overseers. This next section, Peter says a key thing when it comes to leadership. “not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be.”

When it comes to being a leader, if we lead because we have to, things go wrong. Mistakes happen, people get fussy, grumpy, edgy, bitter…you get the picture. God wants people to want to lead. Peter then follows it up with guidelines on how to do it. “Not greedy for money, but eager to serve, not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” What exactly does ‘lording it over them’ mean? Well, the best examples I can come up with are guys like Muammar Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak, Fidel Castro, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and so on. These men dominate their countries and their countrymen have to choice but to follow or die in most cases. However, what about a little closer to home…have you ever had a boss who was constantly…well, bossy? When they tell you to do something, they’re a little harsh, mean and all around not nice? Someone this past week was telling me about their boss. She works for a guy and he’s a great doctor. Unfortunately, as a leader, he somewhat, well, stinks. She was rooming a patient this week and found out that they went to the same high school, grew up in the same town and yet, were 2000 miles from that location. Naturally, they chatted about home and all, but when she went out of the room, the doctor asked her what she was doing. “Well,” she replied, “I roomed her and it turns out we were from the town and went to the same school.” The doctor chewed her out saying, “You’re not here to make friends! Do your job and be done!” Well, that is an example of lording it over someone. He’s the boss, everyone is gonna know it, whether or not what you’re doing is right or wrong.

Another instance of lording our leadership over someone is my personal favorite line to my kids, “Because I said so!!” That is another great example of ‘lording it over people’.

In addition to this, Peter also calls on the young men to be submissive to the older leaders. A lot of times the young guns can’t wait to get their hands on the leadership roles. However, we ‘younguns’ need to put on our humility toward the older generation. Too many times we are split by generations because the older want to do it the traditional way and the young want to do it their new way. What we don’t realize is that instead of dividing, we can accomplish so much more in cooperation with each other than we ever would imagine otherwise. Young guys, I want to also put in that submission on behalf of the older generation is a necessity too. We should work together because in leadership, burnout is way too common. Leaders need breaks, and rightly, it needs to rotate appropriately.

So, now the question is, what does a true leader do? If you didn’t pick up on it in 1 Peter today, let me restate verse 2 again. “2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve;” Did you catch it? It’s the word serve…twice in the same verse. My dear friends, leaders are servers. Good leaders, serve. We shouldn’t be in leadership because we have to, we need to lead because we want to. And whether or not we like it, we all, male or female, young or old, are leaders in one way or another. Simply by being Christian, we are leaders. We lead the world to Christ…it’s our duty. Not because we have to, but because we want to.

I want to read an excerpt out of John 13 right now. Starting in verse 12.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Washing feet was regarded as the lowest job on the totem pole. they did not have shoes or cars, so when they went anywhere, they walked. Sand and dirt get everywhere and when a traveler came in, the servants washed their feet. As the leader, Jesus is calling us to ‘wash the feet of others’…not because we have to, but because we want to.

With leadership comes great responsibility, my friends, that is why we must be willing. Leaders are called and willing…as I said a few weeks ago, the ‘warm body syndrome’ will not work for leadership.

So, what do leaders do? Well, with the minister (who by the way is nothing more than a lead elder), the elders do visits, teach, hold prayer meetings, guide the church in the direction they should go, should meet monthly at least. The deacons are usually assisting the elders. Leadership comes with great responsibility. The minister should not be the lone ranger, things must be done in teamwork. It’s what Jesus himself guided us to do. Luke 10:1 and 19:29 are just two examples of Jesus sending out people in groups of two to accomplish a task. It is not good for a man to do things alone. If we group ourselves in pairs or team up, we are more likely to accomplish more. Remember what I said last week about every human lacking something? Pairing up in ministry helps us be whole. When we team up, we should team up with strengths and weaknesses in mind.

This shouldn’t just apply to the minister, elders and deacons either. Children’s directors, VBS leaders, Bible Studies, small groups, camp, plays, event coordinators…my friends, leadership applies to us all.

Has anyone heard the story of the most recent Congressional Medal of Honor winner? His name is Salvatore Giunta. It’s kind of a long story, but to shorten it quite a bit, they were in Afghanistan at night on a mission. They were ambushed by militants at super close range. Two soldiers were hit, and Salvatore charged into enemy fire to bring back the two soldiers who were in danger of being captured and killed by the enemy. President Obama, when giving this address, said this about Salvatore, “…he is a low-key guy, a humble guy, and he doesn’t seek the limelight. And he’ll tell you that he didn’t do anything special; that he was just doing his job; that any of his brothers in the unit would do the same thing. In fact, he just lived up to what his team leader instructed him to do years before: ‘You do everything you can.’”

Salvatore was willing to do whatever it took to bring them back. That is the quality of a leader if I ever saw it. The Big Idea today? We, as leaders in the body of Christ, serve not because we have to, but because we are willing.

There was someone else who was willing to take a servants role as a leader. His name is Jesus Christ. He was willing to take the punishment we deserved so that we can live. The very least we can do, is serve others in a similar manner. Have you accepted the Savior’s service? If you haven’t, accept his sacrifice today. He died for your sin so that you have the opportunity to live in paradise with him. All you have to do is accept him. Confess, Repent and Baptize. Then, live a life of service dedicated to the advancement of the Kingdom. Devote your life to him today.

Spiritual Gifts

2011-05-28T17:31:00.004-05:00

This week is going to be a little different than expected. I was going to go through and look at the individual gifts to see whether people were talented in these areas. However, upon studying Scripture on Spiritual Gifts, I think I missed the boat on what Paul was actually talking about in reference to those gifts. So, instead of tackling them one by one, today we are going to shift gears and speed up this sermon series. We’re going to learn the lesson that I did this week.

Have you ever gotten so wrapped up in a project that you lost sight of where you were intending to go? There is a story of a drunk who was walking and approached a police officer on the street corner and said, “Pardon me, officer, but where am I?” “Well,” the officer replied, “you’re at the corner of Main and Forsyth.” The drunk scoffed and replied, “Never mind the details! What town am I in?” As humans, we have a tendency to worry more over the details than we do about the idea of the big picture. Don’t get me wrong, details are important, no doubt. It’s when we fuss about them is when we get into trouble.

I want to read out of Ephesians this morning, starting in chapter 4:1-16. It is a different book, but the same author writing to a different church about Spiritual Gifts. Let’s take a look at what Paul is telling the church in Ephesus.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

In order to understand what Paul is saying, we have to first know that the letter to the church in Ephesus is one of the Prison Epistles, a letter written to a church while Paul was in the prison in Rome. Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon are the other 3. So, when Paul opens up this chapter by saying he is a prisoner for the Lord, he means it. He is actually in prison because of his boldness in proclaiming the Lord’s message of salvation. For Paul, being bold landed him in chains, in a home, in Rome. Nowadays, we don’t have to worry too much about going to jail for talking about our Christianity…yet.

Paul then goes into a discourse on unity. Paul is saying that when we are baptized into the faith, we are joined by the ‘gift of the Holy Spirit’, unifying us in our salvation. Each of us is responsible for our own actions and salvation, but once we are, we must live up to the expectation of living as ‘one body’ in the Lord.

Paul then talks about how God has given us grace individually, which is where Paul begins to take this into a discourse on the Spiritual Gifts. Once again, as we saw in 1 Corinthians 12, we see a list of gifts, this time however, Paul states God’s purpose for giving these gifts. As he stated earlier, we are responsible for living as one in the Lord after we join the family. Here Paul tells us that the reason for this is because we need to help one another with the gifts we have been given. We must help others in the body gain maturity in the faith.

To each person, gifts have been given so that we do not suffer incompleteness. We are human and we all lack certain areas in our lives. Remember earlier when I was talking about being too wrapped up in the details? That’s exactly what I was doing by individually looking at each gift, one gift per week. I was concerned with each gift, how it works, what it is, and who has it rather than what Paul was really trying to get at. It is not about what gift you have, it is about how you use it. Everyone has at least 2 gifts. The purpose is to help others…serving others. It’s what Christianity is all about. Sitting idly by on the sidelines isn’t what Jesus wanted us to do. John 13:1-17 is a perfect example of that. It is the story of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. That was an act of service and he tells us to do the same. By serving others, we are building each other up, so we can become mature in our faith so that we won’t be “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”

In order to avoid the false teachings of Harold Camping, Jim Jones (Jonestown Massacre), Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles (Heaven’s Gate Cult of Hale Bopp Comet) we have to build each other up in the faith. It’s the only way to avoid false teachings.

Last week we talked about wisdom and how when you have the gift of wisdom, you have discernment and knowledge too.

Knowledge is being able to understand the scriptures and what they are really trying to say. If you have this gift, you’re probably going to teach somewhere in the church.

Discernment, as I said last week, is the gift of being able to perceive what it is that God is saying. If you have this gift, you’re probably going to be in leadership somewhere helping the church follow God’s will.

If you have the gift of faith, you have the ability to believe in God in times when most people fall away. You’ll probably be serving as a prayer warrior, encourager and aide to those who are down in the church.

If you have the gift of healing, you might be a doctor, nurse, counselor, therapist, dentist, or mentor.

If you have the gift of prophecy, you might be a preacher, give communion devotions or serve in leadership as well. Prophecy isn’t just proclaiming the future, it is proclaiming God’s word. It’s what preachers do every week.

Now obviously, these are only a few of the gifts God gives. You might have an ability to help others, play music, work with wood, art, crafts or farm. The point is, you have a gift; determining which gift you have is between you and God. How are you using the gifts God has given you? Are you just coming on Sunday and being satisfied with it? Or are you allowing yourself to be challenged to use your gifts throughout the week here at church, in your work every day, and outside in the world.

I want to tell you the story of a young man. He was a good hearted guy, went to church on Sunday and that was it. After church one Sunday, the preacher talked to him about coming to the dinner and Bible Study they had during the week. The guy replied with, “Well, I work long hours and am not sure if I can get free. I’ve never really been to a Bible Study at all.” A month passed and the preacher once again invited this guy to the dinner and Bible Study. “Well, you know I’m a busy man…” he started. The preacher interrupted him and said, “I just want to challenge you to come one time.” “Ok,” the man agreed, “one time.” Well he went that one time and found out that it was so much more than he had expected. He felt renewed and recharged for God through that study. After that, he never missed one, except on a very rare occasion. Pretty soon, he was serving as a deacon, elder, and trying to get involved in every aspect of ministry because he loved learning and helping others. A few years later, he was talking with the preacher and said, “You know, I thought it was good enough to just go to church on Sunday…but then you prodded me to come to Bible Study, and then I figured out what I had been missing out on the whole time.” You know who that man was? A guy, you might know him by the name of Ryan Bordner.

I had been given gifts and wasn’t using them at all. Gifts from God are worthless unless we are doing something with them. It is not about what gifts we have…it’s about how we use them. I want to urge you, get involved. You never know what you’re missing until you’ve been and figure it out.

Back when I was a teen, someone had told me a story of man who was a good man. He was always helping people out, gave of his money when someone had need, and was the nicest guy you would ever want to meet. Well, one day the pastor of the church came to visit him. The pastor came to see if he had been saved, if not, what was keeping him from making the commitment to Christ and being in service every week. “Well pastor, I’m a busy man,” he said, “there’s always something to do around here and I figure my wife goes to church, so that ought to be enough for me to get in.” Well, the preacher fervently disagreed with him and that he needed to make the decision for himself. Years went by and he did not make the commitment to Christ. On his death bed, the doctors and nurses said he was going crazy the last few hours because he kept saying there were “monsters” all around him, yet he was not on any hallucinatory medicines. This isn’t the only story I’ve heard like this, even just last week I heard another story just like that one. My friends, Hell is a real place…I do not want to ‘scare’ anyone into believing, I want simply to present the information that by not making a decision for Christ, putting it off, is in fact, making a decision. Do not inadvertently ‘make a decision’ by not making one for Christ. Good works won’t save you…only a commitment and baptism can do that. Good works come as the ‘sign’ of the change made by God in you.

Spiritual Gifts: Wisdom

2011-05-21T23:40:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had someone in your life that you thought was really wise? So wise in fact that you said something like this, “Boy, when I am his age, I pray that I am half as wise as him!” For me, that person is my grandpa. I remember sitting down with him at the age of 10 and having conversations about how a person’s upbringing affects the way we do things as an adult, how to grow a garden, make homemade maple syrup, and the genealogical history of the family. But reflecting back now, probably what made him the wisest, was how to take what God had revealed to us and apply it to our lives to grow in Christ.

Today we are going to be talking about the Spiritual Gift of Wisdom. This week and the two weeks after this, we are going to be talking about 3 gifts are very closely related as a matter of fact. This week is wisdom, next week is knowledge, followed by distinguishing of spirits, or discernment. They are so much alike, that many don’t quite know the difference between them. So, as is my custom, let’s define them first, to see if we can pinpoint the differences.

First, wisdom is a noun, defined as “the ability to detect inner qualities and relationships.” Knowledge is a noun defined as “the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association.” Discernment is a noun defined as “the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.” Keep these definitions in front of you as we read the following Scripture. It is 1 Kings 3:4-15. I know your bulletin says 16-28, but first we need to read 4-15. We’ll read 16-28 in a minute. So, open those Bibles up to 1 Kings 3:4 and we’ll read through to verse 15.

4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.

Now, keep your finger there or bookmark the page, because we’ll be back to finish. So, God said that he’d give you whatever you asked for. What would you ask for? Well, Solomon asked for a discerning heart to govern and administer justice. Of all the things to ask for, he asked for wisdom! This is where the definitions come in handy. We said that discernment is used to detect something that is obscure, in this case, administering justice…which happens to be the quality defined in wisdom. Solomon says here that he is only a child, now this does not mean he is a literal child. What he is getting at is that he is young and inexperienced in government and he needs help. It is widely believed that Solomon was around the age of 20ish when he took over the throne of Israel. So, he was young, inexperienced and needed help governing the great people of Israel.

God, pleased that Solomon asked for wisdom and discernment, gave him that, riches and honor…exactly what he did not ask for. Not to say that he always does that, but this time with Solomon he did.

We keep hearing the words wisdom and discernment going together like bread and butter, spaghetti and meatballs, or peanut butter and jelly. I want to take a brief moment to set apart what it is exactly each of these things is used for.

First, knowledge is understanding. Simply put, if we have knowledge, we have understanding; sometimes in all areas, sometimes in certain areas. We’ll get more into knowledge next week.

Second, discernment is perception. It is the special ability to hear the voice of God. No, not literally a voice; I have this gift and it is so hard to explain how it happens, but it is a strong feeling, a movement of conscience, a voice in your head (such as a thought), an ability to perceive dreams and explain them, a strong feeling to do something or go a certain direction. That is the voice of God; discernment is the ability to perceive it and understand it. Now, the gift we’ll be talking about in a couple weeks is discernment of spirits, which we will get into the whole subject a little more then.

Finally, we have wisdom. Wisdom simply put is the application of knowledge and discernment. It is possible to have discernment without wisdom, knowledge without wisdom, but you cannot have wisdom without knowledge and discernment. They are a package deal. Wisdom puts the two together in order to form the application of the voice of God and the understanding of something.

For instance, this story in 1 Kings 3:16-28. Once again, let’s go back to the bookmarked page where we left off and read from verse 16-28.

16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, “My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me. 18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.
19 “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”
22 The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”
But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.“And so they argued before the king.
23 The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’ ”
24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
26 The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”
But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”
27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”
28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

Wisdom in action! Wow, it is amazing to see Solomon actually put the wisdom to use. I cannot believe he actually was gonna take a sword to that baby…but then again, it was only a move to discover the correct mother. He was not going to literally cut the baby in half. He knew the real mother would not be able to stand it. Solomon is still today regarded as one of the wisest, if not the wisest person in history. There are even non-Christians who admit this. Solomon had wisdom to administer justice to the people. Now, this area was specific in which he had wisdom, but as we see from the Proverbs, Solomon had wisdom in much more than just administering justice. If you’ve never read through the proverbs, read through it. You’ll find nuggets of wisdom in what Solomon (and others) say.

So now that we know what wisdom is, the question now is, do you have that gift? Do you have an ability to apply understanding and perception to everyday life? Wisdom is not necessarily a quality associated with advanced age. As with Solomon, he was “wise beyond his years” as the saying goes. Some children have been described as “wise old souls”. It is very possible to have wisdom without being over the age of 50.

This week, I was having issues with what Scripture to choose. You see, I had one Scripture picked out, unfortunately, when I came to in later in the week, I had written what I thought was the wrong verses down. As I studied, I kept getting the feeling that both were important and needed to be in my study this week. Then, I went through, studied, and gained the knowledge I needed to from them in order to write and preach the sermon. Unfortunately, I was having a hard time figuring out which verses I was going to use for today. I could not figure it out. You see, I had the discernment of which verses I needed to use, I had the knowledge of the verses, but what I lacked was the wisdom to apply them both to the sermon I was writing. And then it hit me. I realized that I needed to go through the first set of verses, then the second to accomplish what I needed to get at. At last I had been given the wisdom to know where everything belonged.

On the other side of the coin, I was to give a word of caution to the wise, forgive the pun, be careful with wisdom. Philippe Quinault once said, “It is not wise to be wiser than is necessary.” Solomon had wisdom well beyond anything anyone had ever seen before. The trouble is, he still fell away from God. In verse 14, God tells Solomon, “14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” He had God’s promise, and yet he walked away from it. By the end of Solomon’s reign and life, he had taken wives that God warned him not to, built Asherah poles, worshiped other Gods because of the wives he took. Guard against your wisdom because even a gift from God can be a tool the devil uses against you. True Godly wisdom always works in humility and servant hood.

I know that it is difficult to actually take a step back and reflect on whether or not you have this gift. Wisdom can be applied in many different situations. You can have wisdom in life experience, a trade or craft, in God’s word, ethics, business, finance, any one of these things and more.

Wisdom is not something that God grants lightly. Those who have it have a big responsibility to share what they have been granted. Spiritual gifts are not intended to kept to yourself. If you do that, it could be taken away as easily as it was given. If you have a gift, share it. Do not be afraid to share what God has given, because more than anything you are an asset to everyone around you, Christian or non-Christian. If you have the gift of Wisdom, I want to encourage you to use it within the church, in evangelism, in governing church business, in VBS or kids ministries, or anywhere you feel that God is leading you.

Wisdom is a gift. However, repeatedly I have heard so many Christians say this about wisdom; “You know, out of all the things I’ve done in my life, the wisest decision I made was to give my life to Christ.” I’ve heard it on Emmaus walks, Bible studies, counseling, or just fellowshipping with friends. Repeatedly, they did not know everything there is to know about giving their life over, they hesitated because they wanted to know more, they didn’t think they knew enough yet to gain salvation. Well, I want to let you in on a little secret. You never know enough. The depths of the grace that God showed us on the cross we can never truly fully understand. Even if you think you don’t know enough, you don’t have enough wisdom, I want to tell you that you have enough wisdom to walk forward and give you life to Christ. I guarantee it’ll be the best decision you ever make.

Spiritual Gifts: Different Types and the Family Unit

2011-05-19T08:04:00.002-05:00

We are doing things a touch different this morning. I’m going to start by reading the Scripture for the day first. It’s going to be 1 Corinthians 12:1-31b. God kinda changed my mind this week. I had everything lined out and then mid-week he goes, “direction change!!!” Slight that it was, I just combined this week and next week’s sermon. If you would, follow along, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31b.

12 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

One Body, Many Parts
12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Before I get started, I want to go over a word that popped out at me this week within the Scripture. As I was studying, I kept going back to a word that struck me as peculiar. It’s the word ignorant. These days when you use the word ignorant, it usually is not in good context. So, as my custom, I went to the dictionary to find out what this word really means. The word ignorant means, “lacking knowledge or comprehension.” Paul is not calling them ignorant, what he is saying is that he does not want them to lack the proper knowledge they need in order to function properly as a church. This is the root of where we are going in this next sermon series.

This week we are going to start a sermon series that is titled “Getting the Church to Work: Gifts, Leadership and Disciplines”. This particular sermon series is a rather long one to be exact, it is actually 29 weeks long. By far, this is the longest one I’ve ever done, but the relevance to what we are trying to accomplish here at The Federated Church is huge. This sermon series will take us all the way until the week before Thanksgiving, after that, it will be time for the Advent Season. The idea of this particular sermon series is really three mini-sermon series within one huge umbrella. You see, in order to “seek and save the lost” and minister to the lost in the community, we have to get the church to work. Everyone is important and there is not one person who can shy away from the responsibility. It’s like the old WWII Uncle Sam saying, “We need you!” with the pointing finger.

In order to get the church to work, we have to know what everyone’s Spiritual Gifts are. So the first mini-sermon series we are going to look at are the different Spiritual Gifts. After that, we will have a short three week look at leadership, then we will finish it all off with a look at the Disciplines. Here’s the rationale for doing it in this order. First, every single one of the people who are sitting here in the pews has a gift from God. This list is not comprehensive, which is why I’m throwing in a “miscellaneous gifts Sunday” to go over the ones not mentioned in the Scriptures. Last Sunday, I mentioned the “Spiritual Gifts Test” that you could take online. That is one way. Or, as we are studying these different gifts, you might realize that you have it, more than likely, it is going to be something you enjoy. Now, keep in mind that a person can be gifted at more than one thing. My main gift is Pastoring/Shepherding, however, I am also very gifted at Evangelism as well. Limiting ourselves isn’t what God is about. Sometimes he blesses us with more than one gift in order to accomplish different things. So as we go through these gifts, I really want you to take a step back and realize what it is that you are gifted at. Reflect and pray on it.

After searching through gifts, we are going to take a look at leadership. Leadership is not only a gift, but a calling. We need leaders to take up positions in the church who are willing to do what is necessary to lead. It is a heavy responsibility and being called to do it is VITAL. The warm body syndrome does not quite work here.

After we look at leadership, we are going to take a look at the Spiritual Disciplines to find out how you best communicate with God. The Spiritual Disciplines are geared to get us out of the superficial Christianity. Making a good practice of disciplines can help us grow closer to God and learn so much more than we have. This is how the Walk to Emmaus or Chrysalis works. While you are there, the help develop the practice of Disciplines. Everyone is going to find that they are better at some Disciplines than others. At first, start with what you’re good at. As you grow in your walk with Christ, it’s a good idea to undertake another one that you are not so good at to challenge yourself to grow.

The whole idea of the sermon series is to learn what gifts you have, learn about leadership, and discover the disciplines that are going to help you figure out where it is that God wants you to serve within the church and community. In order to “get the church to work”, we need everybody in this room. Some to help with the workload, others to devote time to pray, others to help with the administration end, others to help teach, some to help lead on the board or elders and deacons, some to encourage us with the great faith they’ve been gifted with, and others to provide the wisdom and knowledge they’ve gained through the years. To make a church successful, it literally does take everyone. Not one part can be missing, if one falls, then we rally around to help them to their feet again.

There is a story of a small town city board who was fighting a battle of a outlet mall who was trying to buy land and build in their town next to a busy interstate. The city was split down the middle, there were those who were in favor of the money it would bring to the town that needed the revenue badly, but there were the other half of the town that were dead set against it because of the traffic, noise and crime it could bring with it. All the city board needed, was a majority vote to approve or deny the claim. Most of the time, the board was unanimous with their decisions, so the 5th and last member of the board never thought the decision would come down to him. He figured that he would go with the majority because he had not really weighed the options as he should have. Well, unfortunately, as the voting went, it was split down the middle…a dead even tie, 2-2. It was now up to the man who was not prepared to make the final decision. One person can make all the difference in the world. If you think you are not important, that is when you find out you really are. By the way, he voted against it, so the company went to the next town down the interstate and the city thrived on the business it drew with other chains settling in their nook of the interstate. One person makes a difference.

Also imbedded within that story, is a story of unification. The board was usually unified on most of the subjects, but on the important one, naturally, they were divided. Within congregations, families, cities, political parties, within anything, there is usually division. The key is, learning how to handle division. Division rips apart churches and is the work of Satan. What Paul says here in Corinthians about unity, is the key. Paul refers to the body in relation of the many parts that make up a church. When there is division in the church, and it is guaranteed there is going to be at some point, the way we combat it is with love, understanding, and seeking out guidance. When division comes, we have to be open to the idea that we may be right in part and wrong in part. We cannot take things into our own hands, because that is where mistakes happen. Seeking the guidance of myself, an Elder or Deacon is what must be done. We must prayerfully approach the situation and take a moment to sort everything out.

The idea of what Paul is getting at is even though we all disagree sometimes, we have to be open and loving enough to accept the differences we have between us. No two people agree on everything, and that is why love must dominate over everything else. At the end of the day, we are still a family, baptized with the same Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the first thing that all baptized believers receives. That guarantees you have at least 2 gifts, minimum. First, the Holy Spirit and at least one of the other spiritual gifts, every believer has. Through this process, I pray that as a congregation, we unify through our differences, accept one another in the love of Jesus Christ and become the Spiritual Hospital where all are welcome.

I know I’ve been going over the direction we’re going and it’s been an informative sermon, but there are some points that I would like everyone to take with them and reflect on.

First, you are important to the community of believers. Being a Christian is all about being active in your faith and as we continue down the road that God has planned for us, I want you to know that you, specifically, you, you, and you, everyone is vital to the plan. God has a purpose for you and that purpose is to be active within his community somewhere.

Second, I want everyone to come together and rally behind our church, so that we can build it up and make this a place where people love to come and spend time on Sunday mornings and together as a community through the weeks with the activities we have going on. We want people to want to be here. It’s not a requirement of faith, but true faith does good work. Unity is one of the main focuses, and we are here for you, to help, encourage, love and guide you through life. It can be tough and having a wider family to lean on during those tough times helps.

The sign out from for this week is all about God’s Love. It came to me after about an hour of racking my brain trying to think of something to put up there. It hit me like a Mac truck, “How do you spell God’s Love?” The ultimate form of God’s Love is in Jesus. His one and only Son, sent to the cross to die for the sins of you and me. God’s Love is a freely given gift available to all who are willing to accept it.

Why Doubt? Have Faith!

2011-04-29T12:29:00.002-05:00

In the Christian faith, we are surrounded by doubt. Not only when we go out to tell others about Christ, but even within our own ranks we face doubt each and every day. How many times have you shared the Gospel with someone only to be met with the line, “Yeah, but how do you KNOW it happened? What proof do you have?”

During my class on Evangelism and Missions, we had to interview 2 people who were Christians and two people who were not. In one of my non-Christian interviews, I was met with that very question. What proof do I have? Well, it really got me thinking, what proof, DO I have? I have my gut instinct, The Bible, and simply put, I have faith because of life experience. However, I know people who intellectualize Jesus and try to pick at every detail. They have issues with faith.

Last week, Sherri was working on her Math homework for school and was doing some research to show Math in the Bible. She ran across a man who trying to prove that Noah’s Ark and the Flood could not mathematically fit. He was having issues fitting all the species on board, wondering where the water came from and went to after, and how in the world it rained that much for 40 days. After it was over, I sat back and thought about all that he had said. I looked at Sherri and said, that’s why it’s called faith. Can God do things that we cannot explain? Yes. He does it all the time. People are cured from disease every day! It defies medical logic and makes doctors scratch their heads. Every day, he answers prayers with a yes, no or not right now. He puts people together all the time by what we call “coincidence”. Daily “coincidences are nothing more than God working!

There’s a story of a couple who was on their way to the grocery store for a few things. Upon arriving, the wife said she had to make a quick “pit stop” before continuing through the store. So, the husband did what every husband would do…he held her purse while she was in the restroom. So he was out front of the store, watching people go by, sheepishly holding the purse when the store greeter mentioned how “lovely the purse was!” Well, of course being the funny man he was, he played along saying that it was his favorite. She asked where he bought it, he said he couldn’t remember but was sure it was a bargain hunter’s find. This went back and forth until the husband said, “Oh the things we do for our spouses!” It turns out that the store greeter had just recently lost her husband. The wife came back out, took the purse, but 20 minutes, a phone number exchange and 2 hugs each later, a friend had been made.

The elder widow had mentioned just before parting that she had faith God would bring her someone to lift her up that day, because she was especially missing her late husband. Faith. Today, we are going to read John 20:19-31 for our Scripture. Doubt and faith are two issues we deal with on a daily basis and even one of the Disciples was no different. John 20:19-31. If you would, read along with me.

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

If there has been a point in your life where you doubted God one way or another, don’t worry. Thomas did too…and he was a Disciple! Thomas doubted what the others were telling him because he wasn’t present during Jesus’ first appearance. Now, keep in mind that these men had been traveling around and living together for the better part of 3½ years. To say they knew each other is an understatement. They probably knew each other better than they knew themselves. Yet, Thomas would not believe them unless, “he had seen it with his own eyes.” Really? The men you’ve laughed with, cried, rejoiced, praised God, bleed with, been through trials with and you still doubt!

But, to Thomas’ credit, we have to remember that until Jesus came along and raised the dead, it had not happened except with Elijah when he brought back the widow’s son. Naturally, Jesus raised Lazarus, but until Jesus was resurrected on that Sunday morning, it had only happened a handful of times. It was indeed farfetched and a rather wild idea that someone who was dead could come back to life.

However, the men whom you had spent every waking moment with told you Jesus had been resurrected, no matter if it is farfetched, you might want give them the benefit of the doubt. Thomas wanted visual proof.

Fortunately for Thomas, he was a Disciple living during that time, because that next week, he got his proof. Jesus appeared once again before the Disciples and calls out Thomas. Jesus tells him to do the very things he wanted to do to believe. Then Jesus speaks the phrase that most have heard before. “Stop doubting and believe.” For sheer curiosity sake, I wanted to know what the Greek literally meant. Sometimes when you look into the original language, Truth can come out of it. That phrase translated literally says, “(Do) not be unbelieving, but trusting (or faithful).” And here we have the heart of the matter. Trust, faith. To have faith is to trust. That is what faith is all about. Trusting that what you’ve been told is believable.

It all goes back to the Noah’s Ark idea I was talking about earlier. We simply have to trust that what we have been told about Noah is true. We have geological evidence for it…up in the mountains of Ararat they believe to have found what remains of a ship. Noah’s Ark? Quite possibly so! Regardless of which position you hold to doctrinally on any issue, we all have to admit that believing in Christ takes a great deal of trust.

This is what makes evangelism so hard. We have to help people understand what it is to trust in something they cannot test with their own eyes. This is why personal testimony works. Christ was resurrected on that Easter Sunday 1,978 years ago…there ain’t nobody alive today that was there. However, if we read on to verse 31, what does John say? “31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

My friends, we have first-hand eyewitness testimony staring us in the face. John, a Disciple, who was present during these events recorded this so that we may TRUST.

In Luke 7:1-10, we have a trust issue here as well. This story, however, is the one of the centurion, who went to Jesus because a servant of his was ill. Not only did he send someone to Jesus for help, but he KNEW that Jesus could do what he said he could. He trusted that Jesus could heal his servant. He was a soldier…he understood orders and how they worked.

In turn, Jesus was amazed at him, something that only appears twice in the whole Gospels, both instances are of the same story, one in Luke and the other in Matthew. The same story is in John, but it makes no mention of amazement. Jesus was amazed at this centurion, that he had faith enough to believe in Jesus. Apparently, Israel didn’t even have that much faith.

So what is it that we need to do in order to “Stop doubting and believe?” Usually I have a few steps on how to accomplish what it is I’m talking about. But today, there’s only one step. Trust. It sounds so simple doesn’t it? But believe me, it’s a lot harder than ya think.

One day, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food. The grocer scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store at once. Visualizing the family needs, she said: 'Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.' He told her he could not give her credit, since she did not have a charge account at his store. Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family. The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, 'Do you have a grocery list?' The lady replied, 'Yes sir.' 'O.K' he said, 'put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries.' She hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed. The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down. The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, 'I can't believe it.' The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more. The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement. It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said: 'Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands.' The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in stunned silence. She thanked him and left the store. The other customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said; 'It was worth every penny of it. Only God Knows how much a prayer weighs.'

Trust isn’t just for non-believers…it’s for Christians too. Sometimes we have difficulty trusting God with everything we have. How much do you trust him? I am here to tell you that trusting in God, having faith in God, believing in God or whatever you personally term it, the only way to do it is to submit yourself fully to God’s will. Like the lady in the grocery store, trust that God can and will take care of it. Let the death and resurrection of Christ make you whole once again.

My friends, we will never get to see the “proof” that Thomas got to help us believe. But there is a special blessing for those of us who do believe, and yet have not seen.

Unless we witness the second coming of Christ personally, it isn’t going to be the bodily proof that Thomas got. However, I am here to tell you, as proof in and of itself, that there is a God, and Jesus is his son. Ask any of the other members in this room and I am sure there is a “God story” to every single person here. Everyone has their ‘proof’ that God exists. We have not ‘seen’ it with our eyes, but we have seen God work in our lives too many times. I have seen the fruits of the seeds planted in me years ago come to fruition, and I am standing here today to tell you that if you have not yet accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, now is your chance.

In Preparation...

2011-04-15T13:21:00.003-05:00

As I prepare for the Trial Sermon at Lima on May 1, it came to me that we are always in a constant state of preparation by God. One thing that we take part in during our lives prepares us for the next moment God moves us again. We are constantly in a state of preparation for the next mission.

I can literally go through my life and pinpoint the events that moved me to where I am today. When I was 12, my dad had cancer. As devestating as it was, it was during this time when I felt the calling to ministry. I began asking questions that would one day take me down a different road. I had always loved music, and it began to take me to the point of where I thought God was calling me to be a Music Teacher. When I was 18, I had asked enough questions of my Catholic upbringing to bring me to the point where I felt I needed to make a change. I went to my grandparents Methodist church where I got involved in all aspects of music ministry and explored my faith. It was here my youth minister helped me develop my relationship with Christ.

After my parents divorce, my brother's entrance into the military, and some very poor decisions on my part, I ended up down a path where I thought I was walking away from God. Little did I know that it was building up inside me the desire to get closer to him. I was married, divorced and in Culinary school before I finally started opening back up. It wasn't on my own decision, but my then girlfriend, now wife, started influencing me to come back to God fully. She had no idea that God was still beckoning me to become a minister. After a couple years a child and a great career later, I was on the brink of divorce again, succeeding at my career, failing at my life. I was prompted by my wife to go back to church. I submitted. We did and got involved in church. We quickly were nailed by God to our calling, thus developing skills we needed for the future. I had quickly became a Deacon and Elder, and Sherri was a deaconess and the leader of that group. We were finding our calling.

Sherri went back to school at LCU (then LCCS) where I followed two weeks later. We moved north to be closer to school and mentor with the ministers at her home church. I subsequently began searching for ministries which lead me to Raritan, IL where I interviewed with the selection committee and the Regional Minister. That Regional Minister introduced me to the Regional minister in Springfield, who in turn a year later called me to fill the pulpit at what became my first ministry. OSBC was an interim pastorate where I filled for almost a year. Now having that experience, I have applied for permanent ministries leading to the next phase of my life.

Our lives are a constant preparation for the next step. Can you go through your life to see where God has lead you? Even during the "bad times", it is still easy to see where God was with me. I pray that you can look back on your life and determine where God has been taking you. No matter where it is, it is always bringing you straight toward Jesus Christ. Amen. May God Bless you.

The Qualities of a Successful Church

2011-04-09T10:54:00.002-05:00

Success. How do you define it? Do you define success in money, family, the acquisitions of material things like cars, a house, tv’s, game systems, new sports equipment or maybe even none of those things? What’s more, how do you define success in a church? More members, better tithing, more programs, more youth? How we define success can depend greatly on our priorities in life. What matters to you will define how you view success.

There’s a story of a man who had recently gotten out of school and had to take the first job that came his way. It just so happened that it was a furniture sales position. Having just completed school, he was fairly confident of his knowledge and ability to sell things. After his first week of training, the boss decided to set him loose to sell on his own the next day. Well, the young man was excited as can be, so he went home and practiced his sales talk on his wife. The next day, the boss noticed he was a little down and decided to cheer him up a little. He went over to the young man and said, “Don’t look so down-in-the-dumps! It’s not easy at first, but you’ll soon catch on! With a little experience, you’ll do just fine!” The young man replied, “Oh, sir, it isn’t that. Last night after dinner, I went home and practiced my sales talk on my wife, and now I have to buy her a sofa.”

Well, being too successful can lead to some extra expenses apparently. The Scripture is going to be Acts 2:36-47. Today’s topic is going to be qualities of a successful church. This Scripture is the tail end of Peter’s first sermon to the Jews, which nails it down to many of them, convicting them that what they did to Jesus was wrong. If you would, follow along with me as I read.

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The Fellowship of the Believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I was going to read just verse 42 on, but I wanted to back up into the tail end of Peter’s sermon to give a good idea of what exactly is going on here. Verses 36-41 are merely background information for what I really want to look at today. Starting in verse 42 is where the real meat of what I want to talk about today. As Luke writes here in these five verses, he covers five things that the First Century Church was doing and becoming very successful. These things, if done properly, can send a congregation flourishing into the future.

The first item that Luke mentions here in the first verse is learning. The people who were just baptized were devoting themselves to learning of the Apostles. The Apostles had firsthand knowledge of what Jesus had in store for them, how to go about living their lives and what God had instructs us to do. Learning is a vital part of being a Christian. We cannot walk the walk if we do not know how. It’s not just about going to church on Sunday, it’s about making time every day to read out of God’s Word, attending small groups, Bible Studies, and being with other Christians learning about the Christian Walk. These days we do not have the Apostles here to instruct us physically, but we do have the Bible. Through the Apostles writings, God leaves his word with us so that way we may know what it is that he wants us to do. Luke wrote his Gospel and has recorded the Acts of the Apostles in the same titled book, Paul writes to us in Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and many other letters. John writes to us in his Gospel, three letters and Revelation that he recorded from Jesus. All of the books of the New Testament and Old Testament are opportunities to learn. We should surround ourselves with Christians at all times to learn.

Secondly, Luke mentions Worship. Worship of God is essential, but not only that, the correct components must be present. Luke mentions ‘breaking of bread’ a couple different times in this section. Now, naturally, we can take this to mean meals, which they did, but it also means The Lord’s Supper. One thing that we have lost in our churches across the country today is the idea that Worship is about God, not us.
It sounds so elementary, but when we fuss about the details of worship, we are making it about us, not God. In 1 Corinthians 14:26-40, Paul addresses the issue of Orderly Worship. Paul includes all of the proper things that belong in a worship service, however ordered they are in various churches, but the idea is that it is orderly because our God is a God of peace and order, not chaos.

Gathering for worship on Sunday is vital, however, it does not say that they gathered of Sunday morning for an hour each week. No. Read with me verse 46 again, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.” Whoa…every day? Now that just throws a wrench in all our weekly plans. Seriously though, worship isn’t just for Sunday morning, it is for everyday, all day. Praise God wherever you are, gather with other believers through the week to fellowship and sing God’s praises. It’ll make a difference in your life, I personally guarantee it from experience.

Thirdly, it mentions the word Prayer. Now, when I went through a couple classes earlier in my education, he did not include prayer in the list, he only listed four qualities. I personally add prayer because it is a vital part of a successful church. Some people classify prayer under worship, but prayer is its own quality. Prayer is something that we should be immersing ourselves in on a daily basis, on an hourly basis, and every second of our waking lives. Prayer is everything. As we walk around the office Monday morning talking at the coffee pot or water cooler about how busy our weekend was, be sure to pipe in a little prayer giving thanks to God for having a family to be busy with. As we’re talking at the fence with our neighbor about how we have to repair the water line coming into the house from the main and put new shingles on the roof this year, pipe in a little prayer thanking God for the opportunity to have a home to shelter us from the elements. You get the idea? There is an appropriate place for prayer in everything. It doesn’t have to be the standard, “Dear Heavenly Father…” make it a conversation with God. “God, even though I complain about being too busy or having to make repairs to the house this year, I want to thank you for blessing me with these gifts.” Prayer can be a simple conversation with God. I think too many people think we have to be “in proper prayer mode” in order to pray. No. Prayer is conversation with God. Is God in your contact list? Make him a contact you talk to daily.

Fourth, is the never-ending subject of Stewardship. Are you a good steward of what God has given you? In the Scripture here it says that they have sold off all of their goods and gave as anyone else had need. This is more of a socialist type of governing, not saying that it has to be this way with us. The point of it is not that they sold everything off, but it is the fact that they gave wherever there was a need. When there is a need, how good are you about giving? If not, what prevents you? Well, if you are like most of the rest of us Americans these days, we have a tendency to love our “toys”…with jobs being cut and work difficult, it makes it very hard to make ends meet sometimes. That is where being a good steward comes in. Stewardship is not just about giving your tithe to the church on Sunday. That is surely part of it, but stewardship includes how you handle your God-given gifts. Are you using your gifts in the church? What is your gift, do you know? Everyone has one and there is actually a website that you can go to to find out what it is. http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1 I’ve put the website in your cheat sheet so that you can visit and find out what gifts you have so if you aren’t using them, you can start! Stewardship is about money AND giving your time and talents. That is all part of the equation of Stewardship.

Lastly, Luke brings up evangelism. Whoa Nellie! That’s a tough subject! But evangelism is easy. If we are Learning, Worshipping, Praying and utilizing Stewardship, then Evangelism just naturally happens. Evangelism is the blessing of God for doing the other four things correctly. When we are practicing these qualities, then we can’t help but show our enthusiasm and excitement for God in what we do all day every day. People always accuse me of being too happy. They always make a statement as to how goofy or happy I am. I use that as the opportunity to say something about God. If he make my mood great, he can yours too! Evangelism happens when we do all the other things correctly…we can’t help but say what makes us the way we are!

So where are you in your walk? Sure, the qualities of a successful church are included in these five steps…but so is being a successful person. If each and every one of us engages in this, not only will we grow in our relationship with Christ, but our church will too. Where are you at with your relationship with Christ? Have you committed to him yet? Do it today, your chance is here.

Big Mouth For Jesus

2011-03-31T15:51:00.002-05:00

Has anyone ever told you that you have a big mouth? Some probably more than others I would imagine. I get told that all the time. Ryan, you have such a big mouth!!! Not necessarily a big mouth in the way of telling secrets, but, man, I’m just plain loud. I like to make my presence known! You know when you go out to eat, you’re sitting there quietly with your spouse having a pleasant conversation; ok so really you’ve got the kids with you and their being really loud. But then all of the sudden, the hostess seats someone 3 tables over and it’s a guy who’s talking louder than all of the other people in the restaurant combined, including the kids! Chances are that guy was probably me…I know I’m loud, I’m working on it! But in all seriousness, how many times do you see people like that? They’re all over, laughing and carrying on conversations that you can’t help but overhear about John and Susie’s relationship, what sport his kid excels at, or how crummy his job is.

Today, it’s the idea of the Big Mouth that I want talk about. Our Scripture for the morning is going to be Acts 2:14-41. This passage is a long section, longer than I usually choose, but this passage is very relevant in what we are talking about today. If you would, please read along with me.

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “ ‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

22 “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:

“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

29 “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.” ’

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

This whole passage is known more commonly as the “First Christian Sermon”. Of course Jesus preached sermons, but this was the first time it was preached by someone other than the Son of God. Of all people, it was Peter who was the one preaching it. Knowing Peter’s history, he’s pretty good and fluffing himself up, talking a good game, but the evidence is that he denied Jesus 3 times the night of his trial. Now here we are, Jesus has restored him, they have the power of the Holy Spirit, and Peter is up in front of thousands of Jews accusing them of murdering God’s Son. Whoa. What a turn around that was! That’s a good way to get yourself crucified!!! Now Peter not only has a big mouth, but he’s got one that is proclaiming Jesus!

In today’s world, we are all too quick to gossip about the latest scoop on a celebrity gone wrong, what the neighbors were fighting about the other day or how our spouse came home in a sour mood yesterday. We love to complain about politics, the schools in the country our how the world is going to Hades in a hand basket. But the real issue is, what are we doing about those problems?

As evidenced by Peter himself here, we need to be turning our sometimes-big mouths into ones that are for Jesus; ones that very well might get us into trouble. Peter was faced with the very loss of his life if the Jews rejected what he said. What are the consequences of our speaking up? Will you lose your life over it? Probably not. You might get rejected, ridiculed, razzed, or even persecuted. At worst you could lose your job, but nowadays that’s quite illegal.

So, the first part to growing a big mouth for Jesus is to be brave and open up. Become vulnerable by talking about Jesus…he made himself vulnerable to the point of being tortured and maimed on a cross…for you. We can at least talk about him. Living our lives for Jesus will only get half the battle won. Have you ever been to a funeral where no one was too sure whether the deceased was a believer or not? The simple fact was, they didn’t talk about it. In order for Jesus to be known, we have to talk.

What do we do next? How does this process work? Maybe the issue isn’t bravery, but it’s unclear how to go about sharing Jesus. Well today, I’m gonna help with that.

If being brave is first, the second step is to form a relationship with someone new or work within the ones you have. The whole key is the word relationship. It’s what Jesus is all about. Jesus knows you, he loves you and he wants a relationship with you, not just praise and worship (which are vital might I add), but he wants to have an open relationship where the two of you communicate. That’s what he wants for you to do with others. That is how we ‘love’ our neighbor. Form the relationships with them to build the rapport. Most people won’t take what you say seriously until they know you. Peter is preaching to a group of Jews who most probably already know who he is.

The third step is once you have built up the relationship, share your testimony. There is nothing better than first-hand knowledge of what Jesus has done for you. What is your story? How did you come to Christ? Who was the first person to introduce you to him? What were the circumstances surrounding your decision? How long did it take for your to accept the message of salvation? Answer all of these questions and give your story. People relate with personal testimony. Even though this is pure speculation, I have no doubt within me that somewhere within Peter’s sermon here in Acts (which is an abbreviated version; it can be read in about 3 minutes, in those days they had a tendency to preach for hours) Peter gave personal testimony as to his experience of what Jesus has done for him.

Now, this fourth step can be a touch tricky. It has to do with the use of the Scriptures. The example here in Acts 2 for today is being preached to the Jews, so it is vital that OT Scripture is used to prove the prophecy of Christ. If we are witnessing to someone who is familiar with the Scriptures, this is VITAL to use prophetic Scriptures such as Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Genesis 3:15 and so on. However, if we are witnessing to someone who is not familiar with the Scriptures, we’re going to want to use Scripture that encourage like John 3:16, Jeremiah 1:5, John 14:6, Acts 2:38-39. You see, someone who does not know the Scriptures will not necessarily hold the Bible high like we do, so it will carry less weight on the authority end. We have to build that up in them. They will be swayed more by personal testimony than Scripture. Peter does a fantastic job here of quoting Scripture relevant to his audience: Joel 2:28-32, Psalm 16:8-11, and Psalm 110:1.

The fifth step is to share what Jesus' purpose was. Who for, why he came, where he came from and was intended for us to go, when did he accomplish this, for what purpose does Jesus have for us, and finally, how he accomplished it. Most the relevant questions about Jesus purpose lies in these questions.

Immediately to go with the previous step sorta like step 5b, is to encourage questions and have the word in your heart ready to be put into action. Now the problem is the time between steps 5 and 6 is an undetermined amount of time. Steps 1-5 might have to be repeated depending on how strong against the message of Christ the person is. Here’s an example.

I have a friend that for the purpose of the sermon (for confidentiality sake) we’re gonna change his name. I’ll refer to him as Richard. Richard has an amazing story. Richard and his entire family were agnostic/atheist. He was hounded in junior high and high school by a couple different kids he called “Bible Thumper’s”. He was cordial, just acted not interested…because in reality, he wasn’t. Later on in College, he studied Math and Science and he was pretty hard-nosed against the idea of the existence of God. Low and behold, a classmate of his shared Jesus with him repeatedly. After a while, Richard told this guy where to go, I mean he was rude. It wasn’t until after he had graduated and lost contact with this man that he finally opened up to the idea of Christ. He finally accepted the message of Christ. It took another several years for him to get geared up enough to take his faith very seriously, but the point is, the seeds had been planted years earlier and needed time to grow. Unfortunately, this guy didn’t get to see the end result of Richard accepting Christ, because the two grew apart and lost contact.

What I am trying to say is, do not get discouraged if your efforts are not met with immediate fruit. Patience when sharing Jesus is key. Sometimes, like for Richard, it takes 20 years for those seeds to actually see growth.

The sixth and final step is discipleship. Now, this subject could be a sermon or two or six in and of itself. There is so much involved in this process. It is something that once we accept Christ, never ends. We continue the process of learning, which is what Discipleship is all about; teaching and learning about Christ. There are many tools; as a matter of fact, 12 pointed out by Richard Foster in his book, Celebration of Discipline, prayer, fasting, meditation, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. These are the tools we need to utilize if we want not only to remain in a relationship with Christ, but to build on it and share it with others.

Do you remember those Big Mouth Billy Bass? The one that sings, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”, “Pretty Fishy”, and “Take Me to the River”? Those things were so annoying they were lovable. We wore ours out in a week. It didn’t last.

Are you so annoying that you’re lovable when it comes to talking about Jesus? Have you grown that Big Mouth for Jesus? Don’t just be a Big Mouth, Be a Big Mouth for Jesus! Being a Big Mouth for Jesus can make someone's life change course...maybe not now, but somewhere down the road, your seeds just may affect them. My friends, follow these steps outlined by Peter and you’ll have one of those Big Mouths bringing people to Jesus.

Where are you at in your walk with Jesus? Are you still in the first 5 steps, or are you working step 6 currently? If you have not accepted Jesus, please, do not hesitate any longer. Today is the day to give your life to him. Seek out a minister in your area and ask him about baptism today. Invite Jesus to dwell with you and committ to following him.

If you are perhaps one of the millions in the world who are working in step 6 right now, maybe you need a recommittment too. Is your heart heavy with pain or frustration? Once again, seek out a minister for some spiritual counseling. Give your life to Jesus in recommittment every day. Each and every day is a chace to renew yourself with Jesus. Make today your day. May God Bless you.

The End Is Near...

2011-03-14T22:07:00.002-05:00

I know...you're thinking it too...what in the world is going on? It always seems stereotypical for the preachers and religious zealots to proclaim the end is here. Well, I'm not quite suggesting it is HERE...I am saying it's NEAR. No matter whether you're a dispensation premillenialist, pretribulationist or an amillenialist, we all agree on something. Someday, however it happens, Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Well my friends, I say the end is near.

After the recent events in Japan, I believe that what I've been saying for a while now is reality. The events that happen in the world; wars, famines, earthquakes, tsunami's, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, temperatures, weather extremes, all of that stuff will get worse until Christ comes again. Yeah, there have been death tolls higher in the past...but the quakes weren't this strong. New Orleans was devastated by Katrina by a category 3...not the strongest, but hey, look at the aftermath. They're still recovering. Japan will need the same kind of help for years to come. Some towns will never surface again. May we be strong enough to provide the encouragement and supplies they need.

These events will continue to get more and more devastating. What is going on now will be worse than ever next year...in one fashion or another. We, especially here in America, believe that we are invincible...need I remind you of Pearl Harbor, 9/11, or Hurricane Katrina? Yeah, we are vulnerable too.

So now what I have to offer is simple. Where are you in your relationship with God the Father? What about with Jesus? Have you accepted him yet? Do you know him on an intimate level? Do you know the Good News? If not, let me share it. God knows you, God loves you and he, yes HE the creator of Heaven and Earth wants a relationship with YOU through his Son Jesus. Now is the time, more than ever. Accept him...repent of your sin, confess him as Lord and be baptized. Do not let another day pass by without making the most important choice of all. Because by not making a choice, you've made a choice.

Where are you going to spend eternity? With God? Or will you spend eternity in the eternal torture of Hell? Please, I beg you...do not hesitate. Do not be scared to make the decision...do not make the decision out of fear. Make the decision because Jesus loves you...because he died on the cross for your sins...he took the punishment we deserve. And through it all, he was raised on the third day to life!! Ascended into heaven, where he sits at the Right hand of the Father...do it because HE loved you first. Don't hesitate. Act now. We never know what tomorrow will bring. Unfortunately, some Japanese will not get a second chance. On the other hand, there are those who did know Christ and are rejoicing with him now.

My friends, the End of Times are near. Accept Jesus, Repent, Confess, Be Baptized. I beg you, don't wait. Call on the name of the Lord and Savior of all, Jesus Christ and allow him into your life. It's a decision that will change your life, guaranteed. It did me. May God Bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you and grant you peace, this day and forever more. Amen.

If you want to know more about who Jesus is, feel free to look through my blog at my sermons...contact me by leaving a comment. I'll be happy to talk with you about Jesus and what he has done for you. If you already do know him, Praise God indeed! May God Bless you.

What ARE we doing???? (Post from class by me)

2011-03-10T10:11:00.003-06:00

{This was a post from my current class "Dynamics of Evangelism and Missions." I wrote this in response to the question "Discuss how the 2 Great Commandments and the Great Commission intertwine with each other." I am choosing to post this response to the question because it is something that we need to hear. Not just non-believers, but believers as well. For me, this was painful to write because I fail here too...May God help us to be bold in sharing Jesus.}

If all of God's commands flow down into 2 Great Commandments, Love God and Love others, then the Great Commission has to be involved somewhere. I mean, how can we profess to love God and love others if we don't share the Gospel? I love how Bowland said on page 22 of "Making Disciples", "After all, it is the Great COMMISSION, not the Great SUGGESTION." I immediately thought, oh no...he didn't just say that. Well, um, yes, he did. I had to laugh...but the truth is, I laughed because I KNEW it was true. Way too many people in the world, as we've been talking about already in this class, are very "me" oriented. Make "me" comfortable...prosperous...rich...heathy...etc. Where in the 2 Great Commandments was Love me, myself and I???? It says to "love your NEIGHBOR as yourself" not "love yourself INSTEAD of your neighbor."

If we truly, honestly and deeply love God, we are going to want to undertake the Great Commission by "making disciples". Therefore to "go, baptize, and teach." Not only are we going to want to evangelize for the sake of obeying the God we love, but if we love others, we are going to want to save them from the hell fire pit that they are destined for. Why are we so afraid of rejection as Christians??? The rejection they give us isn't HALF of what they will get in rejection from God when they find out the stories of Jesus were actually true. The rejection they face is much more dire than what they give us...why don't we realize it? WHY????? Well, I'll tell you why. Because we DO NOT love others as we do ourselves. Simple. Plain. Straightforward. I have one phrase that applies to myself and everyone else in Christianity..."Get over yourself." My wife says that I am too harsh when I say that...but in this case...we truly need to hear that. "Get over yourself." Because truly, that is where our problems lie.

Now, on the other hand, we aren't all bad. Christianity hasn't gotten to where it is in the world by us sitting on our keisters doing nothing. We're great at reaching out to 3rd World countries. We do a phenomenal job at it. We can spread the Gospel to the tribes of Africa, the Chinese people, Korea, Haiti, Vietnam, Thailand and all those other places. Most sincere Christians do very well at evangelism. We financially support missions and evangelism, we just have a hard time speaking up to Bill who lives next door, Janice the widow down the street, or Joe Schmo we pass in the grocery store every week. Why not strike up a conversation? Remember...the rejection they give you is MINOR compared to the one they will get from God if they do not believe. Instead of lining up to rally against abortion, homosexuals, drug addicts, alcoholics, rapists, murderers and adulterers, let's show them the kind of Love that made us fall to our knees and cry out for the Father and Savior we needed. We do well with handing over money and doing missions in 3rd world countries...now...let's focus on our TRUE neighbor....and "Get over ourselves." Love God and love others plays directly into the hands of the Great Commission. To "take up our cross and follow" we just need to Love our God and love others and put ourselves last. The Great Commission then comes much easier.

{I pray that God uses us to preach the Gospel to all those we run across...to be bold when we need to; to have the right words to say when we do; and to show the love of Christ with everyone...believer or not. We all fall short in this area...may God help us.}

Renovating our 'house' (reworked from 3/10 for Broadwell Christian Church)

2011-03-04T16:48:00.003-06:00

If I were to say the word renovate, what would you think of? Expensive? Lots of work? A pain? Worth it, not worth it? New cabinets, fresh paint, new carpet, new bathroom…remodel…I know what I think of. Two years ago when my mother-in-law did some renovations on her house, I was involved in the process. She had to have a new roof put on and some work done in a back room of the house. It then reminded me of some years back when I was a kid and my parents wanted to renovate the basement into a good living space. We started with the game room, did the frames for the walls, but that was about all the further we went. It stayed that way for a while; well, it depends on what you consider a “while” to be…in this case a “while” was about 11 or 12 years. Yeah. But once it got done, WOW!! It looked really good. It was definitely worth all of the hard work and wait.

Renovating houses are a huge undertaking. It seems as if it were a onetime thing or even a once every so often. But really we tend to do it more often than that. A big project every 5-10 yrs or so.

Well, if you haven’t figured it out, we are going to talk about renovations today. The title of the sermon is Renovating our ‘house’ as in our spiritual house, not our physical house…although I am working on that one (pat belly).

Renovating our spiritual house however, well…that isn’t just a onetime thing. It is something that happens over the course of our entire life. It literally takes an entire lifetime to accomplish.

Our Scripture for today is going to be 1 Corinthians 3:5-15. While you are finding the page, I am going to give a little background on this. The church in Corinth was having issues with division in the church, immorality, legal issues, inappropriate practices especially with The Lord’s Supper, and false teachings about the resurrection. We pick it up as Paul is continuing to address divisions in the church. Read with me, 1 Corinthians 3:5-15.

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

In verse 5 Paul is addressing the fact that he and Apollos are nothing more than servants of God. You see, in the church in Corinth, they were having problems of one group following Paul’s teachings, and another group following Apollos’ teachings. Paul is saying that what is important is the fact that by one of them they came to believe in the One and Only…the Almighty Lord God of all, who is above all of them and the most important factor.

It’s like saying some are following George Smith’s teaching and still others are following Harry Jones’ teaching. The important thing is that we are following God and we came to believe…not what teacher we follow.

Paul goes on to say that no matter what, the servant who plants the seed or the servant who waters it are nothing in the grand scheme, just servants. It is God who makes all of the fruit grow. We will be rewarded for the work we do, but it is God’s grace that saves us through Jesus, not the worker who did the work.

Paul states a little here what he goes on to state in verses 16-17; the famous you are the temple of the Holy Spirit verses. Briefly here in verse 9 Paul says that we are “God’s building.”

Building on this fact, Paul says that he has laid the foundation as an “expert builder” in verse 10, and that someone else is building on that foundation. Not necessarily Apollos, but someone else is. The main point being this next section here.

Paul cautions us to be careful how we build upon the foundation that has been laid before us in Jesus. Paul uses six things here in verse 12…gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw. These six things have one thing in common…they are worldly things of strength and power. He’s relating this to us as though building something. If we build upon the perfect rock of Jesus with worldly things, Paul is telling us that God can weed through it to see directly to our hearts. Let’s move on for now, but we’ll come back to this in a minute.

Paul says that if we build upon Jesus with good spiritual quality things, it will stand the test of God and we will be rewarded because of it. If not, what we have done will be a loss and we will narrowly escape with our salvation.

So, let’s start applying this to our lives here and now. It is obvious that Paul and Apollos were called to their own separate tasks. Each man’s work was vital to the Kingdom of God. They went around planting the seeds and watering them so that God could use them and grow their faith.

Someone, obviously not Paul or Apollos in person, but someone laid the foundation with you. I want you to take a second and think back to who that was. Who was it that first led you to Jesus and a quality relationship with him? For me, it was my best friend Dean, then my Youth Minister Bob, and to finish off the job it was my wife Sherri. All three of them combined, started laying the foundation I needed in order to for God to manifest belief inside of me. It took my wife to bring me back to that relationship. I grew up in the Catholic church, but it took a Christian to challenge me to grow a relationship with Jesus. Do you remember who it was for you?

Now, I want you to think about something. If someone took the time to lay the foundation with us, it is now our turn, moreover our responsibility to help ‘build’ the next generation; whatever that means.

Having said that, we need to be careful how be build upon the foundation of Jesus. You see, if we build too hastily, our work will become sloppy and God will be able to weed through it. It’s exactly what I was talking about earlier. God can see right through the façade we put up directly into our hearts at what we’ve built. Have we built a lasting relationship with him or have we built up our relationship with him in a worldly mess? Things like material things, gossiping, immoral behavior…stagnation of the mind and soul.

Earlier I was talking about my mother-in-law’s renovation of her house. Well, one part of that I left out. We were working in the back room of the house and this room’s ceiling was coming down. It was one of those old 70’s houses where the heat was in the ceiling passed through wires. You know the kind I’m talking about? Plaster, heating cords and then more plasterish mix. Well, the ceiling was being held up in place by the wires, even though the plaster had cracked and broken apart. So, we were trying to drop the ceiling without dropping it right on us…well, my buddy cut a 4x4 hole in the ceiling and stood in it to try and take it down in pieces. He called me over to where he was after yanking on it once and the whole ceiling shook. I more than willingly went over and stood with him. He put his hands on the ceiling and the whole thing let go. Instantly we are covered in a mess, dust and very blessed to be alive. By the grace of God alone did we both come out safely. The ceiling was only being held together by the wires…nothing else.

All of this to say that renovating a house can be messy. Dirty, disgusting, hard, back-breaking labor. And then it gets harder. So, how much more so is it when we renovate our spiritual house? If we are to be cautious on how we build, how do we do it? What tools do we use to build if not worldly things?

Well, taking the example of renovating a house, it is going to be dirty, disgusting, hard, back-breaking labor…and it’s gonna get harder! There is a book out called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. It is a great read.

Through this book, Richard takes us through the spiritual ‘tools’ that we will need to accomplish this correct building that Paul talks about here in 1 Corinthians. Richard goes through three categories of disciplines. Inward which are: meditation, prayer, fasting, and study. Outward which are: simplicity, solitude, submission, and service. Finally, corporate which are: confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.

Naturally, this is a sermon series in and of itself, which is worth taking a look at. Keep in mind we will not be good and gifted at all of these, but practicing these disciplines enable us to build on the foundation of Jesus.

Ultimately, we are called to sound teaching as Paul says in his 2nd letter to Timothy 4:3-4, which says, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

My friends, renovating our spiritual houses take a lifetime to do. There isn’t one minute we aren’t doing it. Use sound doctrine, build up yourselves and lay the foundation for the next generation. It isn’t enough just to attend church; be actively involved in discipleship everywhere you go, in and out of church.

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!

2011-02-13T15:54:00.002-06:00

Here we are! It’s the final week and I was not sure what to leave you guys on, but as I was reading through my daily devotion, John seemed to point something out. In John 2:1-11, Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine at the wedding. For so long I have wondered why is this event so important. I mean, what is the significance of this not only in their world then, but our world today! I mean, agriculturally, water is turned into wine on a yearly basis at the wineries. But still, there is more to it. I’ve titled today’s sermon “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”…I know, grammatically incorrect as it is, (it is driving me nuts too by the way), there is something to be said for that phrase in this Scripture.

When we hire babysitters for our girls, we always warn them ahead of time about Hannah and her unusual ability constantly to stay moving and talking. As weird as it is, the first time she is with a new sitter or person, she is quiet, reserved and rather well behaved. I remember this one time a year ago or so, we hired a young girl to sit the kids because we had to work. The first day came around and Sherri and I were very nervous. However, when we got home, we had not received any phone calls through the day and Hannah and the sitter were quietly playing a game. We asked how the day went and the sitter piped up, “Oh she was so good for me!! She didn’t have any of the problems you said she would!” Sherri and I looked at each other and simultaneously said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet…just wait until next week at this time.” Sure enough next Monday rolled around and she found out just how energetic Hannah can get when she is familiar with you. Oh I wish I had half her energy….I’d be active for two weeks. I love my little bundle of energy!

By the time this sermon is finished, I pray that the words, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” have a new meaning for you. If you would, let’s open our Bibles to John 2:1-11.

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

So! Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding! One of things I love to ponder is who knew who in the NT. I wonder who got married that knew Jesus and invited not only him, but all of his disciples too. Hmmm…interesting to ponder on. Anyway, one of the things that caught my eye first off here was why in the world did Mary come to Jesus about the problem of wine? He hadn’t performed miracles yet so that wasn’t why. For some reason, she had faith that Jesus could indeed do something about this problem. Keep in mind that the weddings back in those days had a feast that lasted 7 days. This was the normal for most celebrations.

But in response, Jesus replies that it is not yet his time, but yet he does something about it anyway. The phrase not yet his time appears 5 other times, but I believe it to be a reference to making it known that he was the Messiah. Doing so would result in his immediate death for blasphemy. So, Mary went and told the servants to do whatever it was that he told them to do. She did not know what or how he was going to solve the problem, but she knew he would take care of it.

Quietly Jesus went and turned water into wine. The water he used was the water jugs for ceremonial washing. This was a ritual that they did prior to and after a meal. The servants were then told to take the new wine to the master of the banquet where it not only met approval, but was the best. He did not know that what he drank was the water for the ceremonial cleansing. He thought the bridegroom had saved the best wine for last, which usually was not the case.

I think it is important to see that the water used to make new wine was used for ceremonial washing. Jesus makes all things new, when we are baptized and make our confession, we recognize that we are a new creation in him. Not only this, but it puts the old ways of the law underneath the new “creation” he installed. Jesus has saved the best for last! Moreover, what Jesus offers is the best.

This miracle for me previously was one that was an important one, but really did not make much sense. However now after studying this more in depth, I see that it is full of symbolism, which is the case when Jesus performs a miracle or teaches. Now, this miracle stands out as the beginning of the institution of the new way he is about to invoke. Jesus is about to do away with everything everyone has ever known. Upset all the things that we thought were normal. Indeed, Jesus still does these things. He takes what we thought we knew and changes them like we could never have imagined. Things that we thought were normal are changed and given a new light in the name of Jesus. Jesus makes all things new.

As we take this story in, first, we can apply what Mary did to our lives. She did not know what Jesus was going to do, but she knew he could do something. She trusted and had faith in Jesus to solve the problems that faced them.

Too often we get going in our lives and put our trust in humans or things that are human made. Instead of placing our trust in man, we instead need to be trusting Jesus to solve our problems. We may not know what he is going to do, but we do know he can and will do something with the situation we have. In our situation here at this church, we weren’t sure what he was going to do a year ago, but he has indeed used it for his purposes and solved our problems.

Second, we already know that Jesus makes all things new. The water he made new by turning it into a delicious wine. With you and me, he wipes away our tears, comforts us and makes us holy and righteous before Father God. We are a new creation made perfect in God’s eyes…if only we trust Jesus.

Lastly, Jesus saves the best for what is to come. The longer we walk with Jesus, the sweeter the relationship gets. Our problems usually do not go away, but the relationship between us and he keeps getting better and better. We trust him with our future even more over the years and what he has promised, the best, has yet to come.

There was a brand new pastor and his wife who were newly assigned to their first ministry in Brooklyn. It was a church that was run down and was set to be reopened. Their goal was to have everything done in order to open on Christmas Eve. They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19 a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. He cleaned up the mess on the floor, and reluctantly postponed the Christmas Eve service. On the way home he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity, so he stopped in. He found a beautiful, handmade, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover the hole in the front wall so he bought it and headed back to the church. It was now starting to snow and an older woman was running from the opposite direction trying to catch the bus, but missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he put up the tablecloth he had just bought. It was perfect. Then he noticed the woman walking toward him. Her face was like a sheet. “Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?" The pastor explained the story and the woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials EBG were there. Indeed they were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. She then explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. They were forced to leave when the Nazi’s came and her husband was going to follow a week later. He was captured and never heard from him again. She insisted that even though her husband was probably dead, she still had faith that they would be reunited by God. Upon hearing the story, the pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. He drove her home instead of making her wait for the bus. What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full and the music and spirit were great. After the end of the service, one older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war. “How could there be two tablecloths so much alike?” the man exclaimed. He told the pastor the same story the woman had a few days earlier. He took the man to Staten Island, to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He then saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

35 years it took to reunite the husband and wife…but if we trust our problems to Jesus, he can solve our problems, make all things new, still saves the best of everything for last. God has a way of turning our worlds upside down, then making them right again. No matter where you are in your life, continue to put your faith and trust in Jesus no matter what…because if you do, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet…”

Transitions

2011-02-05T12:16:00.003-06:00

(Disclaimer to those not of the OSBC congregation: If you are reading this sermon, it is a little different than my normal. This week I got news that my Interim Ministry is coming to a close and I have two weeks left. I had a sermon series planned, but I am changing it due to this fact. God directed me this week to preach on this Scripture to the OSBC congregation for the change that is ahead. It is very specific to them and if there are parts you do not understand I apologize! Thank you for reading and we'll be back to normal soon!)

I have to apologize before I begin, because I am deviating from the plan. We had some fun with that this past weekend at the “Souper Bowl” Supper. You had to be there to get that joke! This week I was going to continue on our trek on “The Life of Christ: The Temptation”, but I got a phone call this week saying a candidate had been chosen and God led me to a different set of sermons for the last two weeks I preach.

Right now I am in the class Acts. It is a great class and we learn where the church as we know it today got its start. That is what the book of Acts discusses. During this week’s assignment, one of the questions pertained to the subject we are going to cover today. Transitions is the subject, Acts 13:1-5 is the Scripture. Acts 12 is the shift in focus from Peter as the main character to Saul, who we will find out is actually called Paul. It is some time after his conversion and he was stationed in the church in Antioch which is in Syria, North of Jerusalem. In Acts 12:25, the last verse of the chapter, states that Barnabas and Paul were in Jerusalem, finished their mission and headed home to Antioch. Chapter 13 picks up with Paul and Barnabas at home.

Before we go further, let’s read Acts 13:1-5.

13 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

Have you ever gone through a time in your life where you thought you might be headed down the wrong road? I was driving along going to Taylorville to see the ladies at Meadow Manor. The plan was to go down to 104 through Pawnee and Kincaid because I did NOT want to take country roads. I got to the place where I usually turn to go to Stonington, and, out of habit, I turned down the country road. I started thinking immediately that I wanted to turn around, but it occurred to me I was already going this way I might as well keep on going. As I went I discovered the road wasn’t too bad, but there were spots where it was a slushy icy mix. I hit a puddle and it splashed up into my windshield, but when I turned my wipers on, it had already frozen on to the windshield and I couldn’t see very well. So, now I’m driving down a country road in an icy and slushy mess trying to look out my windshield in which my vision was very impared. So I did the only thing I knew how…and used my windshield wiper fluid to clean it off. However, the washer fluid was empty! What little that was in there, came out and made the situation worse. As I kept driving I got behind cars that of course made it worse. I tried using the liquid they would splash up to clean the windshield, but it would just smear all over and make it worse. On the way home, I was naturally heading west into the setting sun and it lit up that dirty windshield and revealed just how bad the smearing was. I really couldn’t see then.

But after awhile I was reflecting on the passage from Acts and I realized that what I thought was a wrong turn, was God showing me the world of transitions in our lives. Transitions can be messy. Sometimes we get going down a road in our lives and we think maybe we should turn around, but because of the fact we already committed to going down this road, we continue anyway. And then when God comes along and we are walking into the light, and the perfect light that Jesus shines seems to make our mistakes look worse. But, the mistakes really aren’t mistakes, we are just looking through a cracked, broken and dirty lens. God uses the Holy Spirit and sometimes even different people in our lives to usher in eras of change and transition.

The church here in Antioch is a very healthy and vibrant church. I know this because they were praying and fasting and above all, the Holy Spirit told them to set apart two men for his work, Paul and Barnabas. In order to do this, they had to be a very healthy church. It is very difficult to lose good pastors. I remember when I was a kid losing some of my favorite ministers to moves. However, this is the nature of the faith.

Paul and Barnabas probably did not want to go either. The reason I say this is the use of two different Greek words for sent, one in verse 3 and a different one in verse 4. In verse 3, the word is apoluō, which means to set free. They fasted, prayed and set them free to go.

Now, in the next verse, the word used is ekpempō. This could be considered splitting hairs, but I think there is an emphasis here on the word ekpempō because it means to send out, or, quite frankly, get going. I think Paul and Barnabas, however long it was, delayed in leaving. This to me shows that sometimes when the Spirit prompts it is difficult to leave.

A minister friend of mine was at a church quite few years back and felt the Holy Spirit’s call to another church. Specifically, a friend of his offered him a job. Resisting, he stayed where he was at because he did not want to leave. Three months later, he was prompted by the Board to find another ministry because they wanted someone else. He called his friend and the ministry was still available because they hadn’t found anyone they liked to fit their position.

Even when it is the Spirit prompting us to make a move, we delay in our actions. Paul and Barnabas did this too. They were human, yet when they did finally leave, God blessed their endeavors greatly.

In the situation here at OSBC, I don’t see hesitation, but healing from what was a tough situation before I arrived. What happened has been a year in the past and God has provided healing from a tough situation. The year that has been since I’ve been here, time has allowed for a smooth transition to the next minister because in our lives, change is inevitable. Change happens whether we want it to or not, but when it is directed by God things go much smoother.

I want to reassure everyone that this vote for transition and change coming up in two weeks, in my opinion, is a God directed move. Let me share with you why. Little over a month ago, I started getting the feeling that even though I had put my name in for consideration for the position here, I was not going to get it. At first I thought it was doubt on my part. But then I realized as the feeling got stronger that it was the Holy Spirit prompting me to prepare for what was ahead. But then, out of the blue, I thought I needed to come to church on a weekend where there was a candidate preaching. I do not like to do that because I like to give that candidate their time without the “Interim” there. But once again, it was a Holy Spirit directed move. I came, realized I knew the candidate, and after hearing him preach, was prompted by the Holy Spirit that he was the man who was directed by God to lead this church. Sure enough, as usual, God was right. He turned out to be the candidate chosen.

You see, change works when we all pay attention to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The problems come when we ignore that. Paul and Barnabas knew that. This is why they eventually after delaying, packed up and started out on their First Missionary Journey. Directed by God, the Gospel spread out through the land of Asia Minor and eventually Greece and Rome, simply because two men obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Change and transition are inevitable. Change comes like we change cars, politicians, houses, clothes, ministers. The face of our families change with moves for jobs, when we lose precious loved ones, things change. We have to realize that even though it sometimes seems like a wrong path is not a wrong path indeed; it is just the path being used to get us to where we need to be. I see wonderful things about to happen at this church under the new minister. The congregation is full of people who love the Lord. It is a vibrant and healthy congregation, and change and transition are inevitable. The key is, our attitude toward that change.

At first, I am sure Paul and Barnabas’ attitude toward this change and transition was probably like any other…sad, mad, upset, and reluctant. But after a change of attitude and heart, they embraced their mission and the transition directed by God.
I’m not sure where you stand on this transition, but take the example of Paul and Barnabas…embrace the change with a great attitude, because rest assured, I personally believe this change to be God directed.

So whether it is a change because of a job, death of a loved one, on the political scene, or even a change in ministers, embrace the transition with the idea that God is directing it and he has it all under control. Let go, and let God.