We have a 9-11 memorial service scheduled for 6pm. It's going to be a busy day with a meeting @ 2:30, service @ 6, board meeting @ 7 then another meeting on Tuesday.
What can I say about 9-11 when I was not in NY, DC, or the field in PA?? I think the thing to say is this was not an attack on NY. This was an attack on America and the freedom we enjoy. We worship, we have happy marriages, we love others (even those we don't totally agree with). THose who attacked us will not stop ever. Their only 'end game' is total destruction of the infadels. They don't know complete salvation. Unless they are martyred, they are not assured that 'Allah' will let them into heaven. They have that chalkboard faith of good and bad checks.
As Christians, on the other hand, we are assured of our salvation by the blood of the one who stood in our place.
I pray for tomorrow. I pray that even if one person shows up for our service, they can be healed of any pain felt, and they can move on and grow into what Christ wants the to be. Transformation is what I want!!!
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Monday, September 04, 2006
September 3 sermon Be Doers James 1: 17-27
September 3 sermon Be Doers James 1:17-27
Who is James?? James was the oldest brother of Jesus. He didn’t even believe Jesus was the messiah until after Jesus was resurrected and then showed up in front of James. James became the head of the Jerusalem church and was the one who corrected the issues between the Jews and Gentiles and smoothed out any complaints.
Many people don’t like James though. He focuses on the law and faith, while Paul seems to focus on grace and faith. Interestingly, there is not dissention and conflict with James and Paul. They are actually complementary and focus on different aspects of love, law and faith.
James starts in our selected scripture saying “every good gift comes from the father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The best gift to get from God is the same gift he gave to Solomon in the Old Testament. When God told Solomon he could have any gift he wanted, Solomon asked for wisdom.
In chapter 1 verse 5, Peter says “If anyone of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously.” What is wisdom?? Wisdom is not just acquiring information, but practical insight with spiritual implications. James is compared to Proverbs by most scholars because the whole book is practical wisdom for the people.
Speaking of wisdom, Proverbs says Wisdom will protect you from the wicked; Wisdom is understanding; Wisdom is supreme, though it costs all you have. So wisdom is that good and perfect gift James is talking about.
James goes on to say that the Father of heavenly lights does not change like shifting shadows. He is saying God, the father created everything you see. He created the heavenly lights and he is pure light that never goes out or leave so the shadows are never there.
I love to take pictures. PULL OUT YOUR CAMERA. When photographers take pictures, they have to think about the shadows created with the flash of their camera. And if the sun is just going down or coming up then new shadows are created.
But God is radiant light that is all over. There are no shadows created because God surrounds us with his pure light leaving no room for shadows.
James says God chose to give us birth thru the word of truth. This is not creation when we were born at our first birth date. He is referring to regeneration…… Being Born Again.
His audience was called to be first-fruits. Just like the first part of a harvest was given to God based on the OT book of Leviticus, these first believers in Christ are a sign of the harvest of Christians to come.
Jesus makes a reference to this also when he says “Look how ripe the harvest is. We need to bring it in, but the workers are few.”
My dear brothers and sisters, all of you, (and what does all mean; all means all and that’s all all means). All of you should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.
Oh my gosh. I don’t like these rules. It goes totally against the judgment of those of us who know everything. Quick to listen and slow to speak. Brandy got mad at me one time. Here’s how it went.
Brandy says (yelling): You don’t listen enough and take my feelings and ideas into consideration. I don’t feel like you care. Etc etc.
Sean hears: You don’t blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Sean yells back: Why are you yelling at me?
I wasn’t listening. But boy I was quick to speak. I wanted to make my point and make sure I go the last word in.
Oh I was talking to someone the other day about funerals and they said they had heard about people video taping their final will. That way there is no question what was meant with the written will……… and they could get the last word.
OK…so be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger for anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. James is writing about communication skills.
I tell you, miscommunication is the biggest cause of arguments and problems today. Also, email and cell phones makes the possibility of communication problems even greater.
Mike sent me an email the other day in all caps saying he would be too busy to play on a softball team. I sent an email back saying “OK, stop yelling at me”. All caps in email is considered yelling.
Also, just putting a comma in a different place of your sentence will change the meaning of that sentence.
SO your communication gets all messed up and one party gets mad about it, because they did not understand what you were saying. They communicate back (in a not so nice way), and make you mad also. Then the anger flairs up.
So therefore get rid of all the evil and malice that is in you. Just like Jesus said, If you are angry with your brother or sister, go and make amends with them, and THEN come and talk to me. When the anger has moved out of your life, you can then accept the word of God fully, which can save you.
Now I am going to tell you how to be blessed. Do you want to blessed? I want to be blessed. I can’t wait for Jesus to tell me “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
James says that if you listen to the word, the perfect law that gives freedom, and continue to follow it, not forgetting what you heard, but continuing to do it, you will be blessed.
What does that mean?? Well if you listen to my sermon, and when I come to you on Wednesday and ask you what I talked about, and you remember it, you are blessed :o). Not exactly.
The perfect law is the moral and ethical teaching of Christianity, which is based on the 10 commandments and Jesus clarified this even more in his teachings, like the Sermon on the Mount.
This perfect law gives freedom. The sinner is a slave to sin. Why a slave?? Because the slave cannot break free on his own. The slave has to be given freedom by his master, and sin does not give in without a fight.
There is truth in this teaching in that for a slave to have this perfect freedom James is talking about, he must be freed by something greater than the sin and greater than himself. He must look to the perfect law of Jesus Christ to become free. There was The Law in the Old Testament.
You can refer back to Leviticus for that if you have some time and a few shots of caffeine.
Jesus came not to destroy this law, but to fulfill it and by accepting Jesus as our Savior (that’s big word implying he has to save us from something). By accepting Jesus as our Savior, he, as the perfect law, will free us from the enslavement of sin.
Without the saving power of Jesus we will stay in sin forever. The only punishment available for sin (or another way to put it is the only option and destination when we have this sin in us) is death and eternity away from God. When we are freed by Jesus, our enslavement to sin is no more and eternal life with him is our only future.
Now in the last two verses, 26 and 27, James explains what true religion is. It is controlled speech, and protection of the weak. Pure religion (or as many people today would say pure spirituality) is taking care of those who can’t always take care of themselves.
They are not always helpless per se, but can use some help. James says orphans and widows, because in his day, they were the groups left behind in life and not taken care of. Today I will add the single mom, the working poor, and how about the “string of bad luck” guy.
Last week we pulled a vehicle into Bill’s hanger and he changed the brakes out and on another one I changed the oil. The only expense the owner had was for parts. $140 brake replacement turned into a $30 brake replacement. That’s what James is talking about when he says “be a doer”. I love our men’s group. I talk about the men’s group because I’m not involved in the Methodist Women’s group. Something about not being a woman…I think. Not sure what all that is about.
But before our men’s meeting last month, Dan called me. I know Dan can’t do too much physically. But he asked me about getting those guys who have not been in church to hear the announcement about the men’s meeting. I told him the only thing I could think of was to call them. He volunteered on the spot to call them.
The bible says God will give us work based on our gifts and abilities. Dan opened my eyes to that verse right then.
Finally James says to not get polluted by the world. Be in the world, not of the world. We can’t hide away in these 4 walls. We are called to go out into the world and make it better. The salvation Jesus brings is not to just keep us out of Hell at the end of this life.
Salvation is from the hell in this world also. We are here to transform this world. We are here to make it better. See these bags next to the podium?? Each of these is a meal for a family in need.
And yeah I know feed a man a fish and he is full for a day but teach him to fish and he is full for a lifetime. Sometimes people just need to eat for today just to make it. That’s why we are taking these bags to Waxahachie Care food bank.
And if you didn’t get to bring anything, but still want to, you can grab a bag in the back and bring it to the church tomorrow. During communion this morning you can leave money on the alter rail. This will also go to Waxahachie Care. Giving is not a mandatory thing. Give out of your abundance and what you are led to give.
Join me on page 13 in your hymnal for our communion service….
Who is James?? James was the oldest brother of Jesus. He didn’t even believe Jesus was the messiah until after Jesus was resurrected and then showed up in front of James. James became the head of the Jerusalem church and was the one who corrected the issues between the Jews and Gentiles and smoothed out any complaints.
Many people don’t like James though. He focuses on the law and faith, while Paul seems to focus on grace and faith. Interestingly, there is not dissention and conflict with James and Paul. They are actually complementary and focus on different aspects of love, law and faith.
James starts in our selected scripture saying “every good gift comes from the father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The best gift to get from God is the same gift he gave to Solomon in the Old Testament. When God told Solomon he could have any gift he wanted, Solomon asked for wisdom.
In chapter 1 verse 5, Peter says “If anyone of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously.” What is wisdom?? Wisdom is not just acquiring information, but practical insight with spiritual implications. James is compared to Proverbs by most scholars because the whole book is practical wisdom for the people.
Speaking of wisdom, Proverbs says Wisdom will protect you from the wicked; Wisdom is understanding; Wisdom is supreme, though it costs all you have. So wisdom is that good and perfect gift James is talking about.
James goes on to say that the Father of heavenly lights does not change like shifting shadows. He is saying God, the father created everything you see. He created the heavenly lights and he is pure light that never goes out or leave so the shadows are never there.
I love to take pictures. PULL OUT YOUR CAMERA. When photographers take pictures, they have to think about the shadows created with the flash of their camera. And if the sun is just going down or coming up then new shadows are created.
But God is radiant light that is all over. There are no shadows created because God surrounds us with his pure light leaving no room for shadows.
James says God chose to give us birth thru the word of truth. This is not creation when we were born at our first birth date. He is referring to regeneration…… Being Born Again.
His audience was called to be first-fruits. Just like the first part of a harvest was given to God based on the OT book of Leviticus, these first believers in Christ are a sign of the harvest of Christians to come.
Jesus makes a reference to this also when he says “Look how ripe the harvest is. We need to bring it in, but the workers are few.”
My dear brothers and sisters, all of you, (and what does all mean; all means all and that’s all all means). All of you should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.
Oh my gosh. I don’t like these rules. It goes totally against the judgment of those of us who know everything. Quick to listen and slow to speak. Brandy got mad at me one time. Here’s how it went.
Brandy says (yelling): You don’t listen enough and take my feelings and ideas into consideration. I don’t feel like you care. Etc etc.
Sean hears: You don’t blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Sean yells back: Why are you yelling at me?
I wasn’t listening. But boy I was quick to speak. I wanted to make my point and make sure I go the last word in.
Oh I was talking to someone the other day about funerals and they said they had heard about people video taping their final will. That way there is no question what was meant with the written will……… and they could get the last word.
OK…so be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger for anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. James is writing about communication skills.
I tell you, miscommunication is the biggest cause of arguments and problems today. Also, email and cell phones makes the possibility of communication problems even greater.
Mike sent me an email the other day in all caps saying he would be too busy to play on a softball team. I sent an email back saying “OK, stop yelling at me”. All caps in email is considered yelling.
Also, just putting a comma in a different place of your sentence will change the meaning of that sentence.
SO your communication gets all messed up and one party gets mad about it, because they did not understand what you were saying. They communicate back (in a not so nice way), and make you mad also. Then the anger flairs up.
So therefore get rid of all the evil and malice that is in you. Just like Jesus said, If you are angry with your brother or sister, go and make amends with them, and THEN come and talk to me. When the anger has moved out of your life, you can then accept the word of God fully, which can save you.
Now I am going to tell you how to be blessed. Do you want to blessed? I want to be blessed. I can’t wait for Jesus to tell me “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
James says that if you listen to the word, the perfect law that gives freedom, and continue to follow it, not forgetting what you heard, but continuing to do it, you will be blessed.
What does that mean?? Well if you listen to my sermon, and when I come to you on Wednesday and ask you what I talked about, and you remember it, you are blessed :o). Not exactly.
The perfect law is the moral and ethical teaching of Christianity, which is based on the 10 commandments and Jesus clarified this even more in his teachings, like the Sermon on the Mount.
This perfect law gives freedom. The sinner is a slave to sin. Why a slave?? Because the slave cannot break free on his own. The slave has to be given freedom by his master, and sin does not give in without a fight.
There is truth in this teaching in that for a slave to have this perfect freedom James is talking about, he must be freed by something greater than the sin and greater than himself. He must look to the perfect law of Jesus Christ to become free. There was The Law in the Old Testament.
You can refer back to Leviticus for that if you have some time and a few shots of caffeine.
Jesus came not to destroy this law, but to fulfill it and by accepting Jesus as our Savior (that’s big word implying he has to save us from something). By accepting Jesus as our Savior, he, as the perfect law, will free us from the enslavement of sin.
Without the saving power of Jesus we will stay in sin forever. The only punishment available for sin (or another way to put it is the only option and destination when we have this sin in us) is death and eternity away from God. When we are freed by Jesus, our enslavement to sin is no more and eternal life with him is our only future.
Now in the last two verses, 26 and 27, James explains what true religion is. It is controlled speech, and protection of the weak. Pure religion (or as many people today would say pure spirituality) is taking care of those who can’t always take care of themselves.
They are not always helpless per se, but can use some help. James says orphans and widows, because in his day, they were the groups left behind in life and not taken care of. Today I will add the single mom, the working poor, and how about the “string of bad luck” guy.
Last week we pulled a vehicle into Bill’s hanger and he changed the brakes out and on another one I changed the oil. The only expense the owner had was for parts. $140 brake replacement turned into a $30 brake replacement. That’s what James is talking about when he says “be a doer”. I love our men’s group. I talk about the men’s group because I’m not involved in the Methodist Women’s group. Something about not being a woman…I think. Not sure what all that is about.
But before our men’s meeting last month, Dan called me. I know Dan can’t do too much physically. But he asked me about getting those guys who have not been in church to hear the announcement about the men’s meeting. I told him the only thing I could think of was to call them. He volunteered on the spot to call them.
The bible says God will give us work based on our gifts and abilities. Dan opened my eyes to that verse right then.
Finally James says to not get polluted by the world. Be in the world, not of the world. We can’t hide away in these 4 walls. We are called to go out into the world and make it better. The salvation Jesus brings is not to just keep us out of Hell at the end of this life.
Salvation is from the hell in this world also. We are here to transform this world. We are here to make it better. See these bags next to the podium?? Each of these is a meal for a family in need.
And yeah I know feed a man a fish and he is full for a day but teach him to fish and he is full for a lifetime. Sometimes people just need to eat for today just to make it. That’s why we are taking these bags to Waxahachie Care food bank.
And if you didn’t get to bring anything, but still want to, you can grab a bag in the back and bring it to the church tomorrow. During communion this morning you can leave money on the alter rail. This will also go to Waxahachie Care. Giving is not a mandatory thing. Give out of your abundance and what you are led to give.
Join me on page 13 in your hymnal for our communion service….
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Spiritual Warfare sermon Ephesians 6: 10-20
August 26 sermon Spiritual Warfare Ephesians 6: 10-20
Is it worth it? Is it worth fighting any more? Is there a time when you say “Lord, forget it. I can’t do this any more. I’m exhausted. I want out.”
In the movie ‘The Matrix’, Neo was sitting in a chair. He had a choice to make. If he took the blue pill, he would wake up in the world he had been in all this time as if nothing has happened. If he took the red pill, he would fall down the rabbit hole just like Alice and see just how far down it goes.
Oh what a ride when your eyes are opened to the spiritual war that is happening all over right now.
The ACLU and the teachers association is defending a teacher who was burning a flag in class as a demonstration, but oh let him pray to God and he will be crucified.
The 10 commandments cannot be displayed on any public property without being challenged. Up in a northern state, the memorials the county has displayed for troopers who have died in the line of duty are being challenged to remove because they are large crosses with plaques on them.
The Boy Scouts are being kicked out of school because they are governed by a higher authority which is God. There are many more I can list. And don’t be tricked into believing that these 4 walls will protect you from persecution.
In Matthew 7:15 Jesus says to watch for false teachers or false prophets. They will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inward they are wolves. He goes on to say “By their fruits you will recognize them.” These are the people that don’t let God be God.
I took my bicycle in to be fixed the other day. When I got into the shop and asked the guy how long it would take he said a couple hours. So I waited and waited and waited. Finally I said “how much longer will this take?” He said “well sir, if you will let go of the bike, I can get started to fix it.” You have to let go and let God.
What can God do? God can do anything he wants. These wolves in sheep’s clothing are going to be the ones that poo-poo all your ideas. When we were talking about a new building, one person said we could use it for a mother’s day out.
Some other ideas were physical fitness classes and health clinics, after school care, boy scouts, revivals, hosting area youth events, more classrooms, more storage, basketball, volleyball.
Oh we can’t do that, the wolf will say. We are too small. We are not visible to the community; we’ve never done that before. I DON’T WANT MY LITTLE CHURCH TO GROW. You might laugh at that last one, but I have heard it before.
So what do you do? First realize that some of these people are scared of change. They see different as bad and comfortable status-quo as good. Next, Paul tells us what to do. Be strong in the Lord and his power. Smile, Nod, and go on and fulfill the calling set before you by God.
Pray big. You have a big God. Lean on him. Rely on him. Don’t hesitate to go to him and ask for direction and help. Then be quiet. Listen for his words. Paul says I try to please everybody in every way. But I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
Do you think Paul was trying to do the impossible? I will please everybody in every way. He qualified it though. I’m not seeking my own good. I’m following Christ.
Sometimes, those wolves are big bad wolves. They want to huff and puff and blow down your spiritual house.
These are not subtle shots from the people around you, but all out war. What do you do? Put on the full armor of God. This struggle is not against flesh and blood. We are not contending with only physical opponents. The devil is up in our business and he wants to try and tear it all down, one piece at a time. Discouragement and pride are part of his weaponry.
You know what discouragement sounds like, right?? You’re not really good enough for that church buddy. You know what you did last year. After that episode, you can’t possibly make it here. You better keep sweating and I’ll tell you when you will make it.
How about pride? Man your better than the people in that church. They are just a bunch of hypocrites. I even heard that in a prayer group they talk in tongues. Pride puts you above God and other people.
If this struggle is not against flesh and blood, how do we fight? If I can’t get my hands around it, how can I defeat it? First we need to be secure. We have the armor of God to put on to secure us.
Each piece must be in place to overcome the temptations and attacks. In verse 14, Put on the belt of truth. The waist or abdomen area was generally thought to be the seat of emotions. To belt this area with truth is to commit your emotions to believing the truth.
Many times people will believe a lie because of fear of self-pity. I’m not good enough to do that because I’ve never done it before. But the bible says “we can do all things thru Christ who strengths us.” Believers must hold a commitment to the truth regardless of the repercussions.
Put on the breastplate of righteousness. You heart has always been thought of as the place the soul dwells. Your heart must be kept pure and righteous to not give sin a foothold. As anyone under the control of an addiction and they can tell you all about this.
If an alcoholic has one drink, it won’t stop at that. Someone addicted to pornography will not stop with just one magazine or movie. Most of the time these addictions are actually covering up something else.
Telling one lie such as, oh I don’t know, where you were last night, will build into something bigger over time. Skipping church gets easier and easier each week you do it. I’ve been there, I know. But if we confess our sins before God, he is faithful and just and will purify us.
In the next verse we must have our feet ready with the gospel of peace. Standing in place, ready to be attacked. Not running away. If you have ever done any gardening or yard work, a company makes these sandals with spikes on the bottom. They are to aerate your yard. As you walk, they push holes down into the soil.
Those in battle had the same kind of sandals. This gave them a firm footing. Good shoes also allowed you a better trip from place to place to spread the gospel. We need to readiness to share the gospel at a moments notice. That’s the business we should be about.
Take up the shield of faith he says. Shields were usually sheets of wood covered with animal hide and sometimes held together with iron. They were soaked in water to extinguish any flaming arrows that came at them. The shield of faith is a protection from the fiery darts of temptation and fear from the spiritual enemy.
Put on the helmet of salvation. A helmet protects the brain and your thoughts. You Christians can rest confidently in the protection of the Spirit because of the assurance of your salvation. Jesus said that none who are believers of me will be taken from my hands.
Doubt and insecurity can be dropped when you can say “Lord thank you for dying for my sins, your blood covering me, my blackness being washed away, and folding my into your kingdom. I know I am set apart for your good works and I have a guaranteed future with you.”
And then the sword. The sword of the Spirit and the Word of God. Do you have the word of God with you? Read your bible. The Word he is talking about is scripture that will help you thru specific circumstances.
In Matthew, the devil tempted Jesus. “Turn these stones to bread, jump off this temple, bow down to me and you can have everything.” At each instance, Jesus countered him with scripture.
He did not back down but stood firm in the faith. The living Word is powerful, effective and instructive.
The last thing Paul tells us is to Pray Always. It is to be constant as you prepare daily for this battle you will have to fight.
Prayer opens the channels between us and God. When the army is on the battlefield overseas, they are in constant contact with their commanding officer. When you see the secret service, they always have those little ear pieces on. For you football fans, you can see the quarterback holding his hands over his helmet ear holes to be able to hear the coach call plays into him.
You know, football is a good way to look at this. The coordinators are up in the booth high above everyone else and they can see the forest from the trees. They see how the other team is getting into position and can call out plays to out maneuver them.
Those on the field or in the trenches can ignore the calls given and go out to battle on their own, but the effectiveness of that will be evident quickly.
You have your armor now. You have your belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, helmet of assurance of salvation, shield of faith, shoes of readiness to share the gospel. And you have your sword.
That is the Spirit who will give you the words to say, but only if you are close to your commanding officer. To do that you must stay in prayer, read scripture, walk by faith and on the right path. Every step you take forward in the will of God, he will make the path clearer for you.
Have you seen those Claritin commercials? The people are all fuzzy and blurred out, and they take Claritin and are Claritin clear. That’s how it is with your faith walk. The fog will lift and your path will become clearer.
I’m praying for you. Pray for this church and the mission that is before us. We are here to give a reason for the assurance of our faith. Know what you believe and why you believe. If you don’t have those two things, you don’t have a belief at all.
So I will pray for you as Paul did, that “whenever you open your mouth, words may be given to you so that you will fearlessly make known the gospel. Declare the truth fearlessly. You have a big God.
Is it worth it? Is it worth fighting any more? Is there a time when you say “Lord, forget it. I can’t do this any more. I’m exhausted. I want out.”
In the movie ‘The Matrix’, Neo was sitting in a chair. He had a choice to make. If he took the blue pill, he would wake up in the world he had been in all this time as if nothing has happened. If he took the red pill, he would fall down the rabbit hole just like Alice and see just how far down it goes.
Oh what a ride when your eyes are opened to the spiritual war that is happening all over right now.
The ACLU and the teachers association is defending a teacher who was burning a flag in class as a demonstration, but oh let him pray to God and he will be crucified.
The 10 commandments cannot be displayed on any public property without being challenged. Up in a northern state, the memorials the county has displayed for troopers who have died in the line of duty are being challenged to remove because they are large crosses with plaques on them.
The Boy Scouts are being kicked out of school because they are governed by a higher authority which is God. There are many more I can list. And don’t be tricked into believing that these 4 walls will protect you from persecution.
In Matthew 7:15 Jesus says to watch for false teachers or false prophets. They will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inward they are wolves. He goes on to say “By their fruits you will recognize them.” These are the people that don’t let God be God.
I took my bicycle in to be fixed the other day. When I got into the shop and asked the guy how long it would take he said a couple hours. So I waited and waited and waited. Finally I said “how much longer will this take?” He said “well sir, if you will let go of the bike, I can get started to fix it.” You have to let go and let God.
What can God do? God can do anything he wants. These wolves in sheep’s clothing are going to be the ones that poo-poo all your ideas. When we were talking about a new building, one person said we could use it for a mother’s day out.
Some other ideas were physical fitness classes and health clinics, after school care, boy scouts, revivals, hosting area youth events, more classrooms, more storage, basketball, volleyball.
Oh we can’t do that, the wolf will say. We are too small. We are not visible to the community; we’ve never done that before. I DON’T WANT MY LITTLE CHURCH TO GROW. You might laugh at that last one, but I have heard it before.
So what do you do? First realize that some of these people are scared of change. They see different as bad and comfortable status-quo as good. Next, Paul tells us what to do. Be strong in the Lord and his power. Smile, Nod, and go on and fulfill the calling set before you by God.
Pray big. You have a big God. Lean on him. Rely on him. Don’t hesitate to go to him and ask for direction and help. Then be quiet. Listen for his words. Paul says I try to please everybody in every way. But I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
Do you think Paul was trying to do the impossible? I will please everybody in every way. He qualified it though. I’m not seeking my own good. I’m following Christ.
Sometimes, those wolves are big bad wolves. They want to huff and puff and blow down your spiritual house.
These are not subtle shots from the people around you, but all out war. What do you do? Put on the full armor of God. This struggle is not against flesh and blood. We are not contending with only physical opponents. The devil is up in our business and he wants to try and tear it all down, one piece at a time. Discouragement and pride are part of his weaponry.
You know what discouragement sounds like, right?? You’re not really good enough for that church buddy. You know what you did last year. After that episode, you can’t possibly make it here. You better keep sweating and I’ll tell you when you will make it.
How about pride? Man your better than the people in that church. They are just a bunch of hypocrites. I even heard that in a prayer group they talk in tongues. Pride puts you above God and other people.
If this struggle is not against flesh and blood, how do we fight? If I can’t get my hands around it, how can I defeat it? First we need to be secure. We have the armor of God to put on to secure us.
Each piece must be in place to overcome the temptations and attacks. In verse 14, Put on the belt of truth. The waist or abdomen area was generally thought to be the seat of emotions. To belt this area with truth is to commit your emotions to believing the truth.
Many times people will believe a lie because of fear of self-pity. I’m not good enough to do that because I’ve never done it before. But the bible says “we can do all things thru Christ who strengths us.” Believers must hold a commitment to the truth regardless of the repercussions.
Put on the breastplate of righteousness. You heart has always been thought of as the place the soul dwells. Your heart must be kept pure and righteous to not give sin a foothold. As anyone under the control of an addiction and they can tell you all about this.
If an alcoholic has one drink, it won’t stop at that. Someone addicted to pornography will not stop with just one magazine or movie. Most of the time these addictions are actually covering up something else.
Telling one lie such as, oh I don’t know, where you were last night, will build into something bigger over time. Skipping church gets easier and easier each week you do it. I’ve been there, I know. But if we confess our sins before God, he is faithful and just and will purify us.
In the next verse we must have our feet ready with the gospel of peace. Standing in place, ready to be attacked. Not running away. If you have ever done any gardening or yard work, a company makes these sandals with spikes on the bottom. They are to aerate your yard. As you walk, they push holes down into the soil.
Those in battle had the same kind of sandals. This gave them a firm footing. Good shoes also allowed you a better trip from place to place to spread the gospel. We need to readiness to share the gospel at a moments notice. That’s the business we should be about.
Take up the shield of faith he says. Shields were usually sheets of wood covered with animal hide and sometimes held together with iron. They were soaked in water to extinguish any flaming arrows that came at them. The shield of faith is a protection from the fiery darts of temptation and fear from the spiritual enemy.
Put on the helmet of salvation. A helmet protects the brain and your thoughts. You Christians can rest confidently in the protection of the Spirit because of the assurance of your salvation. Jesus said that none who are believers of me will be taken from my hands.
Doubt and insecurity can be dropped when you can say “Lord thank you for dying for my sins, your blood covering me, my blackness being washed away, and folding my into your kingdom. I know I am set apart for your good works and I have a guaranteed future with you.”
And then the sword. The sword of the Spirit and the Word of God. Do you have the word of God with you? Read your bible. The Word he is talking about is scripture that will help you thru specific circumstances.
In Matthew, the devil tempted Jesus. “Turn these stones to bread, jump off this temple, bow down to me and you can have everything.” At each instance, Jesus countered him with scripture.
He did not back down but stood firm in the faith. The living Word is powerful, effective and instructive.
The last thing Paul tells us is to Pray Always. It is to be constant as you prepare daily for this battle you will have to fight.
Prayer opens the channels between us and God. When the army is on the battlefield overseas, they are in constant contact with their commanding officer. When you see the secret service, they always have those little ear pieces on. For you football fans, you can see the quarterback holding his hands over his helmet ear holes to be able to hear the coach call plays into him.
You know, football is a good way to look at this. The coordinators are up in the booth high above everyone else and they can see the forest from the trees. They see how the other team is getting into position and can call out plays to out maneuver them.
Those on the field or in the trenches can ignore the calls given and go out to battle on their own, but the effectiveness of that will be evident quickly.
You have your armor now. You have your belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, helmet of assurance of salvation, shield of faith, shoes of readiness to share the gospel. And you have your sword.
That is the Spirit who will give you the words to say, but only if you are close to your commanding officer. To do that you must stay in prayer, read scripture, walk by faith and on the right path. Every step you take forward in the will of God, he will make the path clearer for you.
Have you seen those Claritin commercials? The people are all fuzzy and blurred out, and they take Claritin and are Claritin clear. That’s how it is with your faith walk. The fog will lift and your path will become clearer.
I’m praying for you. Pray for this church and the mission that is before us. We are here to give a reason for the assurance of our faith. Know what you believe and why you believe. If you don’t have those two things, you don’t have a belief at all.
So I will pray for you as Paul did, that “whenever you open your mouth, words may be given to you so that you will fearlessly make known the gospel. Declare the truth fearlessly. You have a big God.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Angry white male
I found out today that I'm an the "normative". This is from my "church in the social context" class. white/middle class/married/heterosexual/etc. Basically this class is going to be bashing "me" and saying 'you have been in power too long and you need to move over."
What has happened. Why does there need to be a class struggle or gender struggle. scripture tells us there is no Jew or Greek, male or female. We are all one in Christ. But it seems that certain groups can't get past treatments in the past.
We will see how this all turns out.
What has happened. Why does there need to be a class struggle or gender struggle. scripture tells us there is no Jew or Greek, male or female. We are all one in Christ. But it seems that certain groups can't get past treatments in the past.
We will see how this all turns out.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
What do you do when someone hurts you?
What do you do when someone hurts you? Even more, what do you do when it's the church that hurts you? How do you handle it? You know that if you retaliate or raise your voice in any way it will only come back to haunt you in the future. Plus, what do you gain in doing that? Jesus said "you have heard it said 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' I tell you that if a brother strikes you on your left cheek, show your other cheek." The context of that statement was this...in the OT Moses gave that law because it was not an eye for an eye. It was a leg for an eye or life for an eye. You kill my donkey so I will kill your son. And so it went. The law came about for fair punishment.
Jesus though came at it another way. Don't strike back at the person who strikes you. Revenge is mines says the Lord. Their justice will come. If you stoop to their level, it will only get ugly. Each blow will be more severe than the one before.
So back to the question above. The bible says we must go to the one who is sinning and try to work it out one-on-one.
If that does not work we bring them before the church. That would be Pastor Parish Relations if they are a pastor. And if that does not work, then we move up the chain. In the Methodist church it's the DS, but the church really has the final say.
But what if both sides don't play by the rules? Half truths can get fit into place quickly. That can actually be miscommunication. He said this or did this. Well I meant it this way. No communication is still mis-communication. If you have problems or issues, they must be dealt with ASAP.
I say all this wondering, when both sides are wrong, but both sides can't forgive and move on, how do you fix it. Is it best to break the relationship and bring another in? I think so. Hopefully in doing that, the issues can be left behind and die with that relationship that died before. Hopefully both sides can see there were mistakes made that could have been avoided. Hopefully now they will both grow and the body of Christ does not suffer because if the strife.
We all make up one body. That is the BOC. If the eyes have a problem and it's not dealt with, the eyes end up getting taken out. The BOC suffers until they are healed.
Pray for the church. Pray that we can open communication and not let it simmer beneath the surface. Pray that all leaders (pastor and lay) can be humble in all situations and serve great doses of grace to the congregation.
Jesus though came at it another way. Don't strike back at the person who strikes you. Revenge is mines says the Lord. Their justice will come. If you stoop to their level, it will only get ugly. Each blow will be more severe than the one before.
So back to the question above. The bible says we must go to the one who is sinning and try to work it out one-on-one.
If that does not work we bring them before the church. That would be Pastor Parish Relations if they are a pastor. And if that does not work, then we move up the chain. In the Methodist church it's the DS, but the church really has the final say.
But what if both sides don't play by the rules? Half truths can get fit into place quickly. That can actually be miscommunication. He said this or did this. Well I meant it this way. No communication is still mis-communication. If you have problems or issues, they must be dealt with ASAP.
I say all this wondering, when both sides are wrong, but both sides can't forgive and move on, how do you fix it. Is it best to break the relationship and bring another in? I think so. Hopefully in doing that, the issues can be left behind and die with that relationship that died before. Hopefully both sides can see there were mistakes made that could have been avoided. Hopefully now they will both grow and the body of Christ does not suffer because if the strife.
We all make up one body. That is the BOC. If the eyes have a problem and it's not dealt with, the eyes end up getting taken out. The BOC suffers until they are healed.
Pray for the church. Pray that we can open communication and not let it simmer beneath the surface. Pray that all leaders (pastor and lay) can be humble in all situations and serve great doses of grace to the congregation.
John 6:51-58 Risky Business sermon
John 6:51-58 Risky Business sermon
An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps. "Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely."The front row please." she answered."You really don't want to do that", the usher said."The pastor is really boring.""Do you happen to know who I am?" the woman inquired."No." he said."I'm the pastor's mother," she replied indignantly."Do you know who I am?" he asked."No." she said."Good", he answered
In the beginning was the Word. Those are the first words of the gospel of John. The Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word was Jesus. He is saying that Jesus has always been here and will always be here for us in scripture and life.
Do you remember the movie Risky Business? Tom Cruise skating across the hard wood floor in his underwear…Not really the picture I want to see now, but he was very cool back then. In the movie he needed money and quick. He came up with a business idea that was so outrageous it was truly unbelievable. It was kind of extreme, like most movies are of course.
Jesus’ clarification to the Jews is just that…extreme. Eat my flesh; drink my blood. Could it be that Jesus saying this is a graphic way of saying “receive me”? I’m not here to offer you a religion. I’m here to offer you a relationship. One with the true God.
Why would he be so extreme?? Because following Jesus is extreme. The Christian life is easy right? Right? NO. The Christian life is impossible without the Spirit.
Jesus was being extreme, because the Christian life is often sold as ‘cheap grace’. “name it and claim it” prosperity preaching. All you have to do is believe and have more faith and you will receive more.
God does not call us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful. Faithful to him and not the world. That does not mean abandon the world. You can’t. But you can strive to make it better.
Do you have kids? PAUSE Has this happened to you? You tell your kids to do something, then tell your kids to do something, then tell your kids to do something, then tell your kids to do something. Finally you raise your voice above the noise of everything else in their lives so you will be heard and they will listen.
I think Jesus was yelling at the Jews. Remember the movie, “A Few Good Men.” Another Tom Cruise movie. In the court scene, he is interrogating Jack Nicolson. Here’s how it goes. “You want the truth?” Tom says “I think I deserve it.” “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”
Jesus started by saying, “I am the living bread. Thru me you will live forever.” That was not enough. They still had all the noise of traditions filling their ears and they could not hear the truth speaking. Our kids have the distractions of TV, internet, radio, peers, school.
We adults have the distractions of bosses, spouses, kids, washing machine breaking, PTA, church. All these things keep their arms up blocking our view of God.
We recite the Lord’s prayer. How many can say the words without looking?? PAUSE. How about the apostles creed? “I believe in God the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth……” I mentioned going thru communion last time that I could sit in the pew and go thru the whole communion ritual without even opening the book. We get so distracted by the everyday stuff, that Jesus has to knock us ‘off center’ to get us to listen.
The Jews had been chewing on the old model all their lives. You know what that is…Moses and the Sanai covenant. Jesus was offending them because he wanted to change the old model to a new model. They saw the current way as the best way.
That’s the way we’ve always done it. Why change. Moses said. The old model was lacking though. The new model was completing. Jesus said “I have come not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.”
What was the purpose of the old covenant?? To get God’s people to live in relation with him. All these rituals and all these covenants the Jews had, were to get closer to God and HERE HE WAS. IN THE FLESH.
In being offensive, Jesus is trying to love them ‘off-center’ because God is not where they are. Chew on my flesh. Naw on my bones. The other way was not working guys. Look back in history.
In the scriptures before this, the Jews were asking for a miracle as proof. Basically they were saying “Do a trick for us monkey. Come on and do a trick”. POW, Jesus hits them with eat my flesh and drink my blood. And they are going “oh my gosh, I can’t believe he said that.” You want one part of me and I will give you all of me.
You don’t get just the “miracles” part, but you get everything. Take it all until you’re not only consuming me, but I’m consuming you.
Jesus isn’t saying cannibalism is right. No Jesus wants you to desire all of him. You can’t know Jesus until you live on him, consume him, experience him, desire him.
And in that desire and experience, you will be transformed into a new creation. The old you will pass away. A new you will be reborn. That God shaped hole in your heart will be filled.
Life which was temporal is now eternal. Death which was immenant is now defeated. As you daily feast at the heavenly banquet of Christ and feed on the word, you will grow more fully from the sustenance provided.
The greatest proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive today should be YOU. Let me say that again. The greatest proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive today should be YOU.
We had a PPR meeting last week. It was a time to get together and think about what our expectations are and some planning. Bryan asked me a great question that got me thinking. “How are you doing spiritual retreat and study?
”My immediate answer was I’m not doing enough. But I started to think about the question and my spiritual life and what I do. Unless I have a strong spiritual life, I can’t lead you into any deeper spiritual meaning. But then I realized, I pray all throughout the day.
I don’t have a specific prayer time, but I pray throughout the day and I pray for each of you many times. Before worship I come in and pray over the sanctuary. I ask God’s Spirit to come into the building and be with us here and bring more people.
Why do you come to worship on Sunday morning? That’s what I want to know. Could it be that you’re wanting to get a word of hope from God, to get your Spiritual Resavior filled, so then you can go out and tackle another week of life. Your boss yells at you, you have to go to your kids school for another meeting, the car breaks down, your husband is demoted or worse loses his job, floods in west Texas, drought here at home, terrorism trying to come in our neighborhood, global warming.
What else can happen this week.
You have these huge pack loads on your back that are so bulky and so heavy they push you down to your hands and knees and you wonder if you will ever be able to get back up.
But then we read today’s scripture and in discussing it we realize that the only way that we will truly live is to feed on Christ constantly.
You need to be filled on the feast that he provides for you. You need to consume him and let him consume you. Take the Word and read short chapters at a time. Go alone on a walk or in a room and talk to God. Come back on Sunday night for prayer time (alone or with me or another leader) and take communion.
When you are down on your knees from the heavy load, and you feast on Christ, he sends out a spiritual hand to lift you up. That hand could look like an angel or it could look like the guy sitting in the pew close to you. Feast on him more and the sustenance will pick you up.
Jesus knows your heart aches and the pain and suffering you are going thru. He knows what is happening in your life. He is telling you to come and eat with him. Let him be a part of your life to transform this life.
An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps. "Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely."The front row please." she answered."You really don't want to do that", the usher said."The pastor is really boring.""Do you happen to know who I am?" the woman inquired."No." he said."I'm the pastor's mother," she replied indignantly."Do you know who I am?" he asked."No." she said."Good", he answered
In the beginning was the Word. Those are the first words of the gospel of John. The Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word was Jesus. He is saying that Jesus has always been here and will always be here for us in scripture and life.
Do you remember the movie Risky Business? Tom Cruise skating across the hard wood floor in his underwear…Not really the picture I want to see now, but he was very cool back then. In the movie he needed money and quick. He came up with a business idea that was so outrageous it was truly unbelievable. It was kind of extreme, like most movies are of course.
Jesus’ clarification to the Jews is just that…extreme. Eat my flesh; drink my blood. Could it be that Jesus saying this is a graphic way of saying “receive me”? I’m not here to offer you a religion. I’m here to offer you a relationship. One with the true God.
Why would he be so extreme?? Because following Jesus is extreme. The Christian life is easy right? Right? NO. The Christian life is impossible without the Spirit.
Jesus was being extreme, because the Christian life is often sold as ‘cheap grace’. “name it and claim it” prosperity preaching. All you have to do is believe and have more faith and you will receive more.
God does not call us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful. Faithful to him and not the world. That does not mean abandon the world. You can’t. But you can strive to make it better.
Do you have kids? PAUSE Has this happened to you? You tell your kids to do something, then tell your kids to do something, then tell your kids to do something, then tell your kids to do something. Finally you raise your voice above the noise of everything else in their lives so you will be heard and they will listen.
I think Jesus was yelling at the Jews. Remember the movie, “A Few Good Men.” Another Tom Cruise movie. In the court scene, he is interrogating Jack Nicolson. Here’s how it goes. “You want the truth?” Tom says “I think I deserve it.” “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”
Jesus started by saying, “I am the living bread. Thru me you will live forever.” That was not enough. They still had all the noise of traditions filling their ears and they could not hear the truth speaking. Our kids have the distractions of TV, internet, radio, peers, school.
We adults have the distractions of bosses, spouses, kids, washing machine breaking, PTA, church. All these things keep their arms up blocking our view of God.
We recite the Lord’s prayer. How many can say the words without looking?? PAUSE. How about the apostles creed? “I believe in God the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth……” I mentioned going thru communion last time that I could sit in the pew and go thru the whole communion ritual without even opening the book. We get so distracted by the everyday stuff, that Jesus has to knock us ‘off center’ to get us to listen.
The Jews had been chewing on the old model all their lives. You know what that is…Moses and the Sanai covenant. Jesus was offending them because he wanted to change the old model to a new model. They saw the current way as the best way.
That’s the way we’ve always done it. Why change. Moses said. The old model was lacking though. The new model was completing. Jesus said “I have come not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.”
What was the purpose of the old covenant?? To get God’s people to live in relation with him. All these rituals and all these covenants the Jews had, were to get closer to God and HERE HE WAS. IN THE FLESH.
In being offensive, Jesus is trying to love them ‘off-center’ because God is not where they are. Chew on my flesh. Naw on my bones. The other way was not working guys. Look back in history.
In the scriptures before this, the Jews were asking for a miracle as proof. Basically they were saying “Do a trick for us monkey. Come on and do a trick”. POW, Jesus hits them with eat my flesh and drink my blood. And they are going “oh my gosh, I can’t believe he said that.” You want one part of me and I will give you all of me.
You don’t get just the “miracles” part, but you get everything. Take it all until you’re not only consuming me, but I’m consuming you.
Jesus isn’t saying cannibalism is right. No Jesus wants you to desire all of him. You can’t know Jesus until you live on him, consume him, experience him, desire him.
And in that desire and experience, you will be transformed into a new creation. The old you will pass away. A new you will be reborn. That God shaped hole in your heart will be filled.
Life which was temporal is now eternal. Death which was immenant is now defeated. As you daily feast at the heavenly banquet of Christ and feed on the word, you will grow more fully from the sustenance provided.
The greatest proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive today should be YOU. Let me say that again. The greatest proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive today should be YOU.
We had a PPR meeting last week. It was a time to get together and think about what our expectations are and some planning. Bryan asked me a great question that got me thinking. “How are you doing spiritual retreat and study?
”My immediate answer was I’m not doing enough. But I started to think about the question and my spiritual life and what I do. Unless I have a strong spiritual life, I can’t lead you into any deeper spiritual meaning. But then I realized, I pray all throughout the day.
I don’t have a specific prayer time, but I pray throughout the day and I pray for each of you many times. Before worship I come in and pray over the sanctuary. I ask God’s Spirit to come into the building and be with us here and bring more people.
Why do you come to worship on Sunday morning? That’s what I want to know. Could it be that you’re wanting to get a word of hope from God, to get your Spiritual Resavior filled, so then you can go out and tackle another week of life. Your boss yells at you, you have to go to your kids school for another meeting, the car breaks down, your husband is demoted or worse loses his job, floods in west Texas, drought here at home, terrorism trying to come in our neighborhood, global warming.
What else can happen this week.
You have these huge pack loads on your back that are so bulky and so heavy they push you down to your hands and knees and you wonder if you will ever be able to get back up.
But then we read today’s scripture and in discussing it we realize that the only way that we will truly live is to feed on Christ constantly.
You need to be filled on the feast that he provides for you. You need to consume him and let him consume you. Take the Word and read short chapters at a time. Go alone on a walk or in a room and talk to God. Come back on Sunday night for prayer time (alone or with me or another leader) and take communion.
When you are down on your knees from the heavy load, and you feast on Christ, he sends out a spiritual hand to lift you up. That hand could look like an angel or it could look like the guy sitting in the pew close to you. Feast on him more and the sustenance will pick you up.
Jesus knows your heart aches and the pain and suffering you are going thru. He knows what is happening in your life. He is telling you to come and eat with him. Let him be a part of your life to transform this life.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
What a weekend....
What a great weekend. Went to Promise Keepers and saw 15000 men raise their hands, sing and pray and praise God. It was awesome. I had my sermon written on Friday, then I got home and my sermon changed that Saturday night after PK.
One of the kids, well kid but I think he is 18 or 19, came to me after service. He said "This is your first church right? I can tell....your on fire. I love listening to your sermons. I've been in dead churches where the pastor's fire has gone out. DOn't let that happen to you." It was a great conversation. What encouragement.
The funny thing is I don't think he would have said that if I would have left my sermon the way it was on Friday night. It was not a bad sermon, but I don't think it would have impacted like that. God blessed me.
I praise God for putting me where he has put me. I pray he will bless my ministry at Sardis and grow this church. I also pray he will bless our finances. I just don't make enough money and Brandy can't work yet....well I won't let her work outside the home. She needs to be home for Julia and homeschooling. We will figure it out.
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It took me 3 weeks for it to hit me that yes I am the pastor and 2nd in command behind God. We've been talking about the men's ministry for a few weeks andit really hit me as "it's going to happen" when Dan called and said he would call the men who don't come to church but are members to invite them. Yes it is going to happen. Get this going and focus on the youth and then school starts.
One of the kids, well kid but I think he is 18 or 19, came to me after service. He said "This is your first church right? I can tell....your on fire. I love listening to your sermons. I've been in dead churches where the pastor's fire has gone out. DOn't let that happen to you." It was a great conversation. What encouragement.
The funny thing is I don't think he would have said that if I would have left my sermon the way it was on Friday night. It was not a bad sermon, but I don't think it would have impacted like that. God blessed me.
I praise God for putting me where he has put me. I pray he will bless my ministry at Sardis and grow this church. I also pray he will bless our finances. I just don't make enough money and Brandy can't work yet....well I won't let her work outside the home. She needs to be home for Julia and homeschooling. We will figure it out.
----------------------------------
It took me 3 weeks for it to hit me that yes I am the pastor and 2nd in command behind God. We've been talking about the men's ministry for a few weeks andit really hit me as "it's going to happen" when Dan called and said he would call the men who don't come to church but are members to invite them. Yes it is going to happen. Get this going and focus on the youth and then school starts.
Ephesians 4:25-5:2 Who are you imitating sermon
Ephesians 4:25-5:2 There is no cheap imitation
Joke about the guy dying in 6 months and buy the pig farm.
Who are your kids imitating? If you have kids, or think back to when you had kids, what did you say to your kids about their friends? Was it, “you can be friends to anyone you want. I trust you completely.” Probably not. You would say “Don’t hang out with little Johnny. He does not have good character.
I don’t like the way he talks to his mom.” You guided their decisions as much as you could without totally controlling them, right? Why? Because children (and adults too) tend to imitate those they are around. A well known educator and speaker made a list of all the tough questions parents ask about their kids.
The number one question was what to do about bad friends. What he brought out of the conversations with parents and a group of teens he had been working with was that it is all about relationships. This guy had set up relationships between his kids and an adult they can go to if there are ever any issues or questions. This gave them someone outside of mom and dad to look to for guidance and to imitate.
The main verse for this passage we are reading today is chapter 5 verse 1. “Be imitators of God, and live a life of love, just as Christ did.” Well I’m a nobody telling everybody about somebody who can free anybody.
That’s Christ. I guess we really need to know what it means to imitate Christ. And how do we continue to do that day after day? Are you a disciple of Christ? Well are you? That’s a YES or NO question. There is no in between. A disciple doesn’t just want to know what the teacher knows. A disciple wants to be like the teacher and wants to learn to do what the teacher does.
Yesterday, me and 15000 other men gathered in American Airlines Center in Dallas and we praised and worshiped the Lord. Men raised their hands and shouted out affirmations of their faith. They were raising their hands and singing out loud. 500 men came to accept Jesus as their savior this weekend. It was an awesome experience.
Last Tuesday a Band of Brothers met together. This is our men’s ministry. The first thing I need is for you to pray for this men’s ministry. We are going to be doing a lot of great things in the community and bringing in men that would not normally go to church or get involved, so you will need to pray for this group.
God has given us a unique combination of talents and gifts, and it’s our mission to optimize them for his glory and kingdom. I told these men that God put on my heart that from this group of 10 men that showed up, we will grow to 100 men this time next year. I did get a couple scoffs, but a wise man said “you should set your goals high where you are guaranteed to fail unless God steps in.”
I have no doubt it will happen, but we must believe for God to work thru us for this end. The Christian walk is not a difficult walk. It’s an impossible walk. Without the Holy Spirit there guiding you where you need to go, you WILL go on the wrong path. Who are you imitating. The bible tells us that the road to destruction is very wide and smooth. I would say it’s like I35 out here but that’s not smooth at all. The road to destruction is wide and easy to travel. The path of righteousness is narrow. What road are you on?
So starting in verse 25, the apostle Paul tells us to put off all falsehood. He is saying no more lies, no more pretenses. No more being fake and so full of pride that you keep yourself hidden. Be truthful to your neighbor.
I know of a church near where we used tolive. The congregation had so much pride, that they would not tell anyone if they were hurting, going hungry, going broke. It was not about neighbor and community, but about individualism. Our scripture tells us ”for we are all one body.”
Another translation says “In Christ’s body we are all connected to each other. When you lie to others you end up lying to yourself.”
Do you believe that scripture? We are all connected to each other. So if I’m leading a false life, if I put this front on and never show my true self, then I’m not only hurting myself, but everyone in this family of believers. Who am I imitating??
God told Abraham I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you so you can be a blessing to other nations. God did not want him to sit down and relish in the provisions given, but to go out and bless others around him.
Now starting at vs 26. If you are married you will remember this from your counseling or marriage vows. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Another way to say it is “go ahead and be angry, but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. Don’t stay angry and don’t go to bed angry.” Jesus tells us in the gospels that when you come up before God in worship, if you have any problems with your brother, go and reconcile before coming to God. Then you can come back with a clear heart and worship God in spirit.
In the middle of a knock down drag out fight in marriage, going to bed is a welcome retreat don’t you think? But getting to sleep is another thing. Anger erodes relationships; it resides deep in a person’s soul, affecting the ability to love and even sometimes your health.
While anger can seem to be extroverted, it can really be introverted and hidden as a person bottles up bitterness and ill thoughts.
It’s been said that men can get angry with each other, go outside and ‘take care of business’, then go back inside and resume their lives. Women on the other hand will get angry, hold it all in, let it boil under the surface for as long as possible, then finally explode when they can hold it in no longer.
Who are you imitating???
It’s time to be transformed. It’s time to be renewed. If you have any issues, problems, complaints (any whiney, angry, prissy, unhelpful) problems with a brother, sister, mom, dad, friend, etc, come and lay them down at the alter NOW. There is no time to waste. You can’t worship God with these on your heart. And if you have not dealt with them, the issue is bigger than you and you HAVE to give it to God.
In verse 29, Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up to benefit them.
Watch the way you talk. Say only what helps. Each word is a gift. I tell you, gossip will tear apart a church faster than anything else.
A pastor friend of mine had been divorced a couple years before he went into the ministry. One person in the church found out and it spread around town faster than a wildfire in a dry West Texas field. No one brought it to the pastor. Why……… when they could talk to their neighbors about it.
It was such a controversy. The ministry was hurt because of the gossip in that town. They were focusing on one thing the pastor did and in that missed everything else. Let me give you a measuring stick to go by.
If it does not edify the body, that is if it does not build up the church and the people in it, keep it to yourself. And if it’s being told to you, walk away. Actually, confront that person telling it and then walk away. You all know what gossip is. I trust you to do the right thing.
Jesus is the best illustration of building up people. He always spoke the word that would build up. Now he would “breathe out fire” when he was correcting people, but in everything he did it was to build them up and make them better. RENEW THEM. Romans 12 says do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Don’t grieve God, don’t break his heart. His holy spirit moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life. Don’t take this gift for granted.
Who are you imitating? God is the only picture you need to be following. He is the inspiration and also the enabler. We can’t stand off and say we love. We need to experience it, be infected by it, taste it, live it.
You were made in the image of God. That means you have a God shaped hole in your heart. This can’t be filled with anything else although you will try just as I have. Money won’t do it, cars, boats, bigger house, prestigious job won’t do it.
Drugs, alcohol. Nothing. Nothing else will fit in that hole except God. No matter how hard you try putting that square peg in the round hole it won’t work.
Think about when you first learned to drive a car. When you were young you read the manuals and books and magazines. But that will only take you so far.
You start to watch your mom and dad drive and how the shift gears and accelerate. How they steer and break and you learn more. Then finally you get behind the wheel. You savoir the experience. In the same way, you can’t love and forgive unless you have been loved and you have been forgiven yourself.
So who are you imitating today? Are you being true to yourself and who you are, or are you hiding yourself from others AND TRYING TO HIDE FROM GOD? Have you asked for forgiveness? Have you asked for the love that only God thru Jesus can give you? Maybe you say, “If they don’t see the real me, they won’t reject me and I can’t get hurt.” What kind of life is that?
Is Bobby Joe down at the end of your street your picture to imitate. Drinking every night, bitterness, anger and gossip.
Now it’s ok to have a occasional drink.
Oh my gosh, did the pastor just say it’s ok to drink. Yes I did. Remember, A drink is not a 6 pack a night, occasional is not every night, underage drinking is not allowed at all (that’s anyone under 21), and there are some people who do not have the ability to stop at one; they should stop at ZERO.
Oh…if all you heard in all of that is “go have a beer” and you completely forgot everything else I said, and now you’re mad at me, please read vs 34 again. Thanks.
So is Bobby Joe your picture to imitate? Or how about a sports star who we elevate to higher status?
Troy Aikman was a great quarterback. What about your pastor. Don’t look at me if you’re looking for perfection. Many people hold their pastors up to a higher expectation than they hold themselves. Well…so be it.
But for every time, the best one to imitate would be Jesus. Yes he got angry, yes he was sad at times, but he forgave, he blessed, he built up, he protected. He transformed lives and he can transform you if you will let him in.
Mostly what God does is love you. His love was not cautious but extravagant.
He didn’t love to get something from us, but to give everything of himself to us. Love others like that.
The greatest proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive today should be YOU. Let me say it again. The greatest proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive today should be YOU.
This extravagant love I talked about is available to you, if you come to him with open arms, without any false pretense or fake smile, wanting to receive. It’s not about losing control or power, but about being plugged into the TRANSFORMER of spiritual power as he gives you true power.
You might have thought, “I think I’ve been a Christian all my life and never felt any kind of change like this.” If you don’t know this transformed life and want Christ to be a part of your life, come to the alter rail during the singing of our last hymn.
If you want to dedicate your life to Christ or rededicate it, come during this hymn of invitation. It’s time to fish or cut bait. God is knocking on the door of your soul wanting to come in. Let him in. Please stand while we sing………
Joke about the guy dying in 6 months and buy the pig farm.
Who are your kids imitating? If you have kids, or think back to when you had kids, what did you say to your kids about their friends? Was it, “you can be friends to anyone you want. I trust you completely.” Probably not. You would say “Don’t hang out with little Johnny. He does not have good character.
I don’t like the way he talks to his mom.” You guided their decisions as much as you could without totally controlling them, right? Why? Because children (and adults too) tend to imitate those they are around. A well known educator and speaker made a list of all the tough questions parents ask about their kids.
The number one question was what to do about bad friends. What he brought out of the conversations with parents and a group of teens he had been working with was that it is all about relationships. This guy had set up relationships between his kids and an adult they can go to if there are ever any issues or questions. This gave them someone outside of mom and dad to look to for guidance and to imitate.
The main verse for this passage we are reading today is chapter 5 verse 1. “Be imitators of God, and live a life of love, just as Christ did.” Well I’m a nobody telling everybody about somebody who can free anybody.
That’s Christ. I guess we really need to know what it means to imitate Christ. And how do we continue to do that day after day? Are you a disciple of Christ? Well are you? That’s a YES or NO question. There is no in between. A disciple doesn’t just want to know what the teacher knows. A disciple wants to be like the teacher and wants to learn to do what the teacher does.
Yesterday, me and 15000 other men gathered in American Airlines Center in Dallas and we praised and worshiped the Lord. Men raised their hands and shouted out affirmations of their faith. They were raising their hands and singing out loud. 500 men came to accept Jesus as their savior this weekend. It was an awesome experience.
Last Tuesday a Band of Brothers met together. This is our men’s ministry. The first thing I need is for you to pray for this men’s ministry. We are going to be doing a lot of great things in the community and bringing in men that would not normally go to church or get involved, so you will need to pray for this group.
God has given us a unique combination of talents and gifts, and it’s our mission to optimize them for his glory and kingdom. I told these men that God put on my heart that from this group of 10 men that showed up, we will grow to 100 men this time next year. I did get a couple scoffs, but a wise man said “you should set your goals high where you are guaranteed to fail unless God steps in.”
I have no doubt it will happen, but we must believe for God to work thru us for this end. The Christian walk is not a difficult walk. It’s an impossible walk. Without the Holy Spirit there guiding you where you need to go, you WILL go on the wrong path. Who are you imitating. The bible tells us that the road to destruction is very wide and smooth. I would say it’s like I35 out here but that’s not smooth at all. The road to destruction is wide and easy to travel. The path of righteousness is narrow. What road are you on?
So starting in verse 25, the apostle Paul tells us to put off all falsehood. He is saying no more lies, no more pretenses. No more being fake and so full of pride that you keep yourself hidden. Be truthful to your neighbor.
I know of a church near where we used tolive. The congregation had so much pride, that they would not tell anyone if they were hurting, going hungry, going broke. It was not about neighbor and community, but about individualism. Our scripture tells us ”for we are all one body.”
Another translation says “In Christ’s body we are all connected to each other. When you lie to others you end up lying to yourself.”
Do you believe that scripture? We are all connected to each other. So if I’m leading a false life, if I put this front on and never show my true self, then I’m not only hurting myself, but everyone in this family of believers. Who am I imitating??
God told Abraham I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you so you can be a blessing to other nations. God did not want him to sit down and relish in the provisions given, but to go out and bless others around him.
Now starting at vs 26. If you are married you will remember this from your counseling or marriage vows. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Another way to say it is “go ahead and be angry, but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. Don’t stay angry and don’t go to bed angry.” Jesus tells us in the gospels that when you come up before God in worship, if you have any problems with your brother, go and reconcile before coming to God. Then you can come back with a clear heart and worship God in spirit.
In the middle of a knock down drag out fight in marriage, going to bed is a welcome retreat don’t you think? But getting to sleep is another thing. Anger erodes relationships; it resides deep in a person’s soul, affecting the ability to love and even sometimes your health.
While anger can seem to be extroverted, it can really be introverted and hidden as a person bottles up bitterness and ill thoughts.
It’s been said that men can get angry with each other, go outside and ‘take care of business’, then go back inside and resume their lives. Women on the other hand will get angry, hold it all in, let it boil under the surface for as long as possible, then finally explode when they can hold it in no longer.
Who are you imitating???
It’s time to be transformed. It’s time to be renewed. If you have any issues, problems, complaints (any whiney, angry, prissy, unhelpful) problems with a brother, sister, mom, dad, friend, etc, come and lay them down at the alter NOW. There is no time to waste. You can’t worship God with these on your heart. And if you have not dealt with them, the issue is bigger than you and you HAVE to give it to God.
In verse 29, Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up to benefit them.
Watch the way you talk. Say only what helps. Each word is a gift. I tell you, gossip will tear apart a church faster than anything else.
A pastor friend of mine had been divorced a couple years before he went into the ministry. One person in the church found out and it spread around town faster than a wildfire in a dry West Texas field. No one brought it to the pastor. Why……… when they could talk to their neighbors about it.
It was such a controversy. The ministry was hurt because of the gossip in that town. They were focusing on one thing the pastor did and in that missed everything else. Let me give you a measuring stick to go by.
If it does not edify the body, that is if it does not build up the church and the people in it, keep it to yourself. And if it’s being told to you, walk away. Actually, confront that person telling it and then walk away. You all know what gossip is. I trust you to do the right thing.
Jesus is the best illustration of building up people. He always spoke the word that would build up. Now he would “breathe out fire” when he was correcting people, but in everything he did it was to build them up and make them better. RENEW THEM. Romans 12 says do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Don’t grieve God, don’t break his heart. His holy spirit moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life. Don’t take this gift for granted.
Who are you imitating? God is the only picture you need to be following. He is the inspiration and also the enabler. We can’t stand off and say we love. We need to experience it, be infected by it, taste it, live it.
You were made in the image of God. That means you have a God shaped hole in your heart. This can’t be filled with anything else although you will try just as I have. Money won’t do it, cars, boats, bigger house, prestigious job won’t do it.
Drugs, alcohol. Nothing. Nothing else will fit in that hole except God. No matter how hard you try putting that square peg in the round hole it won’t work.
Think about when you first learned to drive a car. When you were young you read the manuals and books and magazines. But that will only take you so far.
You start to watch your mom and dad drive and how the shift gears and accelerate. How they steer and break and you learn more. Then finally you get behind the wheel. You savoir the experience. In the same way, you can’t love and forgive unless you have been loved and you have been forgiven yourself.
So who are you imitating today? Are you being true to yourself and who you are, or are you hiding yourself from others AND TRYING TO HIDE FROM GOD? Have you asked for forgiveness? Have you asked for the love that only God thru Jesus can give you? Maybe you say, “If they don’t see the real me, they won’t reject me and I can’t get hurt.” What kind of life is that?
Is Bobby Joe down at the end of your street your picture to imitate. Drinking every night, bitterness, anger and gossip.
Now it’s ok to have a occasional drink.
Oh my gosh, did the pastor just say it’s ok to drink. Yes I did. Remember, A drink is not a 6 pack a night, occasional is not every night, underage drinking is not allowed at all (that’s anyone under 21), and there are some people who do not have the ability to stop at one; they should stop at ZERO.
Oh…if all you heard in all of that is “go have a beer” and you completely forgot everything else I said, and now you’re mad at me, please read vs 34 again. Thanks.
So is Bobby Joe your picture to imitate? Or how about a sports star who we elevate to higher status?
Troy Aikman was a great quarterback. What about your pastor. Don’t look at me if you’re looking for perfection. Many people hold their pastors up to a higher expectation than they hold themselves. Well…so be it.
But for every time, the best one to imitate would be Jesus. Yes he got angry, yes he was sad at times, but he forgave, he blessed, he built up, he protected. He transformed lives and he can transform you if you will let him in.
Mostly what God does is love you. His love was not cautious but extravagant.
He didn’t love to get something from us, but to give everything of himself to us. Love others like that.
The greatest proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive today should be YOU. Let me say it again. The greatest proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive today should be YOU.
This extravagant love I talked about is available to you, if you come to him with open arms, without any false pretense or fake smile, wanting to receive. It’s not about losing control or power, but about being plugged into the TRANSFORMER of spiritual power as he gives you true power.
You might have thought, “I think I’ve been a Christian all my life and never felt any kind of change like this.” If you don’t know this transformed life and want Christ to be a part of your life, come to the alter rail during the singing of our last hymn.
If you want to dedicate your life to Christ or rededicate it, come during this hymn of invitation. It’s time to fish or cut bait. God is knocking on the door of your soul wanting to come in. Let him in. Please stand while we sing………
Monday, August 07, 2006
August 6 sermon John 6 24-35 Who Are You
Jesus just yesterday fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and a couple of fish. The next day comes and he is on the other side of the lake, but he didn’t take the boat that was left for him. Well that makes the people wonder.
They all run around the lake to where he was. “Rabbi, when did you get here?” That’s the question of the day huh. More like how did you get here. Then in Jesus’ first sentence to them, he is trying to teach them something. He says “Don’t look for me because you are looking for miracles, but because you are getting fed.”
He is telling them upfront to not search for the miracles, but to take in the spiritual food he is providing and be nourished by it. “Come to me for the truth. I can fill that hole in your heart.
In the next verse he says “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures for eternity, which I will provide.”
Well what does that mean? To understand it, we have to go all the way to the front of your bible. It’s the Old Testament. There in Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit from the tree they were told to stay away from.
God says “Cursed is the ground because of what you did. Through painful toil you will eat of it.
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread until you return to the ground.
Jesus is saying that all this time they are working so hard to get the bread that will give them life, and now it’s available right in front of them as an offering. The next verse tells their thinking.
“What work must we do?” Many people today are the same way. What works, what jobs, what chores must I do to get this eternal life??? Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Why? Because it gives you a way to earn your salvation.
If you say your 5 prayers a day and live the holy life prescribed by Mohammed and Allah, you will go to heaven. You don’t have to rely on someone else that lived 2000 years ago;
you can rely on yourself and your ability.
I don’t think I’m ready to do that. Should I rely on my ability to get into heaven? If I miss a prayer or eat the wrong thing, what then? Can I catch up the next week. I think I would be a like a lot of unbelievers today. Throw up my hands and say
“I can’t live up to this. It’s too much. Forget it. I’ll stay like I am.” Or “ I have to get to be a better person before I can enter that church.” My brother used to say he would burst into flames if he entered the church again. ……… He didn’t if you were wondering.
Jesus doesn’t give them any rules to follow today. He says that to get the eternal food, they much believe that he is who he says he is and that God sent him. But unfortunately they revert back to their old ideas.
I call this next one the “Do a trick for us monkey, I want to see a trick monkey” verse. So they ask him, SLOW DOWN “what miraculous sign will you give that we may see it and believe in you? What will you do?”
I’m sure you have watched magicians. David Copperfield was a great showman. David Blain would walk the streets doing tricks. They are all great to watch and wonder “how did he do that?” They were looking for a miracle.
BILL WALKS IN WITH WOOD AND NAILS.
Moses got our forefathers bread from heaven when they needed it. What can you show us. WHO ARE YOU? Prove who you are. Isn’t that the question we ask Jesus also? Who are you Jesus?
But does Jesus (or others) ask the same of us? Who are you? Think about that because I might come ask you. You see, our identity comes out of our hunger. It comes out of our desperate need to BE.
I want to BE someone. I am nothing compared to Jesus. I am trying to build my identity while Jesus is before me emptying out himself and making himself nothing for my sake.
At 5th Sunday singing last week, I gave an invitation for everyone present and listening on the radio to come to church on Sunday morning and then I gave the opening prayer. When I walked back to the back of the room, Brandy said “that’s your first step to televangelism.”
I am somewhat envious of the television preachers and those with mega-churches. Not because of their success, but because they have an opportunity to reach thousands of people all at once.
One-on-one evangelism is great and needed, but I love coming to worship here on Sunday mornings. It gives me a chance to share Jesus and his teachings to many people at one time. I’m not interested in having a mega-church, but more interested in us making deeper disciples of Jesus Christ.
So who are you? What sayeth you? GO OUT TO BILL FULLER GIVE HIM THE WIRELESS TO KEEP
Do you have an identity? All those unbelievers outside that door want to know.
Your identity comes out of your hunger to BE somebody.
Jesus says in the next verse that “it was not Moses that gave the bread to the Israelites, but it was God who sustained them.” He then says about himself, “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
He is saying that the bread they were searching for and the life that each of us is searching for is Jesus himself. Jesus is the bread of life. All that looking we have done all our lives trying to fulfill a picture we have in our mind of what we will be and who we will be has been distorted.
When we look in the mirror we should see Jesus looking back at us. We were made in the image of God as children of God. As we fill that empty hole in our soul with more of Jesus, his teachings, and doing what he said, the picture will become clearer.
These people Jesus is talking to want the bread, but they don’t want Jesus.
They see him as he trick monkey. “Come on monkey, do another trick for us”. He is not a magician who is here to entertain. He is the bread of life.
When we feast at this table before us we are eating with Jesus. Someone once said “how bad it would be to not give control of your life to Jesus today and walk out that door and fall down dead.” That makes sense. But how much worse it would be to walk out that door without accepting Jesus as your savior and you live another 100 years.
Jesus did not come to the earth just to save you from death and hell. He came to be with you in this life also and help you build a life worthy of him.
And so we come to the table before us. This is not a Methodist table, but a Christian table. If you a Christian you can celebrate with us the Bread of Life. Join me on page 13.
Hymnal ritual
Bill and I will be up here. I’m not going to direct you to come up. Come as you desire to be part of the feast. Neal or stand at the alter rail and when you are ready, hold out your hands and we will come and serve you. Stay and pray and eat as long as you like.
Jesus just yesterday fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and a couple of fish. The next day comes and he is on the other side of the lake, but he didn’t take the boat that was left for him. Well that makes the people wonder.
They all run around the lake to where he was. “Rabbi, when did you get here?” That’s the question of the day huh. More like how did you get here. Then in Jesus’ first sentence to them, he is trying to teach them something. He says “Don’t look for me because you are looking for miracles, but because you are getting fed.”
He is telling them upfront to not search for the miracles, but to take in the spiritual food he is providing and be nourished by it. “Come to me for the truth. I can fill that hole in your heart.
In the next verse he says “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures for eternity, which I will provide.”
Well what does that mean? To understand it, we have to go all the way to the front of your bible. It’s the Old Testament. There in Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit from the tree they were told to stay away from.
God says “Cursed is the ground because of what you did. Through painful toil you will eat of it.
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread until you return to the ground.
Jesus is saying that all this time they are working so hard to get the bread that will give them life, and now it’s available right in front of them as an offering. The next verse tells their thinking.
“What work must we do?” Many people today are the same way. What works, what jobs, what chores must I do to get this eternal life??? Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Why? Because it gives you a way to earn your salvation.
If you say your 5 prayers a day and live the holy life prescribed by Mohammed and Allah, you will go to heaven. You don’t have to rely on someone else that lived 2000 years ago;
you can rely on yourself and your ability.
I don’t think I’m ready to do that. Should I rely on my ability to get into heaven? If I miss a prayer or eat the wrong thing, what then? Can I catch up the next week. I think I would be a like a lot of unbelievers today. Throw up my hands and say
“I can’t live up to this. It’s too much. Forget it. I’ll stay like I am.” Or “ I have to get to be a better person before I can enter that church.” My brother used to say he would burst into flames if he entered the church again. ……… He didn’t if you were wondering.
Jesus doesn’t give them any rules to follow today. He says that to get the eternal food, they much believe that he is who he says he is and that God sent him. But unfortunately they revert back to their old ideas.
I call this next one the “Do a trick for us monkey, I want to see a trick monkey” verse. So they ask him, SLOW DOWN “what miraculous sign will you give that we may see it and believe in you? What will you do?”
I’m sure you have watched magicians. David Copperfield was a great showman. David Blain would walk the streets doing tricks. They are all great to watch and wonder “how did he do that?” They were looking for a miracle.
BILL WALKS IN WITH WOOD AND NAILS.
Moses got our forefathers bread from heaven when they needed it. What can you show us. WHO ARE YOU? Prove who you are. Isn’t that the question we ask Jesus also? Who are you Jesus?
But does Jesus (or others) ask the same of us? Who are you? Think about that because I might come ask you. You see, our identity comes out of our hunger. It comes out of our desperate need to BE.
I want to BE someone. I am nothing compared to Jesus. I am trying to build my identity while Jesus is before me emptying out himself and making himself nothing for my sake.
At 5th Sunday singing last week, I gave an invitation for everyone present and listening on the radio to come to church on Sunday morning and then I gave the opening prayer. When I walked back to the back of the room, Brandy said “that’s your first step to televangelism.”
I am somewhat envious of the television preachers and those with mega-churches. Not because of their success, but because they have an opportunity to reach thousands of people all at once.
One-on-one evangelism is great and needed, but I love coming to worship here on Sunday mornings. It gives me a chance to share Jesus and his teachings to many people at one time. I’m not interested in having a mega-church, but more interested in us making deeper disciples of Jesus Christ.
So who are you? What sayeth you? GO OUT TO BILL FULLER GIVE HIM THE WIRELESS TO KEEP
Do you have an identity? All those unbelievers outside that door want to know.
Your identity comes out of your hunger to BE somebody.
Jesus says in the next verse that “it was not Moses that gave the bread to the Israelites, but it was God who sustained them.” He then says about himself, “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
He is saying that the bread they were searching for and the life that each of us is searching for is Jesus himself. Jesus is the bread of life. All that looking we have done all our lives trying to fulfill a picture we have in our mind of what we will be and who we will be has been distorted.
When we look in the mirror we should see Jesus looking back at us. We were made in the image of God as children of God. As we fill that empty hole in our soul with more of Jesus, his teachings, and doing what he said, the picture will become clearer.
These people Jesus is talking to want the bread, but they don’t want Jesus.
They see him as he trick monkey. “Come on monkey, do another trick for us”. He is not a magician who is here to entertain. He is the bread of life.
When we feast at this table before us we are eating with Jesus. Someone once said “how bad it would be to not give control of your life to Jesus today and walk out that door and fall down dead.” That makes sense. But how much worse it would be to walk out that door without accepting Jesus as your savior and you live another 100 years.
Jesus did not come to the earth just to save you from death and hell. He came to be with you in this life also and help you build a life worthy of him.
And so we come to the table before us. This is not a Methodist table, but a Christian table. If you a Christian you can celebrate with us the Bread of Life. Join me on page 13.
Hymnal ritual
Bill and I will be up here. I’m not going to direct you to come up. Come as you desire to be part of the feast. Neal or stand at the alter rail and when you are ready, hold out your hands and we will come and serve you. Stay and pray and eat as long as you like.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
July 30 sermon Prayer Ephesians 3
We have a tree in the back yard of the parsonage that needs to be taken down so I called Doyle to tell him that we need to get some bids on it. When he answered the phone I got completely serious and said “Doyle, I need you to call Steve Mcallister. I need to know how much insurance we have on the parsonage. That tree we need to take out fell over on the parsonage” Oh no he says. “Oh yeah. The largest branch went thru the roof, landed on the bathtub, and pushed it down thru the floor.” Oh you’re joking, he says. “Yeah I am”. It was really funny until Brandy told me “You’re going to get a call tonight that Doyle is in the hospital with heart failure.”
Our scripture today is a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians. So many people don’t like the apostle Paul. Especially women when they read the scripture that says women should sit down and be quiet in church.
Instead of searching the scriptures and finding out what he is talking about and why he said that, many just dismiss Paul as a sexist pig who is the product of a patriarch system. We will get to that scripture another day. Actually…why did the Israelites wonder in the desert for 40 years? Because even then men would not ask for directions. :o)
Today though we are on Ephesians 3. Paul shows himself as the humble obedient follower of Jesus Christ who will do whatever it takes to spread the Good News and build the Kingdom of God. Paul understands what is important, and what his priority must be.
In verses 8-10 he says that his goal is to preach and write to the people about the riches and generosity of Christ. He must make known what God has been doing all this time. It’s that mystery thing we talked about a couple weeks ago. Remember the sugar cookies. Of course you do. I’ve been told that I cannot submit a recipe for the next church cookbook. That’s too bad.
Paul’s job is to preach Jesus Christ and to write letters of encouragement. If he were here today, he would pick up the phone and call us or send us email.
Then he encourages this congregation. He tells them “It’s because of churches like yours that the message is getting out. You are following Christ and his teachings.” The last thing Jesus said to do before he went up into heaven was to “GO OUT”. Go preach the good news. Tell them about your life in Christ.
There’s a great scene at the end of the film, “The Big Kahuna” where Danny DeVito’s character counsels a young co-worker about his overt mode of evangelism. He says, “It doesn't matter whether you're selling Jesus or Buddha or civil rights or 'How to Make Money in Real Estate With No Money Down.' That doesn't make you a human being; it makes you a marketing rep.
If you want to talk to somebody honestly, as a human being, ask him about his kids. Find out what his dreams are - just to find out, for no other reason. Because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, it's not a conversation anymore; it's a pitch. And you're not a human being; you're a marketing rep.”
It pretty much sums it up huh. If you don’t agree, think of this. What do you do when a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon comes to your door? I know some of you will sit down with them and go thru scripture. But most of us will shut them out. Take the literature, shut the door, and throw it away.
Paul tells this church that they are doing so good, even the angels are talking about them. Don’t be discouraged by my hardships, he says. Don’t sulk or pity yourself when things are going bad.
REJOICE! God is with you. He will never leave you. You can come to God with freedom and confidence that he is there for you. Keep doing what you are doing. Make me proud. Make him proud.
Then Paul says what every good pastor says to his congregation. I’m praying for you. It’s been shown that prayer in the early church was not head bowed reverently, eyes closed, hands clasped together. No.
Prayer was standing up proud to be a Christian, arms open wide with eyes wide open. Anticipating the power of God to come down to invade your life. Boldly the Spirit comes and takes over as you concede more and more of your life.
That’s what prayer was and where the power comes from. But here Paul gets down on his knees.
I think it’s because it’s such a special prayer to him for others. He says “I’m praying that the Spirit of God will strengthen you.” This is not brute strength, but an inner strength.
In Isaiah 41 God says, “I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”. I was talking to a father the other day. He said they were talking in the car one day about God and how he could be there for everyone and his four year old said “yeah God has really big hands.” Profound truth from a young boy.
I told you the other day that I plan to transform the world. I can’t do it alone. But I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me. Think of this strength that Christ brings as “caffeine for the soul.”
The next part of Paul’s prayer for his congregation and for ours is that Christ would dwell in their hearts thru faith. Well what does that mean? We can look at John 14 starting at vs 23…Jesus says “whoever loves me will obey my teaching and we will go to the father and make a home with him in heaven.”
SO Paul says I pray that you will be so close to Christ that you will have no other desire than to do what he has commanded. When he died on the cross, our sins were forgiven because we are Christians. But this forgiveness does not give us a license to sin.
The response of this love you have now should be Lord God I want to lay my life down a living sacrifice which is holy and acceptable to you. There will be times that you fail, but he wants you to go and transform the world.
The third part of Paul’s prayer is (and I love this verse) that you are established in love…that’s the love of Christ…and you may have power…strength, transforming power.
Together with all the saints….did you hear that. There are no Lone Ranger Christians. We are here in all this together. We are here together to make a difference and go out as Christ told us to.
The church is like manure. If you pile it up behind the door, it stinks up the whole neighborhood, but if you spread it out, it enriches the entire world.
As we walk out those doors we will transform the world with the truth. So established in love, together with the saints, to grasp the wideness and vastness of God. My God is a big God.
I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said “God is bigger than any one religion”. The creator of that sticker is exactly right, but not the way he is thinking. All roads don’t lead to the same God, but kernels of the Truth can be found in those other religions.
In Acts 17, Paul is in Athens. He stood up and said You are very religious. I even found an inscription here “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”. Now what you worship as unknown, I will make known to you.
My God is a big God.
The last part of Paul’s prayer is that you will be filled with God overflowing. Think of a sponge. You dip it in the water and it soaks up the water until it’s overflowing. Be filled with the fullness and the transforming power of God.
God can do anything, far more than you could ever imagine in your wildest dreams. He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
So Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians and my prayer for you ………goes like this.
I pray that the Spirit of God will strengthen you and Christ will dwell in your hearts.
I pray that you can comprehend the wideness and vastness of God and see that he is a big God.
And I pray that you know the love of God. He will never leave you. He is always there.
People will fail you. You might come to church one day and see that everyone in this church is a broken vessel but they are being healed by the love of Jesus.
We all come from different stories, but the one thing that brings us together today is that we are all one church and there is one Lord, one Savior and that is Jesus Christ.
You can’t save anyone. You can’t convert anyone. You can show them the way to Christ and the Holy Spirit can convict and convert them.
If you’re here today and the path you are on has brought you to a place where you’re ready to give your life over to Christ, now is the time. Then this prayer we talked about today will be said for you also.
That power can be a part of you. I know it may sound weird, but you have to say “so long self” and hello Christ.
There is only room for one to be in control. If your ready to give control over to Christ and receive the power promised to all believers, come to the prayer rail during this last song. This is an open invitation. I’m ready to pray with you and God is waiting anxiously to take the next step with you.
Just a warning though. This is not the end of the journey, but the beginning of a new route on your sea of faith. If it’s your time, come forward as we sing this hymn………
Our scripture today is a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians. So many people don’t like the apostle Paul. Especially women when they read the scripture that says women should sit down and be quiet in church.
Instead of searching the scriptures and finding out what he is talking about and why he said that, many just dismiss Paul as a sexist pig who is the product of a patriarch system. We will get to that scripture another day. Actually…why did the Israelites wonder in the desert for 40 years? Because even then men would not ask for directions. :o)
Today though we are on Ephesians 3. Paul shows himself as the humble obedient follower of Jesus Christ who will do whatever it takes to spread the Good News and build the Kingdom of God. Paul understands what is important, and what his priority must be.
In verses 8-10 he says that his goal is to preach and write to the people about the riches and generosity of Christ. He must make known what God has been doing all this time. It’s that mystery thing we talked about a couple weeks ago. Remember the sugar cookies. Of course you do. I’ve been told that I cannot submit a recipe for the next church cookbook. That’s too bad.
Paul’s job is to preach Jesus Christ and to write letters of encouragement. If he were here today, he would pick up the phone and call us or send us email.
Then he encourages this congregation. He tells them “It’s because of churches like yours that the message is getting out. You are following Christ and his teachings.” The last thing Jesus said to do before he went up into heaven was to “GO OUT”. Go preach the good news. Tell them about your life in Christ.
There’s a great scene at the end of the film, “The Big Kahuna” where Danny DeVito’s character counsels a young co-worker about his overt mode of evangelism. He says, “It doesn't matter whether you're selling Jesus or Buddha or civil rights or 'How to Make Money in Real Estate With No Money Down.' That doesn't make you a human being; it makes you a marketing rep.
If you want to talk to somebody honestly, as a human being, ask him about his kids. Find out what his dreams are - just to find out, for no other reason. Because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, it's not a conversation anymore; it's a pitch. And you're not a human being; you're a marketing rep.”
It pretty much sums it up huh. If you don’t agree, think of this. What do you do when a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon comes to your door? I know some of you will sit down with them and go thru scripture. But most of us will shut them out. Take the literature, shut the door, and throw it away.
Paul tells this church that they are doing so good, even the angels are talking about them. Don’t be discouraged by my hardships, he says. Don’t sulk or pity yourself when things are going bad.
REJOICE! God is with you. He will never leave you. You can come to God with freedom and confidence that he is there for you. Keep doing what you are doing. Make me proud. Make him proud.
Then Paul says what every good pastor says to his congregation. I’m praying for you. It’s been shown that prayer in the early church was not head bowed reverently, eyes closed, hands clasped together. No.
Prayer was standing up proud to be a Christian, arms open wide with eyes wide open. Anticipating the power of God to come down to invade your life. Boldly the Spirit comes and takes over as you concede more and more of your life.
That’s what prayer was and where the power comes from. But here Paul gets down on his knees.
I think it’s because it’s such a special prayer to him for others. He says “I’m praying that the Spirit of God will strengthen you.” This is not brute strength, but an inner strength.
In Isaiah 41 God says, “I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”. I was talking to a father the other day. He said they were talking in the car one day about God and how he could be there for everyone and his four year old said “yeah God has really big hands.” Profound truth from a young boy.
I told you the other day that I plan to transform the world. I can’t do it alone. But I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me. Think of this strength that Christ brings as “caffeine for the soul.”
The next part of Paul’s prayer for his congregation and for ours is that Christ would dwell in their hearts thru faith. Well what does that mean? We can look at John 14 starting at vs 23…Jesus says “whoever loves me will obey my teaching and we will go to the father and make a home with him in heaven.”
SO Paul says I pray that you will be so close to Christ that you will have no other desire than to do what he has commanded. When he died on the cross, our sins were forgiven because we are Christians. But this forgiveness does not give us a license to sin.
The response of this love you have now should be Lord God I want to lay my life down a living sacrifice which is holy and acceptable to you. There will be times that you fail, but he wants you to go and transform the world.
The third part of Paul’s prayer is (and I love this verse) that you are established in love…that’s the love of Christ…and you may have power…strength, transforming power.
Together with all the saints….did you hear that. There are no Lone Ranger Christians. We are here in all this together. We are here together to make a difference and go out as Christ told us to.
The church is like manure. If you pile it up behind the door, it stinks up the whole neighborhood, but if you spread it out, it enriches the entire world.
As we walk out those doors we will transform the world with the truth. So established in love, together with the saints, to grasp the wideness and vastness of God. My God is a big God.
I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said “God is bigger than any one religion”. The creator of that sticker is exactly right, but not the way he is thinking. All roads don’t lead to the same God, but kernels of the Truth can be found in those other religions.
In Acts 17, Paul is in Athens. He stood up and said You are very religious. I even found an inscription here “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”. Now what you worship as unknown, I will make known to you.
My God is a big God.
The last part of Paul’s prayer is that you will be filled with God overflowing. Think of a sponge. You dip it in the water and it soaks up the water until it’s overflowing. Be filled with the fullness and the transforming power of God.
God can do anything, far more than you could ever imagine in your wildest dreams. He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
So Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians and my prayer for you ………goes like this.
I pray that the Spirit of God will strengthen you and Christ will dwell in your hearts.
I pray that you can comprehend the wideness and vastness of God and see that he is a big God.
And I pray that you know the love of God. He will never leave you. He is always there.
People will fail you. You might come to church one day and see that everyone in this church is a broken vessel but they are being healed by the love of Jesus.
We all come from different stories, but the one thing that brings us together today is that we are all one church and there is one Lord, one Savior and that is Jesus Christ.
You can’t save anyone. You can’t convert anyone. You can show them the way to Christ and the Holy Spirit can convict and convert them.
If you’re here today and the path you are on has brought you to a place where you’re ready to give your life over to Christ, now is the time. Then this prayer we talked about today will be said for you also.
That power can be a part of you. I know it may sound weird, but you have to say “so long self” and hello Christ.
There is only room for one to be in control. If your ready to give control over to Christ and receive the power promised to all believers, come to the prayer rail during this last song. This is an open invitation. I’m ready to pray with you and God is waiting anxiously to take the next step with you.
Just a warning though. This is not the end of the journey, but the beginning of a new route on your sea of faith. If it’s your time, come forward as we sing this hymn………
Saturday, July 29, 2006
July 23 sermon Mark 6 FEED ME
forgot to post last weeks sermon.....
The Pope, Billy Graham and Oral Roberts were in a plane crash together. Tragically, they all died and went to the Pearly Gates.
"Oh, this is terrible," exclaimed St. Peter, "I know you guys think we summoned you here, but this is just one of those coincidences that happen. St. Peter was fretting, "Since we weren't expecting you, your quarters just aren't ready. We can't take you in just yet and we can't send you back."
Then he got an idea. He picked up the phone, "Lucifer, this is Pete. Hey, I got these three guys up here. They're ours, but we weren't expecting them and we gotta fix the place up for 'em. I was hoping you could put them up for a while. It'll only be a couple of days. I'll owe you one."
Reluctantly, the Devil agreed. But ... two days later ...
"Pete, this is Lucifer. Hey you gotta come get these three clowns. This Pope guy is forgiving everybody, the Graham fellow is saving everybody, and Oral Roberts has raised enough money to buy air conditioning."
Isn’t it great to be able to sit back and take it all in?? Time to get some food. Physical food as well as spiritual food. Jesus had sent out the 12 disciples to preach repentance.
In vs 13 they drove out many demons and healed many people. They were on the top of the mountain. Can you imagine the scene when they got back? “Peter, you should have seen it. I called a demon out of this kid who was doing everything he could to hurt himself. He would run into walls, cut his arms and legs, and gorge himself on food or poisonous roots. It was terrible. But I called out the demon In The Name Of Jesus and the demon obeyed. It was amazing.”
“I know,” Peter says, “I walked into town on the third day away and all I had was my staff. The old lady I stayed with had a small bottle of oil and she was a nurse at the local hospital. I went with her to work and we went room to room with that bottle anointing each person there and praying for their healing. They got right up and walked along with me just as good as any healthy person.
I could hardly believe it.” There would be a lot of stories like this. It’s like when some people get back from their Emmaus Walk. Their eyes were opened to Jesus and it transformed them. Or I heard the commercial for Promise Keepers yesterday.
It was a couple kids talking about their dad that before PK he was never around and not interested in them, but after PK his life was transformed and his priorities have been changed. Now he is the one who cheers the loudest at the games and tries to help with homework every night.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the Walk to Emmaus there are 3 more men’s and 3 more women’s walks this year. Just come ask. I can’t guarantee your journey with Jesus will be brought to its closest point ever, but I can show you many people here in this congregation and many others where their life was transformed on their Emmaus weekend.
Well all the disciples are together with Jesus and he finally gets them calmed down. “You guys look excited but exhausted. Let’s go across the lake and get some rest.” Do you ever want to do that?? Just get away from it all??
You leave church on Sunday. Monday rolls around. Some of you go to work, some to a ministry you’re working with. But Monday goes by, then Tuesday, then Wednesday and you wake up Thursday wondering where the week went.
You think back and have not prayed much during the week. It’s easy to justify. I do it to. “I was so busy Lord. Monday Brandy had a migraine and Julia was feeling sick like they did last week during Sunday School. I got to work and there was an unhappy surprise waiting for me.
I got home late and just went to bed. Tuesday was about the same. Wednesday I made it to work and narrowly missed being hit 3 times on Interstate 35. We prayed before choir practice. That preacher is really good, but he is stretching us. It’s the end of the week now. What am I supposed to do?”
Jesus knew what the disciples needed before they did. You need some rest. Your going to come off this mountain high you’re on and without rest, you will go down hard.
Why would they choose not to rest? What in us drives us to keep going???
I’m sure you have experienced that mountain high. You get back from a mission trip where you fed 116000 Ethiopians and you are on cloud nine. The gospel was spread.
The doctors healed. You fed many. Now you come back to your regular life and it won’t really compare. The disciples were talking over each other. What next? Who can we heal? What demon can we destroy? What does Jesus say???? Come with me. It’s time to rest.
But they get to the other side of the lake, and people are there waiting with more coming. Some need to be healed. Mostly they need to be led. Jesus sees them as sheep without a shepherd.
Sheep are stubborn creatures. Without a leader they are confused and disorganized. They don’t know what to do. It’s like the diet fads that come and go. Have your heard of any of these or been on any of these??
The backwards diet. Adkins diet. South Beach diet. Vegan diet. All chocolate all the time diet? Sounds good huh. How about this one? Exercise at least 45 minutes a day, cut back on your calorie intake, no fast food, cut out the soda. Interesting how that one always comes back in as working.
Jesus sat all the people down. Your fat, he said. You’ve been on this diet of high calorie laws and traditions that don’t get you to the goal you are seeking. Sit down and let me teach you.
But it was late. The disciples urged Jesus to say a benediction and let the people go home and eat. But Jesus had other plans. You feed them he says. There are 5000 people here and you want us to feed them with just a few loaves of bread and 2 fish??
The disciples had just gotten back from healing and preaching when Jesus was not with them. Now Jesus shows them something very important.
The disciples didn’t want to feed those people. They were getting tired. They wanted that rest now. They were ready to be fed, but Jesus is telling them to feed. He wraps up the bread and fish in some baskets and prays.
The disciples go and feed everyone until they are full. No one goes hungry. Did you notice something? Even though the disciples were ready to stop ministry for the night, it still went on. The power of God can work thru them, or it can work without them. The people wanted to be fed.
They were looking for physical nourishment and spiritual nourishment. They wanted to hear Jesus, but he knew they were not ready. Homeless shelters are the same way. What happens first??
Take food to the people. Then when they have eaten, they will be receptive to the gospel and you bring them spiritual nourishment.
But there is more. I talked to a guy the other day. He had just gotten married. They are both in their late 40s early 50s.
He said, “We are looking for a church, but right now we don’t want to get to work. Right now, we really just want to be spiritually fed on Sunday morning to last us the week.” I can’t fault him for that.
That’s how many people see Sunday worship. Get the good word, your spiritual gas tank is filled up, you’re ready to tackle the secular world for another week.
Is that a bad thing? We all have this spiritual lake. There are many rivers flowing into it. Here is a list of what the rivers may be…Sunday worship, Emmaus group, prayer group, bible study, singing in the choir, 5th Sunday.
Then you have rivers going out. Work, kids, spouse, ministries your involved in, pastor calls and asks you to be on another committee. You have all this water going in and also all this water going out. If you go dry, you go down hard.
When your lake gets low, you need to sit back and take it in. you need to recharge. You need extra prayers at the prayer time on Sunday night. So no, it’s not a bad thing.
It can’t last though, unless you’re on the fad Christian diet. I read a book the other day about one guy while he was in school would go from one church youth group to another. He would attend whichever one entertained him the most.
Adult Christians can be the same. It could be entertainment. It could be something else. But if all the rivers are flowing in and none are flowing out, the lake overflows it banks.
You see, those disciples that want to go farther on the journey to discover more of Jesus are not satisfied by constant passive intake of Christ. They will get filled up.
They can tell when their lake is getting low and need to be filled. They also want to be ready.
When Jesus says Feed My Sheep, they want to go. Fresh water in, fresh water out. If you need to be fed, we can do that. Get your hunger satisfied. Then go and open the flood gates and let the river flow. The rivers need to have a steady flow both
The Pope, Billy Graham and Oral Roberts were in a plane crash together. Tragically, they all died and went to the Pearly Gates.
"Oh, this is terrible," exclaimed St. Peter, "I know you guys think we summoned you here, but this is just one of those coincidences that happen. St. Peter was fretting, "Since we weren't expecting you, your quarters just aren't ready. We can't take you in just yet and we can't send you back."
Then he got an idea. He picked up the phone, "Lucifer, this is Pete. Hey, I got these three guys up here. They're ours, but we weren't expecting them and we gotta fix the place up for 'em. I was hoping you could put them up for a while. It'll only be a couple of days. I'll owe you one."
Reluctantly, the Devil agreed. But ... two days later ...
"Pete, this is Lucifer. Hey you gotta come get these three clowns. This Pope guy is forgiving everybody, the Graham fellow is saving everybody, and Oral Roberts has raised enough money to buy air conditioning."
Isn’t it great to be able to sit back and take it all in?? Time to get some food. Physical food as well as spiritual food. Jesus had sent out the 12 disciples to preach repentance.
In vs 13 they drove out many demons and healed many people. They were on the top of the mountain. Can you imagine the scene when they got back? “Peter, you should have seen it. I called a demon out of this kid who was doing everything he could to hurt himself. He would run into walls, cut his arms and legs, and gorge himself on food or poisonous roots. It was terrible. But I called out the demon In The Name Of Jesus and the demon obeyed. It was amazing.”
“I know,” Peter says, “I walked into town on the third day away and all I had was my staff. The old lady I stayed with had a small bottle of oil and she was a nurse at the local hospital. I went with her to work and we went room to room with that bottle anointing each person there and praying for their healing. They got right up and walked along with me just as good as any healthy person.
I could hardly believe it.” There would be a lot of stories like this. It’s like when some people get back from their Emmaus Walk. Their eyes were opened to Jesus and it transformed them. Or I heard the commercial for Promise Keepers yesterday.
It was a couple kids talking about their dad that before PK he was never around and not interested in them, but after PK his life was transformed and his priorities have been changed. Now he is the one who cheers the loudest at the games and tries to help with homework every night.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the Walk to Emmaus there are 3 more men’s and 3 more women’s walks this year. Just come ask. I can’t guarantee your journey with Jesus will be brought to its closest point ever, but I can show you many people here in this congregation and many others where their life was transformed on their Emmaus weekend.
Well all the disciples are together with Jesus and he finally gets them calmed down. “You guys look excited but exhausted. Let’s go across the lake and get some rest.” Do you ever want to do that?? Just get away from it all??
You leave church on Sunday. Monday rolls around. Some of you go to work, some to a ministry you’re working with. But Monday goes by, then Tuesday, then Wednesday and you wake up Thursday wondering where the week went.
You think back and have not prayed much during the week. It’s easy to justify. I do it to. “I was so busy Lord. Monday Brandy had a migraine and Julia was feeling sick like they did last week during Sunday School. I got to work and there was an unhappy surprise waiting for me.
I got home late and just went to bed. Tuesday was about the same. Wednesday I made it to work and narrowly missed being hit 3 times on Interstate 35. We prayed before choir practice. That preacher is really good, but he is stretching us. It’s the end of the week now. What am I supposed to do?”
Jesus knew what the disciples needed before they did. You need some rest. Your going to come off this mountain high you’re on and without rest, you will go down hard.
Why would they choose not to rest? What in us drives us to keep going???
I’m sure you have experienced that mountain high. You get back from a mission trip where you fed 116000 Ethiopians and you are on cloud nine. The gospel was spread.
The doctors healed. You fed many. Now you come back to your regular life and it won’t really compare. The disciples were talking over each other. What next? Who can we heal? What demon can we destroy? What does Jesus say???? Come with me. It’s time to rest.
But they get to the other side of the lake, and people are there waiting with more coming. Some need to be healed. Mostly they need to be led. Jesus sees them as sheep without a shepherd.
Sheep are stubborn creatures. Without a leader they are confused and disorganized. They don’t know what to do. It’s like the diet fads that come and go. Have your heard of any of these or been on any of these??
The backwards diet. Adkins diet. South Beach diet. Vegan diet. All chocolate all the time diet? Sounds good huh. How about this one? Exercise at least 45 minutes a day, cut back on your calorie intake, no fast food, cut out the soda. Interesting how that one always comes back in as working.
Jesus sat all the people down. Your fat, he said. You’ve been on this diet of high calorie laws and traditions that don’t get you to the goal you are seeking. Sit down and let me teach you.
But it was late. The disciples urged Jesus to say a benediction and let the people go home and eat. But Jesus had other plans. You feed them he says. There are 5000 people here and you want us to feed them with just a few loaves of bread and 2 fish??
The disciples had just gotten back from healing and preaching when Jesus was not with them. Now Jesus shows them something very important.
The disciples didn’t want to feed those people. They were getting tired. They wanted that rest now. They were ready to be fed, but Jesus is telling them to feed. He wraps up the bread and fish in some baskets and prays.
The disciples go and feed everyone until they are full. No one goes hungry. Did you notice something? Even though the disciples were ready to stop ministry for the night, it still went on. The power of God can work thru them, or it can work without them. The people wanted to be fed.
They were looking for physical nourishment and spiritual nourishment. They wanted to hear Jesus, but he knew they were not ready. Homeless shelters are the same way. What happens first??
Take food to the people. Then when they have eaten, they will be receptive to the gospel and you bring them spiritual nourishment.
But there is more. I talked to a guy the other day. He had just gotten married. They are both in their late 40s early 50s.
He said, “We are looking for a church, but right now we don’t want to get to work. Right now, we really just want to be spiritually fed on Sunday morning to last us the week.” I can’t fault him for that.
That’s how many people see Sunday worship. Get the good word, your spiritual gas tank is filled up, you’re ready to tackle the secular world for another week.
Is that a bad thing? We all have this spiritual lake. There are many rivers flowing into it. Here is a list of what the rivers may be…Sunday worship, Emmaus group, prayer group, bible study, singing in the choir, 5th Sunday.
Then you have rivers going out. Work, kids, spouse, ministries your involved in, pastor calls and asks you to be on another committee. You have all this water going in and also all this water going out. If you go dry, you go down hard.
When your lake gets low, you need to sit back and take it in. you need to recharge. You need extra prayers at the prayer time on Sunday night. So no, it’s not a bad thing.
It can’t last though, unless you’re on the fad Christian diet. I read a book the other day about one guy while he was in school would go from one church youth group to another. He would attend whichever one entertained him the most.
Adult Christians can be the same. It could be entertainment. It could be something else. But if all the rivers are flowing in and none are flowing out, the lake overflows it banks.
You see, those disciples that want to go farther on the journey to discover more of Jesus are not satisfied by constant passive intake of Christ. They will get filled up.
They can tell when their lake is getting low and need to be filled. They also want to be ready.
When Jesus says Feed My Sheep, they want to go. Fresh water in, fresh water out. If you need to be fed, we can do that. Get your hunger satisfied. Then go and open the flood gates and let the river flow. The rivers need to have a steady flow both
Friday, July 28, 2006
Tough Love
does tough love work? Is it real? We are about to find out. It sucks, but unfortunately it has to happen.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Get to know me
How do you get to know other people? How do they get to know you? The Methodist church moves pastors around every 3-6 years. There are good and bad consequences to this. Our church is right now a student pastor appointment. Basically, they are not big enough to pay for a full time pastor. Completely seriously one person told me yesterday they thought pastors should be making six figures. Well I don't think most should make that. More would always be better :o).
Some congregation members will open right up and become friends right away. That's nice. It doesn't seem like I'm on an island. There are others that have not opened up. It's only been a month so I can't be critical. I like me and totally trust me, but they don't know yet. Plus when you have poured out your heart to one pastor and then they leave, I think you might start to second guess about barring your soul to another that will be gone in a few years. I can't fault them for that. I can only do my 3 Ps of ministry....prayer, preaching, pastoral nurturing.
My goal is to see this church grow to support a full time pastor and I am here for 8 years. Stability for the church, stability for my family. What does that growth look like?? I'm working on that.
Summer is coming to an end and ministry will start back up. Men's ministry is coming together, Youth is slow - but coming. Building committee will be interesting. Only those supportive of building a FLC are being picked. I just have to keep the focus on the goal....Building disciples for Jesus Christ. Everything we do must be for that goal. Nothing else matters. Someone would say, "Pastor Sean, how is having a team of men adopt a single mom or widow to do all the "honey do's" accomplish that goal??" Men don't like church much. Traditional church is kind of boring and some contemporary church is a little to lovey dovey. But being able to do true ministry and help someone in need will get a man fired up. Christianity is not about sitting in the pews Sunday after Sunday. Christianity is taking care of the poor, widow, incarcerated, etc. Hands and Feet of Christ.
I know God thru Christ Jesus. I want to know how your soul is. Not so I have an illustration for my sermon, but so we can relate-communicate-know each other. I'm never too busy to talk or listen. Condemnation is not in grace. Get to know me.
Some congregation members will open right up and become friends right away. That's nice. It doesn't seem like I'm on an island. There are others that have not opened up. It's only been a month so I can't be critical. I like me and totally trust me, but they don't know yet. Plus when you have poured out your heart to one pastor and then they leave, I think you might start to second guess about barring your soul to another that will be gone in a few years. I can't fault them for that. I can only do my 3 Ps of ministry....prayer, preaching, pastoral nurturing.
My goal is to see this church grow to support a full time pastor and I am here for 8 years. Stability for the church, stability for my family. What does that growth look like?? I'm working on that.
Summer is coming to an end and ministry will start back up. Men's ministry is coming together, Youth is slow - but coming. Building committee will be interesting. Only those supportive of building a FLC are being picked. I just have to keep the focus on the goal....Building disciples for Jesus Christ. Everything we do must be for that goal. Nothing else matters. Someone would say, "Pastor Sean, how is having a team of men adopt a single mom or widow to do all the "honey do's" accomplish that goal??" Men don't like church much. Traditional church is kind of boring and some contemporary church is a little to lovey dovey. But being able to do true ministry and help someone in need will get a man fired up. Christianity is not about sitting in the pews Sunday after Sunday. Christianity is taking care of the poor, widow, incarcerated, etc. Hands and Feet of Christ.
I know God thru Christ Jesus. I want to know how your soul is. Not so I have an illustration for my sermon, but so we can relate-communicate-know each other. I'm never too busy to talk or listen. Condemnation is not in grace. Get to know me.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Support
Picture of "hollywood". One of the kids in the church we need to pray for.
It's nice to know when you have support. I do have support here at the church. It's unfortunate that there are some that don't support me for whatever reason. Maybe they will find a way to communicate with me about the problem. changing pastors is always a problem. The best i can do is pray and love and visit. That's what I will do.
Praying more is where I fall down and unfortunately that's probably the most important. I need to make a specific time to pray. Maybe in the mornings after getting ready I can go over to the sanctuary and sit down with God. I don't have to be over there, but it helps to get away from it all.
The girl we met at Paul's house asked if our church was abandoned. She thought that it was because of how it looked and no one was ever there. Not sure how long ago that was and if she had the right church. She was blonde thru and thru (but the sweetest girl ever and I loved the conversations).
This church has done a lot to get better looking. Now we need to bring them in. Hopefully the new ministries we are building will do that. Velma says her class is doing great in conversation. We will start a new youth program soon and our men's ministry will be started next month.
Keep praying for the church and me. I need all God's guidance and wisdom he will give.
Blessings....Pastor Sean
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
July 15 Ephesians 1: 3-14 Predestined, free will, grace
The old pastor of a congregation up north had his last teeth pulled and got dentures. Well the first week back in the pulpit he preached for 10 minutes. The second week he preached for 20 minutes and the third week he preached for an hour and 15 minutes. On congregation leader took him aside and asked what had happened. “Well” the preacher said “the first week, the dentures hurt my gums so bad I could hardly talk for 10 minutes. The second week was not much better and they still hurt a lot limiting me to 20 minutes. The third week I accidentally put my wife’s dentures in and I couldn’t stop talking.
Well, I have good news and I need your help. Oh great. Here it comes. The preacher is going to start another project for us.
I was asked the other day by Mike, “what happens with all these plans when you go to school in the fall?” I just looked at him and smiled. “Isn’t it great being a leader, Mike?” So here it is. My project, my plan, what I want to do.
I want to transform the world!!
Well. What do you think? Why aren’t you running up to the alter rail now? … I know we can do it!! I have no doubts about it. Oh it might take a couple weeks or maybe a few months to do, but we can do it.
I HAVE A BIG GOD. A really smart woman once said “Big Hopes, But Why Hope With Little Dreams”. Isn’t that insightful?? We are talking about building a Family Life Center of some sort in the future.
Why? For more classrooms. Yes that’s a start. But what else. A new Praise and Worship service. That’s great.
What else? Church and community dinner where we can feed 250-350 people. Hurricane victim’s campout. Retreat center, Walk to Emmaus weekend, artist venue.
I HAVE A BIG GOD. What can we do? The bible says Philippians 4:13 “We can do ANYTHING thru Christ.”
In our Ephesians scripture, the trinity works in perfect harmony and agreement. They perform distinct roles, but work together.
We are going to be talking about subjects that have been discussed for thousands of years. Predestination, free will, and grace. When it comes to salvation, John Calvin would say that you are predestined to either be saved or not. God decides and he will choose whom he wants to choose. Every one of us deserves death and hell and there is nothing WE can do to go to heaven.
Others would say God knows which people will choose Christ as savior and saves those people. Then others would say that God put this world into motion and does not interfere so if you chose God you chose God and if you don’t you don’t. So what is the correct answer, and where does grace fit into all this??
So what is grace?? Christians throw around that word a lot. What does it mean though? By grace we mean the undeserved, unmerited and loving action of God towards us.
Starting in verse 5, our scripture says “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has given us thru Jesus.”
So when referring to Salvation (another big word we will talk about), grace is all the good stuff God has done for us. But what about this unmerited and undeserved stuff??
Well here is an example……Meagann, can I use you as an example?? OK thanks. Now I don’t know if Meagann has done this, but let’s say she started using curse words around mom and dad. You know what words I’m talking about so I won’t say them here.
Mom gets upset and tells her to stop. Meagann says “Why? It’s just a few words and not that big of deal.” What do you think people? It’s just a few words, right?
Now mom goes into the house and makes some chocolate chip cookies. Oh she is the best chocolate chip cookie maker and the girls love them. Meagann runs into the kitchen and asks for a cookie. “Of course you can have one,” mom says,
“I made them just the way you like them and then added some dog poop to the batter before cooking them.” What?? Did you just say you added dog turds to the cookies? “Oh yeah, but just a little. Nothing major.”
Well heck. That just ruined the cookies didn’t it?
That’s what sin is to God and its grace that fixes it. You see, God is that perfect hot gooey chocolate chip cookie.
To fold us into part of God’s world, you have to take all the junk out of us. We don’t deserve it because we are selfish and greedy.
Jesus said “have you ever looked at another person with lust, well you committed adultery.
Have you ever been angry with another person, well you committed murder.
Have you every lied, stolen something, broken a promise? If you have done just one (and I have done many myself) then you are not worthy of being in the kingdom of God.
That’s where Grace comes in.
Even though you have done all these things you have done in your past, God still wants you. Isn’t that great. Men scratch, burp, and stare, but God still wants to lead them. Women change their hair color 5 times a year, buy more shoes and purses than anyone ever would need, and have an emotional range longer than the interstate highway, but God still loves them. Even though all this is true about both sexes, God still wants you.
You and I don’t deserve it, but by his grace and the cleansing blood of Jesus’ death we are made spiritually perfect. Then and only then can we be folded into the batter which is the Kingdom of God.
In verse 9, Paul says “God has made known to us the mystery (remember that word) of his will which he planned thru Christ to be put into effect.”
Mystery.
Now John Grisham is a great author and sometimes it does take to the end of the book to find out ‘who done it’. Ocean’s Eleven with Julia Roberts was a great movie, and at the end you say “How did they get the money out of vault” but the movie goes back and shows you.
Another mystery…(pause)… is what is this mystery that Paul is talking about. He mentions Christ. It has something to do with Jesus.
If we jump over to Colossians 1 we see starting at vs. 25 that “To the apostles, God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles (that’s us), the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you.”
The mystery is “Christ in you”. What does that mean? Salvation (There’s that word again) comes thru Christ. Salvation is getting folded into the Kingdom of God.
We jump to Chapter 2 of Colossians and it says “you have received Christ as your savior. Continue to follow his leadership. Be strengthened in all that you do. See to it that no one tries to deceive you by telling you that you can only get salvation by traditions or doing other things. Christ is the only way to heaven and God.”
Works will get you to heaven. Oh…did you catch that. Works will get you to heaven. But pastor, you say, doesn’t the bible say faith alone? Yes. And here it is.
YOUR works will not get you to heaven. They won’t even get you close. However, the works of Jesus WILL get you heaven. That is the mystery Paul is talking about. Nothing you can do will get you salvation, but everything Jesus did, guarantees you salvation.
Now to verse 11 of our Ephesians text. In him we were chosen in order that we, who were the first to know Christ, might bring praise to his Glory. Paul is talking about the disciples.
The 12 were chosen by Christ personally. They were the first to start transforming the world. And in this, they brought praises to Jesus and God to their glory.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the truth and mystery, and you made the decision to let Christ be your leader. Having believed, you were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. You were tattooed by God. God has written on your forehead.
Bill Fuller was talking to a guy outside the church one day when the guy’s wife walked up. She is glowing, they both said. You could see the radiance of God on her face.
She has been sealed. The seal is just a deposit, though. You won the lottery and you get yearly installments, but on the last day of the installment, you get a lump sum payment greater than anything expected.
This seal, the Holy Spirit, is just the installment. Wait until you see the final payout.
I plan on transforming the world. We can do it together. If you have been branded and tattooed by God and given the Holy Spirit, you can do this with me. WE HAVE A BIG GOD. With him we can do anything he wants us to.
If you don’t have the mark of Christ, if you have not decided to let Jesus be your coach, be your leader, be your life…then you can’t change the world. And when you see the transformation occurring, you will want to be a part of it, but you can’t.
The cookies have to be perfect.
If all this time you have been going along doing different projects, kind of skating thru life, but have not asked Jesus to be your life leader, you can do that now. It’s time to be transformed by Christ so you can transform the world.
While we are singing this last song, come down to the alter rail if you want to be transformed. We will pray together. Don’t worry about the music ending too soon or people looking at you. It’s not about them.
It’s about you and God. Let’s stand and sing together……
The old pastor of a congregation up north had his last teeth pulled and got dentures. Well the first week back in the pulpit he preached for 10 minutes. The second week he preached for 20 minutes and the third week he preached for an hour and 15 minutes. On congregation leader took him aside and asked what had happened. “Well” the preacher said “the first week, the dentures hurt my gums so bad I could hardly talk for 10 minutes. The second week was not much better and they still hurt a lot limiting me to 20 minutes. The third week I accidentally put my wife’s dentures in and I couldn’t stop talking.
Well, I have good news and I need your help. Oh great. Here it comes. The preacher is going to start another project for us.
I was asked the other day by Mike, “what happens with all these plans when you go to school in the fall?” I just looked at him and smiled. “Isn’t it great being a leader, Mike?” So here it is. My project, my plan, what I want to do.
I want to transform the world!!
Well. What do you think? Why aren’t you running up to the alter rail now? … I know we can do it!! I have no doubts about it. Oh it might take a couple weeks or maybe a few months to do, but we can do it.
I HAVE A BIG GOD. A really smart woman once said “Big Hopes, But Why Hope With Little Dreams”. Isn’t that insightful?? We are talking about building a Family Life Center of some sort in the future.
Why? For more classrooms. Yes that’s a start. But what else. A new Praise and Worship service. That’s great.
What else? Church and community dinner where we can feed 250-350 people. Hurricane victim’s campout. Retreat center, Walk to Emmaus weekend, artist venue.
I HAVE A BIG GOD. What can we do? The bible says Philippians 4:13 “We can do ANYTHING thru Christ.”
In our Ephesians scripture, the trinity works in perfect harmony and agreement. They perform distinct roles, but work together.
We are going to be talking about subjects that have been discussed for thousands of years. Predestination, free will, and grace. When it comes to salvation, John Calvin would say that you are predestined to either be saved or not. God decides and he will choose whom he wants to choose. Every one of us deserves death and hell and there is nothing WE can do to go to heaven.
Others would say God knows which people will choose Christ as savior and saves those people. Then others would say that God put this world into motion and does not interfere so if you chose God you chose God and if you don’t you don’t. So what is the correct answer, and where does grace fit into all this??
So what is grace?? Christians throw around that word a lot. What does it mean though? By grace we mean the undeserved, unmerited and loving action of God towards us.
Starting in verse 5, our scripture says “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has given us thru Jesus.”
So when referring to Salvation (another big word we will talk about), grace is all the good stuff God has done for us. But what about this unmerited and undeserved stuff??
Well here is an example……Meagann, can I use you as an example?? OK thanks. Now I don’t know if Meagann has done this, but let’s say she started using curse words around mom and dad. You know what words I’m talking about so I won’t say them here.
Mom gets upset and tells her to stop. Meagann says “Why? It’s just a few words and not that big of deal.” What do you think people? It’s just a few words, right?
Now mom goes into the house and makes some chocolate chip cookies. Oh she is the best chocolate chip cookie maker and the girls love them. Meagann runs into the kitchen and asks for a cookie. “Of course you can have one,” mom says,
“I made them just the way you like them and then added some dog poop to the batter before cooking them.” What?? Did you just say you added dog turds to the cookies? “Oh yeah, but just a little. Nothing major.”
Well heck. That just ruined the cookies didn’t it?
That’s what sin is to God and its grace that fixes it. You see, God is that perfect hot gooey chocolate chip cookie.
To fold us into part of God’s world, you have to take all the junk out of us. We don’t deserve it because we are selfish and greedy.
Jesus said “have you ever looked at another person with lust, well you committed adultery.
Have you ever been angry with another person, well you committed murder.
Have you every lied, stolen something, broken a promise? If you have done just one (and I have done many myself) then you are not worthy of being in the kingdom of God.
That’s where Grace comes in.
Even though you have done all these things you have done in your past, God still wants you. Isn’t that great. Men scratch, burp, and stare, but God still wants to lead them. Women change their hair color 5 times a year, buy more shoes and purses than anyone ever would need, and have an emotional range longer than the interstate highway, but God still loves them. Even though all this is true about both sexes, God still wants you.
You and I don’t deserve it, but by his grace and the cleansing blood of Jesus’ death we are made spiritually perfect. Then and only then can we be folded into the batter which is the Kingdom of God.
In verse 9, Paul says “God has made known to us the mystery (remember that word) of his will which he planned thru Christ to be put into effect.”
Mystery.
Now John Grisham is a great author and sometimes it does take to the end of the book to find out ‘who done it’. Ocean’s Eleven with Julia Roberts was a great movie, and at the end you say “How did they get the money out of vault” but the movie goes back and shows you.
Another mystery…(pause)… is what is this mystery that Paul is talking about. He mentions Christ. It has something to do with Jesus.
If we jump over to Colossians 1 we see starting at vs. 25 that “To the apostles, God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles (that’s us), the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you.”
The mystery is “Christ in you”. What does that mean? Salvation (There’s that word again) comes thru Christ. Salvation is getting folded into the Kingdom of God.
We jump to Chapter 2 of Colossians and it says “you have received Christ as your savior. Continue to follow his leadership. Be strengthened in all that you do. See to it that no one tries to deceive you by telling you that you can only get salvation by traditions or doing other things. Christ is the only way to heaven and God.”
Works will get you to heaven. Oh…did you catch that. Works will get you to heaven. But pastor, you say, doesn’t the bible say faith alone? Yes. And here it is.
YOUR works will not get you to heaven. They won’t even get you close. However, the works of Jesus WILL get you heaven. That is the mystery Paul is talking about. Nothing you can do will get you salvation, but everything Jesus did, guarantees you salvation.
Now to verse 11 of our Ephesians text. In him we were chosen in order that we, who were the first to know Christ, might bring praise to his Glory. Paul is talking about the disciples.
The 12 were chosen by Christ personally. They were the first to start transforming the world. And in this, they brought praises to Jesus and God to their glory.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the truth and mystery, and you made the decision to let Christ be your leader. Having believed, you were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. You were tattooed by God. God has written on your forehead.
Bill Fuller was talking to a guy outside the church one day when the guy’s wife walked up. She is glowing, they both said. You could see the radiance of God on her face.
She has been sealed. The seal is just a deposit, though. You won the lottery and you get yearly installments, but on the last day of the installment, you get a lump sum payment greater than anything expected.
This seal, the Holy Spirit, is just the installment. Wait until you see the final payout.
I plan on transforming the world. We can do it together. If you have been branded and tattooed by God and given the Holy Spirit, you can do this with me. WE HAVE A BIG GOD. With him we can do anything he wants us to.
If you don’t have the mark of Christ, if you have not decided to let Jesus be your coach, be your leader, be your life…then you can’t change the world. And when you see the transformation occurring, you will want to be a part of it, but you can’t.
The cookies have to be perfect.
If all this time you have been going along doing different projects, kind of skating thru life, but have not asked Jesus to be your life leader, you can do that now. It’s time to be transformed by Christ so you can transform the world.
While we are singing this last song, come down to the alter rail if you want to be transformed. We will pray together. Don’t worry about the music ending too soon or people looking at you. It’s not about them.
It’s about you and God. Let’s stand and sing together……
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Interesting scripture this week
This week's scripture is Ephesians 1:3-14. I say interesting because it says first you are predestined and then near the end you made the decision. I can't wait to flesh this out. Predestination-the elect-SAVED! Are you saved. Have you surrendered your life to Christ? The most manly men don't like to surrender to anything, even if it's God. But in the surrender there is freedom that was unimaginable before. I've never really thought about it before, it was unfathomable (if that is a word) before Christ what I was free to do now that Christ is in my life. I'm not talking about sex, drugs, all night parties, etc. Freedom to dance, freedom to sing without condemnation, freedom to run. Assurance of my final destination.
Pray for Doyle Fitzgerald and his wife Cindy. Doyle is in the hospital in Dallas and will probably go to surgery. He has an incarcerated hernia. Pain yes. I'll probably go see him tonight or tomorrow.
Blessings,
Pastor Sean
Pray for Doyle Fitzgerald and his wife Cindy. Doyle is in the hospital in Dallas and will probably go to surgery. He has an incarcerated hernia. Pain yes. I'll probably go see him tonight or tomorrow.
Blessings,
Pastor Sean
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
changes
the sister of a good friend of ours died yesterday. They live in Austin. they were up here to hear me preach and pick up some stuff. It was a nice day. the same day her sister died. She has had cancer so it was not a total surprise, but not an easy thing to handle either. Jesus said the harvest is ready but the workers are few. It really puts an exclaimation point on the fact that life is short.
There is a commercial on the radio right now from one of the electric companies. It says there are three certainties in life. Death-taxes-saving money on electricity. it's cute. I think the third should be the afterlife. It's not as cute but more important. We all die once and then it's heaven or hell. We have a short time on earth to share the truth of Christianity with everyone we see. I think too often I take the road of "well I wear a cross so they know I'm a christian and I live a good life, so that should be good." Unfortunately that's not enough. I've been in churches in the past where I didn't want to invite other people to because there was nothing happening. That's not the case here. We are going to spread the word. We are going to make changes and additions. We are going to invite, we are going to pray, we are going to make a difference in this world.
I've always wanted to do something "big". I can't define big, but "bigger than me" would be the best try. Maybe "big" is suppose to be big in someone's life. maybe "big" is suppose to be big in the church-community, county, state. I'm not sure. it feels like it's coming together. Keep praying for my church and it's ministry. I want to make a difference for Christ.
-pastor sean
There is a commercial on the radio right now from one of the electric companies. It says there are three certainties in life. Death-taxes-saving money on electricity. it's cute. I think the third should be the afterlife. It's not as cute but more important. We all die once and then it's heaven or hell. We have a short time on earth to share the truth of Christianity with everyone we see. I think too often I take the road of "well I wear a cross so they know I'm a christian and I live a good life, so that should be good." Unfortunately that's not enough. I've been in churches in the past where I didn't want to invite other people to because there was nothing happening. That's not the case here. We are going to spread the word. We are going to make changes and additions. We are going to invite, we are going to pray, we are going to make a difference in this world.
I've always wanted to do something "big". I can't define big, but "bigger than me" would be the best try. Maybe "big" is suppose to be big in someone's life. maybe "big" is suppose to be big in the church-community, county, state. I'm not sure. it feels like it's coming together. Keep praying for my church and it's ministry. I want to make a difference for Christ.
-pastor sean
Friday, July 07, 2006
The Essentials of Christianity
this is one of my favorite pictures I took many years ago. I met with a man this week. He was a Christian years ago.
I'm hoping he will come back and talk some more. We talked for an hour and half. He needs more. He is searching which is good. But as he was leaving, I showed him my Ministry Triangle. In it are the essentials of Christianity. The attonement of Christ. Justification by faith alone. the trinity. Jesus is 100% God and 100% man (1+1=1). he could not believe that I believed all that. The "simpleness" of Christianity is not all right. We are too advanced of society to believe all that mythology. Basically that's what he believes. I asked him if he believed the resurrection. He said no. I think you have to believe in the ressurection to be a true Christian.
Without the ressurection, there is no salvation. Actually one more thing he told me was that when he dies he will just cease to exist. Heaven is here on earth. Pray for my ministry and the people I come in contact with. I believe the Holy Spirit led him to me after our introduction. I hope I poked enough holes in his wall of disbelief to keep him searching.
-Pastor Sean
More updates on broadband
Well....I went round and round with ATT yesterday. My neighbor across the creek has DSL and is getting 3MB download. unbelievable. We could run a line from his house and set up another DSL line, but I would lose control and don't want to do that. I get up one day and say "hey the internet is out" but Bob the neighbor is on a 3 month vacation and his pit bull will not let me in the yard to check out the DSL line. No thanks.
I talked to ATT for over 30 minutes. I got a DSL tech and we went over options and why there is no way to get it at the house or church. Then I went to a fiber tech. SBC started Project Lightspeed 2 years ago. It should have been completed by now. well it's not.
I have a fiber line running straight to my backyard. But I can't get fiber. Go figure. So I called ClearBlue back. One guy in my congregation used to work for Starband doing installs. He called a friend of his there, and they guy said that Clear Blue was the best one to go with. I don't mind having satellite internet. It's just that $300 upfront cost that's killing me. They are suppose to be here on Monday to install it. Pray that it all works. Brandy needs it to work. I need it to stay sane :o).
-Pastor Sean
I talked to ATT for over 30 minutes. I got a DSL tech and we went over options and why there is no way to get it at the house or church. Then I went to a fiber tech. SBC started Project Lightspeed 2 years ago. It should have been completed by now. well it's not.
I have a fiber line running straight to my backyard. But I can't get fiber. Go figure. So I called ClearBlue back. One guy in my congregation used to work for Starband doing installs. He called a friend of his there, and they guy said that Clear Blue was the best one to go with. I don't mind having satellite internet. It's just that $300 upfront cost that's killing me. They are suppose to be here on Monday to install it. Pray that it all works. Brandy needs it to work. I need it to stay sane :o).
-Pastor Sean
July 1 sermon Excel in Grace - 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
July 1 Sermon 2 Corinthians 8: 1-15
Politicians have a constant need to be diplomatic. Witness this candidate for the Senate who traveled to a small town community to address the single church there. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to ask which denomination so that when it was time for his speech, he began in this way:
"My brethren, all. I must tell you that my great Grandfather was Presbyterian." (absolute silence);
"But my Grandmother was an Episcopalian." (more silence);
"I must tell you that my other Grandfather was a Christian Scientist." (deep silence);
"While my other Grandmother was Methodist." (even more silence).
"But I must tell you that I had an aunt who was a Baptist through and through." (loud cheers!)"
"And I have always considered my aunt's path to be the right one!"
What do you think? Was Paul a manipulator?? I mean listen to how he writes this letter to the Corinthians. “We want you to know about the grace from the Macedonian churches. Out of their most severe trauma, they gave as much as they were able and even more.”
It’s like your parents telling you about school when they were kids. “We walked bare foot in the snow up hill…both ways.” Or “Eat your vegetables. Remember the starving kids in Ethiopia”. The guilt. The competition.
It would be like the Bishop coming to us and saying “hey, this little church in Bethany has given their full apportionments already and they have another check for 25% more on the way…and it’s only July. What are you doing?”
So Paul lays it on thick about the other church and all they have given to the ministry and all the money that is going back to Jerusalem. Then he focuses on the Corinthians.
“Just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and love for us….Just as you have done a great job in everything else you have been doing, now it’s time to pay up. Excel in this grace of giving. “
Have you seen some of those television evangelists? Some of them are false teachers. Some are ok. But I can hear them now.
“What?…your life isn’t going perfect just the way you planned it. Well brother you just don’t have enough faith. You need to step up and step out. You need to extend beyond what you think is your limit and let God show you what HE is capable of. If you give now everything you have in your savings account,
it will be pressed down and multiplied 10 fold, 100 fold, 1000 fold back to you. You only have to have more faith.”
Now I don’t like to preach on money. I’m not going to come to your house tomorrow and say
“now brother Mike, I was looking at the treasury report today and your giving has really slacked off since last year. Now you know I don’t like to have these talks even though I was here last quarter, but I need you to get it in gear.” No I’m not going to do that.
2 Corinthians 9:7 says “each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver.” The Greek word for cheerful is hilaros where we get the English word hilarious. So after you give money to the church, God does not want to see you moping or angry leaving the church because of what you gave. He wants you giving what is on your heart to give.
Right after we got married we started going to church on a regular basis. When it came time to for the offering plate to be passed, I would look in my wallet and see what cash I had. I would decide what I needed to do that day and the next, and then give based on that.
I have a friend in Nashville though who gives 10% regularly, no matter what. He says there have been many times when they are scraping the bottom of the barrel to give that 10%, but after they do something miraculous will happen like a check will arrive in the mail or they will find money in the pocket of a jacket.
I have another friend who used to buy food for a kitchen ministry at a Christian music coffee house some years ago. He would take the tip money from the tables to the store and buy what he needed and time after time he had exactly enough money to pay for everything needed. Then just to test God he would throw something extra in the basket and sure enough he would still have just enough to cover the cost.
An unbeliever would say that’s just shear coincidence. The believer would say that’s God providing when needed.
Those who say miracles don’t happen have not really thought it through. Carl Sagan says miracles can’t be real because they don’t happen enough. That’s really just arguing in a circle. Miracles by definition are things that don’t happen regularly in nature. Therefore if they happened more often, they would not be miracles.
Well what is Paul trying to say here. Yes he is telling them they need to give generously. That does make sense. You see, the Corinthian church had both poor and rich believers in it. That’s why he said starting in verse 13 that it’s “not our desire that others might be relieved while you are hurting, but that you give as you are able.”
He does not want you to give everything you have, but to give first fruits, that is give to God first. We took a class a couple years ago called Financial Peace University. It’s taught by Dave Ramsey who is a radio personality. It was a great class.
He said to give to God first, then pay yourself with savings, and then pay your bills. If you don’t give to God first, you won’t give to God what God deserves. That’s how I was when we started going to church. I looked in my wallet and give out of what was there in cash.
Paul told the Corinthians that “you have a willingness to give, now do it. Don’t just sit on the pews, get busy.” There was actually more to Paul’s letter than just money. I like what he says at the end of ch 9.
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. You will be rich in love. You will be rich in prayers. You will be rich in sharing. In that spiritual richness, your generosity will result in praises to God from those you bless.
I have a challenge for you the month of July. There are four things I want to see you do.
First is to pray every day. Well that’s easy enough pastor. Not for everyone. Sometimes you have to make a definite decision to do it and if you miss one day, it’s easy to miss the next and the next.
If you wonder what to pray for, I can give you some quick examples.
Pray for me.
Pray for the church to reach lost souls. That’s what we are here for.
There is a list in your bulletin. Pray by name for those people. In fact, I’ll be here tonight for prayer time. We can pray together.
Take a walk down your street and pray for each house.
Psalm 32 says Let everyone who is Godly pray.
Ephesians says to pray on all occasions.
James says to pray for each other.
Jesus said to Go into the closet and pray. Why the closet?? Well in the dark closet, there are no distractions. Any other place will have distractions.
So pray every day.
The second thing I want you to do is fast one day a week. Woe that got some attention. Food is sacred I know. You will hear some people say that in fasting you can give up one thing you like and that’s fasting.
No…fasting is giving it up and focusing on God. When the hunger comes you focus on God, talk to God, meditation on scripture. Is it possible to fast for 40 days? Yes.
Am I going to do it? Not right now. Start small. Fast all morning one day. Next week fast all afternoon. Work up to fasting for one whole day.
Third, tithe. I’m sure you have read the bumper stickers that say “give to God what is right, not what is left.” There are lots like that. Like I said before, God likes a cheerful giver.
Pray for what God is leading you to give. Then pray some more on that amount and see if it’s right. He will give you that cheerful feeling when you’re on the money (no pun intended).
Last, bring one unsaved person to church each week. Well pastor you had me up until there. I don’t even know one unsaved person. I bet you do. I’ll make the first one easy for you and you can work up to it then. Bring one person to church that has not been for at least 5 months. You think, “Man I have not seen Rob and Becky in a while. I’m going to stop by their house. Invite them to supper. Tell them I will pick them up for church. Come listen to this crazy preacher kid we have.” I’ll tell them. I know your thinking of someone right now you can bring.
You have to pick them up. If you say I’ll meet you there, something will come up. Tell them you have a special lunch planned after. Butter them up.
So four things. This is your challenge.
Pray
Fast
Tithe
Bring
I won’t come over and ask you about them.
I know you have willingness and eagerness to follow Christ and be a deeper disciple.
Now it’s time to complete the work as Paul says.
Politicians have a constant need to be diplomatic. Witness this candidate for the Senate who traveled to a small town community to address the single church there. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to ask which denomination so that when it was time for his speech, he began in this way:
"My brethren, all. I must tell you that my great Grandfather was Presbyterian." (absolute silence);
"But my Grandmother was an Episcopalian." (more silence);
"I must tell you that my other Grandfather was a Christian Scientist." (deep silence);
"While my other Grandmother was Methodist." (even more silence).
"But I must tell you that I had an aunt who was a Baptist through and through." (loud cheers!)"
"And I have always considered my aunt's path to be the right one!"
What do you think? Was Paul a manipulator?? I mean listen to how he writes this letter to the Corinthians. “We want you to know about the grace from the Macedonian churches. Out of their most severe trauma, they gave as much as they were able and even more.”
It’s like your parents telling you about school when they were kids. “We walked bare foot in the snow up hill…both ways.” Or “Eat your vegetables. Remember the starving kids in Ethiopia”. The guilt. The competition.
It would be like the Bishop coming to us and saying “hey, this little church in Bethany has given their full apportionments already and they have another check for 25% more on the way…and it’s only July. What are you doing?”
So Paul lays it on thick about the other church and all they have given to the ministry and all the money that is going back to Jerusalem. Then he focuses on the Corinthians.
“Just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and love for us….Just as you have done a great job in everything else you have been doing, now it’s time to pay up. Excel in this grace of giving. “
Have you seen some of those television evangelists? Some of them are false teachers. Some are ok. But I can hear them now.
“What?…your life isn’t going perfect just the way you planned it. Well brother you just don’t have enough faith. You need to step up and step out. You need to extend beyond what you think is your limit and let God show you what HE is capable of. If you give now everything you have in your savings account,
it will be pressed down and multiplied 10 fold, 100 fold, 1000 fold back to you. You only have to have more faith.”
Now I don’t like to preach on money. I’m not going to come to your house tomorrow and say
“now brother Mike, I was looking at the treasury report today and your giving has really slacked off since last year. Now you know I don’t like to have these talks even though I was here last quarter, but I need you to get it in gear.” No I’m not going to do that.
2 Corinthians 9:7 says “each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver.” The Greek word for cheerful is hilaros where we get the English word hilarious. So after you give money to the church, God does not want to see you moping or angry leaving the church because of what you gave. He wants you giving what is on your heart to give.
Right after we got married we started going to church on a regular basis. When it came time to for the offering plate to be passed, I would look in my wallet and see what cash I had. I would decide what I needed to do that day and the next, and then give based on that.
I have a friend in Nashville though who gives 10% regularly, no matter what. He says there have been many times when they are scraping the bottom of the barrel to give that 10%, but after they do something miraculous will happen like a check will arrive in the mail or they will find money in the pocket of a jacket.
I have another friend who used to buy food for a kitchen ministry at a Christian music coffee house some years ago. He would take the tip money from the tables to the store and buy what he needed and time after time he had exactly enough money to pay for everything needed. Then just to test God he would throw something extra in the basket and sure enough he would still have just enough to cover the cost.
An unbeliever would say that’s just shear coincidence. The believer would say that’s God providing when needed.
Those who say miracles don’t happen have not really thought it through. Carl Sagan says miracles can’t be real because they don’t happen enough. That’s really just arguing in a circle. Miracles by definition are things that don’t happen regularly in nature. Therefore if they happened more often, they would not be miracles.
Well what is Paul trying to say here. Yes he is telling them they need to give generously. That does make sense. You see, the Corinthian church had both poor and rich believers in it. That’s why he said starting in verse 13 that it’s “not our desire that others might be relieved while you are hurting, but that you give as you are able.”
He does not want you to give everything you have, but to give first fruits, that is give to God first. We took a class a couple years ago called Financial Peace University. It’s taught by Dave Ramsey who is a radio personality. It was a great class.
He said to give to God first, then pay yourself with savings, and then pay your bills. If you don’t give to God first, you won’t give to God what God deserves. That’s how I was when we started going to church. I looked in my wallet and give out of what was there in cash.
Paul told the Corinthians that “you have a willingness to give, now do it. Don’t just sit on the pews, get busy.” There was actually more to Paul’s letter than just money. I like what he says at the end of ch 9.
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. You will be rich in love. You will be rich in prayers. You will be rich in sharing. In that spiritual richness, your generosity will result in praises to God from those you bless.
I have a challenge for you the month of July. There are four things I want to see you do.
First is to pray every day. Well that’s easy enough pastor. Not for everyone. Sometimes you have to make a definite decision to do it and if you miss one day, it’s easy to miss the next and the next.
If you wonder what to pray for, I can give you some quick examples.
Pray for me.
Pray for the church to reach lost souls. That’s what we are here for.
There is a list in your bulletin. Pray by name for those people. In fact, I’ll be here tonight for prayer time. We can pray together.
Take a walk down your street and pray for each house.
Psalm 32 says Let everyone who is Godly pray.
Ephesians says to pray on all occasions.
James says to pray for each other.
Jesus said to Go into the closet and pray. Why the closet?? Well in the dark closet, there are no distractions. Any other place will have distractions.
So pray every day.
The second thing I want you to do is fast one day a week. Woe that got some attention. Food is sacred I know. You will hear some people say that in fasting you can give up one thing you like and that’s fasting.
No…fasting is giving it up and focusing on God. When the hunger comes you focus on God, talk to God, meditation on scripture. Is it possible to fast for 40 days? Yes.
Am I going to do it? Not right now. Start small. Fast all morning one day. Next week fast all afternoon. Work up to fasting for one whole day.
Third, tithe. I’m sure you have read the bumper stickers that say “give to God what is right, not what is left.” There are lots like that. Like I said before, God likes a cheerful giver.
Pray for what God is leading you to give. Then pray some more on that amount and see if it’s right. He will give you that cheerful feeling when you’re on the money (no pun intended).
Last, bring one unsaved person to church each week. Well pastor you had me up until there. I don’t even know one unsaved person. I bet you do. I’ll make the first one easy for you and you can work up to it then. Bring one person to church that has not been for at least 5 months. You think, “Man I have not seen Rob and Becky in a while. I’m going to stop by their house. Invite them to supper. Tell them I will pick them up for church. Come listen to this crazy preacher kid we have.” I’ll tell them. I know your thinking of someone right now you can bring.
You have to pick them up. If you say I’ll meet you there, something will come up. Tell them you have a special lunch planned after. Butter them up.
So four things. This is your challenge.
Pray
Fast
Tithe
Bring
I won’t come over and ask you about them.
I know you have willingness and eagerness to follow Christ and be a deeper disciple.
Now it’s time to complete the work as Paul says.
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