Posted by David on March 9, 2006 under Bulletin Articles
The theory of forgiveness is wonderful. Practicing forgiveness is hard. The theory of compassion is wonderful. Practicing compassion is hard. The theory of mercy is wonderful. Practicing mercy is hard. The theory of grace is wonderful. Practicing grace is hard.
Why is it so difficult to be forgiving, compassionate, merciful, or a person of grace? Why? Because you forgive those who hurt you, show compassion to those who offend you, show mercy to those who do not deserve kindness, and give grace to those “who do not deserve it.” If I do not deserve it and receive it, it is wonderful! If you do not deserve it, why bother?-You are just getting the consequences you deserve!
The standard is not “us.” We “measure up” pretty well to people. What is the standard? It is what God did and does for all in Jesus Christ. That is one standard above all of us!
In the above passage, Jesus completed the undesirable, humiliating task of washing feet. He asked the twelve, “Do you understand what I did? I gave you an example. And you are not superior to me. So?’put your money where your mouth is.'”
Satan constantly (all our lives!) places us in circumstances that demand we validate our theory by our behavior. He did with Jesus and will with us. He did with the twelve and will with us. He did with the 1st century church and will with the 21st century church.
It is easy to declare God’s love for all, but can be demanding to take God’s love to all. It is easy to declare that God champions the weak and helpless, but demanding to care for them. It is easy to declare kindness to all, but demanding to be kind to all. It is easy to declare God’s caring, but demanding to be an agent of God’s caring.
Matthew 5:43-48, You have heard that it was said, ?You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
It is simple to become God’s child. It is demanding to live as God’s child.
Posted by David on March 5, 2006 under Sermons
THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW
part 5
Romans 1:18-32 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
This evening you may not agree with me. If you do not, that is okay. This evening my objective is not focused on getting you to agree with me. My objective is focused on making you think.
This evening I would like for you to think about God. The basis of the Christian’s worldview is based on the Christian’s perspective of God. I am not challenging you to think about Jesus Christ. I am challenging you to think about God the Father, the central character of the Bible.
- I want to begin by challenging you to think about the Bible.
- The Bible is not about humans.
- Humanity, either as persons, individually or collectively, is not the central character(s) of the Bible.
- The central focus of the Bible is not on people, not on humanity.
- Surely, it talks about a lot of people.
- Surely, it has a lot to say about the basic need of humanity.
- However, even though that is true, the Bible is not based on the actions of people.
- The Bible is a book about God.
- Surely it speaks much and repeatedly about the human reaction to God.
- Surely humanity’s interaction with God is a constant theme in the material.
- However, God is the central character of the Bible.
- It begins with these words in Genesis 1:1.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- It ends with God and His Lamb enthroned in the heavenly, eternal kingdom in Revelation 22.
- Everything between the opening and the ending is in some way related to the great human need–correcting the separation of humanity from God.
- The central problem of the Bible is how is God going to address that human need.
- The Bible –Old Testament and New– focuses on God’s solution to that human need.
- Humanity’s separation from God created by human rebellion in accepting evil produced a horrible problem that humans could not resolve of themselves.
- The Old Testament’s emphasis is not on an “angry” God who had to be appeased.
- For certain, God was angry for two reasons.
- Something very precious to Him, something that He made and allowed to share His nature, was taken from Him through deceit and rebellion.
- As God tried to eliminate the problem, humanity kept resisting His efforts–the harder God tried to provide humanity a solution, the more determined humanity became in its rebellion.
- God was far more patient than any of us would be.
- However, the patience of God is declared repeatedly.
- God was patient with Abraham’s descendants.
- God was patient with Israel (the nation God formed from Abraham’s descendants) in the wilderness.
- God was patient with Israel in the period of the judges. (Read the last two stories in the book of Judges.)
- God was patient with Israel in the United Kingdom.
- God was patient in the Divided Kingdom.
- God was patient with the returning remnant.
- Though humanity failed repeatedly, God refused to give up.
- The typical American Christian of today has virtually no idea of how violent the ancient world was. People’s behavior was everything God was not.
- Most Americans do not grasp how violent today’s world is.
- We were once used to being privileged international tourists who can go anywhere and receive exceptional treatment.
- We have developed the view that American blood is more precious and valuable than the blood of people in other nations and geographical places; that is our view and not God’s.
- It has been only in about the past decade and a half that we increasingly look at many other places as unsafe.
- God wishes to be at peace with humanity-that is not a new desire!
- There is a lot of emphasis in scripture on God’s desire for peace with humanity.
- Acts 10:34-38 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)–you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
- “God cares about everybody–I just now understand that, but God always has been that way.”
- “God wants the persons who reverence Him–no matter what nationality he or she is.”
- “Jesus Christ is God’s message of peace!”
- Romans 5:1,2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
- Faith in Jesus Christ is our access to God’s peace.
- We have access to God’s grace through having faith in Jesus Christ.
- Galatians 5:22,23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
- A natural expression of the fruit of the Spirit is peace.
- Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- Rejoicing should be a natural expression of being in Jesus Christ.
- Those in Christ Jesus have no need to be anxious because the Lord is near.
- If we are in Christ Jesus, we are guarded by God’s peace–even when we cannot explain it!
- Hebrews 13:20,21 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
- God is a God of peace!
- God is the equipper!
- God will use us for His glory!
- The fact that we are at peace with God does not mean we will have peace in this physical world.
- Do you remember these words spoken by Jesus to the twelve not long before he was betrayed?
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
- In a few hours of that statement Jesus died a horrible death.
- In a few hours of that statement the twelve were scattered.
- There were times the church Jesus established endured severe persecution.
- Tradition says all but one of the twelve died a premature death.
- The promise of peace obviously did not include a wonderful existence in this world!
- The peace God grants us is peace with God!
- We do not have to live in fear!
- We do not have to live with guilty consciences!
- We do not have to live unforgiven!
- We do not have to live without hope!
- We can live in the compassion and mercy of God’s grace!
- The peace that God grants is internal, and that is the form of peace we value the most!
- We American Christians are conditioned primarily to think in terms of material and physical peace.
- We want to live in a physically safe society in a physically safe world.
- It is to be expected if someone living in another nation suffers, but it is not all right if “one of us” suffers.
- We do not want to suffer from disease.
- We do not want to die prematurely.
- We do not want to be in situations that threaten physical life.
- We want to define peace as everything being okay right here, right now.
- We want that so much that we even define Christianity in terms in which there are no physical threats.
- If we are not careful, we decide our covenant with God through Jesus Christ is an agreement that everything will be just fine right now.
- As a result, too many Christians lose their faith in God when life does not go just exactly as they want it to go.
- In too many Christians’ concept, life is all about us right here, right now.
The Christian worldview understands peace is found in God! Not prosperity, not the physically “good” lifestyle, not an insurance policy against disease, not a guarantee that you will not die an early death, but peace!
Peace is not about the physical! Peace is about the internal!
Posted by Chris on under Sermons
Don’t Give Up or Give in to Despair – We are crushed, but not destroyed. To give up on our faith, on the church, or to give up on any ministry or on anyone means we will miss out on the wondrous things that God can do. When Jesus was arrested, the disciples ran out in fear and despair. But the resurrection day was coming. In Christ, the worst things are never the last the things. Don’t give up and don’t give in to despair.
Don’t Ignore How You Feel – Even if we are resolved not to give up or give in, that doesn’t mean that we won’t feel badly. All of us are feeling something – even if we are feeling numb or shocked. We are experiencing all sorts of emotions. Those of you who have been through similar circumstances are perhaps reliving the emotions you have felt. God made us to feel. Don’t ignore this; only do not let your feelings become an opportunity to sin. The Psalms show us how people of faith take every sort of feeling before God so that God may redeem those feelings. There are angry Psalms, sad Psalms, questioning Psalms, pleading Psalms, and hopeful Psalms. Don’t ignore how you feel. Let this situation become an opportunity for faith.
Don’t Worry (or feel anxious to fix or explain) – It is understandable that we might feel anxious at a time like this. We may be worried about many things. When we get anxious we want to fix the problem. We want to explain everything somehow. Abraham and Sarah lost their patience waiting on God to fulfill His promise and the result was the birth of Ishmael. Instead of solving a problem, they created many more. I appreciate the fact that our elders have decided to wait prayerfully for 30 days before making any major decisions. They rightly recognize that our first priority is seeking redemption of sin, healing hurt and being prayerfully patient before God.
Do Pray – So we should all be praying. What Satan would use for harm, God can redeem for good. In prayer, we stop to give God the victory. Prayer pagers have been given out. I urge you to lift up the arms of our leaders as they begin a time of discernment and prayer.
Do Love – Praying for one another and with one another is a way to demonstrate our love for one another. Love covers over a multitude of sins. It doesn’t make sin go away; it doesn’t ignore the destructive potential of sin; it covers it over. When a sharp, abrasive irritant is introduced into the soft tissue of an oyster, the oyster covers the particle with a substance that smoothes the irritant and in time makes it a glistening pearl. Love can cover over the sin that has irritated this body, and by the grace of God He can transform this experience into a jewel that reflects His glory. Love covers over a multitude of sins.
Do Hope – Right now it may be very difficult to see how anything good can come of this. I admit to being shortsighted. But “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:3) We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. The worst things are never the last things for those who follow Christ.
In addition to these, I add two more …
Don’t overlook the seriousness of sin. – Because of sin there is death and suffering in the world. Paul warns the Galatians that even as they are to extend help to the sinner they should be cautious of the potential of sin to harm them as well. [Galatians 6:1, “Dear brothers and sisters, if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.”]
Do trust in the grace of God – Romans 5:12 – You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in–first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. 13That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. 14Even those who didn’t sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead to the One who will get us out of it. 15Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man’s sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God’s gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! 16There’s no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift. The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence. 17If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides? 18Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! 19One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right. 20All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. 21All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life–a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.
Which rules in your life? Sin or grace? If sin rules in your life it will not only hurt you but also those you love and many more than you can ever imagine. But if the grace and mercy of God rules in your life then you can be cleansed and redeemed and experience true life in Christ Jesus. I urge you to choose the grace and mercy of God and not let sin rule.
Posted by David on March 2, 2006 under Bulletin Articles
The young adult says, “What would you do if ‘such and such’ happened?” That is a hypothetical question. “It could occur, but not to me.” Why? “The way I live (or use my life) prevents that from ever happening to me.”
As we staunchly set our feet in mid-life, we revise the statement a little. This situation becomes your situation. “What would you do?” With time and life passing, we often see situations happen to people we know well. As we quietly, internally realize “that could happen to me, too,” we keep a little distance between us and the undesirable. It is as if it could not happen to us if I do not talk about it. However, we all see enough of life to realize it does happen. It happens to those who truly seek to prevent it, and to those who never try to “prevent” anything.
However, in this period, we get very serious about prevention. We eat right. We make regular visits for checkups. We change our diets. We try to get enough exercise and sleep. “Pass me the blueberries, please.” “Can I give you a ride to the gym?” “How far did you jog today?” “What is your cholesterol count (or blood pressure, or heart rate, or …)?”
Then we reach the age that the undesirable happens all around us. It happens to those who take care of their health and those who do not, to those who exercise and those who do not, to those who eat right and those who do not, to those who use life well and those who do not. We hear the professionals change their minds about what is healthy and what is not–every two to five years.
Then, at last, we finally admit what we hid from for years: “Nobody lives forever” (physically). The longer we live, the more physical death we see. Like it or not, we know we will die, too. That is okay as a hypothetical. Yet, the more likely it becomes, the more sobering it becomes.
Good news for those in Christ! Though this physical life is shorter than the prefix “pre,” “… Godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.” 1 Timothy 4:8-10
