Posted by David on June 2, 2005 under Bulletin Articles
By God’s design, Judaism in the Bible was smallness that focused on retaining smallness. Israel was a small nation-so small that all the men of the nation were commanded to assemble in a designated place three times yearly to worship God (Deuteronomy 16:16).
In contrast, Christianity, by God’s design, is enormous (Matthew 13:31-43). It is worldwide in existence, outreach, and influence.
Often God’s people victimize themselves through their expectations. First century Israel struggled to grasp that God loved and cared about all mankind. Their expectations declared God loved only people who did things the way Israel did them. Sometimes we struggle with the same understanding. It is easy to think God is happy if “He just has us.”
Opening our minds to the fullness of God’s purposes is easily intended, but challenging to do. It is too easy to dismiss a concern from God by saying, “That is not what God wants!” or “God is not like that!” or “God is not interested in those things!” Too often it is we who do not want that, or do not like that, or have no interest in that. Most of us cannot image God not having the same concerns and focus “I have.”
The prophet Isaiah said of God (Isaiah 55:8, 9) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Paul told Athens’ elite they should not think of God in terms of a piece of physical art work produced by humans (Acts 17:29). Paul also reminded Christians that God did the unimaginable: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:33-36).
The challenge an open mind presents to the Christian is not the challenge to believe anything declared by people, but to believe everything declared by God. It is not to be easily deceived by human reasoning, but to be open to God’s word. It is not to be lead by the desires of people, but to be open to the heart of God. It is not to seek the praise of people, but to never stop seeking God’s purposes in Jesus Christ.
It is the willingness to let God lead us as we grow in understanding. It is the willingness to refuse to attempt to manipulate God. It is the willingness to repent and redirect life any time such repentance and redirection is needed. It is the willingness to refuse to shackle God’s work by our expectations. It is the willingness to free Jesus Christ from our expectations. It is the willingness to listen as the word speaks to us rather than dictating to the word its meaning. Quite a challenge, isn’t it?
Posted by David on May 26, 2005 under Bulletin Articles
A few mornings ago I took an early morning walk. As I traveled my usual route, I noticed something ahead of me in the road. It just was daylight, and I could not make out what I saw. I see lots of different things in the road on my morning walks-squirrels, possums, skunks, raccoons, a variety of fast food containers, and beer bottles. However, the shape of this object was different. It seemed much too still to be a living creature.
As I drew closer, I saw a large turtle just beginning its journey across the street. By the shape of its shell and its movements, it seemed to be the kind of snapping turtle I saw around lakes in my boyhood days. A golf course pond was behind it-I assume that is where it came from. Who (but it) knew where it was going-on the other side of the road is the beginning of a very large hill with no lake or pond.
Suddenly, a strange drama began unfolding. Early morning traffic picked up. A couple of cars dodged the turtle, and other cars slowed down to make certain they missed it. Would the turtle live to see the other side of the street?
Several things occurred to me. Only the turtle knew why it was going. I am sure that to the turtle its journey made sense, but from any other perspective the turtle’s journey was just plain stupid. Second, the turtle did not have a clue about the danger it was in. In the blink of an eye, the turtle could go from very alive to very dead. Third, the turtle would regard any attempt to help it as an attack. I quickly thought better of my inclination to remove it from the road.
I realize how much we are like the turtle. We think we know what we are doing, but we don’t. We think we know where we are going, but we don’t. However, we are certain we must get there-until we arrive. Too often we regard any attempt to rescue us from danger we do not “see” with indignation. When we are determined, a caring act is perceived as a hostile attack. Too often we mistake our journey with life itself.
One of life’s essential lessons learned only with great difficulty: our journey must not consume our existence. Who we are is more important than where we are. If we take proper care of who we are, we avoid many predicaments. The nature of our journey is never as important as who we are. Where we are is important only when it affects who we are. Who we are impacts our eternal destiny far more than where we have been.
Oh, by the way, when I walked back by, the turtle was nowhere to be seen. Only it knows where it is and why it went-or maybe not even it knows.
Posted by David on May 22, 2005 under Sermons
Read Matthew 8:5-12.
One of the hardest, most demanding challenges in life is to love another person. Love opposes selfishness, arrogance, pride, and self-centered existence. Love champions kindness, placing self second, valuing someone else more the you value yourself, and service. We Americans often find love extremely challenging.
The more an adult child differs from Mom or Dad’s values, the more obvious the demands of love become. Quickly we learn we can love the child and reject the values.
One of the hardest, most demanding challenges among Christians is to love another Christian who differs from you. Among Christians, love makes our personal selfishness very evident. Love makes our personal arrogance very evident. Love makes our personal pride very evident. Love makes our personal self-centered existence very evident. When we need to be kind, caring, encouraging, and to value a Christian with whom we disagree, love becomes extremely challenging.
The more Christians differ with each other, the more the demands of love become evident. Quickly we learn (or need to learn!) that we can disagree significantly, but still love each other.
As a companion reading to Matthew 8:5-12 that we read at the opening of our assembly, I want us to read together John 10:7-16.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”
- Several times Jesus declared plainly that simply being an Israelite was not enough to make a person a part of God’s kingdom.
- Often those statements slide by us because we are not first century Jews.
- I seriously doubt that Jesus’ statements slide by his Jewish audiences.
- On several occasions, like the limited commission in Matthew 10, he referred to the first century Jewish people as “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
- In the two readings we shared this evening, Jesus said:
- A gentile Roman solder demonstrated more faith than he has seen in anyone in Israel.
- Non-Jews would come from all over the world to share the eternal feast (their understanding of what we refer to as heaven) with the Jewish forefathers while those Jewish people would be rejected.
- He had sheep who were not Israelites that he would bring to himself.
- If you would like to get a “taste” of what Jesus said, consider this.
- That is like Jesus saying to us that he has seen more faith in a Muslim than in any member of the Church of Christ he has met.
- That is like Jesus saying to us that people from denominations will enter heaven, but the Church of Christ will be rejected.
- That is like Jesus saying that he has disciples who never heard of the Church of Christ that he will bring to himself.
- Do you think statements like that would slip by you?
- Absolutely not–that would get our attention fast!
- Those statements got Israel’s attention fast, also.
- How would you like for Jesus to refer to us as the lost people or say he found more faith among the people that we say have questionable spirituality than he ever found in us?
- Those Israelites were not stupid!
- When Jesus made statements like that, the statements either infuriated prominent people or confused many people.
- We should not have any problem understanding that!
- Those Jews could say (and likely did), does not scripture say, “God used His strong arm to deliver our forefathers from slavery in Egypt.”
- They could say (and likely did), does not scripture say, “God sustained our forefathers in the wilderness.”
- They could say (and likely did), does not scripture say, “God gave our forefathers this land.”
- They could say (and likely did), does not scripture call this nation the people of God?
- In Jesus’ declarations what he said in these matters simply did not make sense to them.
- Israel was synonymous with spirituality!
- God delivered them!
- God gave them the written scripture!
- God sent them the prophets!
- God called them the people of God!
- They were the people God promised Abraham!
- Surely some of their forefathers made horrible mistakes, but they had corrected the mistakes.
- They knew the right God!
- They belonged to the living God!
- God is going to take people who are not Jews into heaven and leave first century Israel out?
- That cannot be right!
- In fact, that idea is just plain stupid!
- Jesus simply does not know what he is talking about in these matters!
- It was the unquestioned understanding, “God loves us best! God loves us too much to save people who are not Jews! God could never reject us! Look who we are! Look at our history!”
- They had thought for so long that they were God’s people that they could not think any other way.
- Yet, what Jesus told them was the truth.
- However, they were certain it was not the truth.
- Their problem: they placed their confidence in “who we are” and in their ancestry, not in the fact they followed God’s will and purposes.
- If we are not extremely careful, we can duplicate their problem: we can place our trust in our identity and our association with the American restoration movement.
- I hope you can see clearly one of the mistakes first century Israel made, and see how they were out-of-step with God’s purposes first promised to Abraham, “And in you all families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3)
- I want to challenge you to think with me.
- I have been preaching and teaching for over 50 years.
- In that time I have seen and experienced a lot of changes in the church.
- Most of these changes have been neither good nor bad.
- They have just been changes.
- Without doubt one of the biggest challenges I have faced in all the changes is learning that there are many different ways to learn, many different ways to spiritually develop–not everyone learns and grows in the same way!
- For example, when I began preaching, in my area most church buildings were just one room.
- There was no education department.
- There were no class rooms.
- There were no youth furnishings.
- In my home congregation, for a long time we divided everyone into three groups: adults up front, grades 1 through 6 in one back corner, and grades 7 through 12 in the other back corner.
- In contrast, it took me 3 months to learn my way around this building, and I may not have been to every room yet.
- With all that has changed, what is the goal?
- Why do we have class rooms? Youth programs? Teaching aids? Classes for age groups?
- Is it just to have them? Or to have a sizable building? Or to keep up with other religious groups? No!
- The purpose is spiritual growth.
- If a 7th grader was in a 1st grade class, he would be and should be bored.
- If a 1st grader was in a 7th graders class, he would be and should be mystified.
- No matter what the age, the goal is the same–spiritual growth and development.
- We are a congregation with lots of diversity.
- We have people with all kinds of religious and social backgrounds.
- We face all kinds of challenges each week.
- We face all kinds of temptations each week.
- Some by necessity work in environments that pretty well beat them up every week.
- When we assemble on Wednesday nights, several things occur simultaneously.
- In the Family Life Center, “Peak of the Week” meets–it is a singing, praying, discussion-oriented group.
- A large class meets in this room–it is a text centered class that is mostly lecture with some interaction.
- Typically there is an adult class upstairs–I think Gary Brown is leading that class this quarter on the Holy Spirit; it usually is a subject study.
- The youth group meets to address the challenges of teenagers today.
- The college group meets to address the challenges of the college student today.
- And it is all okay–we just want teens and adults to be somewhere that encourages them to grow and spiritually develop.
- We want the same thing to happen on Sunday evening.
- For the summer months, some of the small groups will combine here at the building and continue their discussion study until the fall.
- We will continue here in the auditorium to have a lecture focused on the text.
- Kids for Christ will continue to meet upstairs.
- The youth group will continue its classes and focus.
- The college group will continue its classes and focus.
- And it is okay–because the objective is spiritual development.
- Where people go is their choice.
- We just want everyone to go somewhere!
- It is not a matter of acceptance or rejection–it is a matter of growth!
- It is not a matter of faithfulness or unfaithfulness–it is a matter of spiritual development.
- Do not measure people by your personal preferences; encourage everyone to grow.
- Being diverse is okay! Encourage! Accept the challenge to love!
I want to issue a challenge to all of us. When we conclude on Sunday evening, do not rush off. Do not see how quickly you can leave. Circulate! Meet and talk in the foyer and halls. Meet and talk in the family life center! Make it your goal to help everyone feel loved, appreciated, and a part!
As we see people growing closer to God, rejoice! If you are growing closer to God, I am not going to complain!
Posted by David on May 19, 2005 under Bulletin Articles
This verse always floods my mind with Cameroon memories. When Joyce, our three children, and I were in West Africa, never was there more than six American families where we were. One or two of the families were led by medical doctors. With the help of single nurses (our Deborah Wilson was one of them!), the doctors conducted mobile clinics.
They maintained routes to larger villages with no access to medical treatment. Several times weekly the doctors and nurses loaded a long-wheel base, four-wheel drive Land Rover and traveled to a village on their route.
Few paved roads then existed in that area. Travel was slow and tedious. The people were a gracious, gentle people-unless a vehicle hit a person or an animal. When that happened, volatile emotions erupted, and the reaction of the crowd was unpredictable.
One of the clinic’s routes traveled through the village of Kwa-Kwa weekly. As the doctors and nurses approached Kwa-Kwa one morning, the road disappeared into a massive crowd of people.
Immediately the doctors and nurses wondered aloud if they unknowingly hit an animal when they last passed through. Quickly the vehicle was surrounded by a throng of people pressing close to the Land Rover. Just as the medical team feared the worse, a small man named Nusudo stepped out of the crowd, handed a doctor a note, and the crowd immediately opened to create a path for the Land Rover to continue its journey.
The note simply said, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”
Nusudo, not as tall as my seven-year-old son, was converted and became the village’s preacher. Soon Kwa-Kwa had a thriving congregation because someone “came to Macedonia” and taught them.
This week a large shipment of Bibles, books, and medical supplies began the journey to a remote area in Cameroon. Seven clinics and hospitals in the Wum area will receive a huge shipment of medical supplies. A preacher training school will receive books for its library. Congregations (some quite new) will receive Bibles. Eugene, once a teenager in the preacher training school who is now over 50, will receive a bicycle to assist him as he travels to remote areas to teach.
Thank you! For your generous gifts, for your countless evenings of work, for your interest and encouragement, thank you! Thanks to Bob Fisher for his patience in finding as many supplies as possible! Thanks to Kevin Vaught for “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s” as he coordinated the work! Thanks to Ron Moreton and Jim Selig for driving trucks far and wide to gather and take supplies! Thanks to all the volunteers, the women who packed and made manifest lists, and the contributors who made it happen. All of you “went to Macedonia.” On behalf of those who will never see or know you, thanks!
Posted by David on May 15, 2005 under Sermons
This evening I want to attempt to do something that is quite difficult for the situation and for a thirty-minute presentation.
I need your help. I want you to stay with me, and I want you to think. I do not want your thinking to stop when we finish this lesson. I want you to think about this for at least several days.
I fully realize what I share with you this evening is an overview. In may ways it is an oversimplification. Hopefully, it is an accurate concept and continuum.
Let me begin by sharing a perspective. I think many in this audience know the basic Bible stories. However, I also think that we often have failed to connect the Bible stories we know to the overall story of the entire Bible.
Let me try to illustrate the problem and the need. I am not going to ask you to say anything, or share anything, or take a test. I just want you to raise your hand.
- Everyone who thinks you could tell the story of Adam and Eve, raise your hand. (Thanks!)
- Everyone who thinks you could tell the story of Cain and Abel raise your hand. (Thanks!)
- Everyone who thinks you could tell the story of the flood raise your hand. (Thanks!)
- Everyone who thinks you could tell the story of how the nation of Israel came from Abraham, raise your hand. (Thanks!)
Many of us could tell those stories. Now let me ask you more difficult questions. DO NOT raise your hands–just think seriously to yourself.
- How does the story about Adam and Eve connect to what God did in the cross of Jesus? Is there any connection? If there is, what is it?
- How does the story about Cain and Abel connect to God’s actions in the cross of Jesus? Is there any connection? If there is, what is it?
- How does the story of the flood connect to Jesus’ cross? Is there a connection? If there is a connection, what is it?
- What is the connection between the formation of the nation of Israel and Jesus’ cross? Is there any connection? If there is, what is it?
- I want to begin by giving you a real simple overview slide.
- There are two purposes to this simple overview slide.
- The first is to give you some idea of where we are going in the next few minutes.
- The second is to call your attention to the fact there is no change in God; we have the problem that needs fixing, not God. God is the same – from creation to the cross to the judgment.
- Let’s start where the Bible starts–with the creation, with the declaration that God is the origin of all things.
Genesis 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
- I have no idea of how long Adam and Eve lived in the ideal circumstances of the Garden of Eden.
- Genesis does not say.
- How long they were there is not really the point–the point is that there was a period when everything was ideal and human life dealt with nothing evil.
- However, when Adam and Eve were deceived by temptation and rebelled against God, everything changed immediately.
- Adam and Eve no longer could live an ideal existence.
- Their rebellion produced profound consequences.
- Their act did not merely destroy their relationship with God–their rebellion perverted God’s good creation.
- I do not know how many children Adam and Eve had–Genesis does not say.
- It just tells us that Cain, Abel, and Seth were three of them, and were quite significant in human history.
- In less than one generation people went from total good to murder!
- Seth is both the person and the symbol of people who were sensitive to God and wanted to listen to God.
- Cain is both the person and the symbol of people who wanted nothing to do with God.
- There was a group of people who were sensitive to God until the group intermarried with people who wanted nothing to do with God.
- After the intermarriage, the decline into the pits of evil continued until there was complete evil and the absence of good.
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.
- The flood occurred because God, Who is filled with grace and mercy, wanted to begin again with people who would listen to Him.
- It did not work.
- Nothing short of God sacrificing His own son would work.
- So God began preparing to send His son well over a thousand years (perhaps 2000 years!) before Jesus came to be the Messiah, the Christ.
- God began with these promises made to the man Abraham.
Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
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God started with the childless Abraham and brought into existence the nation of Israel by giving Abraham and Sarah a child named Isaac, the child of the promise.
- But the nation of Israel was a constant disappointment to God from the moment He secured their freedom from slavery.
- With the exception of the leadership and time of Joshua, the people of Israel struggled with two problems:
- Problem one: they gave credit for God’s acts to nonexistent gods, or idolatry.
- Problem two: they placed their confidence in their identity and traditions instead of placing their confidence in God and His purposes.
- With all God did for that people, things went from bad to worse.
- The Assyrian captivity did not end the problem.
- The Babylonian captivity did not end the problem.
- Yet, incredibly, God persisted.
- With all the discouragement and failures in Israel, God still sent the Messiah (Christ).
- God still provided all people [just as He promised Abraham] with a choice.
- The choice: continue the decline into the pits of evil or direct yourselves toward God’s acceptance in judgment.
- God could provide the world that choice because of what He accomplished in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
- Only because of what God did in Jesus Christ could the world be given a choice.
- Our salvation has never been based on humanity’s goodness.
- Our salvation always has been based on God’s goodness expressed in His mercy and grace.
John 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
- We must grasp and cling to a basic understanding.
- Grace and mercy are available to us in a form that will produce salvation because of what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
- Only because of what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection do people have a choice.
- Never should we be so deceived or so arrogant as to think that we can [through our own efforts] return to the goodness that existed when God created.
- Our goal is simple: we seek God’s acceptance in judgment.
- However, that can only happen because we accept God’s mercy and grace.
- It is only because of the death and resurrection of Jesus that we can choose to redirect our lives.
- Because of Jesus Christ we can be saved, but because of our sinfulness and weakness we can never be good.
- Left to ourselves, we plunge deeper and deeper into evil–and often do not even realize it!
- I want you to listen carefully to a statement made by the author of Hebrews in the last of Hebrews 7 and the first 12 verses of Hebrews 8.
- The statement is based on a comparison of the Jewish high priest and our high priest, Jesus Christ.
- The work of a high priest was to do two things:
- The first: to represent the people before God.
- The second: to offer a sacrifice for the forgiveness of the people he represents.
- Read with me, and listen with your heart as we focus on Hebrews 7:26 through 8:12.
For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”
The Bible is not a comprehensive declaration of all God did in ages past. It is the record of how the God of goodness would not allow human failure to destroy His purpose. It is a record of how the good God with great determination and sacrifice restored our choice. It is the record of how the good God who created all things good will return all who follow Him to that goodness.
Do not place your confidence in our religious identity. Place your confidence in the God who gave us Jesus as a Savior.
Posted by David on May 12, 2005 under Bulletin Articles
Many years ago I heard a statement made many times in numerous ways. In some form, the statement declared, “It is a shame that youth is wasted on the young.” Never was the statement uttered as a ?slam’ on young people. It was a statement of regret made by an older person as a commentary on the way he or she lived in his or her past.
There was a time when we thought nothing would ever change, nothing bad would or could happen ?to me.’ We could go day and night if we chose to do so. Everything was a challenge-not an impossibility or a ?ridiculous undertaking.’ We were focused on ?proving something’-what we were trying to ?prove’ was never clear, but we thought it needed no explanation. With some of the ?dumb’ things we did, it is amazing that half of us are still alive! Yet, not for a moment did we think in terms of ?dangerous’ nor did we associate any consequences with our acts. We were full of life, and always would be!
When I was in high school, seniors received special privileges the last week of school. My high school was extremely small with very small senior classes. (I think there were 19 in my graduating class.) Very few students owned or had access to a car. That year, 17- and 18-year-olds filled with excitement draped themselves all over a car-sitting on fenders, standing on bumpers-as they took a rural celebration cruise. They wrecked. Several spent weeks in the hospital. A few were maimed for life. The impossible was more than possible. Consequences were real-something could happen ?to me.’
For years I served as a camp director. I quit when my awareness of all the bad things that could happen outgrew my possibility thinking. When your fears grow bigger than the possibilities for good you see, you need to stop. It always needs to be a matter of possibility, not a matter of control. No one has the energy for good as do the young!
Being afraid of everything is not good. Knowing when it is appropriate to be sober is good.
As Paul neared the end of his life, what a view of his past he had! Outstanding student, a man ruled by hate, a man ruled by love, a man who knew he never was in control of anything. Even as he approached death, he was like spilled oil and wine. His final tribute to God-only God was in control. His life was nothing more than a drink offering. However, it was okay-he had absolute confidence in God and His promises.
When Paul looked over his life, I wonder if he thought youth was wasted on the young? In his case, absolutely! What about you? It is okay-if you have total confidence in God and His promises! Only He-not you!-is in control. Be a drink offering, not a control freak!
Posted by David on May 8, 2005 under Sermons
I want to begin by asking you to take a Bible and turn with me to two texts.
First I ask you to turn to Matthew 11:20-24.
Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”
- Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum are Jewish cities.
- Tyre and Sidon are gentile cities noted for ancient idolatry.
- Sodom was a symbol of ungodliness and sexual immorality.
Now turn to Matthew 23:37-39.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ “
- Jesus could not do what he wanted to do–the Jewish people in the Jewish capitol would not let him!
- The people of Jerusalem would endure the consequences of refusing to allow Jesus to deliver them.
Think very carefully about those two statements Jesus made. I want you to answer one question:
Why do you think Jesus made these two statements?
- May I suggest to you that in both statements Jesus is grieved by bitter personal disappointment.
- Jesus knew what would happen to the people of Israel because they rejected him.
- No, not every person in Israel rejected him.
- However, the greater majority did.
- They were going to suffer as a result of that rejection, and Jesus knew they would.
- Jesus did not speculate they would.
- Jesus’ statement was not a matter of conjecture.
- Jesus fully understood the consequences of their rejection.
- Let me ask you some questions I want you to answer silently in your minds.
- Did God with ten powerful acts rescue the ancestors of these Israelites from Egyptian slavery? [Absolutely!]
- Did God preserve these people’s ancestors in the wilderness? [Absolutely!]
- Did God give these people Canaan to be their homeland? [Absolutely!]
- Did these people have a correct understanding of who the creating, living God was? [Absolutely!]
- Did God give these people His written word? [Absolutely!]
- Did God send His prophets to these people? [Absolutely!]
- Did God promise to send His Messiah to and through these people? [Absolutely!]
- Did these people expect God’s Messiah to come to them? [Absolutely!]
- Now let me ask you to consider some statements made about Jesus’ ministry.
- Matthew 4:17 From that time [the beginning of Jesus’ ministry] Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
- Mark 1:14,15 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
- Luke 4:42,43 When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”
- John 3:1-3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
- Now I want you to answer a question by raising your hand.
- The question: “Would it be better for these people to be a citizen in the kingdom of God than for them to be a citizen in the nation of Israel?”
- All of you who think it would have been a step forward for the Jewish people to be citizens in the kingdom of God, raise your hand.
- Did these Jewish people think being a citizen in God’s kingdom that Jesus spoke about was a step forward?
- No!
- In fact, they thought the first and essential step in being in God’s kingdom was being accepted into the nation of Israel. To the vast majority of those people it was unthinkable that a person could be part of God’s kingdom and not be a part of Israel!
- Repent? They did not have anything to repent of–they were God’s people!
- Jesus’ teachings were different to anything they ever heard.
- What Jesus declared was not at all what they expected the Messiah to say.
- What Jesus taught simply did not meet their expectations!
- There was no way Jesus represented what God had in mind when He promised them a Messiah!
- These are the points I want you to think about.
- Because Jesus was not what they expected, they refused to listen to him.
- Because they refused to listen to Jesus, they missed the will of God.
- Because they missed the will of God, they brought great consequences on themselves.
- What Jesus taught would bring them great blessing, but they refused to believe that Jesus’ teachings represented spiritual progress.
- Because they rejected Jesus, Jesus could not help them.
- That rejection grieved Jesus because Jesus deeply cared about them.
- May I ask you a question that I just want you to think about?
- The question: “Why is it that we think [without doubt] it would be the progress of advancement for others to move close to an understanding of Jesus’ teachings and God’s kingdom, but it would be failure for us to move in any direction?”
- Do you think you totally understand and comprehend God’s mind? Then why would it be failure to move closer to God’s thinking?
- Do you fully comprehend God’s mercy and grace? Then why would it be failure to move closer to an understanding of God’s mercy and grace?
- Do you fully know all God accomplished in Jesus’ death and resurrection? Then why would it be failure to move closer to the knowledge of what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection?
- If moving closer to Jesus Christ’s teachings destroyed your fear and anxiety, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?
- If understanding God’s love for you destroyed your fear and anxiety, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?
- May I anticipate a common response?
- A common response: “All my life I have heard and been taught that we must defend the faith.”
- Let me share with you what I have learned [often the hard way] about “defending” the faith.
- The more concerned we become about “defending the faith,” the less concerned we become about “sharing the faith.”
- The more concerned we become about “defending the faith,” the more exclusive we become in our fellowship.
- The more concerned we become about “defending the faith,” the less concerned we become about God’s priorities.
- The more concerned we become about “defending the faith,” the more we justify our ungodly acts against other baptized believers.
- Why? Defending:
- Is too often more about our history than our God.
- Is too often more about our preferences than our Savior.
- Is too often more about a cherished theological system than the will of God.
- May I make a suggestion?
- Our concern does not need to be focused on defending, but on pursuing.
- “Pursuing what?”
- A fuller understanding of the Bible.
- A fuller understanding of God’s purposes in Jesus.
- A fuller understanding of God’s mercy and grace.
- A fuller understanding of repentance.
- A fuller understanding of discipleship and service.
- Coming closer to God is a good thing–evil is not the product of closeness to God!
- If we are truly Christ’s church, we must be the center of hope for distressed people.
- Abused people should find hope in what we pursue in Jesus Christ.
- Addicted people should find hope in what we pursue in Jesus Christ.
- People consumed with and burdened with guilt should find hope in what we pursue in Jesus Christ.
- The gospel is not for people who think they have everything right and need nothing; the gospel is for people who know they have blown it and need a Savior.
- The whole point of baptism is a new birth, an opportunity to start over, to begin again.
The voice of the gospel is not, “Never make a mistake.” The voice of the gospel is, “Escape your mistakes by coming to Jesus Christ.” The fact that we can escape past failures is good news, the good news of Jesus Christ.
Moving closer to God should never be a matter of disappointment. It always should be moving toward something better.
Posted by David on May 5, 2005 under Bulletin Articles
No matter how much we would like to stop time, we cannot! We can change our routines, but we cannot stop time. Some events seem to slow it down, but they do not. Some events seem to speed it up, but they do not. The passing of time steadily moves on — at an unhurried pace. It is only faster or slower in our minds.
A few days ago I enjoyed looking at some Mayan ruins that pre-date Jesus’ birth. To enter the restored area, a person walks through a very wide stone wall. The wall is a marvel in itself. As I walked through an archway in this rock wall about 10-12 feet wide, I was amazed at all the flat stones fitted together to make the wall and archway. The stones were not enormous — maybe between 10 and 12 inches long. Each stone fit precisely with every other stone. No mortar held these flat stones together. Each silently witnessed centuries of time as it touched the stones above it, the stones beneath it, and the stones on the sides of it.
I marveled at the number of stones it took to build this enormous, three-sided wall which started at a cliff by the sea and returned to another point on the same cliff. I marveled at the engineering, the materials, and the time it took to construct this wall enclosing an enormous area that included enormous buildings. I marveled at the eyes that looked at this wall in past centuries, and at the eyes from many continents then looking at the wall.
All the eyes beholding that wall thousands of years ago are dead. All the eyes looking at it now will die. Morbid? No! Fact? Yes! The foolish person is not the one who lives with an awareness of his/her death. The foolish person is one who lives his/her life as if time can be forgotten or ignored.
Time measures life. When life ends, time ends. To use life wisely, a person must use time wisely. Perhaps we each spend a lifetime building a wall. The question: does our wall exist to include or to exclude?
Thoughts:
We do not have the time to wish our lives away. Use “now” wisely — it’s all we have.
Do not waste time regretting the past or longing for the future. Utilize time by using “now” — it is all we have.
Each experience has the potential to enrich life for us and all we influence. Allow each experience (good or bad) to enrich “now.” Why? Because “now” is all we have.
Killing time wastes one’s life. The moment will come for each of us when we realize we never possessed enough time to kill or life to waste. “Now” is all we have.
Posted by David on April 28, 2005 under Bulletin Articles
To me, one of the powerful evidences of God’s character distinctiveness is His patience. God is incredibly patient–determined, tenacious, and patient! Humans are not! Our commitment begins strong and decreases fast. Few humans “follow through.” We much too quickly give up! We much too quickly justify failure and discouragement! We much too quickly blame something or someone else!
Not God! He is determined! What He promises becomes fact! No human discouragement diverts Him from His intent!
Consider! From the moment Adam and Eve surrendered to the deception of temptation, God was determined to reclaim His creation. The fact that Cain killed Abel did not result in God’s surrendering His commitment! For God, it got worse! People became so evil they did not even think a decent thought (Genesis 6:5). Though God was grieved deeply, He did not quit! Even when God began again with Noah, even when Noah proved such a disappointment, God did not quit.
In fact, God’s purposes were enormous. He promised nothing less than being a blessing to all families of the earth (Genesis 12:3). Incredibly, God produced a nation from the childless Abraham. When those delivered people were unimpressed with all God did for them (Exodus 32:10), God did not think of quitting–He thought of starting over!
For centuries, Israel disappointed God repeatedly. Finally, Israel offended God so deeply that He could tolerate their rebellion no longer. Yet, when He announced this through His prophet Hosea, His declaration of accountability turned His stomach. Listen:
Hosea 11:8, 9 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned over within Me, All My compassions are kindled. I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, And I will not come in wrath.
Though Israel of old gave God no option, God did not want to give Israel His wrath.
Consider God’s incredible patience. For a long period, much over 2000 years, God was determined to send the Christ. In spite of centuries of rebellion, He did! For almost 2000 years after Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, God patiently has waited for people to claim their promised blessings. Human wickedness has not destroyed God’s forgiveness. Human imperfection has not destroyed God’s sanctification. Human failure has not destroyed God’s redemption. God will do everything for us He promised. God will bless us in every way He intended. If what? If we let Him. We, not God, are the problem. Do you use your life to bless God’s patience or to try God’s patience?
Posted by David on April 21, 2005 under Bulletin Articles
Times changed. Houses commonly were well insulated. Central heat became common experience in most homes. Thermostats kept an even, stabilized level of heat on most cold nights. While quilts still “felt good,” they were no longer the key to surviving a bitter winter night.
As times changed, quilts went from a means of surviving a cold night to an art form. We have a quilt given to us as a gift from one of my aunts (now deceased) that came from her hobby. She bought and coordinated material to produce specific quilt top patterns. Then she hired someone to quilt the “top” she made. She had no specific purpose for making her quilt tops — she merely enjoyed her hobby. She was not motivated by necessity, but by a good feeling from an art form.
God is a quilt maker. If He had His way, He would make a quilt that would cover every person in the whole world. Under His quilt would be eternal survival. This very special quilt is designed not only to preserve life but to give life. In its life-giving warmth all the covered live in joy, hope, and peace. All who enjoy the life and warmth granted through God’s quilt know this quilt is an undeserved gift of love.
God’s quilt is unique. No other quilt is like it. No other quilt can give what it gives. In the center of its top is a unique piece beyond duplication. We come to God’s quilt for the warmth of life. Then we become a part of the quilt, sharing warmth and life with others.
The center piece is made from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. By design, every other piece on that quilt top is connected to Jesus Christ (the connection is obvious!). The ragged and worn make the top. Ruined lives are its theme.
No one is “too far gone” to be in the quilt. Though it is made from the ordinary and worn, it is beautiful! It is both highly functional and incredibly beautiful!
God’s quilt is “a work in progress.” Time strengthens it rather than decaying it. As long as time continues, God adds pieces. God wants to include your life as a piece in His pattern — if you let Him. Find warmth, life, and acceptance under God’s quilt! Serve God as a piece in His quilt!
