God Is Good – We Are Not

Posted by David on August 23, 2007 under Bulletin Articles

The above statement was made by Solomon when he dedicated the temple. It is one of the clearest statements that declared this understanding: God acts in order that godless people will not have the wrong concept of Him. In Ezekiel 20:44 God said, Then you will know that I am the Lord when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God. Israel misrepresented Him, and He was not pleased. Again, God said in Ezekiel 36:22, Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.” Again in verses 31, 32, Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. “I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”

The Old Testament repeatedly makes it evident that God blesses and holds accountable, not because of us, but to verify His identity. In one of the best known scriptures of the Old Testament (Psalms 23), why will the Shepherd God destroy want, give green pastures, and quiet waters as He restores the soul and guides in paths of righteousness? “For His name’s sake.” The pleas of the Psalms are for God to pardon (25:11), lead and guide (31:3), deliver and forgive (79:9), save (106:8), deal kindly with (109:21), and revive (143:11) for His name’s sake, not people’s deservedness.

In the New Testament, this same understanding is transferred to Christ. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) and the way to God (John 14:6). Thus, even when we suffer ill treatment, loss of life, or loss of material things “for my sake,” we will be generously blessed (Matthew l0:18, 39; 19:29).

We always need to remember that IT IS ABOUT GOD AND NOT ABOUT US. To give people the right impression of God, regardless of how that is achieved, is an honor for us.

Matthew 5:13-16, You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Sharing Jesus (Part 3)

Posted by David on August 22, 2007 under Sermons

Let’s begin with a reading this morning. Please take a Bible and read with me.

John 6:31-40 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ?He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

To give a gift because the person is moved to give the gift with no sense of obligation is a precious, meaningful act. The more significant the gift is to the giver, the more the giver honors the receiver. May I call a truth to your attention: It is as important to know how to receive with appreciation as it is to give with honor. Those who have the hardest time learning this lesson are those who spend their lives giving.

Let me share an illustration.

Often there is a distinct contrast between a Christmas gift and an impromptu gift. In the Christmas gift there is an unspoken rule: You must have a gift to give the person who gives you a gift. So when the giver receives a gift, the immediate thought is, "What do I have to give him or her in return?"

In the Christmas gift, too often we give with the expectation of receiving. We try to anticipate how much the person who gives to us will spend. We commonly measure what we will spend on our anticipation of what the other person will spend. Often we have as much concern with what we spend as with the gift we give.

Then there is the use of the gift received. We will wear it, or hang it, or display it more out of concern that the giver knows we appreciate the gift than we actually take pride in the gift. In Christmas gifts, there are rules.

In contrast, the impromptu gift is unexpected. It is given strictly because the giver wishes to give. The receiver may feel a sense of embarrassment because he or she was surprised and had nothing to give in return. Yet, the receiver knows without question he or she was given the gift because the giver wished him or her to have it.

Thus, the receiver feels a sense of honor. The gift is cherished because of what it represents.

What God did for us in giving us Jesus literally is beyond human comprehension. God did not act out of obligation, but out of desire. In His gift is life that not even death can rob.

In this lesson, I will attempt to increase our understanding of the incredible thing God did for us in giving us Jesus.

I think Genesis, the Bible’s first book, quickly introduces us to the problem.
1. In chapter one, God creates and is pleased with all He creates, including people, both male and female.
  1. Genesis 1:31 says, "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good."
  2. I think most of us understand that if God is pleased and says something is good, it is truly good.
  3. We understand from Genesis 2 that for people there was no sense of shame, nothing to generate a sense of guilt, consequently no bad conscience, no enemies, consequently no fear, and no human need.
  4. Genesis 3:8 strongly suggests there was daily, personal communication between God and people–there was no need for people to be afraid of God.
2. In Genesis 3, the sin of rebellion is injected into the relationship between God and people.
  1. There are two primary results.
  2. The first is that God’s creation is perverted and can no longer serve its intended purpose.
  3. The second is that God’s relationship with people is destroyed.
  4. By the time we reach Genesis 6, the God who was pleased with the goodness of creation is now grieved.
3. Genesis 6:5-7, Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
  1. God, upon completion, looked at His creation and said it was good. Now he looks upon His creation with sadness, wishing he never made it.
  2. Why? He did so because of the actions of people.
    1. He made people good; now they are thoroughly evil.
    2. Because of their evil, they perverted all He made.
    3. Nothing served its original purpose.
    4. God’s creation became something He never intended it to be.
4. God faced a dilemma.
  1. Would he destroy everything as a bad idea?
  2. Would he seek to redeem people and seek restoration of His purpose?
  3. Thankfully for us, God choose the route of redemption.
  4. In God’s choice there is the decision to restore humanity to a state of relationship with God.
    1. The ultimate goal is to have people return to being "good" as people were when God made them.
    2. That basically is what heaven will be–people again will be free from sin and in full, immediate relationship with God.
The Bible is the winding road God travels in which God seeks to establish a means to call people back to Himself through a redemption that works by reaching out to all people.
1. God sought to begin again with Noah and his family.
  1. It did not work!
  2. In less than one generation the problem of sin was pronounced.
  3. People just could not handle the problems of sin and temptation (and still cannot).
2. The patient God waited until He revealed Himself to a man like Abraham.
  1. From the childless Abraham, God produced a family.
  2. From that imperfect family, God produced a nation.
  3. From the imperfect nation, God produced a Messiah (Christ).
  4. From that perfect Messiah (Christ), God produced a means for all people to be redeemed.
  5. To me, the incredible significance of Abraham is declared by God as He prepared to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah:
    Genesis 18:17-19, The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”
3. God’s intent to produce a blessing (the blessing of redemption) for all people is evident from the time of Abraham.
  1. To Abraham, God said:
    To Abraham’s descendants, God said:
  2. When Jesus was presented at the temple as an infant, Simeon read:
    Luke 2:27-32 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
  3. When some of the Jews rejected Paul’s message about Jesus at Antioch of Pisidia, listen to what he said:
    Acts 13:46-48 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, ?I have placed You as a light for the Gentiles, That You may bring salvation to the end of the earth.’ ” When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
  4. When Paul offered his defense before King Agrippa, Paul said:
    Acts 26:22,23–"So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
  5. Paul wrote this to Galatian Christians:
    Galatians 3:16, "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘and to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘and to your seed,’ that is, Christ.
  6. God’s intention from at least the time of Abraham was to redeem people through the Messiah (Hebrew language) or the Christ (Greek language).

There are two things I would like for you to see and remember: (1) Our salvation began from God’s decision and God’s patience. Humanity, including you and I, were helpless. There is nothing we could or can do of ourselves to force God to save us. The origin of salvation rests in the fact the God is good, not that we are good. (2) God made an enormous investment in our salvation, and God’s investment began long before He sent His son to die for us.

The opportunity for salvation is God’s gift to us. We cannot earn it. All we can do is accept it with appreciation. Our obedience is never an attempt to earn our salvation. Obedience is our way to accept God’s gift with sincere appreciation.

The issue for us is not what God has done for us. The issue for us is this: Have we accepted the gift? Do we continue accepting it by showing our appreciation for God’s gift?

Sharing Jesus (Part 2)

Posted by David on August 21, 2007 under Sermons

May we begin with this reading:

John 5:19-30, Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

The giving of gifts is an art form in any society. For example, one must understand the value of a gift before he understands the significance of the gift. The significance of a gift is not determined by the receiver but by the giver. Until the receiver appreciates the significance of a gift, he/she is not in a position to appreciate the significance of the gift. If the receiver thinks of the value of the gift only in selfish terms (considering only what the gift means to him), he may miss the significance and value of the gift.

Permit me to give two examples to illustrate the truth of the statement just made.

Years ago, by virtue of opportunity I did not create and circumstances I did not produce, I helped complete a lengthy process that gave the church legal status in another country. The students in the Bible training school in which I taught wanted to celebrate that positive conclusion to a lengthy, uncertain process of questionable outcome. A part of the celebration involved the students laughingly, giddily, dressing me as a chief and presenting me with certain items that looked interesting but rather common to me. A year later I learned by accident the significance of the honor they showed me and the effort they made to obtain permission to present me with what I regarded to be "common items." Only then did I begin to realize the significance of what they did. My appreciation of their gift was immediately transformed.

The second example comes from Luke 21:1-4. As Jesus watched the wealthy place their gifts in the temple treasury to support the temple’s work, he observed a poor widow (the height of helplessness among the helpless) placing two small (we likely would say tiny) copper coins in the same treasury for the same purposes. Jesus stated, "She has given more than the wealthy gave." What a strange statement! How much wood for the sacrifices would her two small coins buy? Jesus explained, "The wealthy gave from their surplus. She gave all she had to live on." One could not appreciate the significance of what she gave until he understood what her gift meant to her.

The patience of God in producing our salvation is much more than good news–it is incredible news!

From the moment sin began its rule over people (Genesis 3), God began His redemption journey that would culminate in humans having the choice of salvation.
1. In God’s determined pursuit of our salvation, He endured much to give us the choice to be reunited with Him, just as people were given the choice to rebel against Him.
  1. People chose to be rebellious.
  2. God labored to give us the choice to be righteous before Him.
2. The patient God watched as a humanity that began in absolute goodness descended into absolute evil.
  1. When God looked at all He made (including people), he was pleased!
    Genesis 1:27-31, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food," and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
  2. Then God watched as a humanity that was good and pleased Him descended into evil through choices God did not make.
    Genesis 6:5-6, Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
    1. Though only three chapters are involved, a lot of time passed.
    2. In this transition, there were people like Abel, Seth, Enoch, the people who called on the Lord’s name (Genesis 4:26), and the sons of God (Genesis 6:2).
    3. God watched as people made bad choices, and all people such as Seth, Enoch, and the sons of God disappeared.
    4. He watched as people became so wicked that they did not have any good intents–they were inwardly evil as well as evil acting.
    5. He watched until the human wickedness was so great that He was sorry that He made human beings and was deeply grieved at what people had become.
    6. Yet, in all this He did not give up–rather He attempted to begin again.
  3. Yet, God’s attempt to begin again met with failure because, again, a human made a rebellious choice.
3. Even though God’s attempt to begin again was frustrated by human decisions to do evil, God did not give up.
  1. He waited until a man like Abraham existed.
  2. Though Abraham was likely an idol worshipper before he met God, living in a society that looked upon deity with idolatrous views (see Joshua 24:2), Abraham was a man capable of enormous faith in God once God spoke to him.
  3. Abraham, in faith, did things most of us would not seriously consider doing.
    1. Though he was a very obedient man, he is forever known as the man capable of great faith in God.
    2. As an act of faith, he lived as a nomad in a area where evil people coveted what he possessed.
    3. As an act of faith, he was willing to sacrifice his son of promise to God Who made the promise.
4. The patient God waited until the man of faith became a nation.
  1. Have you ever thought about how long it takes a man without children to become a nation?
  2. The patient God waited until the family of Abraham became a mass of slaves in a country that wanted them to be there as slaves, but not as a people.
  3. The patient God prepared them a leader, removed them (with major opposition) from slavery, delivered them at the Red Sea, and led them to Sinai.
  4. Everything they were, and everything they would become, they owed to God.
    1. He rescued them from slavery.
    2. He gave them freedom.
    3. He made it possible for them to have a country of their own.
    4. He provided them the guidance they needed to allow them to become a people like no other people in their time.
    5. Without the acts of God, they would not even exist–they literally owed God everything.
  5. And all God wanted was a people who listened to Him, who lived in His ways, and who were uniquely His people–what God wanted was the source of their blessings!
5. The patient God proceeded toward His objective even when Israel was faithless in its leadership or as a people or both.
  1. He worked with Israel through the period of the judges, even when Israel was faithless.
  2. He worked with Israel in the the period of the united kingdom even though 2 of the 3 kings abandoned Him, and all 3 made inexcusable mistakes.
  3. He worked with the 10 tribes who devoted themselves to idolatry until the Assyrian captivity, giving them repeated opportunities to turn from their evil.
  4. He worked with Judah until, through, and after the Babylonian captivity.
  5. He worked with the returning remnant through the period between the Old and New Testaments.
  6. In all these hundreds of years, Israel was faithless much more often than they were faithful, but the patient God refused to give up until He achieved His objective of creating opportunity for reconciliation.
Finally, God could send His Messiah (Christ) with a realistic expectation that someone would listen to him and make the choice to be reconciled to God.
1. When he was born, the angels announced it:
  And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:9-14).
2. When Jesus was presented at the temple, Simeon said:
  Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel (Luke 2:29-32).
3. At 12 years of age, Jesus said of himself:
  “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)
4. When the man Jesus approached John the baptizer, John said of him:
  “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ?After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ?He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God” (John 1:29-34).
5. Years later Peter wrote these words regarding God’s redemptive work in Jesus:
  But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8, 9).

Have you ever seen the patience of God in your salvation? Have you ever considered how long God endured in order to give you opportunity to be reconciled to God?

Have you responded to God’s patience by making your choice to be reconciled to Him?

None of us begin to know what a great thing the patient God has done for us in our salvation until we begin to understand what God endured to make our salvation possible.

Sharing Jesus (Part 1)

Posted by David on August 16, 2007 under Sermons

I want us to prayerfully begin with a reading. Take a Bible and read with me John 1:1-5.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John began writing his gospel (the word means "good news") by introducing Jesus. While each of the gospels were written to a specific readership for specific objectives, they all also shared a common goal. Each of them wanted to introduced their original readers to the man Jesus and affirm God the Father worked through him to achieve God’s long-standing purposes. Each gospel identified Jesus as the focal point of God’s work. Simply stated, one cannot understand God’s work unless he/she understands Jesus.

John’s introduction is profound! If you have been a part of the church of Christ for a few years, you likely have heard at least one part of the introduction discussed in a class or a sermon. In a brief declaration, John affirmed Jesus’ origin, Jesus’ role in creation in Jesus’ pre-human existence, Jesus as the source of life, and Jesus as the light. I would like you to focus on Jesus as the source of life and light.

When I was a teen (many years ago), my understanding of what I heard was this: Sharing the gospel is a simple matter.
1. The process of this sharing was quite simple.
  1. Any caring person would quickly see the genuineness of your message.
  2. All you needed to do was present their need and their responsibility.
  3. As soon as the one receiving your message understood his/her need and responsibility, they would respond.
  4. The core of the concept seemed to be this: factual information presented, plus the presentation of need, resulted in a response (that is quite simple).
    1. Thus, knowledge of the facts resulted in a response to the facts.
    2. Spiritual growth and development was assumed.
    3. Devotion to the church was assumed.
    4. A change in lifestyle was assumed.
    5. It was assumed that if a person was converted, he/she would become "just like you."
2. Those were simple, convenient assumptions in that situation.
  1. We pretty much lived in isolation.
  2. There were only white, lower middle-class people in the county.
    1. While there were some distinctly poor people there, such people were the minority.
    2. Almost everyone was similar–struggling to improve their lifestyle but not at all regarding themselves as deprived.
  3. There was a total absence of colors, cultures, or languages–only English was spoken, people were white, and only the local culture existed.
  4. The assumption among the younger people (teens) was that even if colors and languages existed, everyone would be the same–just look different or sound different.
  5. Of the thirteen congregations of the church of Christ in the county at that time, twelve were rural.
    1. Only one congregation existed "in town."
    2. It had the only full time preacher in the area.
3. One of the naive convictions of people who live in isolation is that they are equipped with an uncanny insight that gives them all the answers–and the answers are simple.
  1. Life was simple so problems, by declaration, were simple.
  2. Needs were simple so solutions were simple.
  3. Problems primarily existed because people complicated life by ignoring the simple.
  4. As a result, there was a genuine willingness to help "those who are trying" and a deep confusion when those with complex problems were occasionally encountered.
How the situation has changed most everywhere in the last 50 years!
1. Whereas "culture" was not even a word I heard in my teen years, it is often a common vocabulary word of almost everyone.
  1. Differences in color often mean differences in outlooks, traditions, values, concerns, and priorities.
  2. Differences in languages also often reflect differences in outlooks, traditions, values, concerns, and priorities.
  3. In our city there is a Buddhist temple, several Moslem mosques, and a group of Jewish worshippers with deep roots in this community.
  4. Recently, I was in our mall in the early evening, and I could have been in any cosmopolitan city of the U.S.A. as I listened to diverse languages–English definitely was not predominant!
  5. In our physical church facilities:
    1. A congregation of Laotians meet weekly with a Laotian minister maintaining an office in the physical complex.
    2. We are building a Hispanic building as we and our Hispanic brethren move toward an independent Hispanic work in our city.
    3. In the original congregation, we have African-American members, Laotian members, Hispanic members, and Native American members, as well as Caucasian members–all of whom rarely miss meeting as a congregation on Sunday morning.
    4. Any person who thinks we are all alike with our different cultural backgrounds simply because we all speak English is either unobservant or pretending.
The challenges in sharing Jesus are enormous!
1. Recently, I began (again) reading What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty by Ruby K. Payne and Bill Ehlig.
  1. What they share is enlightening and frightening at the same time.
  2. They discuss and illustrate the hidden languages and hidden rules of the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy–and these languages and rules are silent!
  3. The different ways that people in different socio-economic groups think regarding "every day" matters is astounding.
    1. The different groups do not approach living and life’s needs in the same way.
    2. They do not value the same things.
    3. They do not learn in the same way (different groups approach their perception of needs in totally different ways)–cause, plus effect, and drawing a conclusion or conclusions, is meaningless to some groups.
  4. Some groups do not approach life with "a plan."
    1. If you do not learn how to plan, you cannot predict.
    2. If you cannot predict, you do not identify cause and effect.
    3. If you cannot identify cause and effect, you cannot identify consequence.
    4. If you do not identify cause and effect:
      1. You do not end impulsive acts.
      2. If you encourage impulsiveness, the end result is often criminal behavior.
2. To conclude that just putting out facts that concern us will evangelize people is thinking that misses the reality of our situation in our country as well as the world.
  1. Why should your view of life and death be my view of life and death?
  2. What do the concepts that concern you mean to me?
  3. Why should I trust your facts?
  4. Why should my daily life change?
  5. Why should I concern myself with the future?
  6. Why should I concern myself with what happens after death?
  7. Why should the thoughts that concern you concern me?
  8. Why should the values that concern you concern me?
3. Here is one example of failure (as a congregation) to understand that different groups learn and perceive on a different basis:
  1. Congregations assume that if a person understands enough to be baptized (which in most cases is very little), the person knows enough to understand what it means to be a Christian.
  2. Then the same congregations often are in constant struggle and turmoil as baptized-but-unconverted people constantly champion values that are decidedly unbiblical and unchristian as people reflect little or no interest in being Jesus’ disciples.
  3. Such congregations are commonly consumed with internal struggles to the extent that they become virtually paralyzed.
We as Christians, individually and congregationally, desperately need a more biblical view of evangelism and conversion.
1. There is an enormous difference in being convinced of some "facts" and wanting to be Jesus’ disciple.
  1. Consider a contrast.
    1. A troublesome view:
      1. "I need to believe? Okay, done that."
      2. "I need to repent? Okay, done that."
      3. "I need to be baptized? Okay, done that."
      4. "Now what can I expect from God? No serious sickness in my family, right? No tragedy in my family, right? Opportunities for prosperity, right? A lifestyle I really enjoy, right?"
    2. A biblical view:
      1. "Jesus Christ can show me how to escape the effects of my mistakes and focus me on the eternal, both in this life and in my death."
      2. "Through him my life can have a hope-filled meaning and purpose available nowhere else in nothing else."
      3. "In him is freedom from every wrong I have done and from the fear of dying."
      4. "I believe in the resurrected Jesus Christ."
      5. "I turn from the life I have lived."
      6. "I want to be baptized so I can enter a different existence."
      7. "I want to be Jesus Christ’s disciple to express my appreciation for his allowing me to be a part of God’s family."
      8. "I want to be a disciple; I want to learn how to live; I want to serve; I want to use life for something eternal, something besides me and my desires."
      9. "I want God to remake me as a person and use me."
  2. Could you contrast a congregation filled with the people first described and the people last described?
    1. We will become congregations filled with the people last described only when we become a converted people who place total confidence in Jesus Christ as the way to God.
    2. We will become congregations filled with converted people only when we all seek Jesus as the source of life.
    3. We will become congregations filled with converted people only when we want to be light in a dark society that loves evil and its expressions.
2. So, I urge you as Christians be Jesus’ light wherever you are, in all your life, in all you do.
  1. People may learn differently, but everyone understands a consistent example.
  2. People need to see the influences of Jesus Christ in you as a person who is single, as a wife, as a father, as a parent, and in all family relationships.
  3. People need to see the influence of Jesus Christ in your life as you work.
  4. People need to see Jesus Christ’s influence in your life in every community involvement you have.
3. The essential step in being effectively evangelistic is developing a people who shine for Jesus everywhere, everyday in all they do.

We desperately need disciples of Jesus, not just people who go to church. Which are you?

God Is Not Shallow

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Granite Gorge Almost a decade ago, Joyce and I visited the Grand Canyon for the first time. I have been to numerous places and seen numerous sights, but I have never seen anything that overpowered me as did the Grand Canyon. I have never seen a picture that did the Grand Canyon justice. It is simply too big and too vast for my mind to comprehend. I would love to see it again just to convince myself it is there. I know it is, but my mind kept asking, “Is that really there? Can anything that huge be real?” My reaction to the Grand Canyon is a mere introduction to Paul’s reaction to God’s accomplishments in Jesus.

Paul wrote long after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Prior to his conversion, Paul was quite knowledgeable in God’s past works (Galatians 1:14). Yet, with all he knew, nothing (not even God’s creative acts!) prepared Paul’s understanding for what God did (and does) in Jesus Christ! Nothing documents God’s greatness as do His accomplishments in Jesus Christ! Nothing documents the enormity of God’s love as does Jesus Christ! One cannot fathom God’s greatness until the person begins to see what God did in Jesus.

At times, I hear people speak of God and His ways as being simple. Sometimes I hear people who think they have God all figured out. When that happens, I shake my head internally. Is any ignorance greater than not knowing one is ignorant? The more I seek to understand God and His ways, the more I realize I have far more to understand than I have comprehended. Never will any of us totally comprehend Him in this life.

Always be open to God. Always listen to Him to understand, even if it means changing yourself. Let God mold you rather than you attempting to force God to fit your mold. The object of everyone in Christ is to become more like God. We are catastrophe! He is victory! We are sinful! He is righteous! His ways are not our ways. Our hope is found in being like Him. Never stop seeing Him “again” — He is there!

Limiting God

Posted by David on August 9, 2007 under Bulletin Articles

Those criteria make acceptance of God’s person impossible since (a) He exceeds human comprehension, and (b) does many things humans would never do. For example, God’s patience referred to in last week’s article is definitely not human because humans simply do not do that. We get rid of the problem instead of enduring personal revulsion to reconcile the problem-makers.

Many of those who profess Christian faith, skillfully find a way around that dilemma by making God a superhuman. They say of anything passing human comprehension, “God would not do that.”

However, there are problem areas that do not disappear by forcing God to be human or by saying, “God would not do that.” Consider forgiveness. Human limits of forgiveness do not match God’s limits. Humans tend to give forgiveness to those they regard as “deserving” of their consideration.

For example, Christians tend to think of Paul as a pretty good guy. After all, he was a Christian, an apostle to the gentiles, a preacher, a missionary, and a New Testament writer. However, just before his conversion to Jesus Christ, his convictions were just plain mean. When the Christian Stephen was killed, Paul was there. He “amened” the act. He was actively involved. And who was Stephen? A Christian, a deacon in the Jerusalem congregation, one who cared about the needy, an evangelist! “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison” (Acts 8:1-3).

On the day Paul was converted, he was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians! Even as a Christian, he did not deny his past. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor” (1 Timothy 1:12, 13). Can you believe God forgave and used a killer of Christians?

Paul declared that God forgave him to demonstrate that the patient God of mercy could forgive anyone (1 Timothy 1:16). John said God would forgive the Christian of “all” unrighteousness if he/she were honest enough to confess sins when he/she were aware of them (1 John 1:5-10). Baptism merely began an ongoing forgiveness from sin.

We can live with that kind of forgiveness! It is not human-like, but it surely is needed!

Changing Focus

Posted by David on August 2, 2007 under Bulletin Articles

In scripture, people often see what they look for. For example, when today we talk of the creation in Genesis 1 or the flood which begins in Genesis 6, our conversation may immediately turn to evolution. Our following discussion likely focuses on some conflict or perceived conflict between science and religion.

While that focus is relevant to faith in God now and His work today, is evolution the writer’s point in Genesis? Since science and religion as we know it today did not exist when the writer wrote Genesis, is it possible that we miss his point if we focus only on evolution considerations? Since evolution was an unknown to the writer of Genesis 1 and 6, is it possible the writer’s point had nothing to do with evolution? If so, what was his point? Would it benefit today’s Christian to know his point?

Consider this perspective. Once there was only good, good defined by God (Genesis 1:31). Humanity knew only good, and had a unique relationship with God. Once there was only evil (Genesis 6:5, 6). Humanity knew only evil and had no relationship with God. When humanity knew only good, there was blessing and joy. When humanity knew only evil, there was destruction and death.

Though the patient God was grieved, experiencing the full agony of that grief, He did not give up on reconciliation with humanity. God persisted. He found and revealed Himself to Abraham. He formed a nation through Abraham and gave them opportunity to be His people (Exodus 19:3-6). Through that nation He sent His son, Jesus, to be our guide to Him (John 14:6). In His son’s sacrificial death and resurrection, He gave us a Lord and the Christ (Acts 2:36). In him we can be righteous before God (Romans 3:21-26). Jesus Christ can teach humanity the worthwhile life to live [again] (Ephesians 4:1-5:14). Through Jesus Christ we have a hope of more than just the physical (1 Corinthians 15:12-19); we live for eternal values.

God does not give up on people! He never was an angry God who impatiently sought to punish people. He sought human redemption when nothing in human behavior indicated people were worthy of His concern! Impatience is a human trait, not a divine trait.

Could it be that the author of Genesis wanted people to see that there is joy and blessing in God’s goodness while there are consequences and death in evil? Could it be that the writer affirmed that God’s ways are filled with life and blessing, and godless life is selfish and destructive?

In scripture, do you see what you are looking for, or what God wants you to see?

The Power of Imitation

Posted by David on July 30, 2007 under Sermons

We live in a world that loves to imitate. People seek to be fashionable in the way they dress. Fashion in dress encourages imitation. If you think you are immune to the imitation of the fashion of dress, consider how quickly you adapt your clothing to the area you live in. Accepted behavior commonly influences our behavior. We do things in the "right" way because that is the way everyone else does. With many, it is a tragedy if we do not do something the "right" way as "the in thing to do." Do you not find it fascinating to hear people discuss what is acceptable now and what is not acceptable now?

All of us would likely be surprised at how much imitation we would find in our dress, our speech, our behavior, our cars, our homes, and our lives in general. Imitation is even at the roots of our war. People who embrace Muslim lifestyle and values do not want their society imitating the lifestyle and values of western societies (that includes us!). And we are fearful of the influences of the lifestyles and values of "those societies." Why? Many say they do not want those influences in our "Christian" nation.

We are a "Christian nation"? This nation reflects a "Christian" lifestyle and "Christian" values? Really? Do you think average Americans would even agree on what a Christian lifestyle and Christian values are? How often do Americans associate the Christian lifestyle and values with the dress codes and behaviors of particular groups who declare themselves Christian?

Imitation is not a bad thing of itself. In fact, imitation is impossible to avoid, and has been since societies existed. Imitation plays a key role in influence. Consider a statement from Paul.

"Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)

I want you to begin by thinking about what an enormous challenge it was in the first century to make Jesus Christ a world influence.
1. We usually focus on all the things they did not have in their societies to aid mass communication–no printing press, no radio, no television, no modern advertising agencies, and no modern "spin doctors" to tell people what to think as if people cannot think.
2. I challenge you to think of the enormity of the task from a different perspective.
  1. The small Jewish nation into which Jesus was born had Jewish ways to do everything.
    1. They had Jewish traditions for marriage.
    2. They had Jewish traditions for death.
    3. They had Jewish traditions for keeping the Sabbath.
    4. There was a "right Jewish way" to do everything a devout Jew did.
  2. The vast majority of people were idol worshippers.
    1. Most of the time, we stereotype idol worshippers; the truth is there were many forms of idolatry, and many of those forms had distinct differences.
    2. Each of those forms had "correct" ways to do everything.
  3. The key question: how do you make Jesus Christ influential throughout the world, among all people whether Jewish or idolatrous?
    1. How do you make Jesus Christ influential in your own society?
    2. How do you make Jesus Christ influential trans-culturally?
    3. That was an enormous challenge in the first century!
  4. Initially, the world was big and the Christian movement was tiny (sound familiar?).
I want to affirm one truth: Christianity is about Jesus Christ, about the impact of Jesus Christ on human life.
1. The central figure in each of the gospels, the first four writings of the New Testament, is Jesus Christ.
  1. They affirm Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) God promised.
  2. They declare he did the works of God.
  3. They affirm he declared God’s focus on human behavior in his teachings.
  4. They affirm he died for us.
  5. They affirm God resurrected him from the dead.
  6. Without Jesus, there is no "good news" (the meaning of the word gospel).
2. Acts affirms Jesus is Lord and Christ.
  "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36)
  1. It affirms the impact of Jesus Christ on Jewish people.
  2. It affirms the impact of Jesus Christ on Gentiles.
  3. It affirms the impact of Jesus Christ on the arrested Paul.
3. The epistles affirm how belonging to Jesus Christ affects how people who have accepted Jesus Christ live, how Jesus Christ affect the concerns of the individual, and how Jesus Christ affects those who present him to others.
4. The collective point of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ changes the way people who live for God live and act.
Please focus your attention on Ephesians 4:17 through 5:2. Please read with me.
Ephesians 4:17-5:2, "So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."
(Please keep this text in front of you.)
1. I want you to see for yourself in this text that there is:
  1. Life lived before Christ.
  2. An understanding of what it means to be in Christ.
  3. Contrasts between life before Christ and life in Christ.
  4. And a call to imitation.
2. This book was written to Gentiles who became Christians (look at chapter two).
  1. The book stressed the impact of Jesus Christ on people who formerly lived godless lives.
    - Ephesians 1:1,2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
    - Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ
    - Ephesians 1:15,16 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers
    - Ephesians 2:4,5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
    - Ephesians 3:4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ
    - Ephesians 3:14-19 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
    - Ephesians 4:14-16 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
  2. Note the continued emphasis on Jesus Christ.
3. Now look carefully at the text we read in the beginning, which began in 4:17.
  1. Verses 4:17 through 4:19 obviously deal with the lives these people lived prior to their knowledge of Jesus Christ.
  2. Verses 4:20 through 4:22 declare plainly that the message from Jesus Christ did not teach them to keep on living as they lived before coming to Christ.
  3. Verses 4:23 through 4:24 declare the responding to the message about Christ is to result in a transformation of life
    1. There was the former life and there is the new life.
    2. There is a "what you used to live for" given in contrast to "what you now live for" as Christians.
  4. Then there are at least six contrast between a life lived that does not know Christ and a life that has been given to Christ in verses 4:25-32.
  5. Then there is the challenge to let Christ teach them how to imitate God in the way they live in verses 5:1, 2.
The point I want you to see should jump out at you: Christian existence is about living for Jesus Christ.
1. I am going to say some things that could be easily misunderstand. I say them because:
  1. I want you to think.
  2. I want your faith to develop deeper roots to support a deeper understanding of God’s work.
  3. (If you do not understand, ask me about what you do not understand.)
2. Ultimately, you are not a Christian because of the faith of anyone else–your grandparents, your parents, you favorite preacher, your favorite Bible teacher, your favorite example in the congregation.
  1. Spiritual maturity is believing because of your conviction, not because of someone else’s conviction.
  2. You belong to Jesus Christ, not to a person you know or to a group you know.
  3. Why is this understanding so important?
    1. A person is not perfect–all of us (even the best of us) are capable of making some very ungodly mistakes.
    2. Congregations are composed of people–all of them are capable of making some very ungodly mistakes.
    3. When people fail, you will loose faith if your faith is rooted in people.
  4. We live in an evil world.
    1. While we always wish to be the yeast of God’s influence, bad things will still happen to godly people.
    2. When good people suffer, you wish to praise God through Christ for His blessings which you see, not denounce God and Christ because things are not happening like you would like for them to happen.
3. Understanding we belong to Jesus Christ could even change your concept of evangelism.
  1. Conversion is not a matter of changing a few facts.
  2. Conversion is not a matter of becoming a part of a religious organization.
  3. Conversion is about accepting a Savior, placing confidence in a Savior, and following a Savior as his disciple.
  4. People need to see how that belonging to Jesus Christ affects who we are and how we live–that is the "light" we reflect that urges them to turn to the Savior we turned to.
  5. We want them to seek the Savior, not follow a religious system.

Is godly influence bad? No! Is godly imitation bad? No! But both are stepping stones that should lead to spiritual maturity expressed in Christ-like lifestyles. Godly influence and godly imitation lead to placing confidence in Jesus Christ. The root system that sustains faith in immoral floods and ungodly droughts is sunk deep in Jesus Christ. He sustains, and he leads to God.

A Matter of Perspective

Posted by David on July 26, 2007 under Bulletin Articles

Romans 14 dealt with a hard, tricky problem in the first century church-cultural differences. While cultural differences involve many things, may I point to just one familiar to most of us? The impact of culture on most people is this: culture frames the way we think. What we see and understand in the majority of situations is determined by what our culture teaches us to see and understand.

For example, one looks at a situation and sees spiritual danger. Another looks at the situation and sees nothing alarming. Another looks at the same situation and sees actual good. The first sees moral degradation. The second sees innocence. The third sees constructive fellowship. Which is correct? Possibly all are. Why does each see something different? Likely, their culture conditioned the way they looked at the situation.

That was the situation in Romans 14. One strong in the faith could eat anything (an expression of a Gentile culture). One weak in the faith was a vegetarian (Jewish culture feared the meat markets in Rome). One recognized some days as more significant than other days (Jewish culture emphasized the importance of days). Some understood that all days were of equal significance (an expression of some converted to Christ from both Jewish and Gentile perspectives).

Our approach would use a simple question: “Which position is right and which is wrong? What should a Christian eat? What should he/she not eat? Should some days be significant and some not be significant? If Christians should observe days, which ones should he/she observe?” To many of us, it is a simple question of right and wrong. If we decide and convince others of our “correctness,” we solve the problem. All we need to do is announce, “This is the correct behavior for all Christians in all nations.”

Interestingly, Paul the apostle (the Jewish man who was God’s apostle to non-Jews) did not give that solution. He did not issue an edict about what Christians should and should not eat or what days Christians should or should not observe. Instead, he wrote about Christians not condemning Christians, Christians not judging Christians, Christians understanding they were servants, and Christians knowing their only Lord was Jesus Christ. He even began his statement with this affirmation: “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions” (Romans 14:1). He even wrote: “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God” (Romans 14:22).

He also wrote: “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). That was not written as a frightening statement intended to terrify. In fact, no Christian needed to be terrified by that statement unless he/she exploited the weak, judged the Lord’s servants, condemned the innocent, or tried to coerce other Christians. To those who disagree without being disagreeable, it is a comforting statement. “Whatever conclusion you draw, the Lord will listen to your motives.” We tend not to listen to each other, but the Lord will listen to our “whys.”

Are You Passionate for God or a Slave to a Process?

Posted by David on July 19, 2007 under Bulletin Articles

In my understanding, the core of “The Sermon on The Mount” is found in Matthew 5:20: “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The verses 21-48 illustrate the difference between people passionate for God and people devoted to a religious process. Jesus’ illustrations centered on murder, adultery, deceitful vows, retaliation, and love. The basic distinction is this: there is a definite difference between passionate people who want to be God’s family and people who turn passion for God into a religious process.

Through generations, people with the scribes and Pharisees’ emphases turned God’s intent into a set of rules. The rules focused on “dotting i’s and crossing t’s” instead of understanding God’s intent. The result: They distorted God’s focus: concern for people.

Jesus came to restore God’s focus. God does not want His people to be angry enough to murder; to want to commit adultery; to deceive through vows; to seek retaliation; or to hate anyone. People passionate for God do not do those things! Those things are not a part of the lives of people who passionately want to be family to God!

It is not about rules and regulations! It is not about “How can I do evil and get away with evil acts.” It is about being family to God. It is about godly character.

That commitment takes a passion. It is not a passion focused on “how you live.” It is a passion focused on “how I live.” If “I” behave like people who worship idols who do not even know the living God, how am “I” different from godless people? This unique motivation comes from devotion to the living God. It cannot be reduced to a religious process that seeks to do evil in “correct” ways.

What Jesus said to his Jewish audience is relevant to all who passionately wish to be God’s family in our society. We are increasingly, rapidly becoming a pluralistic society that respects many gods and reacts with hostility to Christian values. In definite ways, Christians bear some responsibility for the transition. There are few godless behaviors (a) that Christians have not performed or (b) have not justified in self-interested concerns.

It is not that the living God is no longer attractive. It is not that His blessings are no longer valuable. It is that His people have changed the focus of His concern. It is that too few want passionately to be His family. For many, Christianity is a religious process that too often condones evil. Only by living in passionate devotion to God can we attract people to God again. We must be a godly people of godly character!

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