Sunday, December 22, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Get Ready--The King is Coming!; Psalm 25, Luke 21:25-36, Isaiah 1:1-9, II Peter 3:8-17
Last week we celebrated Christ the King Sunday. We emphasized that Jesus IS King, present tense, but we also recognize that Jesus is returning. Advent is the time that we remember that the King is coming and all creation will be redeemed. We look forward to Christmas, when we celebrate Christ’s 1st coming in the incarnation, but in Advent, we also focus on the second coming. It is a time of waiting, but not just idle waiting, it is a time that focus on being prepared for Christ’s coming. Just as you are preparing for Christmas, we need to prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming. We prepare ourselves by staying alert and standing ready.
We don’t know when Jesus is coming back, but He tells us to be prepared. His coming is sure. In our II Peter passage, Peter warns us that people will always doubt the reign of the King. Scoffing scoffers will always say, “Where is the evidence of His appearing? Aren’t things just like they have always been? I don’t see anything different.” But we are not to doubt the promise. Rev. Wayne Brouwer says, “Advent is that date on our calendars penned in by God, not us, indicating a promised encounter we might often doubt, but which cannot be erased from the pages of time.” He compares it to his own life: “We once promised one of our daughters that we would be making a visit to see her, over 5,000 miles away from where we live, at a certain date in the future. She counted on our arrival, made plans to greet us, house us, feed us, and show us around her world. How could she be so certain that we would be there when we promised? Because she knows our character. She has learned to trust us and trust in us. She was confident we would be there. She arranged her life by that promise.” How much more should we expect God to keep promises? In the spare evidence of these days, when we are roiled by circumstances and challenged by materialistic denials of any First Cause, religious trust seems foolish. Except… Except that God made a promise. And we have seen God's character in Creation and in the divine affairs with Israel and in the testimony of Jesus. So we wait....”
Though God hasn’t given us the date of the King’s return, it is just as sure as a date on our calendars. Like the daughter waiting the arrival of her parents, we are to be preparing for the Lord’s return. In our gospel lesson Jesus tells us to lift up our heads. Pastor Dean Feldmeyer gives us an illustration of what it means to lift up our heads. “In the television program The Mentalist, Australian actor Simon Baker plays the part of Patrick Jane, a former con-man, carnival trickster, and "mentalist" who now works as a consultant for the investigative branch of the state police. In his former life Jane used his keen powers of observation to make people believe he was a psychic, but now he uses them to solve crimes. In one episode a woman remembers him from his past, and asks him why the police have a psychic on the payroll. When Jane tells her that he isn't a psychic, she asks how he could possibly know the things he does without having special psychic powers. He replies, "I'm not a psychic. There is no such thing as a psychic. I just pay attention." This line has been used on The Mentalist in various forms so many times that it is now the tag line in the show's promotional advertisements: "He isn't a psychic. He's just paying attention." In the lectionary gospel text for the First Sunday in Advent, Jesus calls his followers to pay attention -- to him, to the world, to their own lives -- or risk missing the important things that are coming our way.” To lift up our heads is to pay attention. We are to expect the unexpected. Jesus tells us to watch, to stay awake.
We are to stay alert. We must pay enough attention not to get swayed by false teachers, but to be able to recognize them. We must not get sidetracked by the scoffers who deny the presence of Christ already at work in the world. Though life is tough and sometimes scary, Jesus is coming. God is sovereign and in control, not the nations, not the wicked, not enemies of any kind. On this Sunday of hope, we are reminded that our hope is sure. God’s promise of hope is that He will answer our cries in ways that surpass our understanding. This is the hope of David in Psalm 25. David is waiting for God. He is waiting, as Bernhard Anderson says, “for the time when the certainty of God’s presence and the sovereignty of God’s purpose in the world will once again become clear.” Martin Buber has described time as the “eclipse of God.” God is still here. Christ is King, though we do not see it. Christ’s return is the end of time. Time will no longer obscure our vision, the day we will no longer “see in a glass darkly, but face to face.”
Trusting God is a sign of staying alert. We are to live in dependence on God alone, recognizing that God is the only necessity of life. Without God we cannot even breathe; our hearts would not beat. Many things constantly vie for our attention. What are the things that vie for you attention? In what do you place your security? What if they were taken away? I am humbled by the faith of those for whom those sources of security have been taken away—those who must rely on God for daily bread, for shelter, for work, those who have lost their families for the sake of Christ, those who have lost their freedom. They claim to lack nothing. They truly live as if Christ is enough. They have proved it. Will we follow? Will we do the same?
We are also to stand ready. One way we stand ready is through confession of sin and repentance. Our Isaiah passage reminds us that we need a Redeemer. As Ray Ortlund says, “What we need is not more self-esteem, but Christ-esteem.” Awareness of our sin is a good thing because it reminds us we need God. We cannot get to the end of Isaiah, which talks about the new heaven and new earth—the wonderful reality that we will live when Christ returns, unless we first realize that there is something terribly wrong with this reality. Part of what is wrong with this one is us. We are rebellious children. We resist God’s claim upon our lives. We are self-satisfied, but self-preservation is really self-imprisonment. We value God as a last resort instead of the source of all things. In his book Desiring God, John Piper says, “The scenery, poetry, and music of the majesty of God have dried up like a forgotten peach in the back of the refrigerator. Isaiah 1:5-6 tells us that our whole head is sick, our whole heart is faint and our wounds have not been tended. The King James version gives a more graphic picture of these wounds. They are translated as “putrefying sores”. And we have not put any band-aids or Neosporin on them. Confession is the cure.
Our II Peter passage says that one of the reasons that God’s promise seems slow in coming to fulfillment is because God is waiting that all should come to repentance. Obviously every day goes by and people die without turning to God, but is not God’s fault that they do not believe. Everyone is given multiple opportunities to believe. God is not idly standing by. People choose to reject God.
When Christ returns, that is judgment day. Evil will be destroyed and everyone will be laid bare to open exposure. How will we be found? If we regularly confess and repent, we will be found with no shame. We do not know when the day is coming, so we must live in a state of repentance—turning from self and sin, and turning to God. In Psalm 25, David asks the Lord forgiveness. Peter hopes that we may be found spotless and blameless. To do so, we must rely on the finished work of Christ. We offer ourselves as those living sacrifices.
A second way we stand ready is through prayer. Prayer is essential to maintaining our relationship with God. In prayer we ask God to teach us. Again in Psalm 25, David prays that the Lord will teach him. Prayer is a means of which we can grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Prayer helps us to stay alert and stand ready.
A third way we stand ready is to live, as Peter says, in “holy conduct and godliness.” Holy is being set apart for God’s purposes. Godliness is right thinking or right conduct—living the way that God instructs us to live. If we would actually do that, we could, as Peter says, hasten the day of the Lord. God is waiting for God’s people to be obedient. The Mishnah says that if God’s people actually kept the 10 Commandments, the world would end. Jesus is the only one who kept them perfectly, but God is still waiting for people to repent. Peter also says we ought to be found in peace. As the hymn says, “When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone, spotless to stand before the throne.”
Be alert! Get ready! Be prepared to receive your Lord, day-by-day, moment-by-moment. Deliverance is near at hand, the burden will be lifted, the healing will come -- if you will let God come into your life, in the Person of the Lord Jesus -- both in your joys, and in your sorrows.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Joyful Generosity; II Corinthians 8:1-12
The stewardship committee shared some real needs and hopes this morning regarding next year’s budget. But our motivation for giving ought never be about fear, guilt, or trying to get something from God. We shouldn’t give just so we can meet a budget. And our giving ought to never be about self-preservation. Obedience, however, can be a healthy motivation for giving. Giving is something we are commanded to do by God. But even more than obedience, our motivation for giving should be what Paul describes in our passage this morning--joyful generosity. The word “generosity” in this passage is the word “grace.” Though the Old King James version translates “agape” as “charity” in I Cor. 13, the Greek word for “grace—charis” is actually closer to the word “charity” or generous giving without expectation of return. Joyful generosity is an act of grace. Grace is the empowerment and activator of all we do. True generosity is based in grace. Joyful generosity is based out of the abundant joy of knowing and being known by Jesus Christ.
We can give joyfully and generously even when things are hard. The Macedonian churches gave generously in the midst of being persecuted and in the midst of experiencing extreme poverty. These churches were not very old. They were fledgling churches just getting established. Their own situation was so tenuous that Paul actually tried to discourage them from giving so much, but they would not be denied the privilege of giving to support the offering that was going to the grandmother church at Jerusalem. These were believers in another country whom they had never met, yet the Macedonians Christians did not consider themselves apart from the other churches, but saw the Kingdom as one big whole with many parts. They had abundant joy despite what was going on around them because they were focused on the kingdom of God. Joyful generosity focuses on mission. It focuses on the larger kingdom of God. It looks outward and upward. The focus is on others. Who might be blessed through my generosity?
The Macedonian churches gave until it hurt, but they didn’t feel the pain. Though they gave beyond their means, and they trusted in God. They didn’t worry about what they didn’t have or what they couldn’t give. They didn’t compare themselves to the churches around them. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves. They looked beyond themselves to the greater kingdom. They were able to see from the eternal perspective. Though they didn’t compare themselves to their sister churches, they considered their ties to their brothers & sisters in Christ as absolutely vital. Though it was even some of the believers from Jerusalem that caused them grief and led to their persecution, they did not give up on the church there. They wanted their brothers and sisters to know that they were connected and that they cared. And it wasn’t that the Jerusalem church was poorer or suffering more than the Macedonians, but it was important for the churches to be connected, and especially because this was the grandmother church, and because Jerusalem symbolized the place where all the nations would be gathered together. Every church needs to be a giving and a receiving church. Someone said, “God calls us to be His people helping other people in need where they are, not where we are comfortable.” Have you ever given to the point of feeling a little uncomfortable? What were the results? How did you experience God’s faithfulness? Maybe you want to write on your card something that will stretch you in terms of being generous.
Paul asks the Corinthian church to step up to the plate whereas the Macedonian churches begged Paul and his companions to let them help the church in Jerusalem. Paul says that they gave themselves first to the Lord. We cannot have joyful generosity if we have not first given ourselves to the Lord. How much have you really surrendered to Jesus? Which parts of yourself or what you have, are you holding back from Christ’s Lordship? How much do you really trust the Lord? This may be what you write on your card this morning. Maybe you need to spend more time with the Lord. Maybe there is a particular area in your life that you need to surrender to Jesus.
After Paul says that the Macedonian believers gave themselves first to the Lord, he says that then they gave themselves to us, i.e. to Paul and Silas and the other believers with him. The Macedonian believers trusted the leadership. Because they trusted in the Great Shepherd, they could trust His representatives. They recognized Christ in them. They shared with these leaders. If you can recognize the life and work of Christ in and through those who are responsible for the gifts you are giving, you are more likely to give joyfully.
Paul sends Titus with this letter to collect the offering from the Corinthian believers. Titus was a leader in whom they could trust. Titus ends up becoming one of the pastors in Corinth. Paul had sent Titus to Corinth earlier with a message for the Corinthians. Titus is delayed and does not meet Paul in Troas with an offering for Jerusalem as anticipated, but comes later bringing some not so good news about the church in Corinth. Paul sends Timothy to Corinth with I Corinthians. Later Paul sends Titus back to Corinth. Titus reports back with good news. The Corinthians have done some major house-keeping. Repentance and restoration has taken place, and they are a much stronger and healthier church. So Paul again sends Titus back to Corinth with this current letter, rejoicing with them for their turnaround and reminding them of the pledge they had made earlier to help the church in Jerusalem. You cannot have joyful generosity if your spiritual household is a wreck. Again, you must give yourself fully to the Lord. How is your spiritual household? How are your relationships with your family and others? Are they healthy? Maybe you want to write on your card a relationship that needs healing or a commitment to spend more time with family or friends or maybe you need to take better care of yourself physically and emotionally as well as spiritually.
Paul commends the Corinthians for many things. He commends them for their faith, which they demonstrated through their obedience. He commends them for their speech and knowledge, for they were well educated. He commends them for their earnestness, their diligence. And he commends them in his love and the love of the other leaders for them. Because they knew that Paul wrote what he did out of love, they responded to that love and took the necessary steps to get their spiritual house in order. They could’ve gotten mad at Paul. They could have ignored his exhortations and rebukes in I Corinthians, but they didn’t. They showed that same trust in leadership both in Paul and Titus that they Macedonians had. With these spiritual strengths affirmed, Paul asks that they would excel in the grace of giving as well. All of our spiritual gifts and strengths are works of grace. The Greek word for “gifts” is “charismaton”, whose root is “charis—grace”. Gifts are things freely given that we do not deserve. But God has given them to us, therefore we are to make the most of them. Paul asks them to excel in the grace of generosity as they have excelled with these other grace gifts. Are there gifts that God has given you that you are underutilizing?
Paul is holding the Corinthians to something they had already committed to doing. He’s not asking them to go beyond that, but he is asking them to fulfill their pledge. They had already willingly and enthusiastically committed to giving. They pledge they made was not out of compulsion but also out of joy. They had gotten sidetracked by problems within their church, but now they were in a place to fulfill their commitment even though them may not have the same feelings they did in the beginning. Paul was sure, as am I, that in obedience to Christ, our joy is restored. We rediscover joy when we obey Jesus and walk in God’s commandments. Is there a promise that you made to God from which you have gotten sidetracked?
Interestingly, though the Macedonians are commended for not comparing themselves to others, Paul asks the Corinthians to consider the Macedonians and to do a little comparing when it comes to demonstrating love through joyful generosity. He isn’t commanding them to give, but he admits to comparing them. More than the examples of the Macedonians, however, Paul reminds them of the example of Jesus, who is our true standard of comparison, against whom we will never measure up and always fall short. And yet Jesus is the one whom we must always become more and more like. Though Jesus was rich, He became poor, not for His sake, but for ours, so that we through His poverty might become rich. In what areas are Jesus calling you to be more like Him? Is Jesus asking you to be more like Him in joyful generosity?
Finally, Paul once again reminds the Corinthians that it’s not about what they can’t do, but about what they can do. Our faithfulness is never measured by what we can’t do. Our grace giving is not measured by what we can’t give or by what we don’t have. It’s all about what we do with what we have been given. Are we really being faithful with the things to which God has entrusted us? Are we being faithful in the small things as well as the big things?
Joyful generosity is a demonstration of grace. God’s grace enables us to do good works, including being charitable. Joyful generosity comes through submitting oneself and all that one has to the Lordship of Christ. When we can do this, we are able to see beyond ourselves to the greater Kingdom of God and God’s mission in the world. What believer, who truly loves Jesus, wouldn’t want to be part of what God is doing?
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Don't Be a Fool; Psalm 14, Ephesians 3:14-21
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” In the Bible, the word fool refers to
someone who ignores realities. Garry Nation says that this is:
“The Shameless Fool. It describes someone who has not only rejected wisdom, not only made a commitment to destructive ideas and behaviors. He is also ignoble, irreverent, boorish, rude, and even vile and villainous. There is no more obnoxious person depicted in the Scriptures. This is a nasty, shameless person.
The outlook for the Committed Fool is not optimistic. He is in bondage to his own sins: He can look forward to servitude, misfortune, punishment for crimes, and ultimately death. Yet he is likely through all his troubles to refuse to be responsible for his own choices, and even to blame God for his difficulties. The fool’s only hope is the grace of God. This person must be born again! But then, according to the Christian gospel, that is exactly what we all need, isn't it?” “
The psalm says that the result of this foolishness is wicked deeds. Matthew Henry says that there is something of practical atheism at the bottom of all sin. We act as practical atheists when we don’t act as if God is in control, when we don’t trust that God can operate outside of natural law, when we rely on our own powers, when we worry and fall into anxiety. When have you fallen into “practical atheism”?
In addition our morality is flawed when our theology is flawed—When we ignore or disbelieve the realities set out for us in God’s word. We forget that there are consequences for our actions. We forget that what we do has spiritual effects. We copy the world’s version of morality instead of God’s standards. I’ve heard theologians like David Wells and Andrew Purves harp on this topic of flawed thinking and acting based on flawed theology. We need to know what we believe so that it is reflected in our behavior. And if we know it, we will show it. Their answer: study, study, study. But it is true. Our values are shown by our actions. And input affects output. Our beliefs come out in our everyday lives—how we interact with people, how we use our money, what we prioritize. It has been said that what we do is our statement of faith. Our church attendance and participation in worship and the faith community is a testimony to our faith. We are making a statement by it. And this is just a small example of how what we do reflects what we really believe. The truth is that we make a statement of faith in everything that we do. What beliefs or statement of faith do you demonstrate to the world through your actions?
The psalmist contrasts the wicked from the righteous. The righteous are those to whom God has made Himself known and they in turn have responded to God. The Lord shows Himself to the poor. The Lord makes righteous those who call upon God. The righteous are not called righteous because of their own merit but by the saving grace of God. The fool says in his heart there is no God, but you prove yourselves not to be fools by professing with your lips that Jesus is Lord and that Jesus lives in your hearts, and by living out that faith through actions. You are able to make this wise choice because of God who is and has been at work in you. Psalm 14 says that none of us have done good, that each of us has turned aside from seeking God. If we do good, it is because our good God is working through us. If we seek God, it is because the Lord has given us a hunger for God. We follow a call that God has placed on our lives. God chose you in Christ Jesus long before you knew Him. But at some point, we must step out in faith and respond to God’s call. We each are called to respond to God’s good gifts that we have received: We receive new life from God. We receive righteousness from God. We are empowered with faith by God. We are forgiven of our sins by God. And we begin publicly our journey with God.
In contrast, the fool never acknowledges God’s call, God’s power, God’s presence. But the wise not only acknowledge God’s existence, but God’s pursuit of them and God’s ownership and Lordship of them. God gives us our name—our identity, essence, and function.
Prayer keeps us from falling into the foolish trap. Prayer reminds us that God is the one on whom we can rely. And so we have Paul’s wonderful prayer for spiritual knowledge and spiritual strength in our New Testament passage--that we would be able to apprehend the depth and breadth, height and length--all the dimensions of God and Christ whose love extends beyond knowledge, and that we would know this with ALL the saints. Frederick Lehman’s described the immensity of God’s love well in our opening hymn, “The Love of God.” It seems beyond comprehension but is worth exploring and knowing.
Another part of this prayer request for spiritual knowledge is that we would know that Christ lives in our hearts by faith, and that we would be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul prays that we may be continually filled to all the fullness of God—that we would be absolutely united and filled with Christ. It is a lifelong process for we will not reach perfection prior to our death or the coming of Jesus. But we can live daily by the Holy Spirit’s power and learn to rely more and more on the Holy Spirit and less and less on ourselves.
Amena Brown in her poem “You” describes beautifully what it is like to live in full dependence on God. And so I will let her have the last couple of minutes this morning…
God strengthens us. And as God strengthens us, God expects us to stand firm, and that the more we know God, the more we will rely on God and obey God. When Christ is at home in our hearts, we cannot be fools.
Click here to watch the Amena Brown video "You".
Monday, October 7, 2013
God's Big Family; Genesis 15, Ephesians 2:12-19
Today we celebrate World Communion Sunday. We celebrate God’s big family, recognizing that we have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world. You often hear that all people are God’s children, but this is only true in that every person on the planet is created in the image of God. This should cause us to respect and give dignity to all human life, but not all people are truly part of God’s family. In fact Galatians 6:10 tells us that we are to do good to all people, but especially to those who are of the household of faith. You see being created in the image and likeness of God is that every person is designed to contain God, just like a glove is designed to contain a hand. Every person has the potential to be a member of God’s family. As the children quoted last week, “For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Yes, the Spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh. Yes, Jesus is the gift given to the world, but there are those who refuse to open the gift. And we can only open the gift because the Spirit moves in our hearts to do so.
Scripture’s definition of what it means to be a child of God is one who believes in and receives Jesus. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, that is Jesus, to them He gave the power (or the right) to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Most translations say “the power to become the children of God”. See, we are not all automatically children of God. It is the right or power given by Jesus to those who receive Jesus. In fact, earlier in this very chapter it says that Jesus came to His own people, the Jews, and they did not receive Him. Those who receive Jesus are born, as the passage continues by saying, “not of blood or of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” God decides who His children are.
Those who receive Jesus receive the full inheritance of the Father. If we are in Christ, we have the full blessings, benefits, and privileges that go with being a true child of God. We have been adopted into God’s family. This is the difference one has when one is a part of the household of faith.
Last week we talked about a covenant between us and God. We saw through history that it was and still is impossible for us to keep that covenant, but God has always kept the covenant with us. Our Old Testament passage this morning shows that from the beginning, God promised to keep the covenant so that God would always have a family. God promised Abraham that not only was God going to give Abraham a family, but God was going to make a family for Godself through Abraham and that this family would include people from every nation, tribe, and tongue of the earth. All peoples would be blessed through Abraham. God originally made this promise to Abraham back in chapter 12, but by the time we get to Genesis 15, over 20 years have passed and Abraham has seen nothing happening. So God comes to Abraham again, and the promise becomes a covenant.
A covenant is a binding legal agreement so strong that if one were to break it, the penalty would be death. Covenants were made between nations, and when a nation conquered another nation, a covenant would be made to state what each nation would provide for the other. Covenants were made between families. Marriages were often part of covenants or covenants themselves—“’til death do us part”. We have several examples of different covenants made throughout the ancient Near East. The word covenant is the word “to cut”. The cutting of animals and walking between the pieces of the dead animals was the symbol for agreeing to the covenant. Walking between the animals was the sign that you were saying to the other party, “may it be so with me as with these animals if I break the covenant.” The written covenant followed a particular pattern. It was always initiated by the party that had more power, status, wealth, etc. It opened with a prologue in which the higher party introduces themselves and states the relationship to the other party or parties. This was followed by stipulations, laws, and blessings and curses—the things that would happen to the other party should they keep or break the covenant. Witnesses were named, and the covenant ended with a call for review or remembrance.
God makes a covenant with Abraham. God opens the prologue by saying, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it.” God then tells Abraham to prepare the animals. The stipulations that God gives is that Abraham will have an heir from his own body, his descendants will be as difficult to count as it is to count all the stars in the sky, and that his descendants will receive land “from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates.” God lets Abraham know his descendants will be enslaved for 400 years, but that Abraham will not experience this and will die in peace at a “good old age”. God also lets Abraham know that when his descendants are freed, they will come out with a great possession. Everything God promised in Genesis 12, God reiterates here. But as this covenant is made, some interesting things happen.
After Abraham has prepared the animals, vultures come in to eat the carcasses and Abraham has to drive them away. These birds would have made the sacrifices unfit. Jewish scholars have written about the symbolism of these birds—things in our lives that make the sacrifices unfit. They could be thoughts that cause us to doubt the meaning and power of the covenant. Thoughts like, “God’s promise isn’t good enough. I’m unable to receive God’s promises. There must be more than to do.” We have to drive such thoughts away. Next Abraham falls into a deep sleep and experiences a horror of great darkness. This is more than a nightmare. Many scholars and I believe that Abraham experienced the depths of darkness within his own soul, the evil of which he was capable, and how horrible life would be without the grace of God. Abraham may or may not still have been asleep, but after Abraham’s terror has passed that God speaks. And as God speaks, God seals the covenant by appearing as a smoking oven and burning torch, which pass between the animals. As God does this, God finishes speaking the covenant.
Notice that Abraham does not pass through the animal pieces. God alone takes on the full responsibility for keeping the covenant. God knew that neither Abraham nor his descendants could keep the covenant, except for One descendant. That One exception was Jesus Christ, who kept the covenant completely, yet also took the full punishment for the covenant which we broke time and time again and still break upon Himself. Jesus received the death penalty, but rose in triumph so that God promises would be made complete. We will remember and celebrate the New Covenant we have in Jesus in just a few minutes in the Lord’s Supper. God did keep God’s promises, and all nations of the earth have been blessed through Abraham’s seed, Jesus Christ. In Revelation we see that there is a great multitude too hard to number comprised of people from every ethnic group, language group, and family group. We are made sons of God and brothers and sisters with all those who believe. As our New Testament Scripture says, “We who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” We are members of one household, the household of God. We become members of the household of faith by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Through the faith we have been given, we simply thank God for keeping the covenant with us. Open the wonderful gift that you have been given, and know that you are a member of God’s big family.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
How Long, O Lord?; Psalm 13, Revelation 6:9-11
To listen, click here.
Parts of the version of Tommy Dorsey's story were shared by Rev. Larry Jennings, Jr in his sermon of the same name. The facts are verifiable.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Monday, September 2, 2013
Living for Jesus; I Cor. 10:22-33, Col. 3:4-17, I Peter 4:7-11
To listen, click here
End is cut due to copyright laws.
You can check out Carrie Newcomer on YouTube: Holy As A Day Is Spent.
Here are two other great songs that celebrate the sacred in the ordinary:
Holy Now by Peter Mayer
Do Everything by Steven Curtis Chapman
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
More Joy Than Their Grain & New Wine, Psalm 4
How can our anger be turned to joy? Click here to listen.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Love Each Other & Praise the Lord; Psalm 148, John 13:31-35
Our lectionary passages today are seemingly unrelated. We have a psalm of praise and a small snippet from John’s version of the upper room discourse, which takes place shortly after Jesus has washed His disciples feet and Judas has left to betray Jesus. So what do these passages have in common? They both contain essential commands that improve our well being if we obey them.
The two commands are: “Praise the Lord” and “Love one another.” “Hallelujah” is a command, not just an exclamation. We are commanded to praise. In this psalm, all creation is commanded to praise. All created beings in whatever location--in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth—are commanded to praise. The angelic messengers, the angelic warriors, all people, regardless of age, are commanded to praise. Even plants and animals are commanded to praise. Even more interesting, the things we don’t think of as living are commanded to praise—the sun, moon, and stars, the weather: storms, fire, wind, hail, snow, rain, the mountains and hills—are commanded to praise. And indeed, these inanimate things do praise, because they reveal the glory of God. They point us to God. If you were at the community Thanksgiving service at the Lutheran church last fall, you might remember that I preached on praise—that it is easier sometimes to offer praise than it is to offer thanksgiving. I’ve heard some of you lately saying you don’t feel joyful, and you don’t feel like celebrating. Begin with praise.
For what do we praise? . From that sermon, you may remember that the definition of praise is simply stating facts to God about God. These are truths that do not change regardless of our feelings or circumstances, time, or anything else. In this particular psalm, we see that with creation, we praise God for God’s creative power. “God, You are the Mighty Creator. You are the Source of everything. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” We praise God for His power to act by speaking. “God, You speak a word and it comes into being.” We praise God because God’s word has power. “God, You speak and things happen. Your written word reveals you. Jesus is the Word Incarnated. Your word has power to transform lives.” We praise God that God is a God of boundaries. God sets limits on us for our good, for our protection. “God, You set limits for the seas. You set limits on time. You set limits on me, all to protect us.” We praise God because God’s name is unlike any other name. We praise God because God is glorious. We praise God because God puts people in our lives that we can emulate. We praise God because God puts people in our lives who care for us and who intercede for us. We praise God because God gives us Jesus, our ultimate Intercessor, and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter. Jesus leads us, delivers us, gives us life. The Spirit empowers us and teaches us.
The second command comes from the mouth of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.” He tells us twice in one verse to love one another. Jesus also calls it a “new” commandment. The command to love wasn’t new, remember the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” but Jesus renewed it and made it new by adding Himself, not ourselves, as the standard by which we are to love each other. “Love one another as I have loved you.” This means that we are to love with a self-sacrificing love. It is a love that risks getting hurt, and it is a love that is even willing to die for another. It is a love that forgives. Again, Jesus had just finished washing the disciples feet. Part of that washing was to demonstrate forgiveness as well as an example of caring and concern for the most basic needs. We are to love one another, attending to each other’s needs, with caring and compassion. We are to love both by word and action. Jesus uses a command tense that is continuous. We are to keep on loving. We love because Jesus loves us, and we are to love with His love. Love must be our unifying factor.
Both of these commands when obeyed are an external witness to the glory of God. Creation in praise witnesses to creation the glory, majesty, awesomeness, and reality of God. Praise is all about facts, not opinions or feelings. “Jesus died for our sins!” is praise. “God is Love” is praise. “Jesus is my Lord and Savior” is praise. These things are true and will always be true no matter where we are, what we’ve done, when we live. These things witness to others of our great God.
Jesus says that it is by our love for one another that we are witnesses to the world that we belong to Jesus. Our loves testifies to the person, love, work, and reality of Jesus. Love attracts the world to Jesus. Love that can disagree without being divisive is a testimony to the grace and love of God. In the deepest part of each one of us, we are all looking for real love.
Both commands, when followed also improve our well being—our attitude and our outlook. They enhance our emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Praise moves us towards thanksgiving. When we start with praise, we usually find things for which we are truly thankful as well, and we can offer our thanks up to God in addition to our “Hallelujahs.” Praise and thanksgiving enhance our gratitude. Grateful people are healthier. They adapt better to change and to bad news. They have lower blood pressure. They are more at peace. When we love, we come to experience Christ’s love for us more powerfully and personally. When we love, we are less selfish and less self-centered, which also reduces depression and anxiety. When we love, we are more receptive to love given to us. When we love, we are less judgmental. When we are love, we are not as prone to harmful anger. Our stress hormones are reduced, and we are healthier. Most of all, when we do these commands, we can be sure that we are in the center of God’s will.
Brothers and sisters of Grace Presbyterian Church, I don’t think I can leave you with any better exhortation that to praise God and love each other. If you do these two things, you will continue to be the church. In both of these we glorify God. Praise is worship. Love is Body life. In the midst of change praise reminds you of the One who holds all things, who is in control, who never changes. Love will keep you knit together and continue to be an outreaching witness to the community, that this is a church where people are treated like family because they belong to Jesus. Yes, there will be tough times ahead, but there are also times of great joy and delightful surprises ahead. In the midst of it all, love each other and praise the Lord. May the world know that you belong to Jesus.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
It is Finished!, John 19:30
“It is finished!” Weust calls this phrase, “A cry of victory in the hour of defeat,” and indeed it is! John’s gospel is the only one to record these words. Though these words probably weren’t shouted like some of the other sayings, they are cosmically important. What was finished? Jesus’s sufferings were about to end. His sojourn on earth was about to end. But more than that, Jesus had completed the work that the Father had sent Him to do. He glorified the Father and made God known. Even though He Himself said the sheep would be scattered when He the Shepherd was taken away, Jesus lost none of His sheep, except the son of perdition who was foreordained to destruction. Jesus had loved fully to the end. What greater demonstration of love could there be than for Jesus to take all the sins of the world upon Himself and to be the perfect sacrifice for sins.
The one Greek word for the phrase, “It is finished” is “tetelestai”. It is used in a variety of ways. Artists use it to describe a completed work of art—a finished painting or sculpture. At that point the artist can look back in admiration and wonder and so can all who view the work. The work of redemption was finished. There was no more work for Jesus and there is no more work for us. We cannot work for our salvation; Jesus paid it all. Jesus fulfilled the Law. All its symbols and foreshadowings were fulfilled in Christ. We do not work for our salvation; we serve God because of our salvation, and even so, the only merit, the only righteousness our service has is because Christ has given it to us. Our service doesn’t make God love us anymore. In our obedience we honor the finished work of Christ. We acknowledge its value and importance.
Another use of the Greek word for “finished” refers to a task that a servant completes for the master. Jesus completed everything the Father commanded. He fully submitted to the Father’s will. He made full satisfaction for the Law. Jesus’s finished work allows for the forgiveness of our sins. He opened the way to God. He made reconciliation with God possible. In Him are all things reconciled. We can be reconciled to God because we died with Him on the cross, and if we died with Him, we will be raised with Him. In His death, the veil was torn in two symbolizing the open access we now have through the Father by placing our faith in Christ Jesus and in His important finished work.
This brings us to two other uses of the word. It was used by the priests after they fully examined the sacrifices to see if they were indeed satisfactory. Jesus was the perfect once for all sacrifice. Hebrews 10:14 - 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Though we do not see ourselves as perfect, though we still commit trespasses, God sees us as perfect in Christ. The second part of this verse talks about an ongoing work; we are being sanctified. In His finished work, Jesus made a way for us to become more and more like Him. When He completed His part, He sent the Holy Spirit to take over and apply His work to our lives. Merchants used this word when full payment was made for a purchase. Jesus purchased us from slavery to sin and self. He redeemed us fully. The wages of sin is death, and Jesus paid the whole deal in dying for us. He who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Because of His payment, we instead can receive the gift of God in Jesus Christ, the gift of eternal life.
In His finished work, Jesus also trampled down the enemy. The devil thought maybe Jesus was finished, but Jesus was saying the devil is finished. As victors with Christ, we can no longer claim, “The devil made me do it,” for we are drawn away into sin by our own lusts and enticed. Satan still prowls about like a roaring lion, but we have authority in Jesus name to rebuke him. His end is sure. Whatever our temptation, Jesus has made a way out. Though Satan may try to accuse us, his words have no power. “I’ve been redeemed! My identity is in Christ,” sends the devil away. The devil may try to condemn us, but he has no right. Only Christ can condemn, and Christ does not! Romans 8:1 tells us, “Now therefore, is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Condemnation was finished at the cross. Nothing can stand against the finished work of Christ.
Yes, there was a sense of completeness to the work of Jesus. Jesus demonstrates the completeness of that work in that He is now seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. He had arrived at His goal. In the finished work of Christ, we can end our search for forgiveness. It is granted to us in Him. We can end our efforts at trying to work for our salvation. No work we do could ever come close to atoning for our sins, but Jesus’s work was sufficient for all of us. In fact, the death of Christ ushered in the night of the last day when no man can work. The self was finished on the cross because as He died, we died with Him. We have absolutely nothing to add to Jesus’s finished work, and we dare not try lest we trivialize the work of Christ on our behalf. May we never say what Jesus did for us is not enough. May we never think that we are so good that we can add to Jesus’s work nor think we are so good that we don’t need Jesus. May we never think we are so bad that Jesus couldn’t pay for what we’ve done, that we can never be forgiven. Any good work we do is only because Jesus has worked it in us through the Holy Spirit. We can claim nothing of our own except to boast in Christ, to exalt Him, and lift up His name. May we give God the glory and the credit.
The finished work of Christ was cosmic. Though Jesus finished His work, it has long-lasting, ongoing effects. The work keeps working. The finished work of Jesus made way for a new beginning. It is a transforming work. Because of His work, we can have new life. The life we now live is His life. Because of His finished work, we have a restored relationship with God our Father. Because of His finished work, we have the power not to sin. Because of His finished work, we have assurance; our salvation is secure. Because of Christ’s finished work, we have acceptance; we can come boldly to the throne of grace. As David Carter says, In Jesus, we have “peace that cannot be taken away, rest that cannot be disturbed, joy that cannot be diminished, sure hope that cannot be disappointed, light [that cannot be overcome by darkness], happiness that cannot be stolen, wisdom that cannot be baffled, beauty that cannot be marred. [We have] a Resource that cannot be exhausted--THERE IS NO NEED HE CAN’T MEET, NO HURT HE CAN’T HEAL.”
Charles Spurgeon: What "it" was it that was finished? I will not attempt to expound it. It is the biggest "it" that ever was/ Turn it over and you will see that it will grow, and grow, and grow, and grow, till it fills the whole earth: It is finished!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Rejoice! Your Names are Written in Heaven! (Luke 10:13-24, Isaiah 14:12-15)
I read an article this week about a missionary from Peru to India who oversees 3 pregnancy counseling centers. She was horrified that the number of girls aborted in India each day is equivalent to the population of Hoboken, New Jersey, so she decided to do something about it. She starts her counseling sessions by asking groups of young ladies, “What is the best gift you ever received?” Then she gets them to think about the gift of life as being the best gift. Physical life is certainly one of the best gifts, but even it comes to an end. In our physical life, we have opportunity to receive a more abundant, eternal life through Jesus Christ. This is the best gift.
Our passage this morning begins before the 70/72 are sent out. Jesus pronounces woes upon 3 cities, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, because they largely rejected the eternal life offered to them. The people of these cities for the most part refused to repent and to believe in Jesus. Now we have stories of works Jesus did in Bethsaida (feeding the 5000 and healing a blind man) and Capernaum (healing the centurion’s servant, the coin in the fish’s mouth, healing a demon possessed man and the paralyzed man, etc), but we don’t have any recorded stories of what Jesus did in Chorazin, yet He must have done many great things there. These people missed out on the best gift of eternal life because they would not believe. Jesus goes on to say that if He had done these works in Tyre & Sidon, which were Phonecian merchant cities, not Jewish cities, that those people would have believed. But Jesus did not go to the Phonecians, though Paul and others would evangelize there later. In His naming of these Phonecian cities, however, Jesus shows His compassion and mercy toward the Gentiles. To whom much is given, much is required. The cities on whom Jesus pronounces woe had received much from God but refused to repent. Eternal life a wonderful gift, and without it is deepest sorrow and destruction.
Sometimes we forget what a wonderful gift we’ve been given and instead, allow our happiness and joy to depend on other people’s acceptance of us. But it’s never supposed to be about us when it comes to serving Jesus. Jesus says that if we are accepted, it is really He who is being accepted, and if we are rejected, it is really Jesus who is being rejected. It is all about Jesus.
When the 70 return, they return with joy. They were telling Jesus how even the demons obeyed them. Jesus says something interesting, “I was seeing Satan fall like lightning.” This phrase has multiple meanings. First of all, it is true. Jesus saw repeated victory over evil. Satan’s earthly power was being taken away with the advancement of the kingdom of God. This phrase also stands as a warning against pride. Pride is what caused Satan to fall in the first place. Most scholars think that Isaiah 14 describes the fall of Satan. Listen to this passage…Isaiah 14:12-15. In referring to the fall of Satan, Jesus is warning the disciples, and us, against the sin of pride. We must not take credit for the works done through us, but give God His rightful glory. Someone compared the authority we have like that of a 5’5”, 150lb policeman who stands in the road with his hand in front of him and using the authority of the law causes a fully loaded 18 wheeler to come to a complete stop. The policeman has no power of his own, but it is the law behind him that gives him the authority to stop traffic and write tickets! We have no power on our own, but we have the authority of Jesus’ name to overcome all the power of the Enemy!
God doesn’t bless us for our sake but for His sake. The authority that Jesus gives us is to be used to glorify Jesus’s name. Jesus has conquered evil and given us power over it. He says that He has given us “authority over snakes and scorpions and all the power of the enemy” and that nothing can harm us. Snakes and scorpions are often used as metaphors for demons and evil. We literally see protection from deadly snakes when Paul was bitten by a pit viper and suffered no ill effects. Now this doesn’t mean we should go around snake handling, but as Penny is fond of saying, “We are immortal until God calls us home.” We also have no reason to fear Satan and evil. Jesus has conquered them, and we are conquerors in Christ. We really can’t say, “The devil made me do it.” We sin because draw away by our own lusts. We also have authority over evil done to us. The power of forgiveness sets us free from those who would imprison us.
But our ability to conquer evil & demons isn’t the reason that Jesus says we ought to be rejoicing. Our salvation is our real reason to rejoice. We are to rejoice that our names are written in heaven. Our joy is found not in what we’ve done for God, but in what God has done for us. When we focus our lives in this way, we will always have reason to rejoice. Our joy can never run out because God has indeed done great things for us! We have been saved from wrath through Jesus. We have been forgiven. We have been given mercy, and we are deeply loved! We have become joint heirs with Christ, and we have direct access to the Father. We have eternal life! If we lose everything, our names are still written in heaven, and that is reason to always rejoice!
The disciples were rejoicing in their success, but Jesus exulted in the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who accomplished the work. The triune God is always to receive the glory. In His prayer, Jesus thanks the Father. Our authority comes from Jesus, and the Holy Spirit works in the lives of the people with whom we share Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the one who grants wisdom through revelation of truth in our lives and the lives of all who hear the gospel. Thanksgiving is a key component of worship. There is also a difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus. Many people know many things about Jesus. They may even admire Him without knowing Him. No one knows the Son except the Father and those to whom the Father reveals the Son. The prophets and kings looked forward to the day of Jesus, but these disciples witnessed it. They saw the fulfillment of the prophecies. We too understand things that “angels long to look into,” by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. We too live in the advancing kingdom.
Joy itself is a sign of the active reign of God in a person’s life. What brings you joy? What causes you to rejoice? Do you know that your name is written in heaven? Maybe you lack joy because you don’t really know that your name is written in heaven. John wrote in his gospel 20:31, “These are written to you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you have may life in His name.” And in I John 5:13, he wrote, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God.” We can know our names are written in heaven. If we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our names are written in heaven. The only way we can believe is because the Father has revealed the Son to us. If you are not sure you believe, ask the Father to reveal the Son to you. If you believe, then rejoice: your name is written in heaven. Do not let anything or anyone take away the joy of your salvation
Monday, February 25, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Greed, Pride, and Envy
The Scriptures for this message are: Psalm 73, Luke 4:1-13, I John 2:15-17.
To listen, click here.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Why Baptism? (Is Baptism Necessary?)
Scripture passages are Luke 3, Isaiah 43:1-7, Rom. 6:1-11
To listen, click here.
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