January 21 Sermon
1 Corinthians 12: 12-31
It’s great being a Christian pastor. Not only do I know as a Christian we have the truth, but as a Christian church here, we are connected to a larger group called the body of Christ. Years ago, every Monday morning I would get together with a co-worker to talk about church. She was Catholic, and I was Methodist. Almost every week, her priest and my pastor preached on the same text. Coincidence?
No. Actually they preached, and I preach as well using the lectionary. The lectionary has 4 texts each week, 2 OT and 2 NT. When we go with the lectionary, after 3 years, we will have mostly gone thru the whole bible. Sticking with the lectionary is also very freeing. Every Sunday our church is connected to 1000s of other Methodist, Episcopalian, Catholic, Lutheran and other churches.
This week, the text from our lectionary that all these churches can use is out of the book of 1 Corinthians. This letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians was sent to clear up some difficulties. The great theologian Paul Sampley says the first issue was Corinth’s fractiousness, where various segments of the community would try to “one up” others.
This would be expressed as boasting or haughtiness, but at other times condescension and disdain, and also thoughtlessness and inconsideration. Frequently their arrogance gains expression in claims of status that the world would value such as wisdom, elegance of speech, or wealth.
Paul’s response is great as he continues to value the distinctiveness of each Christian, yet he affirms a unity that incorporates that diversity. All thru the letter he also counters their claims…by offering himself up as an example, by chiding, by encouraging, by calling for self-assessment, and most essentially by calling for love to be employed in all situations.
Unity –-- Oneness of mind, concord, harmony, or agreement. You see, this Early Church would get together to have a common meal, break bread, read scripture, probably sing some songs, and worship. But when they got together, there was no unity in the body. Paul says there was division (the original word is schemata or schisms) in vs. 25.
Paul told us in chapter 11 that when the church got together, some would go ahead of the other people and get fat and drunk, while the others went hungry. Wesley describes the Corinthian church as separating into little groups or “clicks” which would have anger and resentment against the other.
They were usually grouped based on economic and age factors. One group would jump up and say “we are better than you, so we must eat and drink first”. Instead of unity, there was discord. Instead of one loaf of bread, there were biscuits around the room.
In verse 13, Paul says “For in one Spirit, we were all baptized in one body.” He is referring back to the beginning of chapter 12 describing some of the spiritual gifts we have. Let’s run thru those right quick.
He begins by saying “hey….you have been pagans for so long and you were enticed and led astray. Someone has been tickling your ears. But now since you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you must be led by the Spirit.” There are other gifts listed elsewhere, but the ones Paul lists here are Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation of tongues.
All of these are activated by the one and only Spirit, and to each person is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good of all. But the Corinthian church members were not using their gifts for the common good of the church. Selfishness was the name of the game.
But Paul says in our text for today, there are many members of the body of Christ yet we are all one.
It was one Spirit who baptized us all……Jews, Greeks, slaves, free, male, female, white, black, brown, red or blue. We were all given the one Spirit.
Paul goes on to say in verse 14, that the body of Christ does not consist of one person running the whole show.
He is really getting into the unity/diversity part. He will address those who have a low estimate of themselves (or low self-esteem) and then he will address those who have a low estimate of others. “If the foot says ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body.
And if the ear would say “because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body. If the whole body were any eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where the sense of smell be?” To go back to those who thought they were not as useful, it would be like the little toe saying “since I am not the brain, I don’t belong to the body.” If we didn’t have our little toes, how would we know where the corner of the bed is in the middle of the night??
To jump ahead to verse 21, “the eye cannot say to the hand ‘I don’t need you’ and the head can’t say to the foot ‘I don’t need you.’ I really like the translation from The Message for these verses. I kind of think Donald Trump read this translation.
It says “No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Head telling Foot “You’re Fired. You’re out of here.”
Verse 18 puts it all in perspective. “God has CALLED the parts of the body, EVERY ONE OF THEM, just as he wanted them to be.” In verse 22 Paul goes on to say “those parts of the body that seem to be weaker, are indispensable, and the parts we think are less honorable are treated with special respect.” Paul uses the Greek word ‘dokeo’ which here is translated as ‘seem’.
He is saying that those who seem weak, poor, down-trodden, less worthy who usually get stepped on by those who have more money or more power or who speak as if they have more authority, must be treated with special honor. I like the way the New King James Version says it…these are the ones we bestow ‘abundant honor’ on.
The parts that are less honorable are given special treatment, while the more honorable parts do not require this attention. Why?? Those with the authority and power, and those who were able to give more money because of their resources were already getting honor out in society. This group had buildings named after them, had parties in their honor, and were able to share their resources.
When they came to the church, Paul says “hey, you get to stand on your soap box out in the world. Now that you’re here, the last shall be first.”
In verse 24, Paul says that God Almighty himself has called each one of us to the church we are in. He says that God called and brought each of you here with different gifts so there should be no division or strife.
The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church. Every part whether mentioned or not, whether seen or not seen, is dependent on the others. Paul says that because we are one body, when one part suffers, we all suffer. When one part cries we all cry and are involved in the hurt as well as the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the festival.
When Paul is writing to other churches, he tells them the same thing. In Romans 12 he says “rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.” In Galatians 6 he says “Carry each other’s burdens.”
Now you are the church; you are the body of Christ. Stand up and be heard. Let your voices shout out the praises of God so the rafters shake and they can hear you all across the county. He says that only as you accept your part in the church does your part actually mean anything.
God appointed first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, and tongues. It’s obvious by now right that God’s body, God’s church is a complete body. We are each called to this church specifically by God. Don’t think you ended up here by accident.
Although you may only be here for a “season”, you are here because God called you here. We are not all preachers; we are not all helpers; we are not all organizers. Paul argues for diversity. He wants each person to be unique in the church.
The New Testament calls this the “priesthood of all believers”. 1 Peter 2 says “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, God’s special possession.” Priesthood does not mean clergy. Pastors are called to proclaim the Word of God and perform other functions.
The priestly function is one of bridge building, mediating, and connecting people with God. In the OT, priest served as the mediator between the people and God. Now thru Jesus Christ, we have direct access to and communication with God. This blessing is not to be kept to yourself though. You are called to be a blessing to all the nations. An aspect of this priesthood is shown when our church opens up its prayer chain. Many Christians have seen where their prayers have yielded miracles in many lives.
Jesus said “where two or three are gathered, if you follow my will, anything you ask for will be done for you in heaven.” Your priestly function is also evident when you tell unbelievers about God. By both word and works, you are called to convey God’s love to everyone.
When Moses presented this bold commission to the people in Exodus 19, “the people all answered as one, ‘Everything the Lord has spoken we will do.’” They accepted their call enthusiastically. They were of one mind. The Apostle Paul was the same. He was called to go out and convert the Gentiles to The Way.
And you, dear church, are called to go out and proclaim the Good News. That will involve telling others about your Christian life and what Jesus means to you. That will involve asking God for His will for your life. And that will involve not going your own way, but going the path Jesus sets before you, in unity with your fellow servants.
It’s time to go and desire the greatest gift of all, Paul says in verse 31. And he goes on to explain it in the next chapter. The greatest gift you can receive and give is Love. Paul describes love well. I know you have heard the Love Chapter at more than one wedding.
And I will leave you with this because it’s a great way to finish Paul’s statement to the Corinthians. Here is the way Eugene Peterson has translated it in The Message.
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Psalm 133
Behold, how good and pleasant it iswhen brothers dwell in unity!It is like the precious oil upon the head,running down upon the beard,upon the beard of Aaron,running down on the collar of his robes!It is like the dew of Hermon,which falls on the mountains of Zion!For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,life for evermore.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
17If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24whereas our more respectable members do not need this.
But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.
26If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. 27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Becoming a Pastor in the United Methodist Church
I've been asked in the past about my call from God to become a Pastor in the UMC. For those who have not been on an Emmaus Walk, they will not totally understand this. Hopefully though, everyone can read all through it and gleen some understanding.
I went on my Emmaus Walk. I thought it was going to be just another weekend retreat. Someone I didn't know sponsored me and even paid my way. We were newlyweds back then and didn't have any money. On my Walk we had lots of personal private time. This was time to pray. It was beautiful in the spring time there in Boerne, TX and I stayed outside a lot. LIttle did I know it was the "wilderness" I was walking in. Each time outside I prayed for God's direction. I had a decent job but nothing spectacular. Everytime I went out and prayed for 20 minutes or so, and each time God said "Wait. There's more."
That's how it went the entire weekend. I would go out into the wilderness to pray (like the Israelites went into the wilderness), but God sent me back in each time without answers. Then on the last day when I got up in front of the whole assembly to talk about my walk, God hit me over the head with a 2x4 bolt of lightning. It all became clear. "I want you to lead my church." No timeline, no location, just be like Abraham and trust in me.
And so I did. Oh my I didn't know what I was in for in the Methodist Connectional System. One hoop after another and more discernment and more discernment on my calling. And here are the steps (I had to do them in order):
2 more years in the Methodist Church.
Discuss the call and situation with my pastor.
Read the "Christian as Minister" book. Very detailed about calling and desire.
Obtain a copy of the Ministry Inquiry Process and complete all of that book and process.
Request an interview with the DS to get grilled ...er I mean get questioned about my call. (just a joke).
Get a Candidacy Mentor to start going over this stuff to. (this is at least a year).
Psych exam.
Criminal background check.
Another meeting with the PPR to get recommended.
A vote by the Charge Conference to get recommended.
Meet for an interview with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry.
Then if all these steps are completed successfully, I have the potential to pastor a church while I complete school.
*Licensing School is required to be completed and passed.
Why did I do it? Because that's my call from God. Did I think it would be easy. No. In the last 20 years I've seen every type of sin and discension there is in people in the church. Every church I go to I will seek God's guidance and his will for the church. There are still more steps to be taken for me in the process, and for us as a church to become what God fully intends us to me.
For all my friends, family, associates, and those I don't know all around the world who read my blog, continue to pray for our church. Pray for healing and pray for communication.
Thanks for you support. Blessings...
Pastor Sean
I went on my Emmaus Walk. I thought it was going to be just another weekend retreat. Someone I didn't know sponsored me and even paid my way. We were newlyweds back then and didn't have any money. On my Walk we had lots of personal private time. This was time to pray. It was beautiful in the spring time there in Boerne, TX and I stayed outside a lot. LIttle did I know it was the "wilderness" I was walking in. Each time outside I prayed for God's direction. I had a decent job but nothing spectacular. Everytime I went out and prayed for 20 minutes or so, and each time God said "Wait. There's more."
That's how it went the entire weekend. I would go out into the wilderness to pray (like the Israelites went into the wilderness), but God sent me back in each time without answers. Then on the last day when I got up in front of the whole assembly to talk about my walk, God hit me over the head with a 2x4 bolt of lightning. It all became clear. "I want you to lead my church." No timeline, no location, just be like Abraham and trust in me.
And so I did. Oh my I didn't know what I was in for in the Methodist Connectional System. One hoop after another and more discernment and more discernment on my calling. And here are the steps (I had to do them in order):
2 more years in the Methodist Church.
Discuss the call and situation with my pastor.
Read the "Christian as Minister" book. Very detailed about calling and desire.
Obtain a copy of the Ministry Inquiry Process and complete all of that book and process.
Request an interview with the DS to get grilled ...er I mean get questioned about my call. (just a joke).
Get a Candidacy Mentor to start going over this stuff to. (this is at least a year).
Psych exam.
Criminal background check.
Another meeting with the PPR to get recommended.
A vote by the Charge Conference to get recommended.
Meet for an interview with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry.
Then if all these steps are completed successfully, I have the potential to pastor a church while I complete school.
*Licensing School is required to be completed and passed.
Why did I do it? Because that's my call from God. Did I think it would be easy. No. In the last 20 years I've seen every type of sin and discension there is in people in the church. Every church I go to I will seek God's guidance and his will for the church. There are still more steps to be taken for me in the process, and for us as a church to become what God fully intends us to me.
For all my friends, family, associates, and those I don't know all around the world who read my blog, continue to pray for our church. Pray for healing and pray for communication.
Thanks for you support. Blessings...
Pastor Sean
January 14th sermon A New You John 2
January 14th sermon
John 2:1-10, Isaiah 62: 1-5
What was your wedding like? Show me your hands for those who had an extravagant wedding….you know, presents piled all the way to the ceiling, roses everywhere, doves flying up, Tabernacle Choir singing in the background, angels playing their harps, the sky opens and a spot light from heaven shines on the bride.
Our wedding was in a small church in Kerrville. It was all family and a few friends and we packed that place out. It was April 2nd and there were 6 ft wooden rabbits guarding the front door. Here is how it went. I was on one side looking at Brandy. She was looking at me with those loving eyes. “Do you Sean take Brandy to be your loving wife….” I’m thinking “don’t lock your legs, don’t lock your legs, don’t pass out”…”oh, I do”.
“Do you Brandy take Sean to be your loving husband….” She’s thinking “oh my this is the best day of my life. I can’t believe I got someone as great as Sean. He is such a hunk. We are going to have lots of kids and a big house. This is wonderful.” “ oh…I do”. And now I pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride.” I dipped then kissed her. The best day of her…I mean our lives.
Well if you think your wedding was a big deal, you have to look at the weddings in the 1st century. They were a week long. This is a true fiesta.
Wine was very important back then for meals and for festivals. Wine was a symbol of joy, but drunkenness was forbidden by scripture. Jesus didn’t intend the guest to get stinking drunk. He made 180 gallons of water into wine to satisfy a large number of guests for a few more days.
It’s been said that the wedding was for a relative or close friend of Jesus. Think about this. It’s a great dishonor for the host to run out of wine for the guest. Mom is upset because the wine has run out. Friends usually sent wine and other items ahead of time for the wedding celebration.
Lack of wine would show a lack of friends. If Jesus or his mom were among the inner circle of friends for the bridegroom, he would be obligated to bring wine. So by providing the wine, Jesus saves the bridegroom from dishonor, but also saves his own prestige.
In the OT, an abundance of wine showed a sign of God’s joyous arrival of a new age.
· On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, (Is 25:6a)
· The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it (Amos 9:13cd)
· In that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, the hills shall flow with milk (Joel 3:18a)
Six jars that will hold 20-30 gallons each. I would say that 180 gallons of wine would be an abundance. Water back then did not come in bottles of Perrier. It was safer to drink some fermented grapes than the water.
Jesus took this water that might not have been the best to drink and made it into the best wine around. The jars were empty when Jesus first got there and he filled them up. That is what Jesus does for us. Jesus fills us with the best of himself.
The old container is our bodies. Jesus transforms us from the inside out. The sinner becomes a saint. The pagan becomes a child of God. The polluted becomes pure.
This miracle is the beginning of his signs. That abundance of wine was a sign of God’s new age. Jesus changing water into wine was the beginning of a new age. The age of God’s grace was upon the people.
John uses the word sign instead of miracle, because what Jesus did was a sign pointing to something even greater than some water turning into wine. It was a sign pointing to God.
The guests and the wedding steward focused on the new wine and its sudden appearance. But for a sign to fulfill its purpose, it has to point to something greater. What does this point to? It points to Jesus. It points to God.
Those six jars were ceremonial cleansing jars. They would be filled with water for the Jews to wash with before and after eating. And now their use is changed. The old purifying water is gone. The new wine symbolic of Jesus’ blood is here.
When you read about a sign (the water to wine, the healing, the resurrection), remember, it’s a road sign. We are all on a journey. Think about being on an old ship with big sails. We have the spiritual wind behind us and the mile markers pointing in front of us. I told someone the other day I was behind their ship blowing into their sails to move him along his spiritual journey faster, and I would try and let off some of that tension. He told me “you do challenge me, but I don’t want to be lukewarm.” Your wet muddy path is laid out before you. Keep any eye out for those marker signs, that guy on the side of the road, and the jar…the jars that were filled with water, but now filled with the cleansing blood of Christ.
John 2:1-10, Isaiah 62: 1-5
What was your wedding like? Show me your hands for those who had an extravagant wedding….you know, presents piled all the way to the ceiling, roses everywhere, doves flying up, Tabernacle Choir singing in the background, angels playing their harps, the sky opens and a spot light from heaven shines on the bride.
Our wedding was in a small church in Kerrville. It was all family and a few friends and we packed that place out. It was April 2nd and there were 6 ft wooden rabbits guarding the front door. Here is how it went. I was on one side looking at Brandy. She was looking at me with those loving eyes. “Do you Sean take Brandy to be your loving wife….” I’m thinking “don’t lock your legs, don’t lock your legs, don’t pass out”…”oh, I do”.
“Do you Brandy take Sean to be your loving husband….” She’s thinking “oh my this is the best day of my life. I can’t believe I got someone as great as Sean. He is such a hunk. We are going to have lots of kids and a big house. This is wonderful.” “ oh…I do”. And now I pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride.” I dipped then kissed her. The best day of her…I mean our lives.
Well if you think your wedding was a big deal, you have to look at the weddings in the 1st century. They were a week long. This is a true fiesta.
Wine was very important back then for meals and for festivals. Wine was a symbol of joy, but drunkenness was forbidden by scripture. Jesus didn’t intend the guest to get stinking drunk. He made 180 gallons of water into wine to satisfy a large number of guests for a few more days.
It’s been said that the wedding was for a relative or close friend of Jesus. Think about this. It’s a great dishonor for the host to run out of wine for the guest. Mom is upset because the wine has run out. Friends usually sent wine and other items ahead of time for the wedding celebration.
Lack of wine would show a lack of friends. If Jesus or his mom were among the inner circle of friends for the bridegroom, he would be obligated to bring wine. So by providing the wine, Jesus saves the bridegroom from dishonor, but also saves his own prestige.
In the OT, an abundance of wine showed a sign of God’s joyous arrival of a new age.
· On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, (Is 25:6a)
· The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it (Amos 9:13cd)
· In that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, the hills shall flow with milk (Joel 3:18a)
Six jars that will hold 20-30 gallons each. I would say that 180 gallons of wine would be an abundance. Water back then did not come in bottles of Perrier. It was safer to drink some fermented grapes than the water.
Jesus took this water that might not have been the best to drink and made it into the best wine around. The jars were empty when Jesus first got there and he filled them up. That is what Jesus does for us. Jesus fills us with the best of himself.
The old container is our bodies. Jesus transforms us from the inside out. The sinner becomes a saint. The pagan becomes a child of God. The polluted becomes pure.
This miracle is the beginning of his signs. That abundance of wine was a sign of God’s new age. Jesus changing water into wine was the beginning of a new age. The age of God’s grace was upon the people.
John uses the word sign instead of miracle, because what Jesus did was a sign pointing to something even greater than some water turning into wine. It was a sign pointing to God.
The guests and the wedding steward focused on the new wine and its sudden appearance. But for a sign to fulfill its purpose, it has to point to something greater. What does this point to? It points to Jesus. It points to God.
Those six jars were ceremonial cleansing jars. They would be filled with water for the Jews to wash with before and after eating. And now their use is changed. The old purifying water is gone. The new wine symbolic of Jesus’ blood is here.
When you read about a sign (the water to wine, the healing, the resurrection), remember, it’s a road sign. We are all on a journey. Think about being on an old ship with big sails. We have the spiritual wind behind us and the mile markers pointing in front of us. I told someone the other day I was behind their ship blowing into their sails to move him along his spiritual journey faster, and I would try and let off some of that tension. He told me “you do challenge me, but I don’t want to be lukewarm.” Your wet muddy path is laid out before you. Keep any eye out for those marker signs, that guy on the side of the road, and the jar…the jars that were filled with water, but now filled with the cleansing blood of Christ.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
January 7th sermon Isaiah 43 We are set apart
January 7th We are set apart
Isaiah 43: 1-7
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
Scholars locate this scripture of Isaiah from the time of the Exile. You see, Jerusalem had been destroyed. All the Jews were scattered around the world. The Temple building which was central to their life was gone. They felt there was no life to be had. But God says they would be gathered again, because they belonged to God.
I love this scripture from Isaiah. Here is what God is saying to those believers in the crowd who can hear his message. “I made you…from the beginning, you are mine. When you are in over your head and the waters are really rough like they were for Noah on the ark, I’ll be there.
When those who consider you an enemy fight against you and everything you seek to do in my name…… I will be there. When you are between a rock and a hard place and the fire is all around you, you will walk thru the fire and not be burned. For I am your savior.
So don’t be afraid. I’m with you. I want back every last person who bears my name because I created them for my glory.”
What a magnificent statement from Almighty God. “I created you and I set you apart”. You’re not like those other nations. In fact, I would trade every one of them just for you.
I had a dream one night that I was dead. When I opened my eyes, I was sitting on a bench in what looked like a court house. My name was called and I was brought in and seated at the defense table. As I looked around, I saw the prosecutor – a villainous looking man who snarled at me.
I sat down, and seated next to me was my lawyer, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar. The judge appeared and commanded an awesome presence as he moved across the room. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. As he took his seat behind the bench he said “let us begin”.
The prosecutor rose and began “My name is Satan and I am going to show why this man belongs in Hell.” He began by describing the lies I had told; things I had stole; and how I had cheated others in the past. Satan told of other horrible perversions that were once in my life and the more he spoke, the further down in the chair I sank.
I was so embarrassed that I couldn't look at anyone, even my own lawyer, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten. As upset as I was at Satan for revealing all those things about me, I was equally upset at my representative, who sat there silently - not offering any form of defense at all.
I knew I was guilty of all those things, but I had done some good in my life - couldn't that at least cancel out part of the bad things I had done? Satan finished with a fury and closed by saying, "This man belongs to me in hell, since he is guilty of all these charges, and there is no person who can prove otherwise."
When it was his turn, my lawyer first asked if he might approach the bench. Satan yelled, "I object!," but the judge remarked, "Overruled," and beckoned my attorney to come forward. As he got up and started walking, I was able to see him in his full splendor and majesty. I realized why he seemed so familiar.
My attorney was Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior. He stopped at the bench and softly said to the judge, "Hi Dad," and then he turned to address the court. "Satan was correct in saying that this man has sinned. I won't deny any of these allegations. And yes, the wages of sin is death, and this man deserves to be punished."
Jesus took a deep breath and turned to his Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, "However, I died on the cross so that every person might have eternal life. Since this man has accepted me as his Savior, he is mine."
My Lord continued, "His name is written in the book of life, and no one can snatch him from me.
Satan still does not understand that this man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy." As Jesus sat down, he quietly paused, looked at his Father and replied, "There is nothing else that needs to be done. I've done it all."
The judge lifted his mighty hand, slammed the gavel down, and bellowed from his lips, "This man is free. The penalty for him has already been paid in full. Case dismissed!"
As my Lord led me away, I could hear Satan ranting and raving, "I won't give up, I'll win the next one." I asked Jesus as he gave me my instructions where to go next, "Have you ever lost a case?" Christ lovingly smiled and said, "Everyone that has come to me and asked me to represent them has received the same verdict as you, Paid in Full."
Allow that to sink in for a moment. We were intricately formed by God, created for God’s glory, and belong to God. What does that mean? I’ve already talked about how we belong to God. Now, we were “formed by God”…In Genesis we were made in the image of God.
That doesn’t mean we can play God, no matter how egocentric we are. It means we have some attributes of God…Patience, kindness, gentleness, peace, the ability to love. We have the “free will” to lie, be greedy, and hate others, but those are not from God.
We were also “created for God’s glory”. What is God’s glory? According to Webster, glory is “very great praise, honor, and distinction bestowed on someone; a source of admiration.”
So we were created that when we are looked upon by others, praises will go up to God. Do you understand what that means? You are called to be perfect because EVERY unbeliever is looking at you and waiting for you to cause some sort of ruckus or slip up in some way so they can say “see…that ‘Christian’ messed up. He’s no good, so neither is God.” We are going to get back to being perfect in a little while.
Our marquee sign out front says “there is always a second chance.” Those who are against God and God’s will don’t believe that. What does “always” mean? It’s like the word “all”….all means all and that’s all all means. Even if it’s the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 29th, 92nd, 246th time, there is always a second chance. That’s all summed up in the word “grace”. We don’t like that word “grace” sometimes, because it means forgiveness.
A couple years ago, a very close friend wounded me. He was in my accountability group and something I shared with him, he used against me. It really hurt, because I thought he was someone I could trust.
He is in the position even today where he could still hurt me, but I’ve moved on. I did forgive him and gave him grace or mercy. The consequence though was a loss of friendship for both of us.
Grace and mercy is where our baptism comes in. PULLING OUT THE LARGE WATERGUN. Now I was not at any of your baptisms, and I figure if there is more than one person here today who wants to be baptized, I’ll do it the efficient way.
Trust me, it does not matter whether you are dunked or dry cleaned, the baptism is the same. You are only baptized once in your life. If you do it more than once, you are telling Christ he did not die for all of your sins and it was not finished, and you will be in effect nailing him to the cross over and over again. If you have not been baptized and want to be, come up at communion and stay up. We will do it then.
When we are baptized, we remember Jesus’ baptism. John says it best. I baptize you with water, but when Jesus comes, he will baptize you with the fire. But John looks back to these words from Isaiah “you will go thru the fire, but you will not be scorched”. Your baptism is a sign to the entire world to show you are set apart from all other creation.
It’s a sign saying to the world “I am different now. I’m not that hate filled scum anymore. I am a new creation.” And in God’s eyes, you are. 20 years after your baptism when you’re not acting like a Christian, and you finally realize it, you can go to God.
You say “God, I thought I…I…I was a new creation, but I’m acting like that hate filled scum I was before.” And God looks upon you with loving eyes and says “to me, you look perfect, and that’s what matters. You can see your acting like pond scum because you don’t have your eyes fixed on my son Jesus.
If you will seek my will for your life every day and stop following the path traveled by your cousin or your friends, you will see my plans laid out before you.” “But Lord, what about such and such that I just did?” “Your sins are as far away as the East is from the West. I’ve thrown them in the deepest part of the ocean.”
When we are baptized, Jesus is the only one who meets us in the water. All the people in our past desert us, and we have yet to meet all the real Christians. And we realize that when Jesus is in that water with us, it is overflowing with forgiveness, repentance, God calling us by name, God claiming us as his own. After meeting us in the water, Jesus meets us in every circumstance in our life, and even in death.
When Jesus was baptized, he came out of the water and the heavens opened up. God calls out “This is my son, whom I love.” When you are baptized, when you come out of that water, the heavens break open, 10,000 angels break out into cheers, a spot light shines down upon you, and God says “This is my son, this is my daughter, whom I love.”
Even those times when you don’t believe that because you are feeling like that pond scum or those times when you believe you are on top of the world and better than anyone else, it’s still true. God loves you and I love you.
A wise man once told me “it’s easier to die for your faith than it is to live for your faith.” That is so true. It’s easier to fall on the sword than it is to put on the armor God has set out before you and fight for the truth. But fight we must, because that is why we were baptized.
God never changes, but our delivery method might. And the enemy we fight together is NOT one of flesh and blood. It is evil rulers, mighty powers and authorities in this dark world.
So it’s time to stand and take communion. I’ll leave the scripture and this sermon in your hands now with one thing to remember…when you walk out the door today, there is no falling on the sword death in the message. Like Christ, I am calling you to be set apart and a new creation; just as your baptism requires. Because everyone who has gone to the foot of the cross and asked God to represent them had received the same verdict… “paid in full.”
Isaiah 43:1-7
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. 4Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; 6I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— 7everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
15As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Isaiah 43: 1-7
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
Scholars locate this scripture of Isaiah from the time of the Exile. You see, Jerusalem had been destroyed. All the Jews were scattered around the world. The Temple building which was central to their life was gone. They felt there was no life to be had. But God says they would be gathered again, because they belonged to God.
I love this scripture from Isaiah. Here is what God is saying to those believers in the crowd who can hear his message. “I made you…from the beginning, you are mine. When you are in over your head and the waters are really rough like they were for Noah on the ark, I’ll be there.
When those who consider you an enemy fight against you and everything you seek to do in my name…… I will be there. When you are between a rock and a hard place and the fire is all around you, you will walk thru the fire and not be burned. For I am your savior.
So don’t be afraid. I’m with you. I want back every last person who bears my name because I created them for my glory.”
What a magnificent statement from Almighty God. “I created you and I set you apart”. You’re not like those other nations. In fact, I would trade every one of them just for you.
I had a dream one night that I was dead. When I opened my eyes, I was sitting on a bench in what looked like a court house. My name was called and I was brought in and seated at the defense table. As I looked around, I saw the prosecutor – a villainous looking man who snarled at me.
I sat down, and seated next to me was my lawyer, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar. The judge appeared and commanded an awesome presence as he moved across the room. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. As he took his seat behind the bench he said “let us begin”.
The prosecutor rose and began “My name is Satan and I am going to show why this man belongs in Hell.” He began by describing the lies I had told; things I had stole; and how I had cheated others in the past. Satan told of other horrible perversions that were once in my life and the more he spoke, the further down in the chair I sank.
I was so embarrassed that I couldn't look at anyone, even my own lawyer, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten. As upset as I was at Satan for revealing all those things about me, I was equally upset at my representative, who sat there silently - not offering any form of defense at all.
I knew I was guilty of all those things, but I had done some good in my life - couldn't that at least cancel out part of the bad things I had done? Satan finished with a fury and closed by saying, "This man belongs to me in hell, since he is guilty of all these charges, and there is no person who can prove otherwise."
When it was his turn, my lawyer first asked if he might approach the bench. Satan yelled, "I object!," but the judge remarked, "Overruled," and beckoned my attorney to come forward. As he got up and started walking, I was able to see him in his full splendor and majesty. I realized why he seemed so familiar.
My attorney was Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior. He stopped at the bench and softly said to the judge, "Hi Dad," and then he turned to address the court. "Satan was correct in saying that this man has sinned. I won't deny any of these allegations. And yes, the wages of sin is death, and this man deserves to be punished."
Jesus took a deep breath and turned to his Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, "However, I died on the cross so that every person might have eternal life. Since this man has accepted me as his Savior, he is mine."
My Lord continued, "His name is written in the book of life, and no one can snatch him from me.
Satan still does not understand that this man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy." As Jesus sat down, he quietly paused, looked at his Father and replied, "There is nothing else that needs to be done. I've done it all."
The judge lifted his mighty hand, slammed the gavel down, and bellowed from his lips, "This man is free. The penalty for him has already been paid in full. Case dismissed!"
As my Lord led me away, I could hear Satan ranting and raving, "I won't give up, I'll win the next one." I asked Jesus as he gave me my instructions where to go next, "Have you ever lost a case?" Christ lovingly smiled and said, "Everyone that has come to me and asked me to represent them has received the same verdict as you, Paid in Full."
Allow that to sink in for a moment. We were intricately formed by God, created for God’s glory, and belong to God. What does that mean? I’ve already talked about how we belong to God. Now, we were “formed by God”…In Genesis we were made in the image of God.
That doesn’t mean we can play God, no matter how egocentric we are. It means we have some attributes of God…Patience, kindness, gentleness, peace, the ability to love. We have the “free will” to lie, be greedy, and hate others, but those are not from God.
We were also “created for God’s glory”. What is God’s glory? According to Webster, glory is “very great praise, honor, and distinction bestowed on someone; a source of admiration.”
So we were created that when we are looked upon by others, praises will go up to God. Do you understand what that means? You are called to be perfect because EVERY unbeliever is looking at you and waiting for you to cause some sort of ruckus or slip up in some way so they can say “see…that ‘Christian’ messed up. He’s no good, so neither is God.” We are going to get back to being perfect in a little while.
Our marquee sign out front says “there is always a second chance.” Those who are against God and God’s will don’t believe that. What does “always” mean? It’s like the word “all”….all means all and that’s all all means. Even if it’s the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 29th, 92nd, 246th time, there is always a second chance. That’s all summed up in the word “grace”. We don’t like that word “grace” sometimes, because it means forgiveness.
A couple years ago, a very close friend wounded me. He was in my accountability group and something I shared with him, he used against me. It really hurt, because I thought he was someone I could trust.
He is in the position even today where he could still hurt me, but I’ve moved on. I did forgive him and gave him grace or mercy. The consequence though was a loss of friendship for both of us.
Grace and mercy is where our baptism comes in. PULLING OUT THE LARGE WATERGUN. Now I was not at any of your baptisms, and I figure if there is more than one person here today who wants to be baptized, I’ll do it the efficient way.
Trust me, it does not matter whether you are dunked or dry cleaned, the baptism is the same. You are only baptized once in your life. If you do it more than once, you are telling Christ he did not die for all of your sins and it was not finished, and you will be in effect nailing him to the cross over and over again. If you have not been baptized and want to be, come up at communion and stay up. We will do it then.
When we are baptized, we remember Jesus’ baptism. John says it best. I baptize you with water, but when Jesus comes, he will baptize you with the fire. But John looks back to these words from Isaiah “you will go thru the fire, but you will not be scorched”. Your baptism is a sign to the entire world to show you are set apart from all other creation.
It’s a sign saying to the world “I am different now. I’m not that hate filled scum anymore. I am a new creation.” And in God’s eyes, you are. 20 years after your baptism when you’re not acting like a Christian, and you finally realize it, you can go to God.
You say “God, I thought I…I…I was a new creation, but I’m acting like that hate filled scum I was before.” And God looks upon you with loving eyes and says “to me, you look perfect, and that’s what matters. You can see your acting like pond scum because you don’t have your eyes fixed on my son Jesus.
If you will seek my will for your life every day and stop following the path traveled by your cousin or your friends, you will see my plans laid out before you.” “But Lord, what about such and such that I just did?” “Your sins are as far away as the East is from the West. I’ve thrown them in the deepest part of the ocean.”
When we are baptized, Jesus is the only one who meets us in the water. All the people in our past desert us, and we have yet to meet all the real Christians. And we realize that when Jesus is in that water with us, it is overflowing with forgiveness, repentance, God calling us by name, God claiming us as his own. After meeting us in the water, Jesus meets us in every circumstance in our life, and even in death.
When Jesus was baptized, he came out of the water and the heavens opened up. God calls out “This is my son, whom I love.” When you are baptized, when you come out of that water, the heavens break open, 10,000 angels break out into cheers, a spot light shines down upon you, and God says “This is my son, this is my daughter, whom I love.”
Even those times when you don’t believe that because you are feeling like that pond scum or those times when you believe you are on top of the world and better than anyone else, it’s still true. God loves you and I love you.
A wise man once told me “it’s easier to die for your faith than it is to live for your faith.” That is so true. It’s easier to fall on the sword than it is to put on the armor God has set out before you and fight for the truth. But fight we must, because that is why we were baptized.
God never changes, but our delivery method might. And the enemy we fight together is NOT one of flesh and blood. It is evil rulers, mighty powers and authorities in this dark world.
So it’s time to stand and take communion. I’ll leave the scripture and this sermon in your hands now with one thing to remember…when you walk out the door today, there is no falling on the sword death in the message. Like Christ, I am calling you to be set apart and a new creation; just as your baptism requires. Because everyone who has gone to the foot of the cross and asked God to represent them had received the same verdict… “paid in full.”
Isaiah 43:1-7
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. 4Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; 6I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— 7everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
15As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Sunday, December 31, 2006
December 31 sermon Grow in Stature 1 Samuel
I’ve heard some New Years resolutions already. “As soon as the holidays are over, I’m going on a diet and losing some weight.” You notice it’s ‘after the holidays are over’, not right now. And there is no “exact” amount of weight to lose.
Some of the others I have heard (or made) in the past are ‘to spend more time with my family’, ‘keep the house clean’, ‘I’ll quit smoking’ – which should be a lot easier with the $1 a pack tax starting tomorrow.
But are those the resolutions the ones we need to make? Do we ever keep these resolutions anyway? How much weight did you lose when you started the last diet and how long did you stay on it?? Was it over a week later?
What are the New Years resolutions you have made for this year??
Let’s look at Samuel to see what he has resolved to do. Samuel was ministering before the Lord it says in vs 18. God had blessed Hannah and given her a child. Because of this, Hannah gave the child to the Lord to work in the temple. And Samuel was exactly where he should be. He was ministering in the outer court of the temple.
Samuel knew his place and did exactly as was his destiny. We learn in the next verse that his mother brought him a coat or apron each year.
Samuel could not work in the tabernacle because he was not a priest, so he worked in the outer courts and needed the proper attire to work in. And the boy Samuel grew in stature.
What does that mean? He became a deeper disciple. What we wish for the youth is what I wish for all of you too. As you study the scriptures, as you pray your prayers, as you live a holy life that Jesus himself would be proud of, you will grow in stature before the Lord and come closer to him.
What would be the alternative to Samuel and his spiritual growth? He was already a believer. He was actively seeking the will and guidance from the Lord. He understood that although Eli had made a few mistakes in his past, he was the leader for the tabernacle.
Then the alternative to Samuel would be spiritual atrophy. Basically if your not seeking God’s will and actively pursuing the spiritual disciplines such as prayer, meditation, scripture reading, etc, your spiritual muscle will slowly wither away. I know Carol can tell us about astronauts going into space, and how they must constantly work out because in space there is no gravity to give them any resistance.
It’s the same in the church. Unless you work your spiritual muscles, unless you are stretched, they will wither.
The apostle Paul says it well. You were once on milk like a baby, but now you must move up to meat. You’re no longer babies. He says to stop your crying and whining. Seek out the spiritual meat in your life and the life of your church so you and it can grow.
And grow you will. Vs 26 says Samuel grew in stature and FAVOR with the Lord. He not only grew his spiritual muscle, but also followed the will of God.
What about you? Are you still drinking milk? It doesn’t matter how old you are or how long since you said that prayer and became a Christian. You could have been saved when you were 8 and now at 88 you’re still on spiritual milk with flabby muscles.
Samuel understood what it took to be in the will of God. Do you? Do you go to the Lord in prayer that he would lead you each day? Do you read scripture each day to apply it to your life? The parents that are here brought there kids to church to raise them up as Godly children.
Do you seek to understand what scripture is saying or do you take what someone said 20 years ago as truth without investigating it yourself? Slavery was justified by using the scripture of “slaves obey your masters”. Women oppression was justified by the scripture from Timothy of women should sit down and be quiet in church and if they have questions to ask their husbands.
Samuel CONTINUED to grow in the presence of the Lord. It was not a “one day say a prayer” and that’s it, but every day Samuel’s spirit grew stronger.
Jesus was the same way as Samuel. He grew in wisdom and stature and divine and human favor. Jesus had his life in focus. He knew what he must do in life. “Why did you worry mother? Why did you take so long to find me? You should have known I was in my father’s house.”
There were no New Years resolutions for Samuel or Jesus. They went about the business they should. The will of God was their goal. And they saw they must grow up. In the movie “Talladega Nights” with Will Ferrell, Ricky Bobby always prays to baby Jesus. “dear lord baby Jesus”. His wife finally jumps in and says, “honey, Jesus did grow up. You don’t always have to call him a baby.” Ricky says “well look. I like the Christmas Jesus best, and I’m saying grace.”
I think that’s how some Christians get after Christmas. They don’t want to see baby Jesus grow up. They realize if Jesus grows, they must grow also. It’s so much easier to stay with the Christmas Jesus. The baby can’t make demands on us.
The baby can’t challenge us. The baby can’t stretch us farther than we want. And the baby doesn’t die on the cross so we don’t have to come to the foot of the cross.
But even Jesus understands how much we must grow. That’s why Luke puts in the story of when he is 12. Jesus grew in stature and understanding.
He understood he must be going about his father’s business. He understood he must seek out the will of God. He understood that life was new. And here we are rolling into 2007 and the new life it will bring. A couple years ago Linda gave a sermon on UMW Sunday about calling.
She said that “God’s call is not a one time thing and the call changes as our circumstances change. We must be ready to adjust as God asks us to serve in new ways.” That was relevant then as it is today. In 2007 there will be new ministries started here at the church. We will be reaching and touching more people.
God will make a difference in our lives and transform us….transform you (I hope you are ready).
The new year is upon us. With Christ a new life is within you. And with his love, the old old story can be told in a new way to new people. Like Samuel and Jesus, you must go about your Father’s business, continue to grow, continue to share, and I hope you are ready, because continue to help transform lives.
Some of the others I have heard (or made) in the past are ‘to spend more time with my family’, ‘keep the house clean’, ‘I’ll quit smoking’ – which should be a lot easier with the $1 a pack tax starting tomorrow.
But are those the resolutions the ones we need to make? Do we ever keep these resolutions anyway? How much weight did you lose when you started the last diet and how long did you stay on it?? Was it over a week later?
What are the New Years resolutions you have made for this year??
Let’s look at Samuel to see what he has resolved to do. Samuel was ministering before the Lord it says in vs 18. God had blessed Hannah and given her a child. Because of this, Hannah gave the child to the Lord to work in the temple. And Samuel was exactly where he should be. He was ministering in the outer court of the temple.
Samuel knew his place and did exactly as was his destiny. We learn in the next verse that his mother brought him a coat or apron each year.
Samuel could not work in the tabernacle because he was not a priest, so he worked in the outer courts and needed the proper attire to work in. And the boy Samuel grew in stature.
What does that mean? He became a deeper disciple. What we wish for the youth is what I wish for all of you too. As you study the scriptures, as you pray your prayers, as you live a holy life that Jesus himself would be proud of, you will grow in stature before the Lord and come closer to him.
What would be the alternative to Samuel and his spiritual growth? He was already a believer. He was actively seeking the will and guidance from the Lord. He understood that although Eli had made a few mistakes in his past, he was the leader for the tabernacle.
Then the alternative to Samuel would be spiritual atrophy. Basically if your not seeking God’s will and actively pursuing the spiritual disciplines such as prayer, meditation, scripture reading, etc, your spiritual muscle will slowly wither away. I know Carol can tell us about astronauts going into space, and how they must constantly work out because in space there is no gravity to give them any resistance.
It’s the same in the church. Unless you work your spiritual muscles, unless you are stretched, they will wither.
The apostle Paul says it well. You were once on milk like a baby, but now you must move up to meat. You’re no longer babies. He says to stop your crying and whining. Seek out the spiritual meat in your life and the life of your church so you and it can grow.
And grow you will. Vs 26 says Samuel grew in stature and FAVOR with the Lord. He not only grew his spiritual muscle, but also followed the will of God.
What about you? Are you still drinking milk? It doesn’t matter how old you are or how long since you said that prayer and became a Christian. You could have been saved when you were 8 and now at 88 you’re still on spiritual milk with flabby muscles.
Samuel understood what it took to be in the will of God. Do you? Do you go to the Lord in prayer that he would lead you each day? Do you read scripture each day to apply it to your life? The parents that are here brought there kids to church to raise them up as Godly children.
Do you seek to understand what scripture is saying or do you take what someone said 20 years ago as truth without investigating it yourself? Slavery was justified by using the scripture of “slaves obey your masters”. Women oppression was justified by the scripture from Timothy of women should sit down and be quiet in church and if they have questions to ask their husbands.
Samuel CONTINUED to grow in the presence of the Lord. It was not a “one day say a prayer” and that’s it, but every day Samuel’s spirit grew stronger.
Jesus was the same way as Samuel. He grew in wisdom and stature and divine and human favor. Jesus had his life in focus. He knew what he must do in life. “Why did you worry mother? Why did you take so long to find me? You should have known I was in my father’s house.”
There were no New Years resolutions for Samuel or Jesus. They went about the business they should. The will of God was their goal. And they saw they must grow up. In the movie “Talladega Nights” with Will Ferrell, Ricky Bobby always prays to baby Jesus. “dear lord baby Jesus”. His wife finally jumps in and says, “honey, Jesus did grow up. You don’t always have to call him a baby.” Ricky says “well look. I like the Christmas Jesus best, and I’m saying grace.”
I think that’s how some Christians get after Christmas. They don’t want to see baby Jesus grow up. They realize if Jesus grows, they must grow also. It’s so much easier to stay with the Christmas Jesus. The baby can’t make demands on us.
The baby can’t challenge us. The baby can’t stretch us farther than we want. And the baby doesn’t die on the cross so we don’t have to come to the foot of the cross.
But even Jesus understands how much we must grow. That’s why Luke puts in the story of when he is 12. Jesus grew in stature and understanding.
He understood he must be going about his father’s business. He understood he must seek out the will of God. He understood that life was new. And here we are rolling into 2007 and the new life it will bring. A couple years ago Linda gave a sermon on UMW Sunday about calling.
She said that “God’s call is not a one time thing and the call changes as our circumstances change. We must be ready to adjust as God asks us to serve in new ways.” That was relevant then as it is today. In 2007 there will be new ministries started here at the church. We will be reaching and touching more people.
God will make a difference in our lives and transform us….transform you (I hope you are ready).
The new year is upon us. With Christ a new life is within you. And with his love, the old old story can be told in a new way to new people. Like Samuel and Jesus, you must go about your Father’s business, continue to grow, continue to share, and I hope you are ready, because continue to help transform lives.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Christmas Eve service sermon
Luke 1: 39-55 and Micah 5:2-5
What are you hoping to be under your tree?? I received the Nieman Marcus catalog and planned on ordering a few things from it for Brandy and Julia. I’m sure you’ve heard of this catalog. I was going to buy the $40k 7ft tall pencil sky scraper. But I decided on the 150 acre Italian fortress for a cool $3.8 million. Unfortunately someone else had already bought it. But I started to think about what I have, and what we have here at the church.
Call down the kids and leaders
This is our Youth Group. This is a great gift we already have that is not under the tree. In a minute we are going to pray over them. Last week I talked about authority. Why are there 3 leaders?? One leader will quickly burn out no matter how dedicated they are. Two leaders can bounce ideas off of and help each other. 3 leaders can make sure they help each other, they lead correctly, and they hold each other accountable for this ministry.
All these kids are under the authority of the leaders above them. If they do something they shouldn’t like making crank calls or walking down the rail road tracks, these leaders have the authority and responsibility to lead them to correction.
And like the kids are under the authority of Melanie, Ed and Mike, these three leaders are under my authority. If there are problems with the youth, they must come to me, their pastor.
If they start to get burned out, they must come to me, their pastor. One reason for this is when someone comes to me and says “Did you hear….” I can honestly say, yes.
But the most important reason is as the pastor of this church, I’m responsible to and under the authority of Almighty God. I must go before God with everything from our church life.
What I want to do now is pray over this youth group. It might cause a little claustrophobia, but I want us to surround them. All of you who have the desire and are able to, please come up now. If you don’t come up, that is fine. Raise up a hand as we pray over them.
Prayer over the youth group….
Almighty and gracious God. I thank you for this group. This group that will be the future of the church. That we are charged to raise up. These kids are growing faster than we like and smarter than us sometimes. We are praying for these leaders that have the desire to raise these kids up in a Godly way. Who have the goal to make them deeper disciples. Jesus we ask you to go before them, behind them, on their left and right. Surround them with your power might love and strength. Lord there is nothing we can do without you. We are here because of that first Christmas gift. It was a child. It was raised up in the church to become the savior for us all. And that’s why we have a youth group Lord. To raise up these children. To make this world a little better than it was before. To give them a heart for God. Right now before you, this whole congregation comes before you to say they are going to support these leaders and kids and whatever it takes to raise up these children to be deeper disciples and be godly leaders and be children of you. That’s what our church will do right now. Sometimes it might be hard Lord. We know with your strength we can get this done. I’m going to ask you for the wisdom for Mike and Melanie and Ed so they will know what to say and how to say it and when not to say anything. And the wisdom of our congregation Lord so they will know that every time something comes up they will say “we support you” because we know this is our future. We know this is our church. Although some of these kids are not mine, they are all yours. And the fact they are in my church Lord, they became part of my family and the family of each and every person here. I’m here to say right now Lord that this congregation is going to surround them, lay a hand on their shoulder and help raise up these children. That’s what we are here to do. Amen.
Elizabeth says “you are blessed because you believed the Lord would do what he said.” I say that to you today. You are blessed because you believe. What we have in front of us now and what we have received 2000 years ago which we celebrate tomorrow is so much better than anything else we could ever receive.
Now pray with me. Thank you Lord for making us rich in all things that matter…and a lot of other stuff that doesn’t. We have all that we need for today, and even more on top of that. Amen.”
What are you hoping to be under your tree?? I received the Nieman Marcus catalog and planned on ordering a few things from it for Brandy and Julia. I’m sure you’ve heard of this catalog. I was going to buy the $40k 7ft tall pencil sky scraper. But I decided on the 150 acre Italian fortress for a cool $3.8 million. Unfortunately someone else had already bought it. But I started to think about what I have, and what we have here at the church.
Call down the kids and leaders
This is our Youth Group. This is a great gift we already have that is not under the tree. In a minute we are going to pray over them. Last week I talked about authority. Why are there 3 leaders?? One leader will quickly burn out no matter how dedicated they are. Two leaders can bounce ideas off of and help each other. 3 leaders can make sure they help each other, they lead correctly, and they hold each other accountable for this ministry.
All these kids are under the authority of the leaders above them. If they do something they shouldn’t like making crank calls or walking down the rail road tracks, these leaders have the authority and responsibility to lead them to correction.
And like the kids are under the authority of Melanie, Ed and Mike, these three leaders are under my authority. If there are problems with the youth, they must come to me, their pastor.
If they start to get burned out, they must come to me, their pastor. One reason for this is when someone comes to me and says “Did you hear….” I can honestly say, yes.
But the most important reason is as the pastor of this church, I’m responsible to and under the authority of Almighty God. I must go before God with everything from our church life.
What I want to do now is pray over this youth group. It might cause a little claustrophobia, but I want us to surround them. All of you who have the desire and are able to, please come up now. If you don’t come up, that is fine. Raise up a hand as we pray over them.
Prayer over the youth group….
Almighty and gracious God. I thank you for this group. This group that will be the future of the church. That we are charged to raise up. These kids are growing faster than we like and smarter than us sometimes. We are praying for these leaders that have the desire to raise these kids up in a Godly way. Who have the goal to make them deeper disciples. Jesus we ask you to go before them, behind them, on their left and right. Surround them with your power might love and strength. Lord there is nothing we can do without you. We are here because of that first Christmas gift. It was a child. It was raised up in the church to become the savior for us all. And that’s why we have a youth group Lord. To raise up these children. To make this world a little better than it was before. To give them a heart for God. Right now before you, this whole congregation comes before you to say they are going to support these leaders and kids and whatever it takes to raise up these children to be deeper disciples and be godly leaders and be children of you. That’s what our church will do right now. Sometimes it might be hard Lord. We know with your strength we can get this done. I’m going to ask you for the wisdom for Mike and Melanie and Ed so they will know what to say and how to say it and when not to say anything. And the wisdom of our congregation Lord so they will know that every time something comes up they will say “we support you” because we know this is our future. We know this is our church. Although some of these kids are not mine, they are all yours. And the fact they are in my church Lord, they became part of my family and the family of each and every person here. I’m here to say right now Lord that this congregation is going to surround them, lay a hand on their shoulder and help raise up these children. That’s what we are here to do. Amen.
Elizabeth says “you are blessed because you believed the Lord would do what he said.” I say that to you today. You are blessed because you believe. What we have in front of us now and what we have received 2000 years ago which we celebrate tomorrow is so much better than anything else we could ever receive.
Now pray with me. Thank you Lord for making us rich in all things that matter…and a lot of other stuff that doesn’t. We have all that we need for today, and even more on top of that. Amen.”
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
What is a New Testament church like??
2006 is almost gone. 2007 is upon us. One of the girls in my church is going on a Chryslis flight this weekend. www.ctcemmaus.org to find out more. I've been working on what a NT church looks like. The more I read and study, the more I like. It's about giving more than receiving. it's about mercy more than law. it's about loving more than arguing. Jesus ate with sinners, prostitutes, homosexuals, aldulters, sex addicts, liers, cheats. he said "I came to for those who are sick not those who are well.
The church needs to be like that too. It's harder in some ways in a small church, but easier in other ways in a small church. When i was part of one of the biggest UMC churches in Austin, our missions team was less than 10 people. When we needed to help a ministry, money was thrown at it. Now don't get me wrong. Most ministries need money badly....food banks, homeless shelters, etc. however, we are called to be the hands and feet of Christ. I think my New Year's resolution will be to get my hands dirty more this next year. Oh...back to the small church. the larger churches have an opportunity to throw money at a ministry. The smaller churches have to throw people at a ministry.
Since we are smaller, we need to focus our resources for the next year. Are we going to help a battered women's shelter, food bank, homless shelter???
I'm looking forward to 2007. I want our church to be relevent.
There's a story of a new pastor rolling into a small town with his UHaul. He stops at a local store to ask where the church is. The person he asks says he hasn't heard of that church. No relevence I guess. Let's make a difference this new year.
The New has come upon us and the Old has passed away.
The church needs to be like that too. It's harder in some ways in a small church, but easier in other ways in a small church. When i was part of one of the biggest UMC churches in Austin, our missions team was less than 10 people. When we needed to help a ministry, money was thrown at it. Now don't get me wrong. Most ministries need money badly....food banks, homeless shelters, etc. however, we are called to be the hands and feet of Christ. I think my New Year's resolution will be to get my hands dirty more this next year. Oh...back to the small church. the larger churches have an opportunity to throw money at a ministry. The smaller churches have to throw people at a ministry.
Since we are smaller, we need to focus our resources for the next year. Are we going to help a battered women's shelter, food bank, homless shelter???
I'm looking forward to 2007. I want our church to be relevent.
There's a story of a new pastor rolling into a small town with his UHaul. He stops at a local store to ask where the church is. The person he asks says he hasn't heard of that church. No relevence I guess. Let's make a difference this new year.
The New has come upon us and the Old has passed away.
Monday, December 25, 2006
December 24 Sermon Who you callin' small. Luke 1:39-45
[Light the first three candles of the Advent wreath.]
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
"He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty"
These familiar words were spoken by Mary upon greeting Elizabeth. Imagine the joy of this meeting when they can discuss their own and each other's pregnancy together for the first time. And what did they talk about first? a boy? a girl? baby clothes? new furniture? No. Mary says,
"My soul magnifies the Lord; I declare the greatness of God, and my spirit rejoices."
Mary … a young woman … a teenager … not so long before, pregnant and unmarried … declares the greatness of God and recognizes the unique calling she has received. As with so many other mothers before and after her, she does not know what joys or sorrows may follow the birth, but she is ready to rejoice in God, her Savior.
It is for Mary that we light this fourth candle. Mary — blessed among women. Mary — the Lord's lowly servant. Mary — who believed that God was about to fulfill the promise made to Abraham so long ago.
[Light the fourth candle.]
December 24 sermon Who are you calling small, Luke 1: 39-45
Why did the nurse carry the red marker? So she could “draw” blood.
What happens when you don’t clean your mirrors? They give you dirty looks.
Alphabet joke “babydoll”.
What are you hoping to be under your tree?? I received the Nieman Marcus catalog and planned on ordering a few things from it for Brandy and Julia. I’m sure you’ve heard of this catalog. I was going to buy the $40k 7ft tall pencil sky scraper. But I decided on the 150 acre Italian fortress for a cool $3.8 million. Unfortunately someone else had already bought it. But I started to think about what I have, and what we have here at the church.
Call down the kids and leaders
This is our Youth Group. This is a great gift we already have that is not under the tree. In a minute we are going to pray over them. Last week I talked about authority. Why are there 3 leaders?? One leader will quickly burn out no matter how dedicated they are. Two leaders can bounce ideas off of and help each other. 3 leaders can make sure they help each other, they lead correctly, and they hold each other accountable for this ministry.
All these kids are under the authority of the leaders above them. If they do something they shouldn’t like making crank calls or walking down the rail road tracks, these leaders have the authority and responsibility to lead them to correction.
And like the kids are under the authority of Melanie, Ed and Mike, these three leaders are under my authority. If there are problems with the youth, they must come to me, their pastor.
If they start to get burned out, they must come to me, their pastor. One reason for this is when someone comes to me and says “Did you hear….” I can honestly say, yes.
But the most important reason is as the pastor of this church, I’m responsible to and under the authority of Almighty God. I must go before God with everything from our church life.
What I want to do now is pray over this youth group. It might cause a little claustrophobia, but I want us to surround them. All of you who have the desire and are able to, please come up now. If you don’t come up, that is fine. Raise up a hand as we pray over them.
Prayer Prayer prayer prayer
Elizabeth says “you are blessed because you believed the Lord would do what he said.” I say that to you today. You are blessed because you believe. What we have in front of us now and what we have received 2000 years ago which we celebrate tomorrow is so much better than anything else we could ever receive.
Now pray with me. Thank you Lord for making us rich in all things that matter…and a lot of other stuff that doesn’t. We have all that we need for today, and even more on top of that. Amen.”
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
"He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty"
These familiar words were spoken by Mary upon greeting Elizabeth. Imagine the joy of this meeting when they can discuss their own and each other's pregnancy together for the first time. And what did they talk about first? a boy? a girl? baby clothes? new furniture? No. Mary says,
"My soul magnifies the Lord; I declare the greatness of God, and my spirit rejoices."
Mary … a young woman … a teenager … not so long before, pregnant and unmarried … declares the greatness of God and recognizes the unique calling she has received. As with so many other mothers before and after her, she does not know what joys or sorrows may follow the birth, but she is ready to rejoice in God, her Savior.
It is for Mary that we light this fourth candle. Mary — blessed among women. Mary — the Lord's lowly servant. Mary — who believed that God was about to fulfill the promise made to Abraham so long ago.
[Light the fourth candle.]
December 24 sermon Who are you calling small, Luke 1: 39-45
Why did the nurse carry the red marker? So she could “draw” blood.
What happens when you don’t clean your mirrors? They give you dirty looks.
Alphabet joke “babydoll”.
What are you hoping to be under your tree?? I received the Nieman Marcus catalog and planned on ordering a few things from it for Brandy and Julia. I’m sure you’ve heard of this catalog. I was going to buy the $40k 7ft tall pencil sky scraper. But I decided on the 150 acre Italian fortress for a cool $3.8 million. Unfortunately someone else had already bought it. But I started to think about what I have, and what we have here at the church.
Call down the kids and leaders
This is our Youth Group. This is a great gift we already have that is not under the tree. In a minute we are going to pray over them. Last week I talked about authority. Why are there 3 leaders?? One leader will quickly burn out no matter how dedicated they are. Two leaders can bounce ideas off of and help each other. 3 leaders can make sure they help each other, they lead correctly, and they hold each other accountable for this ministry.
All these kids are under the authority of the leaders above them. If they do something they shouldn’t like making crank calls or walking down the rail road tracks, these leaders have the authority and responsibility to lead them to correction.
And like the kids are under the authority of Melanie, Ed and Mike, these three leaders are under my authority. If there are problems with the youth, they must come to me, their pastor.
If they start to get burned out, they must come to me, their pastor. One reason for this is when someone comes to me and says “Did you hear….” I can honestly say, yes.
But the most important reason is as the pastor of this church, I’m responsible to and under the authority of Almighty God. I must go before God with everything from our church life.
What I want to do now is pray over this youth group. It might cause a little claustrophobia, but I want us to surround them. All of you who have the desire and are able to, please come up now. If you don’t come up, that is fine. Raise up a hand as we pray over them.
Prayer Prayer prayer prayer
Elizabeth says “you are blessed because you believed the Lord would do what he said.” I say that to you today. You are blessed because you believe. What we have in front of us now and what we have received 2000 years ago which we celebrate tomorrow is so much better than anything else we could ever receive.
Now pray with me. Thank you Lord for making us rich in all things that matter…and a lot of other stuff that doesn’t. We have all that we need for today, and even more on top of that. Amen.”
Sunday, December 17, 2006
December 17 sermon What Must We Do Luke 3 Philippians 4
December 17 sermon What Must We Do Luke 3 Philippians 4
Last week I decided I needed to talk to a councilor on authority and what it means to be a leader. I went to this one office complex. As I walked in, on the right there was a door with “Psycho-analyst” on it, and on the left there was a door with “Psychologist” on it. Well since I didn’t know the difference, I counted the letters in the title and with Psychoanalyst having more letters I went in that door. In the next room I was confronted with two more doors. The first said “with a couch” and the second said “without a couch”. Figuring I had come this far and wanted to be comfortable while talking about authority and leadership I went in the “couch” door. There I was confronted with two more doors. The first said “over $200k a year” and the second said “under $200k a year”. Well knowing I won’t be making over $200k this year of next year, I went in the “under $200k” door. There I found myself outside once again.
John the Baptist has more guts than I do. He has a crowd around him and he starts calling them a bunch of snakes. The scum of the earth. I don’t know if I would want to make a crowd of people angry at me by calling them names like that. Who were these crowds??
They were the Pharisees that Jesus railed against. But also, I think these were people like you and me who want to see what’s going on. They wanted to hear what this wild man wearing animal skin was saying. He speaks with authority, even though he doesn’t look like someone we would normally follow.
Most of the time we will follow those who are like us or those who don’t step on our toes too much or make us question ourselves. I’ve heard some men say about their pastors “thank God it’s not a woman”. I’ve heard some women say “Thank God he’s not a commanding authoritative type”. But authority comes from God.
And those we submit to (ooohhh there’s that word we hate to hear…”submit”). Each of us has to submit to our spiritual leader in the church. I have to submit to God himself. God has authority over me and all my actions.
John the Baptist was the same way. He called out this uncommitted crowd and threw them under the bus.
“Who told you to run from the coming destruction?” That is definitely putting them on the spot. Are you coming to listen to me because you are truly repentant of all the things you have done in your past, or are you doing this because it is popular??
It was not too long ago that Scientology was at the top of the religion craze of celebrities and everyone who wanted to be like a celebrity. I’m not sure who started it going, but Madonna seems to have made Kabala a household name. There’s a teller at my bank that has one of those high dollar red strings on his wrist. There’s always a new fad going around.
John is asking the question “are you repentant, or are you just following the crowd?” The people were saying to each other “how can he talk this way. WE are the chosen ones from Abraham. We don’t need to run from any destruction.” But John overheard them.
“Don’t claim Abraham as your father. These stones scattered around my feet might as well be the children of Abraham the way y’all are acting.” What kind of fruit are you producing? The Christian equivalent of “we have Abraham as our father” is “we have Christ as our savior.”
Now, Christ is necessary for salvation, but if you have Christ, you also should produce good fruit. Another way to say it is “I was raised in the church and have been a member of my church all my life”. Just like I heard not too long ago that “Going to church makes you a Christian like going in a garage makes you a car.” True Christianity is in the fruit production.
The ax is at the root of the family tree now. Your roots are where you get your nutrition and the way you are connected to the proper source. Since this crowd has not produced any good fruit, they will be cut down and thrown into the fire. On the other hand, if their roots and your roots are connected to the proper person, good fruit will automatically be produced.
Root can also mean the hidden parts of our lives. It’s that “below the surface” stuff that eyes around us cannot see. The ax isn’t a pruning tool. It’s going straight to the hidden stuff of our lives and kills it right there.
What should we do, the crowd asks. And I love the answer from John. He does not say 1. Go to church every week, 2. Make sure you give exactly 10% of your money to God, 3. Wear the proper clothes to your gatherings, 4. Pray to God 5 times a day.
No…he says “if you have 2 shirts, share with the man who has none. If you have food, give some to the one who doesn’t have any.” He is telling them what a true New Testament church should look like. To the tax collectors, don’t collect more money than is expected of you. To the soldiers, don’t shake down the people to get more money.
What is he telling these people? Be content with your work and your pay if it will support you. Don’t drop everything and quit your job for some spiritual quest. Use the mundane part of your life (that’s usually work) and do what it takes to help others.
What should we do, they ask? There is a big word in that question. It’s WE. It wasn’t individual, but corporal and communal. WE are in this together. What should WE do?
John says to Buck the system. Do things differently than everyone else around you.
Could John be the messiah?? Overhearing their words, John yells out. Wake up, I’m not the messiah. But he is coming. He is greater and stronger than me, and I am not worthy to untie his sandals. Untying sandals and washing feet was a menial task suited only for slaves, yet John says he is not worthy to be a slave of the coming Messiah, Jesus.
John understood the authority given to him. He had authority to step on the toes of those people around him. But one greater than John with authority over him was coming. And when Jesus comes, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Just like we talked about last week, those who are righteous will sense the comfort of the Spirit. Those who are unrighteous will experience the cleansing fire.
So what is left…and listen carefully because John says this is the Good News. In Verse 17, Jesus has the fork in hand ready to gather the wheat into the barn. The farmer takes the fork, scoops up a bunch of hay and throws it up in the air. All the chaff, the useless stuff (yes I said useless) gets separated out and blown away from the pile of wheat, and then gets thrown in the fire. The heavy stuff of actual substance stays and gets put in the barn for real use. John is saying the same for us.
If there is real spiritual substance in our lives, we will stay in the barn and be of good use. If our spiritual life is all fluff with no substance, it will be blown straight to the fire.
What should we do today? Have substance in our spiritual lives and how we live that life out. It’s not just having Christ, it’s living Christ. Show unity and be of one mind in following the mission of the church. And what is the mission of the church? To make disciples of Jesus Christ. The spiritual authority above us must be true and must be followed. And we should look to John. Share with those who have none. Give to those who need, without hesitation.
John was the voice calling out from the wilderness, and now Jesus has come. Tonight we will be going thru the whole story. Prophecies fulfilled. An era of grace comes upon us. And a baby is born, who must have authority over all of us. And we submit to his will, to share the Good News. And it is Good News indeed.
Last week I decided I needed to talk to a councilor on authority and what it means to be a leader. I went to this one office complex. As I walked in, on the right there was a door with “Psycho-analyst” on it, and on the left there was a door with “Psychologist” on it. Well since I didn’t know the difference, I counted the letters in the title and with Psychoanalyst having more letters I went in that door. In the next room I was confronted with two more doors. The first said “with a couch” and the second said “without a couch”. Figuring I had come this far and wanted to be comfortable while talking about authority and leadership I went in the “couch” door. There I was confronted with two more doors. The first said “over $200k a year” and the second said “under $200k a year”. Well knowing I won’t be making over $200k this year of next year, I went in the “under $200k” door. There I found myself outside once again.
John the Baptist has more guts than I do. He has a crowd around him and he starts calling them a bunch of snakes. The scum of the earth. I don’t know if I would want to make a crowd of people angry at me by calling them names like that. Who were these crowds??
They were the Pharisees that Jesus railed against. But also, I think these were people like you and me who want to see what’s going on. They wanted to hear what this wild man wearing animal skin was saying. He speaks with authority, even though he doesn’t look like someone we would normally follow.
Most of the time we will follow those who are like us or those who don’t step on our toes too much or make us question ourselves. I’ve heard some men say about their pastors “thank God it’s not a woman”. I’ve heard some women say “Thank God he’s not a commanding authoritative type”. But authority comes from God.
And those we submit to (ooohhh there’s that word we hate to hear…”submit”). Each of us has to submit to our spiritual leader in the church. I have to submit to God himself. God has authority over me and all my actions.
John the Baptist was the same way. He called out this uncommitted crowd and threw them under the bus.
“Who told you to run from the coming destruction?” That is definitely putting them on the spot. Are you coming to listen to me because you are truly repentant of all the things you have done in your past, or are you doing this because it is popular??
It was not too long ago that Scientology was at the top of the religion craze of celebrities and everyone who wanted to be like a celebrity. I’m not sure who started it going, but Madonna seems to have made Kabala a household name. There’s a teller at my bank that has one of those high dollar red strings on his wrist. There’s always a new fad going around.
John is asking the question “are you repentant, or are you just following the crowd?” The people were saying to each other “how can he talk this way. WE are the chosen ones from Abraham. We don’t need to run from any destruction.” But John overheard them.
“Don’t claim Abraham as your father. These stones scattered around my feet might as well be the children of Abraham the way y’all are acting.” What kind of fruit are you producing? The Christian equivalent of “we have Abraham as our father” is “we have Christ as our savior.”
Now, Christ is necessary for salvation, but if you have Christ, you also should produce good fruit. Another way to say it is “I was raised in the church and have been a member of my church all my life”. Just like I heard not too long ago that “Going to church makes you a Christian like going in a garage makes you a car.” True Christianity is in the fruit production.
The ax is at the root of the family tree now. Your roots are where you get your nutrition and the way you are connected to the proper source. Since this crowd has not produced any good fruit, they will be cut down and thrown into the fire. On the other hand, if their roots and your roots are connected to the proper person, good fruit will automatically be produced.
Root can also mean the hidden parts of our lives. It’s that “below the surface” stuff that eyes around us cannot see. The ax isn’t a pruning tool. It’s going straight to the hidden stuff of our lives and kills it right there.
What should we do, the crowd asks. And I love the answer from John. He does not say 1. Go to church every week, 2. Make sure you give exactly 10% of your money to God, 3. Wear the proper clothes to your gatherings, 4. Pray to God 5 times a day.
No…he says “if you have 2 shirts, share with the man who has none. If you have food, give some to the one who doesn’t have any.” He is telling them what a true New Testament church should look like. To the tax collectors, don’t collect more money than is expected of you. To the soldiers, don’t shake down the people to get more money.
What is he telling these people? Be content with your work and your pay if it will support you. Don’t drop everything and quit your job for some spiritual quest. Use the mundane part of your life (that’s usually work) and do what it takes to help others.
What should we do, they ask? There is a big word in that question. It’s WE. It wasn’t individual, but corporal and communal. WE are in this together. What should WE do?
John says to Buck the system. Do things differently than everyone else around you.
Could John be the messiah?? Overhearing their words, John yells out. Wake up, I’m not the messiah. But he is coming. He is greater and stronger than me, and I am not worthy to untie his sandals. Untying sandals and washing feet was a menial task suited only for slaves, yet John says he is not worthy to be a slave of the coming Messiah, Jesus.
John understood the authority given to him. He had authority to step on the toes of those people around him. But one greater than John with authority over him was coming. And when Jesus comes, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Just like we talked about last week, those who are righteous will sense the comfort of the Spirit. Those who are unrighteous will experience the cleansing fire.
So what is left…and listen carefully because John says this is the Good News. In Verse 17, Jesus has the fork in hand ready to gather the wheat into the barn. The farmer takes the fork, scoops up a bunch of hay and throws it up in the air. All the chaff, the useless stuff (yes I said useless) gets separated out and blown away from the pile of wheat, and then gets thrown in the fire. The heavy stuff of actual substance stays and gets put in the barn for real use. John is saying the same for us.
If there is real spiritual substance in our lives, we will stay in the barn and be of good use. If our spiritual life is all fluff with no substance, it will be blown straight to the fire.
What should we do today? Have substance in our spiritual lives and how we live that life out. It’s not just having Christ, it’s living Christ. Show unity and be of one mind in following the mission of the church. And what is the mission of the church? To make disciples of Jesus Christ. The spiritual authority above us must be true and must be followed. And we should look to John. Share with those who have none. Give to those who need, without hesitation.
John was the voice calling out from the wilderness, and now Jesus has come. Tonight we will be going thru the whole story. Prophecies fulfilled. An era of grace comes upon us. And a baby is born, who must have authority over all of us. And we submit to his will, to share the Good News. And it is Good News indeed.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
December 10 sermon and Advent lighting reading
December 10 Advent candle lighting reading
[Light the first candle on the Advent wreath.]
"Blessed be the Lord God, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, saying…
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins" (Luke 1:68-70, 76-77, NRSV).
God chooses the most unlikely messengers… …a desert wild-man dressed in animal skins and eating locusts and wild honey … a poor shepherd, shunned by polite society, keeping silent watch in the fields … or today perhaps a school teacher, a waitress, a plumber, a laborer … or even a … child
Jesus comes, not just to those of us in [your church's name or city], but even to those in New York, Beverly Hills, Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, North Korea. Jesus comes to us in the words of a preacher and in the song of a choir, but also in the siren of an ambulance, in a letter opened in a prison cell, in a visit to a nursing home, and in the smile — or cry — of a child.
[Light the second candle on the Advent wreath.]
December 10 sermon – Love overflowing
Did you hear….The Energizer Bunny got arrested last week. He was sighted for Battery.
Paul and I were walking in the woods the other day when we came up on a bear. Turning to run, Paul looked down and saw me tying my shoe laces. “What are you doing?” he screamed. I said “I don’t have to outrun the bear, just you.”
Malichi is a short interesting prophet to read. He is preaching at a time when the temple has been rebuilt, but the people were not acting the way they should. Malichi is one of those prophets from the OT that no one wanted to hear. He was speaking for God.
The people thought they were doing just fine, but oh Malichi set them straight. He prophecies…I will send my messenger before me. That’s John the Baptist. Who would have thought that a guy wearing animal hide and eating wild honey and bugs would me a messenger for God.
You see those cartoons with the guy standing on the street corner with a sign saying “THE END IS NEAR”. I would think both him and John are a little crazy.
You see, the people in the OT were holding back some of their tithe money. The Lord says “You’ve been holding back.
Give 10% or the first fruits of whatever you make and I will show you a blessing.” The people were holding back on their sacrifices. Sacrifices were supposed to be a young healthy animals with no defects. The people were sacrificing the scrawny, puny animals they wanted to get rid of. And the people were not helping those around them. But we will get to that soon.
Malichi says “the messiah is coming. Look busy…here comes Jesus”. But then his next sentence strikes fear in many people. “He will purify you and cleanse you with fire and Fullers soap”.
Has anyone used Fuller’s soap before?? RAISE YOUR HAND. I bet you have. They have been in business for years making specialty soaps for B&Bs and hotels usually with custom made labeling.
Look at that…you get a bible lesson and a business lesson at the same time.
Jesus is coming back soon he says. Jesus will come to purify us with fire and cleanse us with soap. Have you ever seen those documentaries where the heat up the silver or gold to outrageous temps and then skim the scum off the top?
Have you ever heard how hot Hell is going to be? Have you ever felt that the pain and trials you are going thru is like going thru hell? Have you heard that song from Rodney Atkins?? “If you’re going thru hell, keep on moving. Don’t slow down.”
God looks at our lives and says “you know what….we need to turn up the heat a little”. I saw the other day a guy in a three piece suit, shiny shoes, all decked out. He was in a group of other men, similarly dressed. This guys was saying he had just written a check to his church for $10k and boy that was a great thing I did.
I started to think though…who cares. Oh my gosh someone is about to fall out of the pew. The pastor isn’t asking for money and doesn’t care about the $10k check.
Don’t get me wrong. I would love for someone to write the church a check for $10k-$20k-$30k. I would love for someone to come up and say “hey…I want to build a new building over here for you to use. Or I want to help you start a sister church in another location.”
All that would be great. The problem was the attitude of this man who gave the $$. He was like the Pharisees Jesus was always complaining about, standing on the street corner proclaiming how great they are. They needed to hear the song “How Great Thou Art”.
What does the Lord say? “Your going thru the fire. Trails-temptation-pain-heartache. It’s coming. If your motives are pure and your heart is right, you will come thru looking like gold. If your motives not pure and heart is dark, you will make it thru the fire with little anything but the clothes on your back and they will smell like smoke and have burn holes all thru them.”
But all thru it, God will find that spot of pure righteousness in you, no matter how big or small it is. The smaller it is, the more painful the fire and correction will be.
Wait a minute pastor. Your sounding like those prosperity preachers like Benny Hinn and Joel Olsteen. Are you saying if I have enough faith, I won’t go thru trials? Oh how I wish that were true. I am saying, without God you won’t make it thru the trials.
Oct 30, 2004, 10 year old Erin Browning lay in a bed barely able to breath because of the cancer that was ravaging her body. Starting from the toes of her left foot all the way up to the top of her head, she was riddled with cancer. It was 3 years earlier on September 11th 2001 she was diagnosed with the cancer.
Erin was 6 years old when she prayed to receive Christ as her savior; She was 7 when she was diagnosed with cancer;
She was 8 when she was traveling to area churches to give her testimony. There was a time when the cancer went away and they all called it a miracle. The cancer came back later. Laurie, her mom, asked for prayers and looked for hope.
Sometimes, she had questions I think all of us have in times of pain “what’s going on here. I feel like I’m all alone.” But her worship never changed. Her love for Jesus remained constant even though she questioned what was going on. It was a raw and rare faith, and very inspiring.
Casting Crowns wrote “Praise you in the storm” in honor of Erin. The Chorus goes “and I’ll praise you in the storm, and I will lift my hands, for you are who you are, no matter where I am, and every tear I cry, you hold in your hands, you never left my side, and though my heart is torn, I will praise you in this storm.
It’s the perfect song, for no matter how hard your troubles are and no matter how far down you go, God is there.
And that is what Paul writes to the Philipians. Paul was in chains and preaching to the guards. He was in chains and preaching to the Governor. I would say that’s pretty far down, yet Paul kept on praising Jesus’ name.
And Paul for the Philipians like Malichi for the Israelites, he was looking for their love for others to be deeper and stronger than any other love so when they went thru the refining fire on the day that Jesus Christ came back in victory, they would be seen as righteous.
Malichi and Paul are speaking against the adulterers, those who defraud their workers, perjurers, those who oppress the widows and fatherless, and those who do not fear the Lord.
Paul sums it up nicely. He says “I want you to be filled with the fruit of righteousness so that the one who began the good work in you will carry it on to completion.” Talk about your love for Jesus Christ every day, give to the needy every day, bring canned food for the food bank next week, go to the senior center and help out, deliver meals on wheels, visit the shut ins, call the person who did not show up for church today.
I tell you now. I think my God every day for you every day when I pray. In all my prayers for all of you I pray with joy because of your partnership in the preaching of the Word of God with me. And I know, that the one who began this good work in you will complete it so on that day when Jesus comes back he will look you in the eyes and say “well done, good and faithful servant.”
If there is anyone who doesn’t understand the good work before them, or who sees their past offerings as the sludge that’s skimmed off the top of the gold, or who doesn’t know the love and passion of God underlying their current pain and wants to pray about it now, come on up to the alter rail during this last hymn.
[Light the first candle on the Advent wreath.]
"Blessed be the Lord God, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, saying…
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins" (Luke 1:68-70, 76-77, NRSV).
God chooses the most unlikely messengers… …a desert wild-man dressed in animal skins and eating locusts and wild honey … a poor shepherd, shunned by polite society, keeping silent watch in the fields … or today perhaps a school teacher, a waitress, a plumber, a laborer … or even a … child
Jesus comes, not just to those of us in [your church's name or city], but even to those in New York, Beverly Hills, Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, North Korea. Jesus comes to us in the words of a preacher and in the song of a choir, but also in the siren of an ambulance, in a letter opened in a prison cell, in a visit to a nursing home, and in the smile — or cry — of a child.
[Light the second candle on the Advent wreath.]
December 10 sermon – Love overflowing
Did you hear….The Energizer Bunny got arrested last week. He was sighted for Battery.
Paul and I were walking in the woods the other day when we came up on a bear. Turning to run, Paul looked down and saw me tying my shoe laces. “What are you doing?” he screamed. I said “I don’t have to outrun the bear, just you.”
Malichi is a short interesting prophet to read. He is preaching at a time when the temple has been rebuilt, but the people were not acting the way they should. Malichi is one of those prophets from the OT that no one wanted to hear. He was speaking for God.
The people thought they were doing just fine, but oh Malichi set them straight. He prophecies…I will send my messenger before me. That’s John the Baptist. Who would have thought that a guy wearing animal hide and eating wild honey and bugs would me a messenger for God.
You see those cartoons with the guy standing on the street corner with a sign saying “THE END IS NEAR”. I would think both him and John are a little crazy.
You see, the people in the OT were holding back some of their tithe money. The Lord says “You’ve been holding back.
Give 10% or the first fruits of whatever you make and I will show you a blessing.” The people were holding back on their sacrifices. Sacrifices were supposed to be a young healthy animals with no defects. The people were sacrificing the scrawny, puny animals they wanted to get rid of. And the people were not helping those around them. But we will get to that soon.
Malichi says “the messiah is coming. Look busy…here comes Jesus”. But then his next sentence strikes fear in many people. “He will purify you and cleanse you with fire and Fullers soap”.
Has anyone used Fuller’s soap before?? RAISE YOUR HAND. I bet you have. They have been in business for years making specialty soaps for B&Bs and hotels usually with custom made labeling.
Look at that…you get a bible lesson and a business lesson at the same time.
Jesus is coming back soon he says. Jesus will come to purify us with fire and cleanse us with soap. Have you ever seen those documentaries where the heat up the silver or gold to outrageous temps and then skim the scum off the top?
Have you ever heard how hot Hell is going to be? Have you ever felt that the pain and trials you are going thru is like going thru hell? Have you heard that song from Rodney Atkins?? “If you’re going thru hell, keep on moving. Don’t slow down.”
God looks at our lives and says “you know what….we need to turn up the heat a little”. I saw the other day a guy in a three piece suit, shiny shoes, all decked out. He was in a group of other men, similarly dressed. This guys was saying he had just written a check to his church for $10k and boy that was a great thing I did.
I started to think though…who cares. Oh my gosh someone is about to fall out of the pew. The pastor isn’t asking for money and doesn’t care about the $10k check.
Don’t get me wrong. I would love for someone to write the church a check for $10k-$20k-$30k. I would love for someone to come up and say “hey…I want to build a new building over here for you to use. Or I want to help you start a sister church in another location.”
All that would be great. The problem was the attitude of this man who gave the $$. He was like the Pharisees Jesus was always complaining about, standing on the street corner proclaiming how great they are. They needed to hear the song “How Great Thou Art”.
What does the Lord say? “Your going thru the fire. Trails-temptation-pain-heartache. It’s coming. If your motives are pure and your heart is right, you will come thru looking like gold. If your motives not pure and heart is dark, you will make it thru the fire with little anything but the clothes on your back and they will smell like smoke and have burn holes all thru them.”
But all thru it, God will find that spot of pure righteousness in you, no matter how big or small it is. The smaller it is, the more painful the fire and correction will be.
Wait a minute pastor. Your sounding like those prosperity preachers like Benny Hinn and Joel Olsteen. Are you saying if I have enough faith, I won’t go thru trials? Oh how I wish that were true. I am saying, without God you won’t make it thru the trials.
Oct 30, 2004, 10 year old Erin Browning lay in a bed barely able to breath because of the cancer that was ravaging her body. Starting from the toes of her left foot all the way up to the top of her head, she was riddled with cancer. It was 3 years earlier on September 11th 2001 she was diagnosed with the cancer.
Erin was 6 years old when she prayed to receive Christ as her savior; She was 7 when she was diagnosed with cancer;
She was 8 when she was traveling to area churches to give her testimony. There was a time when the cancer went away and they all called it a miracle. The cancer came back later. Laurie, her mom, asked for prayers and looked for hope.
Sometimes, she had questions I think all of us have in times of pain “what’s going on here. I feel like I’m all alone.” But her worship never changed. Her love for Jesus remained constant even though she questioned what was going on. It was a raw and rare faith, and very inspiring.
Casting Crowns wrote “Praise you in the storm” in honor of Erin. The Chorus goes “and I’ll praise you in the storm, and I will lift my hands, for you are who you are, no matter where I am, and every tear I cry, you hold in your hands, you never left my side, and though my heart is torn, I will praise you in this storm.
It’s the perfect song, for no matter how hard your troubles are and no matter how far down you go, God is there.
And that is what Paul writes to the Philipians. Paul was in chains and preaching to the guards. He was in chains and preaching to the Governor. I would say that’s pretty far down, yet Paul kept on praising Jesus’ name.
And Paul for the Philipians like Malichi for the Israelites, he was looking for their love for others to be deeper and stronger than any other love so when they went thru the refining fire on the day that Jesus Christ came back in victory, they would be seen as righteous.
Malichi and Paul are speaking against the adulterers, those who defraud their workers, perjurers, those who oppress the widows and fatherless, and those who do not fear the Lord.
Paul sums it up nicely. He says “I want you to be filled with the fruit of righteousness so that the one who began the good work in you will carry it on to completion.” Talk about your love for Jesus Christ every day, give to the needy every day, bring canned food for the food bank next week, go to the senior center and help out, deliver meals on wheels, visit the shut ins, call the person who did not show up for church today.
I tell you now. I think my God every day for you every day when I pray. In all my prayers for all of you I pray with joy because of your partnership in the preaching of the Word of God with me. And I know, that the one who began this good work in you will complete it so on that day when Jesus comes back he will look you in the eyes and say “well done, good and faithful servant.”
If there is anyone who doesn’t understand the good work before them, or who sees their past offerings as the sludge that’s skimmed off the top of the gold, or who doesn’t know the love and passion of God underlying their current pain and wants to pray about it now, come on up to the alter rail during this last hymn.
some great sites
I thought i would post some sites I keep bookmarked. Some people will like them; some people will hate them; some people will say "why in the world would he look at a site like that". There is a reason. email me and ask if you need further information :o)
http://www.off-the-map.org/ This is a site about evangelism thru the back door...basically. There is no in your face, Billy Graham (I love BG) fire and brimstone talking. Read some of the posts.
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/ Very insightful. not biblical, but not expected to be.
http://headrush.typepad.com/ Some of her posts are about programming, but title of "Creating Passionate Users" tells it all. In anything you are marketing, passionate users will sell it. related: www.churchmartketingsucks.com
http://www.lifehacker.com/ great information to make life more productive if not easier.
Check these out. get back to me with any others you like.
-Pastor Sean
PS...funny comment. Someone replied to one of my sermons with "GET A LIFE". I thought I had a life. More life than posting comments that make no sense :o)
http://www.off-the-map.org/ This is a site about evangelism thru the back door...basically. There is no in your face, Billy Graham (I love BG) fire and brimstone talking. Read some of the posts.
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/ Very insightful. not biblical, but not expected to be.
http://headrush.typepad.com/ Some of her posts are about programming, but title of "Creating Passionate Users" tells it all. In anything you are marketing, passionate users will sell it. related: www.churchmartketingsucks.com
http://www.lifehacker.com/ great information to make life more productive if not easier.
Check these out. get back to me with any others you like.
-Pastor Sean
PS...funny comment. Someone replied to one of my sermons with "GET A LIFE". I thought I had a life. More life than posting comments that make no sense :o)
Friday, December 01, 2006
November 26 sermon The King Revelation 1:4-8
Have you ever felt beaten down, hard on your luck, pushed to the edge of the cliff and then pushed over?? You look at the world today and see pain and hardship. I rarely watch the news anymore, because the saying is true “if it bleeds it leads.”
Maybe you don’t have to watch the news to see the pain in life. You look next door to a family that is struggling to make it. You see a few houses down signs of abuse or neglect. Down the pews you see the years worn on someone’s face. Inside your house, those same signs of your hard life are right in front of you.
How do you reconcile the “fruits of the spirit” with the pain your feeling right now?? Peace, Patience, kindness, gentleness, self-respect, compassion, humility. And that big one which can easily escape us when going thru these pains….JOY.
The people John wrote Revelation to are just like this. They were going thru some major persecution. It was written to encourage and inspire Christians under Roman persecution to endure and remain faithful during the time of tribulation.
To help with both the internal battles between personal faithfulness and abandonment of faith and the external battles waged by a culture out of control, threatened by unenlighted leaders and pagan values. Does that remind you of any other time in recent history...
You see, at the end of the 1st century, it was illegal to be a Christian. It was a time of chaos in which the promise of safety and security believed to be a result of faith could only be achieved by abandoning the faith, or by living a double life. Kind of like a double agent in the CIA.
It is here that John offers his vision of hope.
All throughout Revelation, John uses numbers and imagery to weave a web that Christians will be happy to run in to. “Grace and peace to you” is the greeting from John.
Grace is the standard gentile greeting. Peace or shalom is the standard Jewish greeting. This was no ordinary greeting. This grace and peace is from a special source “who is, and who was and who is to come”.
What does this statement mean to you?? “The one who is and who was and who is to come”. PAUSE
God is not some temporal being out there holding the spinning basketball of life on his finger, every once in a while giving it another push to keep it going. What can be more important than a relationship of grace and peace with this God??
In the beginning of life is God. In the middle of life is God. In the end of life is God. This is a focus on your life and the one who is in the middle of it with you. This is a promise of engagement. God is not an absent being who has no interest in our life. My dad once said, “My little problems don’t matter much to God when he has a whole world of much bigger problems to take care of.” That’s not true. God is personal and loving.
This greeting is also from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. Witness can also be translated as martyr. Jesus was crucified for the truth. He is faithful so we can trust he will always be there for us. Jesus is also the firstborn of the dead. John is affirming that those who died for the truth will rise again just as Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus is also “ruler of the kings of the earth”. The king Israel had hoped for would be superior to all other kings. He would rule over all the earth. Christians saw that honor bestowed on Jesus. This is some elaborate imagery of court and kings and rulers.
John shifts gears a little now. “To him who loves us…” Jesus really loves us. There is a new show on TV called “Ugly Betty”. When ugly Betty walks by some construction workers and gets whistled at, she stops and says “me?? You’re whistling at me??” It’s kind of like that.
Even with all the ugliness in our life, Jesus still loves us. He loves us and he releases us from the punishment we deserve because of our sins. How does he do that?? John tells us here it’s by his blood. Jesus shed his blood to wash away the sins of those who confess him as savior and make us clean.
Christ has made us a ‘kingdom of priest’. Notice that it does not say there are certain people who are the priest (or in some translations ministers). We are all called to be kings and priest for God. What does that mean for us?
The saints (that’s you and me) are made kings; given a kingdom of grace. We have power and authority given to us over the sin in our lives, and over Satan. We will live in this world, but will soon be clothed in righteousness with kingly garments to sit on a throne with Christ, reign with Christ in the new Kingdom, and at last be introduced into the kingdom of glory. That is how we are kings.
We are also priest in that we lift up spiritual sacrifices of prayers and praises, of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and even our own souls and bodies as a holy and living sacrifice.
Look he is coming on the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all those on earth will mourn. It’s a bird, it’s a plane. It’s….wait a minute. That’s not Superman. It seems that there are many people more apt to believe in Superman than in Jesus Christ being God.
Look at the shows on TV. Heroes is about people who have some sort of genetic changes and now have special powers. The 4400 is about 4400 people who were abducted by the future and sent back to our time to save the world. Smallville is about Superman when he was young. America’s Next Top Model is about people who can eat three crackers a day and then walk a straight line down the runway on Saturday.
When Christ comes back in final victory, those who persecuted Jesus and his followers, will see what wrong they did. Everyone on earth will be mourning because they will see the sin in their lives and how they are not worthy to be with Jesus.
But that mourning will turn to joy for us as Christians because the sin in our lives is washed away by the blood he shed for us.
The Lord then says “I am the Alpha and Omega”. In the beginning: God. In the end: God. In the middle of my life and yours: God. These are not exactly statements about time and space, but more about hope and trust.
What kind of God is this? God is the one who tells you “The worst is over.” To those hurting whose lives are marked by pain and fear, by weakness and oppression and injustice. TO those whose lives are marked by terror of the now and uncertainties of the future.
To those and to us, to you, God offers a brand new life. What God has to say in this letter is that no matter what comes against you in this life, no matter if all the power of pain and chaos seem to attack you all at once, no matter if you cannot control one single thing in your life, the worst is over and the healing has begun.
The lamb is on the throne. From beginning to end, he is here for you.
Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14
9As I watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took his throne, his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and its wheels were burning fire. 10A stream of fire issued and flowed out from his presence. A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.
13As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. 14To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.
Revelation 1: 4-8
4John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. 8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Maybe you don’t have to watch the news to see the pain in life. You look next door to a family that is struggling to make it. You see a few houses down signs of abuse or neglect. Down the pews you see the years worn on someone’s face. Inside your house, those same signs of your hard life are right in front of you.
How do you reconcile the “fruits of the spirit” with the pain your feeling right now?? Peace, Patience, kindness, gentleness, self-respect, compassion, humility. And that big one which can easily escape us when going thru these pains….JOY.
The people John wrote Revelation to are just like this. They were going thru some major persecution. It was written to encourage and inspire Christians under Roman persecution to endure and remain faithful during the time of tribulation.
To help with both the internal battles between personal faithfulness and abandonment of faith and the external battles waged by a culture out of control, threatened by unenlighted leaders and pagan values. Does that remind you of any other time in recent history...
You see, at the end of the 1st century, it was illegal to be a Christian. It was a time of chaos in which the promise of safety and security believed to be a result of faith could only be achieved by abandoning the faith, or by living a double life. Kind of like a double agent in the CIA.
It is here that John offers his vision of hope.
All throughout Revelation, John uses numbers and imagery to weave a web that Christians will be happy to run in to. “Grace and peace to you” is the greeting from John.
Grace is the standard gentile greeting. Peace or shalom is the standard Jewish greeting. This was no ordinary greeting. This grace and peace is from a special source “who is, and who was and who is to come”.
What does this statement mean to you?? “The one who is and who was and who is to come”. PAUSE
God is not some temporal being out there holding the spinning basketball of life on his finger, every once in a while giving it another push to keep it going. What can be more important than a relationship of grace and peace with this God??
In the beginning of life is God. In the middle of life is God. In the end of life is God. This is a focus on your life and the one who is in the middle of it with you. This is a promise of engagement. God is not an absent being who has no interest in our life. My dad once said, “My little problems don’t matter much to God when he has a whole world of much bigger problems to take care of.” That’s not true. God is personal and loving.
This greeting is also from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. Witness can also be translated as martyr. Jesus was crucified for the truth. He is faithful so we can trust he will always be there for us. Jesus is also the firstborn of the dead. John is affirming that those who died for the truth will rise again just as Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus is also “ruler of the kings of the earth”. The king Israel had hoped for would be superior to all other kings. He would rule over all the earth. Christians saw that honor bestowed on Jesus. This is some elaborate imagery of court and kings and rulers.
John shifts gears a little now. “To him who loves us…” Jesus really loves us. There is a new show on TV called “Ugly Betty”. When ugly Betty walks by some construction workers and gets whistled at, she stops and says “me?? You’re whistling at me??” It’s kind of like that.
Even with all the ugliness in our life, Jesus still loves us. He loves us and he releases us from the punishment we deserve because of our sins. How does he do that?? John tells us here it’s by his blood. Jesus shed his blood to wash away the sins of those who confess him as savior and make us clean.
Christ has made us a ‘kingdom of priest’. Notice that it does not say there are certain people who are the priest (or in some translations ministers). We are all called to be kings and priest for God. What does that mean for us?
The saints (that’s you and me) are made kings; given a kingdom of grace. We have power and authority given to us over the sin in our lives, and over Satan. We will live in this world, but will soon be clothed in righteousness with kingly garments to sit on a throne with Christ, reign with Christ in the new Kingdom, and at last be introduced into the kingdom of glory. That is how we are kings.
We are also priest in that we lift up spiritual sacrifices of prayers and praises, of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and even our own souls and bodies as a holy and living sacrifice.
Look he is coming on the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all those on earth will mourn. It’s a bird, it’s a plane. It’s….wait a minute. That’s not Superman. It seems that there are many people more apt to believe in Superman than in Jesus Christ being God.
Look at the shows on TV. Heroes is about people who have some sort of genetic changes and now have special powers. The 4400 is about 4400 people who were abducted by the future and sent back to our time to save the world. Smallville is about Superman when he was young. America’s Next Top Model is about people who can eat three crackers a day and then walk a straight line down the runway on Saturday.
When Christ comes back in final victory, those who persecuted Jesus and his followers, will see what wrong they did. Everyone on earth will be mourning because they will see the sin in their lives and how they are not worthy to be with Jesus.
But that mourning will turn to joy for us as Christians because the sin in our lives is washed away by the blood he shed for us.
The Lord then says “I am the Alpha and Omega”. In the beginning: God. In the end: God. In the middle of my life and yours: God. These are not exactly statements about time and space, but more about hope and trust.
What kind of God is this? God is the one who tells you “The worst is over.” To those hurting whose lives are marked by pain and fear, by weakness and oppression and injustice. TO those whose lives are marked by terror of the now and uncertainties of the future.
To those and to us, to you, God offers a brand new life. What God has to say in this letter is that no matter what comes against you in this life, no matter if all the power of pain and chaos seem to attack you all at once, no matter if you cannot control one single thing in your life, the worst is over and the healing has begun.
The lamb is on the throne. From beginning to end, he is here for you.
Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14
9As I watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took his throne, his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and its wheels were burning fire. 10A stream of fire issued and flowed out from his presence. A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.
13As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. 14To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.
Revelation 1: 4-8
4John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. 8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Urgent - Major affect on Churches in America
DISCLAIMER: Please read the following article VERY CAREFULLY before you do anything at all. There is more going on here than meets the eye. You have been forewarned. - kg ** URGENT by Keith Giles As most of us are aware, there is a new Congress in session at the moment. With this new influx of Congressmen and Senators will no doubt come a changing of the guard that will require us as Christians to be vigilant as never before. This is why today's [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] is so critical for each of us. I'm tempted to ask everyone one of you to read what I write here and to forward this to EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK right away. (Especially if you "really" love Jesus). But, what I'm about to tell you is SO ALARMING, it could seriously threaten Church in America forever. There is new legislation in motion, at the earliest possible stage, which I need to let everyone know about now before it gets out of our control. First, many of you are already aware that there are forces out there that threaten to take away the non-profit status of Christian Churches in America whenever messages of a political nature are delivered from the pulpit. As desperate as this is, there is a new development brewing now that is even worse.
\n\nThere are people who want to propose legislation that would challenge the non-profit status of any Christian Church simply based on whether or not that Church actually gives a significant percentage of its funds back to the community, as most other "non-religious" non-profits are required to do.\n\n\nWHAT THIS MEANS is that your church could be in danger of losing its non-profit status simply because none of the tithe money goes to help out those poor families who live around the community. EVEN IF THEY DON\'T ATTEND YOUR CHURCH!\n\n\nOf course, there are plenty of churches in America that do care for the poor in their community. They pass out free groceries, they provide free oil changes for single Moms, they host after-school programs for kids in the area at no-charge, etc. Churches who are already "giving back" to the community in this way and serving others the way Jesus would would have NOTHING TO FEAR!\n\n\nHowever, if a church in the community were to spend 70%, 80%, or even 99% of its tithe on itself, it would be in danger of losing that non-profit status and would have to pay taxes JUST LIKE ALL OTHER LARGE CORPORATIONS. \n\n\nThis means that a church spending most of the tithe for salaries, or a new building, or the new flat-screen plasma televisions for the announcements in the nursery, or the Starbucks Coffee bar at the back of the Church, or the new carpet, etc., would have to justify their non-profit status on the basis of whether or not they were actually performing any actual "service" to the poor around them. If they couldn\'t demonstrate a tangible connection between their church and the community around them, their non-profit status would be revoked forever!\n\n\nREGARDLESS OF THE FACT that Matthew 25 suggests that Jesus takes our concern for the outcast seriously, this attack on the non-profit status of our big, fat American churches is just NOT FAIR!\n\n\nWe\'ve earned the right to collect as many hundreds of thousands of dollars as we like in the name of Jesus and it should be totally up to us how we spend that money. Especially if it\'s for our own needs, wants and desires. \n",1]
);
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There are people who want to propose legislation that would challenge the non-profit status of any Christian Church simply based on whether or not that Church actually gives a significant percentage of its funds back to the community, as most other "non-religious" non-profits are required to do. WHAT THIS MEANS is that your church could be in danger of losing its non-profit status simply because none of the tithe money goes to help out those poor families who live around the community. EVEN IF THEY DON'T ATTEND YOUR CHURCH! Of course, there are plenty of churches in America that do care for the poor in their community. They pass out free groceries, they provide free oil changes for single Moms, they host after-school programs for kids in the area at no-charge, etc. Churches who are already "giving back" to the community in this way and serving others the way Jesus would would have NOTHING TO FEAR! However, if a church in the community were to spend 70%, 80%, or even 99% of its tithe on itself, it would be in danger of losing that non-profit status and would have to pay taxes JUST LIKE ALL OTHER LARGE CORPORATIONS. This means that a church spending most of the tithe for salaries, or a new building, or the new flat-screen plasma televisions for the announcements in the nursery, or the Starbucks Coffee bar at the back of the Church, or the new carpet, etc., would have to justify their non-profit status on the basis of whether or not they were actually performing any actual "service" to the poor around them. If they couldn't demonstrate a tangible connection between their church and the community around them, their non-profit status would be revoked forever! REGARDLESS OF THE FACT that Matthew 25 suggests that Jesus takes our concern for the outcast seriously, this attack on the non-profit status of our big, fat American churches is just NOT FAIR! We've earned the right to collect as many hundreds of thousands of dollars as we like in the name of Jesus and it should be totally up to us how we spend that money. Especially if it's for our own needs, wants and desires.
\n\nJust because we\'re not really involved in the needs of the poor around us, the Church SHOULDN\'T BE PUNISHED IN THIS WAY.\n\n\nRegardless of the fact that the Church in America HAS THE POWER and the ECONOMIC RESOURCES necessary provide affordable housing, long-term community development, and primary health care to everyone who needs it, the US Government should NOT be the one to force this upon us through legal means. That should be left up to a Higher Power. \n\n\nEven though Universal primary education would cost $8 billion a year, which is about half of what parents in the US spend annually on toys for their children, this has nothing to do with those of us who are called by the name of the One who humbled Himself and surrendered His life to demonstrate the compassion of God to the World, and especially to the least and the lost.\n\n\nSo, if you want to protect your church from this kind of judgement, I urge you to write to your pastors, your elders, your deacons and your church leaders and let them know how you feel about this very serious issue that faces the modern Church in America.\n\n\nWe, the Church in America, are dangerously close to the SIN OF SODOM!\n\n\nDo you know what the Sin of Sodom is? Read Ezekiel 16: 49. (HINT: It\'s not what you think). \n\n\n"Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen."\n\n\nObviously, the issue facing the Church in America today is WAY MORE SERIOUS THAN SIMPLY OUR NON-PROFIT STATUS! If the Church were to rise up and spend their money this way, THAT WOULD BE AN AWESOME THING, and yes, a lot of people would probably stop calling us hypocrites and maybe they\'d take us seriously when we tell them that Jesus loves them, because we\'ve demonstrated that just maybe we love them too.\n\n\nAs you may have guessed, this legislation IS TOTALLY FICITIOUS! I have made up the entire thing with the help of my good friend Jarred Rowland who first suggested the concept to me. \n",1]
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Just because we're not really involved in the needs of the poor around us, the Church SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED IN THIS WAY. Regardless of the fact that the Church in America HAS THE POWER and the ECONOMIC RESOURCES necessary provide affordable housing, long-term community development, and primary health care to everyone who needs it, the US Government should NOT be the one to force this upon us through legal means. That should be left up to a Higher Power. Even though Universal primary education would cost $8 billion a year, which is about half of what parents in the US spend annually on toys for their children, this has nothing to do with those of us who are called by the name of the One who humbled Himself and surrendered His life to demonstrate the compassion of God to the World, and especially to the least and the lost. So, if you want to protect your church from this kind of judgement, I urge you to write to your pastors, your elders, your deacons and your church leaders and let them know how you feel about this very serious issue that faces the modern Church in America. We, the Church in America, are dangerously close to the SIN OF SODOM! Do you know what the Sin of Sodom is? Read Ezekiel 16: 49. (HINT: It's not what you think). "Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen." Obviously, the issue facing the Church in America today is WAY MORE SERIOUS THAN SIMPLY OUR NON-PROFIT STATUS! If the Church were to rise up and spend their money this way, THAT WOULD BE AN AWESOME THING, and yes, a lot of people would probably stop calling us hypocrites and maybe they'd take us seriously when we tell them that Jesus loves them, because we've demonstrated that just maybe we love them too. As you may have guessed, this legislation IS TOTALLY FICITIOUS! I have made up the entire thing with the help of my good friend Jarred Rowland who first suggested the concept to me.
\n\nI couldn\'t resist mimicking the style of those alarmist Christian email messages we all get forwarded telling us that we must send it on to everyone we have ever known in order to prove our love for Jesus. Please, also forgive me for all the CAPITAL LETTERS I USED! \n\n\nSeriously, I think if my friend Jarred were to introduce a Bill like this one to our Congress it might put a fire under our churches to wake up and realize that their Bibles are full of commands to care for the outcast, the poor, and the needy who are all around them. If nothing else, it would create an amazing open dialog in the media between the leaders of the Church, the members of the community, and the man on the street about issues of compassion, Christian charity, and the calling of Jesus to care for the poor as we would care for Him. (see Matthew 25)\n\n\nUntil that legislation comes to pass, I will have to resort to stunts like this to try to wake people up and realize that God\'s heart is for the poor and that He has taken this issue very seriously.\n\n\nThe truth is, the idea of their church losing its non-profit status is more likely to spur Christians to action than the fact that there are thousands of homeless, and poverty-stricken human beings suffering a few blocks from their front door.\n\n\n"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"- GOD, speaking of King Josiah in Jeremiah 22:16\n\n\n**\n\n\nTO REPLY TO THIS EMAIL DO NOT HIT "REPLY"- I WILL NOT GET IT!\nINSTEAD- email me directly at: elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com *remove the spaces, etc.\n\n\n**\nSO...YOU WANNA BE A PASTOR?\nGo to http://www.keithgiles.com and read my latest mini-article about the scriptural picture of pastor versus the cultural one we\'ve all held so dear. If today\'s [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] article didn\'t make you mad, then I think you\'ll probably love it.\n",1]
);
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I couldn't resist mimicking the style of those alarmist Christian email messages we all get forwarded telling us that we must send it on to everyone we have ever known in order to prove our love for Jesus. Please, also forgive me for all the CAPITAL LETTERS I USED! Seriously, I think if my friend Jarred were to introduce a Bill like this one to our Congress it might put a fire under our churches to wake up and realize that their Bibles are full of commands to care for the outcast, the poor, and the needy who are all around them. If nothing else, it would create an amazing open dialog in the media between the leaders of the Church, the members of the community, and the man on the street about issues of compassion, Christian charity, and the calling of Jesus to care for the poor as we would care for Him. (see Matthew 25) Until that legislation comes to pass, I will have to resort to stunts like this to try to wake people up and realize that God's heart is for the poor and that He has taken this issue very seriously. The truth is, the idea of their church losing its non-profit status is more likely to spur Christians to action than the fact that there are thousands of homeless, and poverty-stricken human beings suffering a few blocks from their front door. "He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"- GOD, speaking of King Josiah in Jeremiah 22:16
from www.keithgiles.com
\n\nThere are people who want to propose legislation that would challenge the non-profit status of any Christian Church simply based on whether or not that Church actually gives a significant percentage of its funds back to the community, as most other "non-religious" non-profits are required to do.\n\n\nWHAT THIS MEANS is that your church could be in danger of losing its non-profit status simply because none of the tithe money goes to help out those poor families who live around the community. EVEN IF THEY DON\'T ATTEND YOUR CHURCH!\n\n\nOf course, there are plenty of churches in America that do care for the poor in their community. They pass out free groceries, they provide free oil changes for single Moms, they host after-school programs for kids in the area at no-charge, etc. Churches who are already "giving back" to the community in this way and serving others the way Jesus would would have NOTHING TO FEAR!\n\n\nHowever, if a church in the community were to spend 70%, 80%, or even 99% of its tithe on itself, it would be in danger of losing that non-profit status and would have to pay taxes JUST LIKE ALL OTHER LARGE CORPORATIONS. \n\n\nThis means that a church spending most of the tithe for salaries, or a new building, or the new flat-screen plasma televisions for the announcements in the nursery, or the Starbucks Coffee bar at the back of the Church, or the new carpet, etc., would have to justify their non-profit status on the basis of whether or not they were actually performing any actual "service" to the poor around them. If they couldn\'t demonstrate a tangible connection between their church and the community around them, their non-profit status would be revoked forever!\n\n\nREGARDLESS OF THE FACT that Matthew 25 suggests that Jesus takes our concern for the outcast seriously, this attack on the non-profit status of our big, fat American churches is just NOT FAIR!\n\n\nWe\'ve earned the right to collect as many hundreds of thousands of dollars as we like in the name of Jesus and it should be totally up to us how we spend that money. Especially if it\'s for our own needs, wants and desires. \n",1]
);
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There are people who want to propose legislation that would challenge the non-profit status of any Christian Church simply based on whether or not that Church actually gives a significant percentage of its funds back to the community, as most other "non-religious" non-profits are required to do. WHAT THIS MEANS is that your church could be in danger of losing its non-profit status simply because none of the tithe money goes to help out those poor families who live around the community. EVEN IF THEY DON'T ATTEND YOUR CHURCH! Of course, there are plenty of churches in America that do care for the poor in their community. They pass out free groceries, they provide free oil changes for single Moms, they host after-school programs for kids in the area at no-charge, etc. Churches who are already "giving back" to the community in this way and serving others the way Jesus would would have NOTHING TO FEAR! However, if a church in the community were to spend 70%, 80%, or even 99% of its tithe on itself, it would be in danger of losing that non-profit status and would have to pay taxes JUST LIKE ALL OTHER LARGE CORPORATIONS. This means that a church spending most of the tithe for salaries, or a new building, or the new flat-screen plasma televisions for the announcements in the nursery, or the Starbucks Coffee bar at the back of the Church, or the new carpet, etc., would have to justify their non-profit status on the basis of whether or not they were actually performing any actual "service" to the poor around them. If they couldn't demonstrate a tangible connection between their church and the community around them, their non-profit status would be revoked forever! REGARDLESS OF THE FACT that Matthew 25 suggests that Jesus takes our concern for the outcast seriously, this attack on the non-profit status of our big, fat American churches is just NOT FAIR! We've earned the right to collect as many hundreds of thousands of dollars as we like in the name of Jesus and it should be totally up to us how we spend that money. Especially if it's for our own needs, wants and desires.
\n\nJust because we\'re not really involved in the needs of the poor around us, the Church SHOULDN\'T BE PUNISHED IN THIS WAY.\n\n\nRegardless of the fact that the Church in America HAS THE POWER and the ECONOMIC RESOURCES necessary provide affordable housing, long-term community development, and primary health care to everyone who needs it, the US Government should NOT be the one to force this upon us through legal means. That should be left up to a Higher Power. \n\n\nEven though Universal primary education would cost $8 billion a year, which is about half of what parents in the US spend annually on toys for their children, this has nothing to do with those of us who are called by the name of the One who humbled Himself and surrendered His life to demonstrate the compassion of God to the World, and especially to the least and the lost.\n\n\nSo, if you want to protect your church from this kind of judgement, I urge you to write to your pastors, your elders, your deacons and your church leaders and let them know how you feel about this very serious issue that faces the modern Church in America.\n\n\nWe, the Church in America, are dangerously close to the SIN OF SODOM!\n\n\nDo you know what the Sin of Sodom is? Read Ezekiel 16: 49. (HINT: It\'s not what you think). \n\n\n"Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen."\n\n\nObviously, the issue facing the Church in America today is WAY MORE SERIOUS THAN SIMPLY OUR NON-PROFIT STATUS! If the Church were to rise up and spend their money this way, THAT WOULD BE AN AWESOME THING, and yes, a lot of people would probably stop calling us hypocrites and maybe they\'d take us seriously when we tell them that Jesus loves them, because we\'ve demonstrated that just maybe we love them too.\n\n\nAs you may have guessed, this legislation IS TOTALLY FICITIOUS! I have made up the entire thing with the help of my good friend Jarred Rowland who first suggested the concept to me. \n",1]
);
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Just because we're not really involved in the needs of the poor around us, the Church SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED IN THIS WAY. Regardless of the fact that the Church in America HAS THE POWER and the ECONOMIC RESOURCES necessary provide affordable housing, long-term community development, and primary health care to everyone who needs it, the US Government should NOT be the one to force this upon us through legal means. That should be left up to a Higher Power. Even though Universal primary education would cost $8 billion a year, which is about half of what parents in the US spend annually on toys for their children, this has nothing to do with those of us who are called by the name of the One who humbled Himself and surrendered His life to demonstrate the compassion of God to the World, and especially to the least and the lost. So, if you want to protect your church from this kind of judgement, I urge you to write to your pastors, your elders, your deacons and your church leaders and let them know how you feel about this very serious issue that faces the modern Church in America. We, the Church in America, are dangerously close to the SIN OF SODOM! Do you know what the Sin of Sodom is? Read Ezekiel 16: 49. (HINT: It's not what you think). "Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen." Obviously, the issue facing the Church in America today is WAY MORE SERIOUS THAN SIMPLY OUR NON-PROFIT STATUS! If the Church were to rise up and spend their money this way, THAT WOULD BE AN AWESOME THING, and yes, a lot of people would probably stop calling us hypocrites and maybe they'd take us seriously when we tell them that Jesus loves them, because we've demonstrated that just maybe we love them too. As you may have guessed, this legislation IS TOTALLY FICITIOUS! I have made up the entire thing with the help of my good friend Jarred Rowland who first suggested the concept to me.
\n\nI couldn\'t resist mimicking the style of those alarmist Christian email messages we all get forwarded telling us that we must send it on to everyone we have ever known in order to prove our love for Jesus. Please, also forgive me for all the CAPITAL LETTERS I USED! \n\n\nSeriously, I think if my friend Jarred were to introduce a Bill like this one to our Congress it might put a fire under our churches to wake up and realize that their Bibles are full of commands to care for the outcast, the poor, and the needy who are all around them. If nothing else, it would create an amazing open dialog in the media between the leaders of the Church, the members of the community, and the man on the street about issues of compassion, Christian charity, and the calling of Jesus to care for the poor as we would care for Him. (see Matthew 25)\n\n\nUntil that legislation comes to pass, I will have to resort to stunts like this to try to wake people up and realize that God\'s heart is for the poor and that He has taken this issue very seriously.\n\n\nThe truth is, the idea of their church losing its non-profit status is more likely to spur Christians to action than the fact that there are thousands of homeless, and poverty-stricken human beings suffering a few blocks from their front door.\n\n\n"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"- GOD, speaking of King Josiah in Jeremiah 22:16\n\n\n**\n\n\nTO REPLY TO THIS EMAIL DO NOT HIT "REPLY"- I WILL NOT GET IT!\nINSTEAD- email me directly at: elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com *remove the spaces, etc.\n\n\n**\nSO...YOU WANNA BE A PASTOR?\nGo to http://www.keithgiles.com and read my latest mini-article about the scriptural picture of pastor versus the cultural one we\'ve all held so dear. If today\'s [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] article didn\'t make you mad, then I think you\'ll probably love it.\n",1]
);
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I couldn't resist mimicking the style of those alarmist Christian email messages we all get forwarded telling us that we must send it on to everyone we have ever known in order to prove our love for Jesus. Please, also forgive me for all the CAPITAL LETTERS I USED! Seriously, I think if my friend Jarred were to introduce a Bill like this one to our Congress it might put a fire under our churches to wake up and realize that their Bibles are full of commands to care for the outcast, the poor, and the needy who are all around them. If nothing else, it would create an amazing open dialog in the media between the leaders of the Church, the members of the community, and the man on the street about issues of compassion, Christian charity, and the calling of Jesus to care for the poor as we would care for Him. (see Matthew 25) Until that legislation comes to pass, I will have to resort to stunts like this to try to wake people up and realize that God's heart is for the poor and that He has taken this issue very seriously. The truth is, the idea of their church losing its non-profit status is more likely to spur Christians to action than the fact that there are thousands of homeless, and poverty-stricken human beings suffering a few blocks from their front door. "He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"- GOD, speaking of King Josiah in Jeremiah 22:16
from www.keithgiles.com
Saturday, November 18, 2006
November 19 sermon Doubt? John 20
November 19 sermon Doubt? John 20
What does a
How do you make a turkey float? Start with two scoops of ice cream, add root bear, and throw in a turkey.
What do you do with doubt about God? Not that God isn’t real, but that God is active in our lives. Spouse is sick or dying.
A child is being abused.
You lost your job again.
Your wife or husband left you.
The bishop sends you a young pastor who stretches you and your not sure if you are ready to trust him.
How do you cope?
Jesus told one father “If you can believe, all things are possible.” The father said back, “I believe, help my unbelief.”
Do you give up? Do you play the game of going to church each week to “keep up appearances”? Faith mixed with doubt. It’s a paradox, isn’t it?
Should you doubt? 1st you become a Christian, then your perfect. All uncertainties and doubts are gone. No more difficult times. No more pain. Everything is roses and cherries. No…you do have some doubts. You are not instantly perfect.
Does doubt mean you are not a Christian? Or if you doubt, is God really God? You know, all knowing, loving, good, perfect. Since evil and suffering exist, then a loving God cannot.
From Epcurus the philosopher, “Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can but does not want to; or he cannot and does not want to. If he wants to but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is wicked. But, if God both can and wants to abolish evil, then how come evil is in the world?”
Remember that little boy who stuck his finger in the hole of the dike, thereby saving an entire village from drowning. Do you ever feel like that, where your little finger of faith is holding back a huge wave of doubt??
Jesus didn’t rebuke Thomas for doubting. Instead he offered him evidence for the truth. “stick your finger where the holes are. Do not doubt anymore.”
What do you doubt at times?? I’m sure you don’t doubt that God exist, right? There is just way too much evidence that there is a God.
So, could you doubt your understandings of God? Maybe God is unpredictable from our viewpoint. I heard this great illustration not too long ago.
I’m walking in the woods with my good friend Paul. First, Paul warns me to “look out, don’t trip over that root.” Later, Paul calmly watches while I handle a plant then tells me “that’s poison ivy. Here’s some ointment to reduce the itching. I’m glad for the ointment, but wonder why Paul didn’t warn me before I touched the poison ivy. Later on I fall down a deep hole and can’t get out. I look up and see Paul calmly standing there. No matter how many times I ask him for help, he just stands there and watches me.
That’s how it seems with God sometimes. Sometimes God warns me about stumbling blocks before me. He has this hedge of protection around me. Sometimes God lets me get in the poison ivy of life, and then gives me ointment to start the healing. And sometimes God just sits and watches, leaving me on my own to get out of life’s pit of despair. I don’t know how God is going to deal with me; and that unknowing and uncertainty, is the root of my doubt.
Is doubting a bad thing? Does God want me to have some doubt? Has God appeared on any of the platforms you have built in the past?
Ed is getting close to finishing his house. Maybe God will show up today on that nice concrete pad site. He’s never been visible to me; never turned water to wine; no one has come back from the grave in my lifetime I know of; The most I’ve ever instantly been healed is when a headache went away when the Advil kicked in.
Frederick Buechner expresses this ambivalence about doubt beautifully: “Whether your faith is that 1. there is a God or that 2. there is not a God, if you don’t have doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep.
Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.” Romans 8 says “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.”
Maybe occasional struggles with doubt are good.
1. doubting tests the perseverance of my faith.
If I have not doubted, then I really never step out in faith. Hebrews 11 says “Faith is believing in what you don’t see.”
2. Doubt makes my faith grow stronger.
If my faith in God never struggles, then why would I search for answers?
For example, I’m learning to drive a car. I put it into drive for the first time and take off….going down the coast, seeing the sights, showing off my new car. But I make a wrong turn and end up at a dead end. I stop at the wall and wonder what to do next. Every time I tap the gas pedal, I move closer to the wall. Finally in a last ditch effort, knowing this car is brand new and virtually perfect, and having come this far, I’m a perfect driver, I PUT THE GAS PEDAL TO THE FLOOR. Of course I wreck the car.
I can’t believe that my WHOLE understanding of driving has been completely wrong. Cars aren’t really the way to get around. Everyone needs to get a horse. Cars are a farce put on society by a government that just wants to control us. The idea that cars can get us from one point to another is just a crutch for the weak mind. Of course that’s wrong.
Doubts strengthen our faith. How? Doubts are like the barbells we must lift for our faith to grow stronger. James tells us that “whenever you face trials, you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” No pain, no gain.
3. As faith gets stronger, the doubt will raise our level of faith above mere feelings and emotions. If your faith is grounded in feelings, it will go south when life gets hard.
Some of the televangelist will tell you “If you don’t feel the Spirit moving in your life, you just don’t have enough faith.” Then they say something about sending in money. But in the scripture we talked about last week, Jesus tells us to love God with all our hearts, souls. MINDS, and strength. You can’t base faith just on feelings.
What are the sources of doubt???
1. The world…kids when you go to school, especially college, you will be bombarded with people telling you that Christianity is a fake and useless belief pushed on you by someone you really love.
Science has proved the non-existence of God. It’s offensive to claim that Jesus is the only way to heaven. A loving God would never send people to hell.
2. Satan…yes Satan is real. Yes hell is real. And just as God is working on you thru you with His Prevenient grace, Justifying grace and Sanctifying grace, Satan and his evil group is working to plant seeds of doubt in your mind. I’ll give you this illustration for the three types of grace.
Your world is a box, covered with black ice. No light can get in. It’s all you. From the day of your conception, God’s prevenient grace is taking an ice pick and chipping away at that black ice. One day, grace has chipped away enough of the black ice that light gets in your box and lights the fire in you.
That is Justifying grace. That is the day you believe in salvation by Jesus Christ. Then every day after that, sanctifying grace blows on the embers of that fire within you to melt more and more of the black ice from around you.
3. Our own flesh is the last and probably greatest source of doubt. When the disciples were on the sea, Peter starts to walk on water out to where Jesus was. But when the waves bounced around him, and he began to sink, he cried out “Lord save me.”
Jesus reached out and lifted him up. “Oh you of little faith. Why do you doubt?” When Peter took his eyes off Jesus, his faith faltered.
What do you do now when you doubt?
1. study the Christian evidence. The empty tomb, 500 witnesses to the resurrection, other changed lives.
2. study the bible. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Faith gains strength by reading and studying the bible.
3. Most important is to talk to God. Jesus did not pray that Peter would be shielded from Satan’s attacks, but that “his faith should not fail when tested.”
God did not keep Daniel from being thrown in the lions den, but protected him while he was among the lions. Definitely ask God to eliminate your problems, but after that, ask him to sustain your faith if he desires you to go thru them.
I’ll tell you right now. I don’t have the easy answers for those ongoing questions of doubt. Though I do have some answers, there are some you must learn on your own. There are struggles you must go thru.
But when your faith is low, you will have a spouse or a friend or me, your pastor sitting beside you. My faith is strong, stronger than it has ever been. We have a really big God who is bigger than any of your doubts. So if you need to, you can rely on my faith for a while, and I know we will get thru this together.
I’m here to listen to you. You and I can lift those barbells of doubt together and build some faith filled muscle. Jesus said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” I know that to be true, and we will take this journey together.
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